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Here’s Why Taylor Swift Pulled Her Music From Spotify

4 minute read

Taylor Swift pulled all her music from Spotify on Monday, save for one song, in a move that’s got many of her fans—and especially the music streaming service—calling desperately for her return.

The Shake It Off singer hasn’t been too keen on sharing her music with Spotify. Swift’s most recent album, 1989, wasn’t on the service, and she initially held off on allowing Spotify to stream her 2012 album, Red. But the 24-year-old, whose music seems to have its own copyright patrol service, had been showing signs that she wouldn’t work with Spotify since July, when she explained her problem with streaming music services in a Wall Street Journal op-ed:

In my opinion, the value of an album is, and will continue to be, based on the amount of heart and soul an artist has bled into a body of work, and the financial value that artists (and their labels) place on their music when it goes out into the marketplace. Piracy, file sharing and streaming have shrunk the numbers of paid album sales drastically, and every artist has handled this blow differently.

Swift also argued in her piece that free or virtually free songs are at odds with what music really means:

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.

So how much do Spotify artists actually make? Artists earn on average less than one cent per play, between $0.006 and $0.0084, to be exact, according to Spotify Artists, a website that explains the service to artists.

MORE: Find the perfect Taylor Swift Lyric for your mood

It’s a small per-stream royalty, but for someone like Swift, a one-cent-per-stream model would likely rack in millions. Spotify has said that an unnamed but real-life artist was earning $425,000 per month in royalties for a “global hit album,” a category likely containing 1989, which is on track to set a record for the best-selling week ever for an album by a female artist. Additionally, over 70% of Spotify’s revenue goes to rights holders like the record label, publisher and distributor.

Other factors also make Spotify a lucrative opportunity for Swift. An artist’s popularity on Spotify is also one of the major metrics in how payout is calculated, and it’s no secret that Swift is a huge traffic driver. Her single Shake It Off was number one on Spotify as of Monday, and it’s likely Spotify’s charts would’ve looked a lot more like the ones on iTunes if 1989 was available there. Swift’s payout would also increase alongside Spotify’s revenue, and advertisers probably would’ve paid pretty large premiums to tap into Swift’s streaming audience.

Spotify

Spotify has made clear not only to Swift but to all artists that despite how little money artists make per stream compared to per album profits, it believes there is still value in its model:

We personally view “per stream” metrics as a highly flawed indication of our value to artists . . . We believe, however, that our service and the lives of artists will both be best if the world’s music fans enjoy more music than ever before in a legal, paid manner.

Still, it’s obvious that not even the promise of millions is enough to seal a deal with Swift, who’s calling for artists to reject services that devalue their work through low payouts. Other artists have taken similar actions, including musicians like American rock duo The Black Keys, who have spoken out against the small royalties paid by streaming services. Meanwhile, some artists like Coldplay choose to stagger their album’s streaming release in order to encourage listeners to buy or download the album before it’s available for streaming.

Spotify is holding out hope that Swift will return to the service, writing in a Monday statement, “We hope she’ll change her mind and join us in building a new music economy that works for everyone.” But her return doesn’t seem too probable now that she’s taken very real steps to realize what is one of her biggest goals as an influencer, according to her Journal op-ed:

My hope for the future, not just in the music industry, but in every young girl I meet . . . is that they all realize their worth and ask for it.

Read next: 4 Places to Listen to Taylor Swift Besides Spotify

PHOTOS: See Taylor Swift Over the Years

2006 CMT Music Awards - Arrivals
Taylor Swift arrives at the 2006 CMT Music Awards at the Curb Event Center at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee.John Shearer—WireImage/Getty Images
2007 CMT Music Awards - Red Carpet
Taylor Swift arrives at the 2007 CMT Music Awards.Kevin Mazur—WireImage/Getty Images
42nd Annual Academy Of Country Music Awards - Show
Taylor Swift performs during the 42nd Annual Academy Of Country Music Awards held at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada in 2007.Ethan Miller—Getty Images
2008 ACM New Artists Party For A Cause
Taylor Swift performs during the Academy of Country Music New Artists' Party for a Cause show at the MGM Grand Hotel/Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada in 2008.Ethan Miller—Getty Images
Taylor Swift and Michelle Williams Visit MTV's "TRL" - June 16, 2008
Taylor Swift performs live on MTV's "TRL" at the MTV Studios in Times Square in New York City in 2008.Gary Gershoff—WireImage/Getty Images
The 42nd Annual CMA Awards - Arrivals
Taylor Swift attends the 42nd Annual CMA Awards at the Sommet Center in Nashville, Tennessee in 2008.Ed Rode—WireImage/Getty Images
CNN Heroes "An All-Star Tribute" 2008
Singer Taylor Swift arrives at CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, California in 2008.Jon Kopaloff—FilmMagic/Getty Images
Saturday Night Live
Taylor Swift performs on Saturday Night Live in 2009.NBC/Getty Images
The Brit Awards 2009 - Arrivals
Taylor Swift arrives at the Brit Awards 2009 at Earls Court in London, England.Gareth Cattermole—Getty Images
44th Annual Academy Of Country Music Awards All-Star Jam
Taylor Swift performs during the 44th annual Academy of Country Music Awards All-Star Jam at the MGM Grand Hotel/Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada in 2009.Ethan Miller—Getty Images
Taylor Swift in Concert
Taylor Swift performs at Madison Square Garden in New York City in 2009.Theo Wargo—WireImage/Getty Images
2009 MTV Video Music Awards - Arrivals
Taylor Swift arrives to the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. Stephen Lovekin—FilmMagic/Getty Images
The 43rd Annual CMA Awards - Show
Taylor Swift performs at the 43rd Annual CMA Awards from the Sommet Center in Nashville, Tennessee in 2009.Katherine Bomboy—Getty Images
The 52nd Annual GRAMMY Awards - Show
Taylor Swift performs onstage at the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards held at Staples Center in Los Angeles, California in 2010.Michael Caulfield—WireImage/Getty Images
Taylor Swift drops one of her awards dur
Taylor Swift drops one of her awards during the 52nd annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles, California in 2010.Valerie Macon—AFP/Getty Images
Taylor Swift 13 hours on the 13th. & some songs
Taylor Swift performs at the CMA Music Festival in Nashville, Tennessee in 2010.Rick Diamond—Getty Images
Grand Ole Opry 85th Birthday Bash
Taylor Swift performs during the Grand Ole Opry 85th birthday bash at the Grand Ole Opry House in Nashville, Tennessee in 2010.Tony R. Phipps—Getty Images
44th Annual CMA Awards - Show
Taylor Swift performs "Back to December" at the 44th Annual CMA Awards at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee in 2010.Rick Diamond—Getty Images
taylor Swift attends the 'Alexander McQu
Taylor Swift attends the 'Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty' Costume Institute Gala at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in 2011.TIMOTHY A. CLARY—AFP/Getty Images
2012 MTV Video Music Awards - Show
Taylor Swift performs at the 2012 MTV Video Music Awards at Staples Center in Los Angeles, California.Jason LaVeris—FilmMagic/Getty Images
BBC Radio 1 Teen Awards - Show
Taylor Swift performs at the Radio One Teen Awards at Wembley Arena in London, England in 2012.Mike Marsland—WireImage/Getty Images
BBC Radio 1 Teen Awards - Show
Taylor Swift performs at the Radio One Teen Awards at Wembley Arena in London, England in 2012.Mike Marsland—WireImage/Getty Images
Taylor Swift Switches On Westfield London Christmas Lights
Taylor Swift switches on the Christmas lights and performs for fans and shoppers at Westfield London in London, England in 2012.Mike Marsland—WireImage/Getty Images
26th Annual ARIA Awards 2012 - Arrivals
Taylor Swift arrives at the 26th Annual ARIA Awards 2012 at the Sydney Entertainment Centre in Sydney, Australia. Don Arnold—WireImage/Getty Images
26th Annual ARIA Awards 2012 - Show
Taylor Swift performs on stage during the 26th Annual ARIA Awards 2012 at the Sydney Entertainment Centre in Sydney, Australia.Brendon Thorne—Getty Images
KIIS FM's Jingle Ball 2012 - Night 1 - Show
Taylor Swift performs during night 1 of the 2012 KIIS FM Jingle Ball at Nokia Theatre LA Live in Los Angeles, California.C Flanigan—FilmMagic/Getty Images
Taylor Swift At Gillette Stadium
Taylor Swift in concert at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts in 2013.Barry Chin—Boston Globe/Getty Images
2013 Victoria's Secret Fashion Show - Show
Taylor Swift performs while Candice Swanepoel walks the runway at the 2013 Victoria's Secret Fashion Show at the Lexington Avenue Armory in New York City.Jamie McCarthy—Getty Images
Taylor Swift Lives In Shanghai
Taylor Swift performs at the Mercedes-Benz Arena on May 30, 2014 in Shanghai, China.ChinaFotoPress/Getty Images
2014 American Music Awards - Show
Taylor Swift performs onstage during the 2014 American Music Awards held at Nokia Theatre L.A. Live on Nov. 23, 2014 in Los Angeles, Ca.Michael Tran—FilmMagic/Getty Images
2014 American Music Awards - Roaming Show
Taylor Swift performs at the 2014 American Music Awards at Nokia Theatre L.A. Live on Nov. 23, 2014 in Los Angeles, Ca.Christopher Polk—Getty Images
The Voice - Season 7
Taylor Swift performs on The Voice in 2014.NBC/Getty Images
2014 Victoria's Secret Fashion Show - Show
Taylor Swift performs during the 2014 Victoria's Secret Fashion Show at Earl's Court exhibition centre on Dec. 2, 2014 in London, England.Dimitrios Kambouris—Getty Images for Victoria's Secr
KIIS FM's Jingle Ball 2014  Powered by LINE  - Show
Taylor Swift performs onstage during KIIS FM's Jingle Ball 2014 at Staples Center on December 5, 2014 in Los Angeles, Ca.Christopher Polk—Getty Images

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