Copyright Royalty Board is looking to raise the rates that music services pay to artists by 44% and companies are not having it. With the rate increasing over the next five years, Spotify, Amazon, Google, and other companies appealing the decision, the one company missing from the batch is Apple.
Apple’s decision to stay out of the battle could ultimately bring a lot of benefits. Reported by Variety, majority of the music streaming services object to the proposed rate increases in the coming years. Apple, a major player in the music streaming industry, is missing from the list. Spotify is getting backlash from the artist community, with some taking it to social media to announce they are cancelling their accounts with #cancelspotify.
As a sign of how badly the PR war is going, many songwriters are canceling Spotify subscriptions and doing so publicly on social media, where they make sure to note their subscription fees will now be going to Apple Music.
Spotify losing artists: does it mind?
Spotify may not entirely mind losing artists when looking at their overall picture. The company also recently acquired several podcast companies. Some within in the industry believe that Spotify may be shifting its focus away from music to become “the world’s No. 1 audio platform.”
Dawn Ostroff, Spotify’s chief content officer, said as much at South by Southwest last month when she declared that the company’s mandate is to become “the world’s No. 1 audio platform.” It was hard not to notice the absence of the word “music.”
Apple is staying out of this fight, at least for now. Either way, Apple seems to be the winner. The company has taken a pro-artist stance, so it will benefit from songwriter loyalty in the overall picture. If protesting companies are successful in their appeal, Apple also wins because it will see lower costs. Either way, the iPhone maker will win somehow. Just last week, Apple Music surpassed Spotify in paid subscriptions in the US.
