Update 4/4: Don't have Spotify Premium? Going forward, you'll have to wait a little longer than paying members to listen to new albums
Spotify on Tuesday announced a multi-year global licensing agreement with Universal Music Group that includes a "new, flexible release policy." That means the next album from Katy Perry or Kendrick Lamar might debut first for Spotify Premium users before arriving on the ad-supported version two weeks later.
"We know that not every album by every artist should be released the same way," Ek said in a statement. "Starting today, Universal artists can choose to release new albums on Premium only for two weeks, offering subscribers an earlier chance to explore the complete creative work, while the singles are available across Spotify for all our listeners to enjoy."
The Financial Times said last month that Spotify was in talks with "the world's largest record labels," but thus far, Spotify has only announced a deal with Universal.
The move comes after the RIAA revealed last month that in 2016, streaming music platforms generated most of the US music industry's revenues for the first time.
Original Story 3/17:
Using the free version of Spotify? In the not-too-distant future, you may not be able to access certain jams your paying friends can get.
The Financial Times on Thursday reported that Spotify is in talks with "the world's largest record labels" to limit "the biggest album releases to its paid tier for a period of time." In exchange, the record companies will lower the royalty fees it charges Spotify for songs.
Restricting some new releases to its $10 monthly premium tier would be a major about-face for the company, which for years rejected such a move, even at the cost of losing music from big artists such as Taylor Swift. But the company, which recently hit 50 million paying subscribers, is reportedly aiming to go public soon, and hopes the deals will show investors it can "translate its fast customer growth into a solid business," the report notes.
The FT said the deals could be finalized "within weeks," although nothing has been set in stone.
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The rumor comes after Spotify in the fall of 2014 famously broke up with Swift. The pop star earlier that year penned an op-ed for The Wall Street Journal arguing that "piracy, file sharing, and streaming have shrunk the numbers of paid album sales drastically, and every artist has handled this blow differently."
"It's my opinion that music should not be free, and my prediction is that individual artists and their labels will someday decide what an album's price point is," Swift wrote.
At the time, Spotify argued that it already paid nearly 70 percent of its revenue back to the music community.