Criticism Of Spotify
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Spotify Spotify (; ) is a List of companies of Sweden, Swedish Music streaming service, audio streaming and media service provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. , it is one of the largest providers of music streaming services ...
, a music
streaming Streaming media refers to multimedia delivered through a network for playback using a media player. Media is transferred in a ''stream'' of packets from a server to a client and is rendered in real-time; this contrasts with file downl ...
company, has attracted significant criticism since its 2008 launch, mainly over artist compensation. Unlike physical sales or
downloads In computer networks, download means to ''receive'' data from a remote system, typically a server such as a web server, an FTP server, an email server, or other similar systems. This contrasts with uploading, where data is ''sent to'' a remote s ...
, which pay artists a fixed price per song or album sold, Spotify pays royalties based on the artist's "market share"—the number of streams for their songs as a proportion of total songs streamed on the service. Spotify distributes approximately 70% of its total revenue to rights holders, who then pay artists based on their individual agreements. Multiple artists have criticised the policy, including
Taylor Swift Taylor Alison Swift (born December 13, 1989) is an American singer-songwriter. Known for her autobiographical songwriting, artistic versatility, and Cultural impact of Taylor Swift, cultural impact, Swift is one of the Best selling artists, w ...
and
Thom Yorke Thomas Edward Yorke (born 7 October 1968) is an English musician who is the vocalist and main songwriter of the rock band Radiohead. He plays guitar, bass, keyboards and other instruments, and is noted for his falsetto. ''Rolling Stone'' desc ...
, who temporarily withdrew their music from the service. Spotify faces particular scrutiny due to its free service tier, which allows users to listen free with advertisements between tracks. The tier has led to a variety of major album releases being delayed or withdrawn from the service. Spotify claims it benefits the industry by migrating users away from
piracy Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and valuable goods, or taking hostages. Those who conduct acts of piracy are call ...
and less monetized platforms and encouraging them to upgrade to paid accounts.
Record label "Big Three" music labels A record label or record company is a brand or trademark of Sound recording and reproduction, music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a Music publisher, ...
s keep a large amount of Spotify earnings. Spotify has also attracted media attention for several security breaches, as well as for controversial moves including a significant change to its privacy policy, " pay-for-play" practices based on receiving money from labels for putting specific songs on popular playlists, and allegedly creating " fake artists" for prominent playlist placement, which Spotify denies. Spotify CEO
Daniel Ek Daniel Georg Ek (; born 21 February 1983) is a Swedish businessman and technologist. He is the co-founder and chief executive officer (CEO) of music streaming service Spotify. As of May 2025, his net worth was estimated at $9.2 billion by ''For ...
was also criticized for making donations through his investment company to military research of
artificial intelligence Artificial intelligence (AI) is the capability of computer, computational systems to perform tasks typically associated with human intelligence, such as learning, reasoning, problem-solving, perception, and decision-making. It is a field of re ...
.


Business practices


Allegations of unfair artist compensation

Spotify, together with the music streaming industry in general, faces criticism from some artists and producers, claiming they are being unfairly compensated for their work as music sales decline and music streaming increases. Unlike physical sales or legal downloads, which pay artists a fixed price per song or album sold, Spotify pays royalties based on their "market share"—the number of streams for their songs as a proportion of total songs streamed on the service. Spotify distributes approximately 70% of its total revenue to rights-holders, who will then pay artists based on their individual agreements. The variable nature of this compensation has led to criticism. In a 2009 ''
Guardian Guardian usually refers to: * Legal guardian, a person with the authority and duty to care for the interests of another * ''The Guardian'', a British daily newspaper (The) Guardian(s) may also refer to: Places * Guardian, West Virginia, Unit ...
'' article, Helienne Lindvall wrote about why "major labels love Spotify", writing that the labels receive 18% of shares from the streaming company—something that artists themselves never actually receive. She further wrote that "On Spotify, it seems, artists are not equal. There are indie labels that, as opposed to the majors and
Merlin The Multi-Element Radio Linked Interferometer Network (MERLIN) is an interferometer array of radio telescopes spread across England. The array is run from Jodrell Bank Observatory in Cheshire by the University of Manchester on behalf of UK Re ...
members, receive no advance, receive no minimum per stream, and only get a 50% share of ad revenue on a pro-rata basis (which so far has amounted to next to nothing)." In 2009, Swedish musician
Magnus Uggla Per Allan Magnus Claësson Uggla (pronounced ; born 18 June 1954) is a Swedish entertainer, composer, actor, and occasional radio host. He is known for his satirical lyrics. Uggla was born in Stockholm. He was the lead singer of the hard rock ...
pulled his music from the service, stating that after six months he had earned "what a mediocre busker could earn in a day". Norwegian newspaper ''
Dagbladet () is one of Norway's largest newspapers and is published in the Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid format. It has 1,400,000 daily readers on mobile, web and paper. Traditionally it was considered the main liberal newspaper of Norway, with a ...
'' reported in 2009 that the record label Racing Junior earned only NOK 19 (US$3.00) after their artists had been streamed over 55,100 times. According to an
infographic Infographics (a clipped compound of "information" and "graphics") are graphic visual representations of information, data, or knowledge intended to present information quickly and clearly.Doug Newsom and Jim Haynes (2004). ''Public Relations Wr ...
by David McCandless, an artist on Spotify would need over four million streams per month to earn the U.S. minimum monthly wage of $1,160. In October 2011, U.S. independent label
Projekt Records Projekt Records is an independent record label established by Sam Rosenthal in 1983, the label focuses on darkwave, ambient, shoegaze, gothic rock, ethereal, dream-pop, and dark cabaret releases. History Projekt was founded in 1983 by Sam ...
stated: "In the world I want to live in, I envision artists fairly compensated for their creations, because we (the audience) believe in the value of what artists create. The artist's passion, dedication, and expression is respected and rewarded. Spotify is NOT a service that does this. Projekt will not be part of this unprincipled concept." In March 2012,
Patrick Carney Patrick James Carney (born April 15, 1980) is an American musician and producer best known as the drummer of the Black Keys, a blues rock band from Akron, Ohio. Early life Carney stated in an interview with '' Modern Drummer'' that he never t ...
of
The Black Keys The Black Keys are an American Rock music, rock duo formed in Akron, Ohio in 2001. The group consists of Dan Auerbach (guitar, Singing, vocals) and Patrick Carney (Drum kit, drums). The duo began as an Independent music, independent act, record ...
said that "Spotify isn't fair to artists", and further commented that streaming services "are becoming more popular, but it still isn't at a point where you're able to replace royalties from record sales with the royalties from streams. For a band that makes a living selling music, it's not at a point where it's feasible for us." Replying to Spotify board member Sean Parker's claim that Spotify would make more money for the music industry than
iTunes iTunes is a media player, media library, and mobile device management (MDM) utility developed by Apple. It is used to purchase, play, download and organize digital multimedia on personal computers running the macOS and Windows operating s ...
, Carney said: "That guy has $2 billion that he made from figuring out ways to steal royalties from artists, and that's the bottom line. You can't really trust anybody like that." In May 2012,
British Theatre Theatre of United Kingdom plays an important part in British culture, and the countries that constitute the UK have had a vibrant tradition of theatre since the Renaissance with roots going back to the Roman occupation. Beginnings Theatre w ...
vocalist and
Biffy Clyro Biffy Clyro are a Scottish Rock music, rock band that formed in Kilmarnock, composed of Simon Neil (lead vocals, guitar) and twin brothers James Johnston (Scottish musician), James (bass, backing vocals) and Ben Johnston (Scottish musician), Be ...
touring guitarist Mike Vennart stated: "I'd sooner people stole my work than stream it from potify They pay the artists virtually nothing. Literally pennies per month. Yet they make a killing. They've forced the sales way down in certain territories, which wouldn't be so bad if the bands actually got paid." Singer
David Byrne David Byrne (; born May 14, 1952) is an American musician, writer, visual artist, and filmmaker. He was a founding member, principal songwriter, lead singer, and guitarist of the American New wave music, new wave band Talking Heads. Byrne has ...
of
Talking Heads Talking Heads were an American Rock music, rock band formed in New York City in 1975.Talking Heads
criticized streaming services such as Spotify in October 2013, writing: "If artists have to rely almost exclusively on the income from these services, they'll be out of work within a year." Byrne concluded his piece by admitting "I don't have an answer." In March 2014, American funk band
Vulfpeck Vulfpeck is an American funk/soul band formed in Ann Arbor, Michigan, in 2011. Founded by multi-instrumentalists Jack Stratton, Theo Katzman, Woody Goss, and bassist Joe Dart, the band has released four extended plays, six studio albums, a co ...
exposed a loophole in Spotify's royalty calculation model. The band created an album titled ''
Sleepify ''Sleepify'' is an album by the American funk band Vulfpeck, released March 2014. The release consists solely of ten roughly 30-second-long tracks of silence. The album was made available on the music streaming service Spotify, where the band enc ...
'', which consisted solely of silence. The band asked users to stream the album on a loop while they slept to increase the amount of money earned. The album was pulled by Spotify in April 2014, citing unspecified service violation. Vulfpeck had accumulated enough streams to result in around $20,000 in royalties before the album was pulled. In July 2015,
Neil Young Neil Percival Young (born November 12, 1945) is a Canadian and American singer-songwriter. After embarking on a music career in Winnipeg in the 1960s, Young moved to Los Angeles, forming the folk rock group Buffalo Springfield. Since the begi ...
removed almost all of his music from Spotify and other streaming services, citing low sound quality as the primary reason. He stated that he did not think his fans deserved the low quality they were receiving, and said it was bad for his music. Young's music later returned to Spotify and other streaming services. Worldwide, 30,000 musicians have joined the organization UnionOfMusicians (UMAW). UMAW organized protests in 31 cities in March 2021 and its campaign #JusticeAtSpotify is demanding a compensation of one cent per stream. Moreover, they are asking for a fairer redistribution system, as smaller artists are disproportionately disadvantaged on Spotify. On 29 June 2021, Digital Music News released an article titled "Spotify Executive Calls Artist 'Entitled' for Requesting Payment of One Penny Per Stream". The article covers the story of a Spotify Inventor Jim Anderson, who on 14 June 2019 responded in front of a live audience to the general allegation of unfair compensation when confronted about it by Ashley Jana, a producer/singer/songwriter who happened to be recording the event. Anderson was described on the Sync Summit June 2019 Agenda as "The man who built out the system architecture of Spotify". Ashley Jana released excerpts from his response in the form of an audio recording on YouTube on 26 November 2020. Some of the comments that Anderson made were the following: "So, maybe I should go down the entitlement road now? Or should I wait a few minutes?", "The problem is this. Spotify was created to solve a problem. The problem was this - piracy and music distribution. The problem was to get artists' music out there to solve a problem. The problem was not to pay people money", and "I think that Taylor Swift doesn't need .000001 cent more a stream". Following the release of the Digital Music News article, ''
Business Insider ''Business Insider'' (stylized in all caps: BUSINESS INSIDER; known from 2021 to 2023 as INSIDER) is a New York City–based multinational financial and business news website founded in 2007. Since 2015, a majority stake in ''Business Inside ...
'' also released their own take on the story with their article titled "Taylor Swift 'doesn't need' to earn streaming royalties according to a former Spotify boss who said the company is a distribution platform that wasn't built to pay artists money." ''Business Insider'' reported that "Spotify declined Business Insider's request for comment". As of today, Spotify pays artists between $0.003 – $0.005 per stream on average, and there are multiple online tools to calculate how much an artist can make on royalties based on their streams.


Support to Spotify

In June 2012, Charles Caldas, CEO of the
Merlin Network Merlin is a digital rights music licensing partner for independent record labels, distributors, and other music rights holders around the world. It was founded in 2007 with Charles Caldas as the chief executive. In January 2020, Jeremy Sirota ste ...
(a representative body for over 10,000 independent labels), clarified that Spotify pays royalties to the music labels, and not the artists. According to Caldas, the payments Merlin's labels received from Spotify rose 250 percent from the year ending March 2011 to the year ending March 2012, while at the time, the revenue per user was "the highest it has been since the launch of the service". Caldas said that Merlin had observed "consistent, ongoing growth on revenue per user, revenue per stream, and the total revenue" that Spotify generates for the labels it represents. "The thing about 'Spotify doesn't pay artists enough'—Spotify doesn't pay artists... They pay labels", said Caldas. Caldas also highlighted the issue of time lag for artists, as they are not gaining an impression of Spotify's status at the time they receive their payments. They are "getting reporting quarterly, or six-monthly, on sales that happened six months ago." Caldas explained that "royalty statements could be a year old". In February 2015, ''Music Business Worldwide'' reported on a French study between music trade body
SNEP SNEP (, in English National Syndicate of Phonographic Publishing) is the inter-professional organisation that protects the interests of the French record industry. Originally known under the acronym SNICOP, the organisation was established in ...
and EY that concluded that major labels kept 73% of Spotify Premium payouts, while writers/publishers received 16%, and artists received 11%. Mike Masnick of
Techdirt Techdirt is an American Internet blog that reports on technology's legal challenges and related business and economic policy issues, in context of the digital revolution. It focuses on intellectual property, patent, information privacy and copyr ...
wrote: "Sure, in the past, it may have been reasonable for the labels to take on large fees for distribution, but that's when it meant manufacturing tons of plastic and vinyl, and then shipping it to thousands of record stores around the globe. In this case, there's no manufacturing, and distribution is an "upload" button."


Spotify's "artist-in-residence" aid

In February 2012, ''
Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...
'' reported on "Spotify's secret weapon": musician D. A. Wallach, member of the band
Chester French Chester French was an American indie pop band consisting of lead vocalist and songwriter David-Andrew 'D.A.' Wallach, and multi-instrumentalist Maxwell Drummey. They met as college students at Harvard University, naming their band after sculpt ...
and former Harvard classmate of
Mark Zuckerberg Mark Elliot Zuckerberg (; born May 14, 1984) is an American businessman who co-founded the social media service Facebook and its parent company Meta Platforms, of which he is the chairman, chief executive officer, and controlling sharehold ...
. He acts as Spotify's "artist-in-residence" and helps Spotify "brainstorm artist-friendly applications that can be carved from the gusher of data it collects". One such application includes geographical data of which cities listen to artists' music the most as suitable tour locations. He told ''Forbes'':
We're working very carefully to make Spotify the most artist-friendly company that has ever existed. ... We're very interested in a high level of letting artists directly connect to their fans and manage that relationship and deliver value to their fans, and vice versa. We want to do that really elegantly, at a scale that's never existed before.
In a June interview with Hypebot, Wallach reported that $180 million of royalties was paid out in 2011 and 70% of Spotify's revenue consisted of royalty payments. Spotify's growth meant that the per-stream royalty rate doubled between the service's inception and mid-2012. He said that, at the time, compared to
iTunes iTunes is a media player, media library, and mobile device management (MDM) utility developed by Apple. It is used to purchase, play, download and organize digital multimedia on personal computers running the macOS and Windows operating s ...
, the average listener spends $60 annually on music, whereas Spotify Premium users spend twice that amount. According to Wallach in 2012: "The growth of the platform is proportional to the royalty pay out, and since inception, we've already doubled the effective per play rate."


Artist withdrawals


= Thom Yorke

= In July 2013, the
Radiohead Radiohead are an English rock band formed in Abingdon-on-Thames, Abingdon, Oxfordshire, in 1985. The band members are Thom Yorke (vocals, guitar, piano, keyboards); brothers Jonny Greenwood (guitar, keyboards, other instruments) and Colin Gre ...
singer
Thom Yorke Thomas Edward Yorke (born 7 October 1968) is an English musician who is the vocalist and main songwriter of the rock band Radiohead. He plays guitar, bass, keyboards and other instruments, and is noted for his falsetto. ''Rolling Stone'' desc ...
and the producer
Nigel Godrich Nigel Timothy Godrich (born 28 February 1971) is an English record producer, recording engineer and musician. He has worked with acts including Radiohead, Travis, Beck, Air, Paul McCartney, U2, R.E.M., Pavement, Roger Waters, Arcade Fire and ...
removed their band
Atoms for Peace "Atoms for Peace" was the title of a speech delivered by U.S. president Dwight D. Eisenhower to the UN General Assembly in New York City on December 8, 1953. The United States then launched an "Atoms for Peace" program that supplied equipment ...
and Yorke's solo music from Spotify. In a tweet, Yorke stated: "Make no mistake—new artists you discover on #Spotify will not get paid. Meanwhile, shareholders will shortly be rolling in it. Simples." Godrich stated: " treamingcannot work as a way of supporting new artists' work. Spotify and the like either have to address that fact and change the model for new releases, or else all new music producers should be bold and vote with their feet." In an October 2013 interview with Mexican website ''Sopitas'', Yorke said: "I feel like as musicians, we need to fight the Spotify thing. I feel that, in some ways, what's happening in the mainstream is the last gasp of the old industry. Once that does finally die, which it will, something else will happen." He described Spotify as "the last desperate fart of a dying corpse". Spotify responded in a statement that it was "still in the early stages of a long-term project that's already having a hugely positive effect on artists and new music", and that it is "100% committed to making Spotify the most artist-friendly music service possible, and are constantly talking to artists and managers about how Spotify can help build their career". In 2015, Brian Message, a partner at Radiohead's management company Courtyard Management, said he disagreed with Yorke, noting that Spotify pays 70 percent of its revenue back to the music industry. He said that "Thom's issue was that the pipe has become so jammed ... We encourage all of our artists to take a long-term approach ... Plan for the long term, understand that it's a tough game." On 17 June 2016, Radiohead's ninth album, ''
A Moon Shaped Pool ''A Moon Shaped Pool'' is the ninth studio album by the English rock band Radiohead. It was released digitally on 8 May 2016, with a retail release on 17 June 2016 through XL Recordings. It was produced by Radiohead's longtime collaborator Nigel ...
'', was made available on Spotify, six weeks after it was released on paid-for streaming services including
Apple Music Apple Music is an audio and video streaming service developed by Apple Inc. Users can select music to stream to their device on-demand, or listen to existing playlists. The service also includes the sister internet radio stations Apple Musi ...
and
Tidal Tidal is the adjectival form of tide. Tidal may also refer to: * ''Tidal'' (album), a 1996 album by Fiona Apple * Tidal (king), a king involved in the Battle of the Vale of Siddim * TidalCycles, a live coding environment for music * Tidal (servic ...
and
Deezer Deezer is a List of companies of France, French music streaming service and media service provider founded in 2007 that provides users with access to a vast library of music tracks, podcasts, and radio stations. It offers streaming services in ...
. Spotify had been in "advanced discussions" with Radiohead's management and label to make ''A Moon Shaped Pool'' the first album available exclusively to Spotify's paid subscribers, but no agreement was reached. The Spotify spokesperson Jonathan Prince stated: "Some of the approaches we explored with Radiohead were new, and we ultimately decided that we couldn't deliver on those approaches technologically in time for the album's release schedule." ''
In Rainbows ''In Rainbows'' is the seventh studio album by the English rock band Radiohead. It was self-released on 10 October 2007 as a download, followed by a retail release internationally through XL Recordings on 3 December 2007 and in North America t ...
'', the only other Radiohead album not previously available on Spotify, was added on 10 June 2016. Yorke's solo albums and Atoms for Peace were re-added in December 2017.


= Taylor Swift

= In July 2014, the American singer-songwriter
Taylor Swift Taylor Alison Swift (born December 13, 1989) is an American singer-songwriter. Known for her autobiographical songwriting, artistic versatility, and Cultural impact of Taylor Swift, cultural impact, Swift is one of the Best selling artists, w ...
wrote an article in ''
The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' (''WSJ''), also referred to simply as the ''Journal,'' is an American newspaper based in New York City. The newspaper provides extensive coverage of news, especially business and finance. It operates on a subscriptio ...
'' in which she stated:
Music is art, and art is important and rare. Important, rare things are valuable. Valuable things should be paid for. 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. I hope they don't underestimate themselves or undervalue their art.
On 3 November 2014, Swift removed her discography from Spotify. Swift had previously delayed the streaming of her 2012 album ''
Red Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–750 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a seconda ...
''. Swift stated: "I'm not willing to contribute my life's work to an experiment that I don't feel fairly compensates the writers, producers, artists, and creators of this music. And I just don't agree with perpetuating the perception that music has no value and should be free." Spotify launched a social media campaign to persuade Swift to return and, in a statement on its website, claimed that nearly 16 million of over 40 million users had played her music in the preceding 30-day period. Spotify CEO
Daniel Ek Daniel Georg Ek (; born 21 February 1983) is a Swedish businessman and technologist. He is the co-founder and chief executive officer (CEO) of music streaming service Spotify. As of May 2025, his net worth was estimated at $9.2 billion by ''For ...
wrote: "Taylor Swift is absolutely right; music is art, art has real value, and artists deserve to be paid for it. ... At our current size, payouts for a top artist like Taylor Swift (before she pulled her catalog) are on track to exceed $6 million a year." However,
Scott Borchetta Scott Borchetta (born July 3, 1962) is an American record executive and founder of the Big Machine Records#Imprints, Big Machine Label Group. He started the label in 2005 with Taylor Swift as its first signed artist and 13 employees, he served ...
, CEO of
Big Machine Records Big Machine Records is an American record label, distributed by Universal Music Group. Big Machine is based on Music Row in Nashville, Tennessee. The label was founded in September 2005 by former DreamWorks Records executive Scott Borchetta and ...
(Swift's label at the time), disputed those figures, and claimed that Swift had received "less than $500,000" in the past 12 months of domestic streaming of her songs. A Spotify spokesperson disputed this, telling ''Time'' that the total payout for Swift's streaming was $2 million globally. According to Ben Popper of ''
The Verge ''The Verge'' is an American Technology journalism, technology news website headquarters, headquartered in Lower Manhattan, New York City and operated by Vox Media. The website publishes news, feature stories, guidebooks, product reviews, cons ...
,'' Borchetta's figure of $500,000 only covered Spotify's payment for Taylor Swift streams in the US, which is not its largest market. Regarding the $6 million figure, Popper wrote: "As more people sign up for Spotify and Taylor Swift continues her march towards infinite popularity, the amount she is getting paid is increasing. ktook her trend line and ran it forward a year to get to the highest possible number he could quote." According to Borchetta, the amount Swift earned from streaming her videos on
Vevo Vevo LLC ( , an abbreviation for "Video Evolution", stylized in all caps until 2013) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational video hosting service, best known for providing music videos to YouTube. The service is also available ...
was greater than the payout she received from Spotify. He told ''Time'': "The facts show that the music industry was much better off before Spotify hit these shores ... Don't forget this is for the most successful artist in music today. What about the rest of the artists out there struggling to make a career? Over the last year, what Spotify has paid is the equivalent of less than 50,000 albums sold." Borchetta said in a February 2015 interview that Swift's catalog would be permitted on a streaming service "that understands the different needs that we
wift and Big Machine Records WIFT (102.1 FM, "Bigfoot Country 102.1") is a country music formatted broadcast radio station licensed to DuBois, Pennsylvania, serving the DuBois/ Punxsutawney/ Clearfield area. WIFT is owned and operated by Kristin Cantrell, through license ...
have," whereby "the choice to be n the free, ad-supported tieror not" is provided. Borchetta argued that Swift's musical oeuvre is "arguably the most important current catalog there is", and stated that the streaming issue is "about each individual artist, and the real mission here is to bring ... attention to it." In November 2014, Borchetta stated in a radio interview that "If this fan went and purchased the record, CD, iTunes, wherever, and then their friends go, 'Why did you pay for it? It's free on Spotify', we're being completely disrespectful to that superfan." In December 2015, a bootleg release of Swift's song, "
I Knew You Were Trouble "I Knew You Were Trouble" is a song by the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift from her fourth studio album, '' Red'' (2012). She wrote the song with its producers, Max Martin and Shellback. Instrumented by electric guitars and synthesiz ...
", appeared on Spotify credited to Welsh rock band
Lostprophets Lostprophets (stylised as lostprophets or LOSTPROPHETS) were a Welsh rock band from Pontypridd, formed in 1997 by singer Ian Watkins and guitarist Lee Gaze. The group was founded after their former band Fleshbind broke up. They later recruit ...
. The release was removed three days later. In an interview with ''
Music Week ''Music Week'' is a trade publication for the UK record industry distributed via a website and a monthly print magazine. It is published by Future. History Founded in 1959 as ''Record Retailer'', it relaunched on 18 March 1972 as ''Music We ...
'' in November 2016, Spotify's UK head of content programming George Ergatoudis said: "I've got every reason to be very optimistic Taylor Swift will be coming back to Spotify. I'm not saying it's done, but the indications are good, put it like that". Swift collaborated with
Zayn Malik Zain Javadd "Zayn" Malik ( ; born 12 January 1993) is an English singer-songwriter. He auditioned as a solo contestant for the British music competition television series ''The X Factor'' in 2010, where he ended up being a part of five-piece b ...
for the song "
I Don't Wanna Live Forever "I Don't Wanna Live Forever" (also subtitled "Fifty Shades Darker") is a song by the English singer Zayn and the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift from the 2017 soundtrack '' Fifty Shades Darker: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack''. It ...
" for the movie '' Fifty Shades Darker''. The song, released in December 2016, was withheld from Spotify for one week after its original release on competing streaming services. In June 2017, it was announced that Swift's full catalog would be released on all streaming services, including Spotify. On social media, Swift's management team stated: "In celebration of ''
1989 1989 was a turning point in political history with the "Revolutions of 1989" which ended communism in Eastern Bloc of Europe, starting in Poland and Hungary, with experiments in power-sharing coming to a head with the opening of the Berlin W ...
'' selling over 10 million albums worldwide and the
RIAA The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...
's 100 million song certification, Taylor wants to thank her fans by making her entire back catalog available to all streaming services." ''
Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...
'' questioned whether the move to allow her music on all streaming services was permanent. On 25 August 2017, Swift released her single "
Look What You Made Me Do "Look What You Made Me Do" is a song by the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift and the lead single from her sixth studio album, ''Reputation'' (2017). Big Machine Records released the song on August 24, 2017, following an approximately yea ...
"; it was made available on Spotify immediately following release. However, her sixth studio album, ''
Reputation The reputation or prestige of a social entity (a person, a social group, an organization, or a place) is an opinion about that entity – typically developed as a result of social evaluation on a set of criteria, such as behavior or performance. ...
'', featuring "Look What You Made Me Do", was withheld from all streaming services after its 10 November release date, not being made available for streaming until 1 December 2017. All releases by Swift since, including '' Lover'', ''
Folklore Folklore is the body of expressive culture shared by a particular group of people, culture or subculture. This includes oral traditions such as Narrative, tales, myths, legends, proverbs, Poetry, poems, jokes, and other oral traditions. This also ...
'', ''
Evermore ''Evermore'' (stylized in all lowercase) is the ninth studio album by the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift. It was surprise-released on December 11, 2020, by Republic Records. Swift conceived ''Evermore'' as a "sister record" to its p ...
'', ''
Midnights ''Midnights'' is the tenth studio album by the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift. It was released on October 21, 2022, by Republic Records. She conceived ''Midnights'' as a concept album about nocturnal ruminations inspired by her sleepl ...
'', ''
The Tortured Poets Department ''The Tortured Poets Department'' is the eleventh studio album by the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift. It was released on April 19, 2024, by Republic Records. Swift developed the album amidst the Eras Tour in 2023, with the resultant, ...
''and the re-recorded '' Fearless,
Red Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–750 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a seconda ...
,
Speak Now ''Speak Now'' is the third studio album by the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift. It was released on October 25, 2010, by Big Machine Records. Swift wrote the album entirely herself while touring in 2009–2010 to reflect on her transitio ...
, ''and ''
1989 1989 was a turning point in political history with the "Revolutions of 1989" which ended communism in Eastern Bloc of Europe, starting in Poland and Hungary, with experiments in power-sharing coming to a head with the opening of the Berlin W ...
'' were all released to Spotify immediately following their release.


Content withdrawals and delays

Spotify states in its support pages that: "We want all the world's music on Spotify. However, some artists and tracks are not currently available. Sometimes agreements can't be reached with the artist or label, or a change may happen in music ownership." Furthermore, in its apps, Spotify states a message for unavailable content: "The artist or their representatives have decided not to release this album on Spotify. We are working on it and hope they will change their mind soon." In December 2015,
Coldplay Coldplay are a British Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1997. They consist of vocalist and pianist Chris Martin, guitarist Jonny Buckland, bassist Guy Berryman, drummer and percussionist Will Champion, and manager Phil Harvey (band m ...
withheld ''
A Head Full of Dreams ''A Head Full of Dreams'' is the seventh studio album by British rock band Coldplay, released on 4 December 2015, by Parlophone in the United Kingdom, and by Atlantic in the United States. Coldplay recorded the album from early to mid 2015, r ...
'' from Spotify until one week after its release, citing that all music on Spotify is available to both paid and free users. Coldplay previously delayed their album ''
Ghost Stories A ghost story is any piece of fiction, or drama, that includes a ghost, or simply takes as a premise the possibility of ghosts or characters' belief in them."Ghost Stories" in Margaret Drabble (ed.), ''Oxford Companion to English Literature''. ...
'' from all streaming services for four months after CD,
vinyl Vinyl may refer to: Chemistry * Polyvinyl chloride (PVC), a particular vinyl polymer * Vinyl cation, a type of carbocation * Vinyl group, a broad class of organic molecules in chemistry * Vinyl polymer, a group of polymers derived from vinyl ...
and download release, and did the same with its earlier album ''
Mylo Xyloto ''Mylo Xyloto'' (pronounced ) is the fifth studio album by British Rock music, rock band Coldplay. It was released on 19 October 2011 in Japan and on 24 October 2011 in the rest of the world. The band worked closely with producer Brian Eno fo ...
''.
Beyoncé Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter ( ; born September 4, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and businesswoman. With a career spanning over three decades, she has established herself as one of the most Cultural impact of Beyoncé, ...
's self-titled album was not available until 24 November 2014, nearly a year after its original release.
Adele Adele Laurie Blue Adkins (; born 5 May 1988) is an English singer-songwriter. Regarded as a British cultural icon, icon, she is known for her mezzo-soprano vocals and sentimental songwriting. List of awards and nominations received by Adele, ...
's '' 21'' was not initially available on Spotify, as Adele wanted Spotify to make her album available to paid subscribers only, but not to free users. Spotify declined her offer to avoid creating separate catalogues for subscribers and non-subscribers. The album, originally released in January 2011, became available to stream 17 months later in June 2012. In November 2015, the singer confirmed that her new album, '' 25'', wouldn't be available for streaming on any service. In a series of interviews with ''
Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...
'', Adele stated: "I know that streaming music is the future, but it's not the only way to consume music. ... I can't pledge allegiance to something that I don't know how I feel about yet." However, the album was made available for streaming seven months later, in June 2016. Several bands from the 1960s and 1970s delayed their work being made available on Spotify or any streaming services. Until the end of 2013,
Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin were an English rock music, rock band formed in London in 1968. The band comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist-keyboardist John Paul Jones (musician), John Paul Jones and drummer John Bonham. With a he ...
's music was not available, before the parties reached an agreement in December. In 2015,
AC/DC AC/DC are an Australian rock band formed in Sydney in 1973. Their music has been variously described as hard rock, blues rock and Heavy metal music, heavy metal, although the band calls it simply "rock and roll". They are cited as a formativ ...
and
The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...
allowed their music on streaming services. In 2018, many songs from the album '' Get Happy!!'' by
Elvis Costello and the Attractions The Attractions were an English backing band for the English new wave musician Elvis Costello between 1977 and 1986, and again from 1994 to 1996. They consisted of Steve Nieve (keyboards), Bruce Thomas (bass guitar), and Pete Thomas (drums) ...
were removed from the site, including "
New Amsterdam New Amsterdam (, ) was a 17th-century Dutch Empire, Dutch settlement established at the southern tip of Manhattan Island that served as the seat of the colonial government in New Netherland. The initial trading ''Factory (trading post), fac ...
" and many others. Icelandic singer
Björk Björk Guðmundsdóttir ( , ; born 21 November 1965), known mononymously as Björk, is an Icelandic singer, songwriter, composer, record producer, and actress. Noted for her distinct voice, three-octave vocal range, and eccentric public per ...
initially chose not to release her album ''
Vulnicura ''Vulnicura'' is the eighth studio album by Icelandic musician and singer Björk. It was produced by Björk, Arca and The Haxan Cloak, and released on 20 January 2015 by One Little Indian Records. Björk said the album expresses her feelings bef ...
'' on Spotify, saying: "This streaming thing just does not feel right. I don't know why, but it just seems insane. ... To work on something for two or three years and then just, 'Oh, here it is for free.' It's not about the money; it's about respect, you know? Respect for the craft and the amount of work you put into it." In February 2017,
Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. The ...
's music produced under the Warner Bros. label, including the albums ''
1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...
'', '' Purple Rain'', ''
Dirty Mind ''Dirty Mind'' is the third studio album by the American singer-songwriter and musician Prince. It was released on October 8, 1980, by Warner Bros. Records. The album is notable for Prince's increasing reliance on rock music elements, high reg ...
'', and ''
Sign o' the Times ''Sign o' the Times'' (often stylized as ''Sign "☮︎" the Times'') is the ninth studio album by the American singer, songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist Prince. It was first released on March 31, 1987, as a double album by Paisl ...
'', became available on Spotify and other streaming services. In April 2017, rapper
Jay Z Shawn Corey Carter (born December 4, 1969), known professionally as Jay-Z, is an American rapper, businessman, and record executive. Rooted in East Coast hip-hop, he was named the greatest rapper of all time by ''Billboard'' and '' Vibe'' i ...
, part-owner of streaming service
Tidal Tidal is the adjectival form of tide. Tidal may also refer to: * ''Tidal'' (album), a 1996 album by Fiona Apple * Tidal (king), a king involved in the Battle of the Vale of Siddim * TidalCycles, a live coding environment for music * Tidal (servic ...
, pulled his music catalog from Spotify and
Apple Music Apple Music is an audio and video streaming service developed by Apple Inc. Users can select music to stream to their device on-demand, or listen to existing playlists. The service also includes the sister internet radio stations Apple Musi ...
. This was the third time the artist removed his albums from competing services, following the release of his debut album ''
Reasonable Doubt Beyond (a) reasonable doubt is a legal standard of proof required to validate a criminal conviction in most adversarial legal systems. It is a higher standard of proof than the standard of balance of probabilities (US English: preponderance of ...
'', and later ''
The Blueprint ''The Blueprint'' is the sixth studio album by American rapper Jay-Z, released on September 11, 2001, through Roc-A-Fella Records and Def Jam Recordings. Its release was set a week earlier than initially planned in order to combat bootlegging. ...
''. On 4 December 2019, Jay Z's entire catalogue returned to Spotify after a two-year absence in honour of his 50th birthday. In February 2019, Spotify premiered in India without the catalogue of
Warner Music Group Warner Music Group Corp., commonly abbreviated as WMG, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational entertainment and record label Conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered in New York City. It is one of the "Record label#M ...
and its publishing division
Warner/Chappell Music Warner Chappell Music, Inc. is an American music publishing company and a subsidiary of the Warner Music Group. Warner Chappell Music's catalog consists of over 1.4 million compositions and 150,000 composers, with offices in over 40 countries. ...
. Warner Music sued Spotify for using a statutory license, which applied to radio stations. In January 2020, Spotify signed a global publishing deal with Warner/Chappell. On 1 April 2020, Warner Music and Spotify ended the dispute by signing a global deal for the company's recording artists. On 2 August 2019, progressive metal band
Tool A tool is an Physical object, object that can extend an individual's ability to modify features of the surrounding environment or help them accomplish a particular task. Although many Tool use by animals, animals use simple tools, only human bei ...
's catalog premiered on Spotify and other digital services for the first time. In January 2021, Spotify removed nearly 750,000 tracks from its catalogue for having fraudulent stream totals. Distributor
DistroKid DistroKid, formerly titled Fandalism, is an American independent Digital music, digital music distribution service, founded in 2012 by entrepreneur Philip Kaplan. DistroKid principally offers musicians and other rights-holders the opportunity to ...
has offered a counter-notification process for artists whose music was removed from Spotify. On 1 March 2021, due to the expiring distribution deal, K-pop songs and releases distributed by
Kakao M Kakao M Corp. (; formerly Seoul Records, YBM Seoul Records and LOEN Entertainment) was a South Korean entertainment company established by Min Yeong-bin in 1978. It was one of the largest co-publisher companies in South Korea. The company opera ...
were removed from Spotify. According to the statement released by Kakao M, Spotify were claimed as the party who chose not to renew the deal. On 11 March 2021, Kakao M renewed its distribution deal with Spotify. On 5 August 2021,
Blackground Records Blackground Records 2.0 (legal name Blackground Records, LLC, formerly known as Blackground Records, also known as Blackground Entertainment) is an American record label founded and owned by Jomo and Barry Hankerson. Initially named Blackground ...
partnered with
Empire Distribution Empire Distribution, Records and Publishing Inc. (stylized as EMPIRE) is an independent American record label, distribution and publishing company founded in 2010 by Ghazi Shami. Based in San Francisco, EMPIRE has offices in New York, London, ...
to re-release most of its discography, most notably the catalogue of R&B singer
Aaliyah Aaliyah Dana Haughton ( ; January 16, 1979 – August 25, 2001) was an American singer, actress, dancer, and model. Known as the " Princess of R&B" and "Queen of Urban Pop", she is credited with helping to redefine contemporary R&B, p ...
. On 20 August 2021, Aaliyah's second album, '' One in a Million'', debuted on Spotify. Before 2021, all of Aaliyah's Blackground albums (except for her 1994 debut album ''
Age Ain't Nothing but a Number ''Age Ain't Nothing but a Number'' is the debut studio album by American singer Aaliyah. It was released on May 24, 1994, by Blackground Records and Jive Records. After being signed by her uncle Barry Hankerson, Aaliyah was introduced to reco ...
'') had never been released digitally because her uncle/manager,
Barry Hankerson Barry Hankerson (born August 3, 1947) is an American record producer, music label owner, and manager. Hankerson is the founder of Blackground Records, and the uncle of late singer and actress Aaliyah. Career Born and raised in Harlem, New Yor ...
, had let those releases go out of print. In December 2021, Spotify removed albums by hundreds of comedians because of unpaid composition royalties. The comedians are represented by Spoken Giants, an administration company for spoken-word compositions. On January 3, 2023, after years of negotiations with
Tommy Boy Records Tommy Boy Records is an American independent record label and multimedia brand founded in 1981 by Tom Silverman. The label is credited with helping and launching the music careers of Queen Latifah, Amber, Afrika Bambaataa, Stetsasonic, Digita ...
, American hip-hop group
De La Soul De La Soul ( ) is an American hip hop music, hip hop group formed in the village of Amityville on Long Island, New York (state), New York in 1988. They are best known for their eclectic sampling, eccentric lyrics, and contributions to the evoluti ...
announced that their first six albums would make their digital debut on March 3, 2023. The first single, "The Magic Number", was released on January 13, 2023.
Garth Brooks Troyal Garth Brooks (born February 7, 1962) is an American Country music, country singer and songwriter. His integration of pop and rock elements into the country genre has earned him his immense popularity, particularly in the United States, ...
and
Joanna Newsom Joanna Newsom (born January 18, 1982) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. After recording and self-releasing two EPs in 2002, Newsom signed to the independent label Drag City (record label), Drag City. Her debut album, ''The Milk-Eyed ...
are some of the few major artists still missing from Spotify. Brooks has an exclusive deal with
Amazon Music Amazon Music (previously Amazon MP3) is a music streaming platform and digital music store operated by Amazon. As of January 2020, the service had 55 million subscribers. It was the first music store to sell music without digital rights manag ...
, while Newsom's main catalogue is not available on Spotify. She said that the streaming platform is "the banana of the music industry" and calls it "the villainous cabal of major labels". The only song available on Spotify by Newsom is her cover of ''
The Muppet Show ''The Muppet Show'' is a variety sketch comedy television series created by Jim Henson and starring the Muppets. It is presented as a variety show, featuring recurring sketches and musical numbers interspersed with ongoing plot-lines with ru ...
s theme song, from
the soundtrack A soundtrack is a recorded audio signal accompanying and synchronised to the images of a book, drama, motion picture, radio program, television program, or video game; colloquially, a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured ...
of the 2011 film ''
The Muppets The Muppets are an American ensemble cast of puppet characters known for an surreal humor, absurdist, slapstick, burlesque, and self-referential humor, self-referential style of Musical theatre, musical Variety show, variety-sketch comedy. Cre ...
.''


Controversial policies and alleged behaviors


2015 privacy policy ambiguity

In August 2015, Spotify changed its terms and privacy policy, expanding Spotify's lawful access to media and location data stored on user devices. Initial concerns were raised about the policy being "far too broad without examples or vital context and detail around the data gathering the service is implementing", something Ek ascribed to poor communication from Spotify about the implications of the policy change. ''
The Verge ''The Verge'' is an American Technology journalism, technology news website headquarters, headquartered in Lower Manhattan, New York City and operated by Vox Media. The website publishes news, feature stories, guidebooks, product reviews, cons ...
'' has criticised ''Wired'''s coverage (which was republished by ''
Gizmodo ''Gizmodo'' () is a design, technology, science, and science fiction website. It was originally launched as part of the Gawker Media network run by Nick Denton. ''Gizmodo'' also includes the sub-blogs ''io9'' and ''Earther'', which focus on pop ...
'') to the policy change, citing a lack of context in their reporting in terms of failing to mention opt-out and explicit consent clauses, describing it as an "overreaction", as "FUD (
Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt Fear, uncertainty, and doubt (FUD) is a manipulative propaganda tactic used in technology sales, marketing, public relations, politics, polling, and cults. FUD is generally a strategy to influence perception by disseminating negative and dubio ...
)", and fearmongering. In response to concerns about the change, Ek tweeted a list of specific scenarios when this data is needed. For example, he described that access to photos is needed to upload playlist covers, and contacts for sharing tracks. Later, Ek published a post on the Spotify blog explicitly listing out the times when Spotify may ask to access this data, apologising for poor communication, and reiterating a "100 percent commit
ent Ents are giant humanoids in J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy world of Middle-earth who closely resemble trees; their leader is Treebeard of Fangorn forest. Their name is derived from an Old English word for "giant". The Ents appear in ''The Lord ...
to protecting" user privacy. ''Wired'' has since removed its coverage of the policy change.


Pay for Play practice and "Discovery Mode"

In August 2015, ''
Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...
'' reported that Spotify was among the streaming services influenced by "
pay for play Pay-to-play, sometimes pay-for-play or P2P, is a phrase used for a variety of situations in which money is exchanged for services or the privilege to engage in certain activities. The common denominator of all forms of pay-to-play is that one mu ...
", in which labels pay for songs to be placed on popular playlists followed by many users. Daniel Glass, executive of
Glassnote Records Glassnote Records (also known as Glassnote Entertainment Group LLC) is a record label that was launched by American music executive Daniel Glass in 2007. The label primarily has a lineup of indie rock and alternative rock artists, most notably ...
, stated that playlist promotion was "a very, very big deal". ''Billboard'' referenced an 5 August practice, in which
Universal Music Group Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as Universal Music Group or Universal Music) is a Netherlands, Dutch–United States, American multinational Music industry, music corporation under Law of the Netherlands, ...
hired Jay Frank as its Senior Vice President of Global Streaming Marketing, followed by an investment in Frank's marketing firm DigMark, "an innovator" in pay-for-play practices that charges clients
US$ The United States dollar (Currency symbol, symbol: Dollar sign, $; ISO 4217, currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and International use of the U.S. dollar, several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introdu ...
2,000 for a six-week campaign. The price goes up for playlists followed by more users, up to US$10,000. "For a while, Spotify didn't take a view" on the practice, according to a music label executive, but its then-new Terms of Service agreements would "
ake Ake (or Aké in Spanish orthography) is an archaeological site of the pre-Columbian Maya civilization. It is located in the municipality of Tixkokob, in the Mexican state of Yucatán; 40 km (25 mi) east of Mérida, Yucatán. The n ...
a stand against commercializing accounts and playlists by rank-and-file users", as well as prohibit the practice of "accepting any compensation, financial or otherwise, to influence ... the content included on an account or playlist". However, ''Billboard'' wrote that "policing, let alone enforcing, these terms could be difficult", adding that
loophole A loophole is an ambiguity or inadequacy in a system, such as a law or security, which can be used to circumvent or otherwise avoid the purpose, implied or explicitly stated, of the system. Originally, the word meant an arrowslit, a narrow vertic ...
s can still be exploited to continue the practice. In June 2018, allegations resurfaced after the release of
Drake Drake may refer to: Animals and creatures * A male duck * Drake (mythology), a term related to and often synonymous with dragon People and fictional characters * Drake (surname), a list of people and fictional characters with the family ...
's ''
Scorpion Scorpions are predatory arachnids of the Order (biology), order Scorpiones. They have eight legs and are easily recognized by a pair of Chela (organ), grasping pincers and a narrow, segmented tail, often carried in a characteristic forward cur ...
''. According to users, the rapper's songs were included in various playlists, some that were unrelated to the genre of their songs, such as
gospel Gospel originally meant the Christianity, Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the second century Anno domino, AD the term (, from which the English word originated as a calque) came to be used also for the books in which the message w ...
,
ambient music Ambient music is a genre of music that emphasizes Musical tone, tone and atmosphere over traditional Musical form, musical structure or rhythm. Often "peaceful" sounding and lacking Musical composition, composition, beat, and/or structured melod ...
and "best of
British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...
" (Drake is from
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...
, not Britain). Heavy criticism followed, with reports of some paying Spotify subscribers demanding refunds or unsubscribing. One of them reported to call the
Federal Trade Commission The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is an independent agency of the United States government whose principal mission is the enforcement of civil (non-criminal) United States antitrust law, antitrust law and the promotion of consumer protection. It ...
to report advertising fraud.


2016–17: "Fake artists" controversy

In August 2016, ''Music Business Worldwide'' reported that Spotify had begun paying producers to create music and placing the tracks on highly followed and popular playlists on the service. The production of the music, reportedly paid for by Spotify, was published on the service using fake artist names, and the motivation behind the practice reportedly due to creating tracks to "quality control" the mood of specific playlists and gain more favorable royalty rates than major and independent labels offer. However, the implications of the practice meant certain rightsholders who normally earned decent payouts from being featured on such playlists were excluded. After being mentioned in an article by ''Vulture'' in July 2017, a Spotify spokesperson told ''
Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...
'' that "We do not and have never created 'fake' artists and put them on Spotify playlists. Categorically untrue, full stop ..We pay royalties—sound and publishing—for all tracks on Spotify, and for everything we playlist. We do not own rights, we're not a label, all our music is licensed from rightsholders and we pay them—we don't pay ourselves". However, in another report, the ''Music Business Worldwide'' publication discussed the situation, including the artists' lack of social media profiles, lack of managers, lawyers and industry relationships, the listing of owning all their own rights, the lack of appearance on other streaming services, Spotify's denial to comment regarding questions of the artists' frequent placement on playlists, royalty rates and recommendation origins, and anonymous comments from "very senior figures in the music business" with alleged knowledge of the practice. The publication listed 50 of the top artists under suspicion, and asked them to contact the publication to verify their authenticity, adding that "We're pretty sure A&R teams from across the globe would love to hear about artists with no online presence who have managed to rack up millions of Spotify plays with their first few tracks".


2017–18: Hate Content & Hateful Conduct policy

In August 2017, Spotify announced that it would remove music that promotes white nationalism from its catalogue. In May 2018, Spotify attracted criticism for its "Hate Content & Hateful Conduct policy" that removed the music of
R. Kelly Robert Sylvester Kelly (born January 8, 1967), known as R. Kelly, is an American former singer, songwriter, and record producer. He is credited with prolific commercial success in R&B, hip hop, and pop music recordings, earning nicknames suc ...
,
Tay-K Taymor Travon McIntyre (born June 16, 2000), better known by his stage name Tay-K, is an American convicted murderer and former rapper. He is best known for his 2017 song " The Race", which peaked at number 44 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 a ...
and
XXXTentacion Jahseh Dwayne Ricardo Onfroy (January 23, 1998 – June 18, 2018), known professionally as XXXTentacion, was an American rapper and singer-songwriter. Though a controversial figure due to his widely publicized legal troubles, XXXTentacion gai ...
from its editorial and algorithmic playlists. A spokesperson for Spotify stated, "when we look at promotion, we look at issues around hateful conduct, where you have an artist or another creator who has done something off-platform that is so particularly out of line with our values, egregious, in a way that it becomes something that we don't want to associate ourselves with." R. Kelly has faced accusations of sexual abuse and misconduct since the 1990s, and was later found guilty of multiple counts relating to
child sexual abuse Child sexual abuse (CSA), also called child molestation, is a form of child abuse in which an adult or older adolescent uses a child for sexual stimulation. Forms of child sexual abuse include engaging in Human sexual activity, sexual activit ...
and
sex trafficking Sex trafficking is human trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation. Perpetrators of the crime are called sex traffickers or pimps—people who manipulate victims to engage in various forms of commercial sex with paying customers. Se ...
in 2021. Tay-K was arrested for
second-degree murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification or valid excuse committed with the necessary intention as defined by the law in a specific jurisdiction. ("The killing of another person without justification or excus ...
in 2016 and was found guilty in 2019, and had additionally been arrested for
capital murder Capital murder refers to a category of murder in some parts of the US for which the perpetrator is eligible for the death penalty. In its original sense, capital murder was a statutory offence of aggravated murder in Great Britain, Northern Irela ...
in 2017, which he is still awaiting trial for. Before XXXTentacion's murder, he was awaiting trial for multiple
domestic violence Domestic violence is violence that occurs in a domestic setting, such as in a marriage Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes r ...
-related charges. The decision to remove XXXTentacion from playlisting was criticized, with many pointing out that R. Kelly and Tay-K's crimes of sexual abuse and murder were far more serious than the allegations levied against XXXTentacion. Additionally, XXXTentacion and his team responded criticizing the decision, adding that artists such as
Ozzy Osbourne John Michael "Ozzy" Osbourne (born 3 December 1948) is an English singer, songwriter, and media personality. He rose to prominence during the 1970s as the lead singer of the heavy metal music, heavy metal band Black Sabbath, during which per ...
,
Dr. Dre Andre Romell Young (born February 18, 1965), known professionally as Dr. Dre, is an American rapper, record producer, record executive, and actor. He is the founder and CEO of Aftermath Entertainment and Beats Electronics, and co-founder of ...
,
David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer, songwriter and actor. Regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Bowie was acclaimed by critics and musicians, pa ...
, and
Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Michael Jackson, one of the most culturally significan ...
were not being censored despite more severe allegations being levied against them than the ones brought against XXXTentacion. The decision to remove XXXTentacion's music from curated playlists was reversed after
Top Dawg Entertainment Top Dawg Entertainment (TDE) is an American independent record label. Specializing in hip hop and R&B artists, TDE is based in Carson, California. The label was founded in 2004 by record producer Anthony "Top Dawg" Tiffith, who is the chief exec ...
CEO Anthony Tiffith threatened to remove his label's music from the service, with Top Dawg artist
Kendrick Lamar Kendrick Lamar Duckworth (born June 17, 1987) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter and record producer. Regarded as one of the greatest rappers of all time, he was awarded the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Music, becoming the first music ...
additionally threatening to remove his entire discography from the service if XXXTentacion's music was not reinstated into Spotify programming. Spotify eventually relented, and the decision to remove XXXTentacion's music specifically was revoked in June because the company deemed the original wording to be too "vague". Spotify moved to reduce the impact of artists' conduct on their inclusion and promotion on the platform, saying that it isn't the company's purpose to regulate behaviour. R. Kelly and Tay-K's music, however, remained removed from programming.


Removal of podcast content

In April 2021, Spotify announced the removal of 42 ''
The Joe Rogan Experience ''The Joe Rogan Experience'' is a podcast hosted by American comedian, presenter, and UFC color commentator Joe Rogan. It was initiated on December 24, 2009, on YouTube by Rogan and comedian Brian Redban, who was its sole co-host and produce ...
'' episodes from their catalog including interviews with
Alex Jones Alexander Emerick Jones (born February 11, 1974) is an American Far-right politics, far-right radio host, radio show host and prominent conspiracy theorist. He hosts ''The Alex Jones Show'' from Austin, Texas. ''The Alex Jones Show'' is the lo ...
, Bulletproof Coffee founder Dave Asprey expressing
anti-aging The anti-aging movement is a social movement devoted to eliminating or reversing aging, or reducing the effects of it. A substantial portion of the attention of the movement is on the possibilities for life extension, but there is also interest i ...
claims of his product, crude jokes, and interviews with
Chris D'Elia Christopher William D'Elia (born March 29, 1980) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, and podcast host. He is known for playing Alex Miller on the NBC sitcom '' Whitney'' (2011–2013), Danny Burton on the NBC sitcom ''Undateable'' ...
. In May 2020, Spotify paid an estimated $100 million for the exclusive rights to the podcast library.


Playlist fiddling and partnerships with low-royalty production companies

Since about 2021 Spotify was filling its playlists in some genres (including jazz, chill and "peaceful piano") with stock music attributed to a handful of little-known musicians, mostly Swedish, in an effort to reduce its royalty payouts. In 2022, an investigation by the Swedish daily
Dagens Nyheter (, ), abbreviated ''DN'', is a daily newspaper in Sweden. It is published in Stockholm and aspires to full national and international coverage, and is widely considered Sweden's newspaper of record A newspaper of record is a major nationa ...
found that around twenty songwriters were behind the work of more than five hundred "artists," and that thousands of their tracks were on Spotify and had been streamed millions of times.
Harper's Magazine ''Harper's Magazine'' is a monthly magazine of literature, politics, culture, finance, and the arts. Launched in New York City in June 1850, it is the oldest continuously published monthly magazine in the United States. ''Harper's Magazine'' has ...
journalist Liz Pelly discovered that Spotify has partnerships with a web of production companies which give up control of some
royalty payment A royalty payment is a payment made by one party to another that owns a particular asset, for the right to ongoing use of that asset. Royalties are typically agreed upon as a percentage of gross or net revenues derived from the use of an asset or ...
s so that the company can benefit financially. These tracks are then seeded across the platform on playlists called Perfect Fit Content (PFC). In doing so, they are effectively reducing the number of plays for other musicians.


Security issues


2009 security breach

In March 2009, Spotify warned users that a security flaw discovered and fixed in December 2008 was more serious than previously thought, having compromised the password hashes of individual users in Spotify's pre-December 2008 customer base, as well as potentially "registration information such as your email address, birth date, gender, postal code and billing receipt details". Credit card information was not exposed, due to being handled by a secure third-party provider. Spotify advised users to change their passwords, especially in cases where the same password was used for multiple sites.


2011 PC malware reports

In March 2011, Spotify temporarily removed display advertising on its computer software, after reports from users on the free service tier that a malicious advertisement had infected their systems. Then-named security firm
Websense Forcepoint is an American multinational corporation software company headquartered in Austin, Texas, that develops computer security software and data protection, cloud access security broker, firewall and cross-domain solutions. Forcepoint wa ...
stated that the attack used the Blackhole exploit kit. Spotify said in a statement that "Users with anti-virus software will have been protected", and "We sincerely apologise to any users affected. We'll continue working hard to ensure this does not happen again and that our users enjoy Spotify securely and in confidence."


2014 security breach

In May 2014, Spotify announced it had been hacked, but stated that only one user's information was accessed. It released a new Spotify app on the Android platform, replacing the former app, with Spotify chief technology officer Oskar Stål writing in a blog post that the upgrade was "a necessary precaution" and that no action for apps on other platforms were necessary.


Missing or inadequate application features


Lack of explicit content filter

Spotify is one of the few music streaming services that do not allow users to filter explicit content, which Rick Broida of '' CNET'' writes "may prevent users from opting into Spotify's Family Plan subscription offering". However, in April 2018, Spotify added the explicit filter for lyrics to mobile and tablet versions, but still displays explicit album art to all users. As of 2021, there is a setting for explicit music for
Windows Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...
.


Limit on music library

Spotify used to limit users' music libraries to 10,000 songs. This caused negative publicity on several occasions and "years of user complaints". Derek Mead of ''
Motherboard A motherboard, also called a mainboard, a system board, a logic board, and informally a mobo (see #Nomenclature, "Nomenclature" section), is the main printed circuit board (PCB) in general-purpose computers and other expandable systems. It ho ...
'' wrote in March 2016 that the limit was "insane", and suggested that Spotify, after raising "another billion dollars" in funding, should "fix the service's most asinine limitation". Chris Welch of ''
The Verge ''The Verge'' is an American Technology journalism, technology news website headquarters, headquartered in Lower Manhattan, New York City and operated by Vox Media. The website publishes news, feature stories, guidebooks, product reviews, cons ...
'' wrote in May 2017 that "It's time for Spotify to stop capping how much music you can save", further questioning "Why is there such an arbitrary cap?" Welch's article also highlighted the "thousands of votes from users" on Spotify's community forum asking for a higher limit, and attached a reply from a company representative, stating "At the moment, we don't have plans to extend the "Your Music" limit. The reason is because less than 1% of users reach it. The current limit ensures a great experience for 99% of users instead of an "OK" experience for 100%". On 26 May 2020, Spotify relented on their decision and decided to not limit user music libraries to 10,000 songs and albums. The new system only applies to the ability to save songs and albums to user's Spotify library. Individual playlists are still limited to 10,000 songs, and users can still only download up to 10,000 songs on each of their five different devices for offline listening.


Other criticism


"Scorpion SZN" promotion

On 27 June 2018, Spotify held a "takeover" promotion (dubbed "Scorpion SZN") to promote the release of
Drake Drake may refer to: Animals and creatures * A male duck * Drake (mythology), a term related to and often synonymous with dragon People and fictional characters * Drake (surname), a list of people and fictional characters with the family ...
's fifth studio album ''Scorpion''. During the promotion, many of the service's curated playlists had their cover art modified to include photos of Drake, even if the playlist's topic was not associated with Drake's music. The campaign faced criticism from some users, who felt that it was excessive (especially to users not necessarily interested in Drake's music), and contradictory to Spotify Premium being promoted as an ad-free service. It was reported that some users had successfully received refunds after complaining about the promotion.


Ministry of Sound copyright lawsuit

In September 2013,
Ministry of Sound Ministry of Sound or Ministry of Sound Group is a multimedia entertainment business based in London with a nightclub, shared workspace and private members' club, worldwide events operation, music publisher (popular music), music publishing busin ...
sued Spotify, alleging that user playlists mimicking the track listings of their compilation albums were infringing on the copyrights of the albums themselves (citing the skill and effort in their compilation). In February 2014, the two parties reached a settlement, under which Spotify agreed to restrict the ability to search for or follow the infringing playlists.


Misinformation and ''The Joe Rogan Experience''

In 2020, Spotify received criticism from anti-misinformation groups when conspiracy theorist
Alex Jones Alexander Emerick Jones (born February 11, 1974) is an American Far-right politics, far-right radio host, radio show host and prominent conspiracy theorist. He hosts ''The Alex Jones Show'' from Austin, Texas. ''The Alex Jones Show'' is the lo ...
appeared on
Joe Rogan Joseph James Rogan (born August 11, 1967) is an American podcaster, Ultimate Fighting Championship, UFC color commentator, comedian, actor, and former television host. He hosts The Joe Rogan Experience, ''The Joe Rogan Experience'', which is o ...
's podcast, ''
The Joe Rogan Experience ''The Joe Rogan Experience'' is a podcast hosted by American comedian, presenter, and UFC color commentator Joe Rogan. It was initiated on December 24, 2009, on YouTube by Rogan and comedian Brian Redban, who was its sole co-host and produce ...
''. Spotify's employees raised concerns about Jones' appearance on the show. In 2021, Spotify removed 42 episodes of Rogan's podcast. In January 2022, 270 scientists, physicians, professors, doctors, and healthcare workers wrote an open letter to Spotify expressing concern over "false and societally harmful assertions" on ''The Joe Rogan Experience'' and asked Spotify to "establish a clear and public policy to moderate misinformation on its platform". The 270 signatories objected to Rogan broadcasting
COVID-19 misinformation False information, including intentional disinformation and conspiracy theories, about the scale of the COVID-19 pandemic and the origin, prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of the disease has been spread through social media, text messagi ...
, citing "a highly controversial" episode featuring guest Robert Malone (#1757). The episode has been criticized for "promoting baseless conspiracy theories", including "an unfounded theory that societal leaders have 'hypnotized' the public." The signatories assert: "Dr. Malone is one of two recent JRE guests who has compared pandemic policies to
the Holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...
. These actions are not only objectionable and offensive, but also medically and culturally dangerous." The signatories also note that Malone was suspended from Twitter for spreading misinformation about COVID-19. On 26 January 2022,
Neil Young Neil Percival Young (born November 12, 1945) is a Canadian and American singer-songwriter. After embarking on a music career in Winnipeg in the 1960s, Young moved to Los Angeles, forming the folk rock group Buffalo Springfield. Since the begi ...
removed his music from Spotify after they refused to remove the podcast.
Joni Mitchell Roberta Joan Mitchell (née Anderson; born November 7, 1943) is a Canadian and American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and painter. As one of the most influential singer-songwriters to emerge from the 1960s folk music circuit, Mitch ...
subsequently removed her music in support of Young. Other artists and podcasters, such as
Nils Lofgren Nils Hilmer Lofgren (born June 21, 1951) is an American rock musician, recording artist, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. Along with his work as a solo artist, he has been a member of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band since 1984, a memb ...
,
Brené Brown Casandra Brené Brown is an American academic and podcaster who is the Huffington Foundation's Brené Brown Endowed Chair at the University of Houston's Graduate College of Social Work and a visiting professor in management at the McCombs School ...
and Crosby, Stills, & Nash, also announced a boycott of Spotify.
Prince Harry Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, (Henry Charles Albert David; born 15 September 1984) is a member of the British royal family. As the younger son of King Charles III and Diana, Princess of Wales, he is fifth in the line of succession to ...
and
Meghan, Duchess of Sussex Meghan, Duchess of Sussex (; born Rachel Meghan Markle, August 4, 1981) is an American member of the British royal family, media personality, entrepreneur, and former actress. She is married to Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, the younger son ...
, who signed a multi-year partnership with Spotify, said that since April 2021 they had been "expressing concerns" over COVID-19 misinformation on the platform. Amid the controversy, as of 28 January 2022 Spotify's stock had fallen 12% week-on-week, a loss of $4 billion in
market capitalization Market capitalization, sometimes referred to as market cap, is the total value of a publicly traded company's outstanding common shares owned by stockholders. Market capitalization is equal to the market price per common share multiplied by ...
. By 30 January 2022, this number had grown to a loss of $6.7 billion in market value, a fall of 17% week-on-week, and a fall of 26% year-to-date. Spotify's stock fell by 13% after the company reported fourth-quarter earnings on 2 February 2022. Although Ek addressed the Rogan controversy during the earnings call, the loss in value was attributed to the company's guidance on Q1 user growth, which did not meet analyst expectations. Spotify promised to add content advisories for anything containing discussions related to COVID-19 and posted additional rules. Rogan apologized for his role in the controversy, and defended his interviews with two controversial guests, Robert W. Malone and
Peter A. McCullough Peter Andrew McCullough () (born December 29, 1962) is an American former cardiologist. He was vice chief of internal medicine at Baylor University Medical Center and a professor at Texas A&M University. From the beginnings of the COVID-19 p ...
, as "highly credentialed, very intelligent, very accomplished people, and they have an opinion that is different from the mainstream narrative". Rogan said he agreed with Spotify's plan to label episodes including COVID-19 discussions and would try to "have more experts with differing opinions, right after the controversial ones". In February 2022, Spotify removed about 70 more episodes of ''The Joe Rogan Experience'', reportedly at Rogan's own request. Musician
India Arie India Arie Simpson (born October 3, 1975) is an American singer and songwriter. She rose to prominence with her debut album, '' Acoustic Soul (2001),'' which was a commercial and critical success. She has since released the albums '' Voyage to ...
shared a compilation of clips in which Rogan used the " n word" on the podcast, and a clip in which Rogan appears to liken being around black people with the film ''
Planet of the Apes ''Planet of the Apes'' is a science fiction media franchise consisting of films, books, television series, comics, and other media about a Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction, post-apocalyptic world in which humans and intelligent apes c ...
''. Arie announced that she was also boycotting Spotify. Rogan posted an apology, saying it was "regretful and shameful", but said that the clips were "taken out of context". In a message to employees, Ek said: "While I strongly condemn what Joe has said and I agree with his decision to remove past episodes from our platform, I realize some will want more. And I want to make one point very clear – I do not believe that silencing Joe is the answer." In July 2022, Crosby, Stills & Nash returned to the platform, although the group's songs with Neil Young were not brought back. The group stated that streaming profits from the newly returned songs will be donated to charities supporting those affected by COVID-19 for "at least a month". In March 2024, after a two-year absence from the platform,
Neil Young Neil Percival Young (born November 12, 1945) is a Canadian and American singer-songwriter. After embarking on a music career in Winnipeg in the 1960s, Young moved to Los Angeles, forming the folk rock group Buffalo Springfield. Since the begi ...
announced that his music would return to Spotify, starting with his
greatest hits album A greatest hits album or best-of album is a type of compilation album that collects popular and commercially successful songs by a particular artist or band. While greatest hits albums are typically supported by the artist, they can also be creat ...
. Later that month,
Joni Mitchell Roberta Joan Mitchell (née Anderson; born November 7, 1943) is a Canadian and American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and painter. As one of the most influential singer-songwriters to emerge from the 1960s folk music circuit, Mitch ...
restored her catalogue to Spotify.


2024 Wrapped

In December 2024, Spotify released its yearly 'Wrapped' feature, which is renowned for showing users their most listened to songs, genres, albums and artists. Spotify would release their 2024 Wrapped the latest it has ever been released, on 4 December 2024, and it came under extreme scrutiny from users and the media. Spotify was accused of using generative AI to create 2024 Wrapped, due to the "lacklustre graphic design", "complete lack of quirks or facts about user listening habits", and most controversially, "the removal of top genres and albums, as well as nonsensical names for "musical generation" periods". Spotify was also accused of not properly tracking stats, as many disgruntled users would take to
Instagram Instagram is an American photo sharing, photo and Short-form content, short-form video sharing social networking service owned by Meta Platforms. It allows users to upload media that can be edited with Social media camera filter, filters, be ...
,
TikTok TikTok, known in mainland China and Hong Kong as Douyin (), is a social media and Short-form content, short-form online video platform owned by Chinese Internet company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which may range in duration f ...
, and X to compare their
LastFM Last.fm is a music website founded in the United Kingdom in 2002. Utilizing a music recommender system known as "Audioscrobbler", Last.fm creates a detailed profile of each user's musical preferences by recording the details of the Music downlo ...
stats to their Wrapped stats, which were in most cases wildly inaccurate, as many accused the app of only tracking listening periods from certain months.


Funding defense technology

On 9 November 2021, Spotify CEO Daniel Ek announced that Prima Materia, his investment company, was donating €100 million (US$115 million) into
Helsing Helsing or Hellsing may refer to: * Helsing (also spelled Hellsing) a Swedish surname referring to the Swedish province (''landskap'') Hälsingland. Someone from Hälsingland is called a "Hälsinge", with the old (from the 17th to the 18th century) ...
, a European defense AI company. Ek also joined Helsing's board along with its co-founders Torsten Reil, Gundbert Scherf and Niklas Köhler. Helsing, writes Connie Lin,
''"engineers software that pieces together a real-time picture of an 'operational environment' by organizing unstructured data from multiple sensors on vehicles and systems—such as tanks, drones, or satellites—including video feeds, thermal imaging, and sonar and radar frequencies" which "could be valuable for military reconnaissance by helping officers assess battlefield combat situations or identify critical targets."''
The German DJ and
techno Techno is a genre of electronic dance music (EDM) which is generally produced for use in a continuous DJ set, with tempos being in the range from 120 to 150 beats per minute (bpm). The central rhythm is typically in common time ( ) and often ...
producer
Skee Mask Bryan Müller, known as Skee Mask, is an electronic music producer from Munich, Germany. Career Skee Mask was resident DJ at Munich's Blitz Club from 2017 to 2022. His 2018 album, ''Compro'', was named "Best New Music" by ''Pitchfork A pit ...
urged his nearly 17,000 Twitter followers not to give their "last penny to such a wealthy business that obviously prefers the development of warfare instead of actual progression in the music business." According to Sameer Gupta, a percussionist based in Brooklyn, New York, "All that money that's being taken from artists and musicians is being funneled to this," referring to Helsing. "I don't know a single musician who would ever say, 'That's the function of music.


References

{{Spotify
Spotify Spotify (; ) is a List of companies of Sweden, Swedish Music streaming service, audio streaming and media service provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. , it is one of the largest providers of music streaming services ...
Spotify
Spotify Spotify (; ) is a List of companies of Sweden, Swedish Music streaming service, audio streaming and media service provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. , it is one of the largest providers of music streaming services ...