Why Only Taylor Swift Could Leave Spotify

5 minute read

Taylor Swift’s latest business move matches the retro title of her new album, 1989. The erstwhile country singer has removed her entire music catalogue from Spotify, the world’s largest subscription streaming service. Swift has already been a vocal critic of music streaming, writing in the Wall Street Journal that platforms like Spotify have contributed to the music industry’s ongoing financial decline.

The move may frustrate Swift’s fans, but it will work brilliantly for the singer, at least in the short term. The first-week sales projections for 1989 have climbed steadily, and the album is now expected to have the biggest first-week sales of any album in the U.S. since The Eminem Show in 2002. Keeping her newest LP off of Spotify and other streaming services seems to have driven fans to buy the album outright. But making music available solely on a declining format is a risky strategy that requires a Swift-ian level of clout and influence.

Regardless of 1989’s blockbuster status, music fans are buying fewer albums each year. Total album sales were down more than 7% in 2013, despite a jam-packed year for pop that included releases by Katy Perry, One Direction, Kanye West, Jay-Z, Lady Gaga and a surprise LP from Beyonce that practically broke the Internet. The slide worsened in the comparatively quiet first half of 2014 as album sales dipped another 14%, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

Taylor Swift blames streaming services for this ongoing decline, but that’s a short-term view of the industry’s financial woes. Album sales have been in freefall since 2000, when Napster made stealing music much simpler than buying it. U.S. album shipments declined from about 13 billion that year to about 4 billion in 2010, the year before Spotify arrived on American shores, according to the Recording Industry Association of America. It’s true that Spotify and other streaming services have caused a decline in digital album sales, but there’s no evidence that records bought via the iTunes Store were ever going to make up for revenue lost from the collapse of the CD market.

The simple fact is young people no longer buy albums as casual entertainment. YouTube, of all places, is the most popular way for teenagers to listen to music. Albums are bought by diehard fans who want to support an artist and casual followers who want to participate in a cultural event. Swift deftly played to both audiences in the runup to 1989, hosting a set of secret listening sessions for her biggest fans around the country and crafting a narrative of creative rebirth around the album that created a curiosity about her new, pop-focused sound. 1989 is the musical equivalent of the Super Bowl—even people who don’t actually care that much about the game will tune in just to be part of the conversation.

But only the biggest of stars can even attempt to make an album release a cultural event, and the strategy doesn’t always pay off. Lady Gaga and Kanye West each had 2013 LPs that explored new soundscapes and were promoted with headline-garnering spectacles, but the albums failed to match the sales of their predecessors. Beyonce’s surprise release was a smash hit by modern standards, partially because it wasn’t streamable on Spotify, but it still hasn’t managed to surpass her first or second albums in sales. Selling records in the digital era is hard, and it’s only going to get harder for people not named Taylor Swift.

For most artists, especially those sandwiched between indie obscurity and mega-stardom, there are no greener pastures to retreat to. These musicians have to follow fans where they are, and that’s on streaming services. Total on-demand music streams on platforms like Spotify and YouTube in the U.S. totalled 70 billion in the first half of 2014, a 42% increase over the previous year, according to Nielsen. Removing music from these services en masse would likely result in the return of rampant piracy on peer-to-peer networks, a practice that was cut in half between 2005 and 2012, according to NPD, years in which we saw the rise of streaming.

Still, Swift alone is so important that Spotify can’t simply let her remain off the service. The company has launched a social media campaign trying to rally Swift fans to compel her to return, but it’s a hollow tactic that appeals to sentiment instead of economics. A better strategy would be providing more evidence that Spotify can generate significant revenue for individual artists or adding more premium features to encourage users to adopt the paid version of the service (Swift’s back catalogue is still available on Beats Music, which is pay-only). It’s possible that Swift’s exodus will force Spotify to retool its business model in a way that’s beneficial to all artists.

But musicians that try to directly mimic Swift’s tactics may be in for a rude awakening. Taylor Swift can bail on Spotify for the same reason the Beatles didn’t put their albums on iTunes until 2010: They can both float above industry headwinds, release their music in the format of their choosing and watch fans follow obediently. Few others have the same luxury.

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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