Taylor Swift Says Beats Music and Rhapsody Better Than Spotify For Her '1989' Album
Taylor Swift says it once; she'll say it again: her music has a value and putting it on Spotify would give the message that it has none. Beats and Rhapsody on the other hand, are better than Spotify.
In her latest interview with Time, the "Shake It Off" singer answered another question why she could not cater to the demands of her fans and put her music on Spotify. She said she tried it and she did not like how it made her feel, as if her work has no value. She's adamant that there should be an inherent value placed on art and she just cannot see this happening if she puts her music on Spotify. For options, she first offered iTunes, which means fans should just buy her album and listen to their heart's content. She also cited two streaming sites that passed her qualifications: Beats Music and Rhapsody.
"With Beats Music and Rhapsody you have to pay for a premium package in order to access my albums. And that places a perception of value on what I've created." she explained. In contrast, on Spotify, the site does not have any settings or qualifications as to who gets to listen to what music, and she feels that this cheapens music. She's firm on her perception that people should feel that what musicians work hard to create should be treated as valuable. She also added that she said it so many times that this is already an old story. Fans who would like to stream her single "Blank Space" on Spotify? No can give.
She recently removed her music from Chinese streaming sites as well, showing how determined she is to stop the direction of the music industry towards streaming. Her decision to remove music off Chinese streaming services however, can really put blight on her album sales, no matter if she is Taylor Swift and people are willing to buy her albums. According to Time, in China, where her "Red" concert had done fantastically, people are not accustomed to buying albums via downloading. So while her decision in the US not to stream for free can be viable, helpful even to her album sales, the Chinese market is a different ball game altogether.