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Spotify and Universal Unveil Far-Reaching Deal That Improves ‘Bundling’ Payment Structure
Spotify and Universal announced a new deal that sources say improves the payment structure for the streamer's controversial music-audiobooks 'bundle.'
While much of the wording in the announcement is in bland generalities, it does note that “Artists, songwriters and consumers will benefit from new and evolving offers, new paid subscription tiers, bundling of music and non-music content, and a richer audio and visual content catalog,” adding that “the collaboration between these two companies will position the industry for continued subscriber growth and retention.” It concludes by noting that “The new agreements also renew the companies’ commitment to artist-centric principles, ensuring that artists continue to be properly rewarded for the share of audience engagement that they drive and that their streaming royalties remain protected through the platform’s application of its fraud detection and enforcement systems.” While there’s little question that streaming, and Spotify in particular, returned the music industry to financial health after a 15-year tailspin due to illegal downloading, its payments to musicians and especially songwriters are a mere fraction of what they earn from the sale of physical product like vinyl and CDs. However, even that model has faltered in recent years, as the post-pandemic glow has faded from the live-music industry and, in a tougher economy, many tours, even by major stars, have met with lower ticket sales than hoped — a truly existential crisis, as it leaves many musicians with basically no way to make a living while executives at music companies and especially streaming services are the primary beneficiaries — Forbes estimates Spotify CEO and cofounder Daniel Ek’s net worth at $7.4 billion.
Or read this on Variety