To pay, or not to pay. That is the question.
Spotify currently has 50 million customers who pay the €9.99 per month for their Premium service, which includes unlimited mobile access, offline play and none of those ads that Spotify's 50 million other, free-users have to endure.
However, according to the
Financial Times (via
The Guardian), that may be all about to come to an end, as Spotify has just struck up a new deal with major record labels to restrict new release albums to paying customers only.
That would mean that those who are getting the service for free may have to wait days, weeks or even months to hear the latest songs and albums for their favourite artists.
Spotify is still the biggest player in the music streaming service by a large margin even in the light of recent competition - comparatively, Apple have 20 million streaming customers in total, while Tidal currently stands with 3 million.
Despite this, the apparent lack of monetary security for artists on Spotify who might have their music access for free is the reason why Taylor Swift has kept her music off completely, or Beyonce still not releasing her Lemonade album on there, or Adele finally dropping 25 on the service, but seven months after it's initial release.
There is no word yet on when this new plan will be taking effect, but it might be time to start thinking about paying your music again (if you're not already, that is).
