Re:Spotify raises $1B in debt with devilish terms to fight A...
by joshdickson on Wednesday March 30, 2016 @03:05AM
(#11387458)
Spotify did not ditch Taylor Swift, you have it backwards. She has been quite outspoken in pulling her content off Spotify, not the other way around. Same reason why Adele's 25 is not there.
The ROI is not negative for major artists. Missing major artists creates "holes" in people's listening habits, and they start getting fed up with the service the more of them that are missing, and that leads to cancellations and churn. Spotify would take her or Adele or whoever else has pulled their content back immediately if possible.
Fundamentally they have a bad business model. Good on them for ditching Taylor Swift - while she is very popular the financials likely showed the ROI for having her on the platform was negative.
IMO Spotify is going to either need to change how their business works or make some painful cuts to become sustainable.