The streaming leader is discussing making some new music available only to paying subscribers in hopes of ending a months-long impasse with the major record companies, The Post has learned. In meetings with label execs the past few weeks, the Swedish outfit has signaled a willingness to “window” — putting new releases on its paid tier and off its free service for a set time, sources said. Spotify’s current business model calls for making all music available on both its free and paid services to attract the most users and boost its valuation, sources said.

Originally posted by Supervillain No more New Zealand exclusives? Bitch no.

I don't get why labels seem to be so against Spotify. Take it away and the illegal downloading/*******ing that was already happening before a legal free method like Spotify was available will reveal itself to be insanely worse than it was before. I totally get the argument that artists aren't being paid their fare share through streaming, and that's an incredibly legitimate argument, but that's an issue that's rooted in their label and contract, not Spotify.

That being said, this may be a way to satisfy greedy labels without pushing too many freemium users back to illegal downloading. However, it could also backfire terribly if the majority of people who want to listen to a new album are freemium users and they just illegally download it the first day/week and never listen to it on Spotify once it becomes available since they already have it from the download. The labels should also expect much lower first week numbers if this happens since literally millions of people won't be able to stream the new material unless they upgrade, which most will not likely.

I don't know, they keep trying to change the way it is to get more money and I just don't get what the hell is wrong with it now, it literally influenced the vast majority of people who were downloading music illegally to stop and enjoy it in a way that's actually legal and generates some revenue. They (rightfully) complained for years about losing revenue to illegal downloading, and now keep trying to shoot down the one thing that actually fixed that for them.

EDIT: Before someone calls me cheap, I personally have no problem with this. I spend way too much money on physical CD's every year, so ultimately, I have no problem paying an extra $60 a year (student discount hihihi). I'm just saying that this is the reality of where we're at right now.