"RUMOR MILL" and you all are going crazy as if it's true. UMG cannot stop any currently signed artists from entering in exclusive streaming deals. They do not have any legal authority to do so, as it's not in their contracts. Change the title to reflect that it's simply a rumor, and most likely not true.
So much for Gaga being all "music not the bling"... I'm so disappointed in her for selling out to even try to have an exclusive deal to begin with. I'm sure Jimmy Iovine was behind it because she will do anything for him since he signed her to Interscope.
Gaga should know that she needs all the sales and visibility she can get after ARTPOP. I don't know anybody who switched streaming services just because of a short exclusive. It's the internet and we all know getting a copy is a click away...
“We’re learning as we go. This is uncharted territory,” a source familiar with the label’s thinking told BuzzFeed News late Tuesday, speaking on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly. “But our view is that giving exclusives to individual streaming platforms for long periods of time is not good for the artist, it’s not good for the fans, and it limits the commercial opportunity for everybody involved.”
Contrary to some reports, UMG’s turn against exclusives does not amount to a “blanket ban,” the source said. He cautioned that the label group’s chairman and CEO Lucian Grainge is continuously re-evaluating UMG’s digital strategy, and that only exclusivity agreements of a week or more are currently being targeted. Shorter exclusivity periods, such as the two-day window granted to Apple Music for the release of UMG/Def Jam rapper YG’s Still Brazy in June, may continue on a case-by-case basis.
"There was a second, unreported element to Grainge’s memo too – and it all comes down to the definition of an ‘exclusive’.
Our sources, who have seen the note, say that Grainge was very clear to his execs that although streaming exclusives are out, a windowing strategy driven by Universal is not out of the question.
In other words, a move to keep a new record off free or low-cost subscription platforms is still a goer at Universal, if it makes sense for the project.
That’s the sort of strategy we’ve seen the likes of The 1975 (a UMG artist – pictured), Coldplay (a Warner artist) and Radiohead (a Beggars artist) with their latest albums.
In all three cases, this meant a blackout on Spotify for a limited period – because, up to this point, the Swedish streamer continues to demand that all music placed on its service appears on its free offering."
Lol, the fact that these past 20 pages of meltdowns and intricate stories about what's going on behind the scenes/pushing back PI, etc. Were for nothing. Just goes to show how melodramatic and delulu the average ATRLer is.
im surprised she made a deal like that in the first place. i thought she loved the music not the bling.
Isn't that the point? It's not about gaining the most sales from Amazon and Google Play and/or the most streams on Spotify and Tidal, it's about Apple Music respecting artists and their music.
This is great. I hate iTunes, and people that use iTunes are stuck in the 2000s. Its all about streaming it and buying a physical copy for seamless HD sound that I can turn the ef up in my car.
I didn't know "Perfect Illusion" was going to be an Apple exclusive. I would've bought it anyway, but I'm happy I might be able to have it on Spotify right away when it premieres.
Should definitely be a Top 10 debut now since it's on multiple platforms!
