Last Monday, Spotify, the well-known digital music streaming service , announced a change that will be implemented by the end of July. The change is significant, since an artist will no longer be able to upload their music for streaming unless they have a distributor.
A spokesperson for the company , when asked, said they are working on improving their collaboration with song distributors, with the aim of improving the Spotify experience for more artists. Specifically, he said that the company's resources are being invested in areas such as Spotify for Artists, which is used daily by creators.
As a result, younger artists will have to return to sites like Soundcloud to upload their music. Naturally, this has created a wave of reactions from both Spotify fans and artists.
The service allows users to save a version of a song before it's even released. That way, when the track is released, it'll already be in the user's playlist. To do this, Spotify users must approve certain permissions. These permissions give labels, like Sony Music, more access to account .
These account access permissions certainly seem excessive, until you consider the amount of personal information that is deposited daily with companies like Facebook. This must have been the main thinking of companies like Sony Music and Universal Music Group, which began demanding greater access to users' accounts.
On the other hand, in May, The Washington Post reported that Spotify was one of several iPhone that used data trackers to send information to third parties in the middle of the night while they slept. This led to demands that Spotify clarify terms of service . Finally, regulators should impose the appropriate penalties on these clearly unfair and misleading practices.
