The popular music streaming service may have fallen out of favor with its users after it changed its privacy policy, asking for wide-ranging access to customers' private data.
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Until this week, Spotify was one of the world's most popular music streaming services. Then the company changed its privacy policy, asking for access to users' phone book, photos and other personal information, such as tracking their location. The updated terms of conditions ended with this pithy phrase:
“If you don't agree with the terms of this Privacy Policy, then please don't use the Service.”
The change was announced with little fanfare. But, alas, social media never sleeps. Within hours, the Swedish startup had drawn the ire of millions of users, many furious at what they see as an unwarranted intrusion into their private lives.
The move could prove costly for the company, as many paying subscribers announced they're pulling the plug on the service.
By Friday, the backlash had gotten so big that CEO Daniel Ek dropped to his knees to issue an official apology. In the blog post, he wrote:
"We are in the middle of rolling out new terms and conditions and privacy policy and they've caused a lot of confusion about what kind of information we access and what we do with it. We apologize for that. We should have done a better job in communicating what these policies mean and how any information you choose to share will – and will not – be used."
Privacy wars
The angry reactions reflect the lingering furor in the wake of Edward Snowden's NSA revelations, as many feel they're privacy is no longer sacred.
10 stars who've shunned Apple Music, Spotify and Co.
Music streaming is finally de rigueur in the music industry, with hundreds of millions of users. But while more and more music fans are switching on, many big name artists are pulling the plug.
Image: Reuters
Neil Young
He's the cranky granddaddy of indie rock - and the Canadian has finally given music streaming the boot. Young's own gripe with streaming isn't about royalties: It is about audio quality, which he bluntly calls "the worst." In 2014 the rocker launched PonoPlayer, a crowd-funded, high-definition audio player for audiophile aficionados. "Cortez the Killer" will never sound the same again.
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Björk
Innovative and cutting edge, Björk has embraced the future like few others - including streaming. But when it came to the release of her ninth Album, "Vulnicura," the Icelandic singer had a sudden change of heart, withholding it from Spotify. "To work on something for two or three years and then just, 'Oh, here it is for free,'" she lamented. "It’s not about the money; it’s about respect…"
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Prince
He's an icon - and a maverick. Somewhat a recluse, Prince's endless hits are ubiquitous the world over. But in July 2015, the mercurial hit-maker announced enough was enough - he was pulling the entire catalogue from every streaming service, from Apple Music to Spotify, without warning or reason. The move followed his puzzling 2010 claim that "the Internet's completely over."
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Thom Yorke
Never one to mince words, Spotify was in for an ear-bashing when the Radiohead frontman called time in 2013. "Make no mistake, new artists you discover on Spotify will not get paid. Meanwhile shareholders will shortly be rolling in it." The Brit millionaire pulled his solo albums in solidarity with the underdogs, claiming Spotify was "the last gasp of the old industry."
Image: AP
Lacuna Coil
There are few more passionate and loyal music communities than metal fans. Recognizing this "brand power," metal label Century Records - home to Italy's Lacuna Coil, as well as metal mega-stars like Arch Enemy and Iced Earth - ripped their entire catalogue from streaming land and put their attention to building a formidable online shop. (How about a coffee mug with your Butcher Babies CD?).
Image: Imago
Taylor Swift
Spotify undoubtedly played its bit-part in the stratospheric rise of Swift. But the relationship turned sour in 2014, with the American abruptly removing her entire catalogue from the Swedish streaming service, telling "Time" streaming had "shrunk the numbers of paid album sales drastically." It was later alleged she had secretly done an exclusive deal with Google's streaming Service, Music Key.
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The Beatles
One by one, the titans fell to streaming - first Metallica, then Led Zeppelin and more recently AC/DC. However, the Fab Four have stood their ground, not ceding a note of the band's illustrious catalogue - a swag of songs that's been valued at over $1 billion - to any streaming service. To lay the boot in, Paul McCartney removed his solo material from all streaming services in 2012.
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Magnus Uggla
Spotify launched in 2008 and had 10 million users by 2010. Today the Stockholm-based company has more than 75 million users, and has been credited with remedying the scourge of piracy at home in Sweden. Still, countryman and rock icon Magnus Uggla wasn't buying the hype - removing his own catalogue way back in 2009, venting that in six months he earned "what a mediocre busker could earn in a day."
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Jay Z
With a fortune estimated at $520 million, Jay Z snapped up Norwegian streaming service Tidal - which he re-launched in ostentatious fashion in March 2015, with a posse of millionaire A-list ring-ins (pictured). The rapper then took a second swipe at Spotify, removing his iconic debut album "Reasonable Doubt" from its playlist. A month later he was forced to defend disappointing sales at Tidal.
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Black Keys
From garage obscurity to Grammy awards, US rockers the Black Keys have battled their way to the top. But the duo's lost none of that grassroots fire, withholding the last two albums from Spotify. Drummer Patrick Carney took aim at Spotify CEO and founder Daniel Ek: "[He's] worth something like $3 billion…he's richer than Paul McCartney and he's 30 and he's never written a song." Ouch.
Image: Reuters
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For years, smartphone users and app developers seemed to have entered an agreement, under which access to snippets of privacy was the price many consumers paid for free apps. But by changing its policy, Spotify - which counts over 20 million paying subscribers among its more than 75 million users - appears to have overstepped this line.
In an effort to allay angry critics, Ek wrote: "Let me be crystal clear here: If you don't want to share this kind of information, you don't have to. We will ask for your express permission before accessing any of this data."
Whether this will be enough to change customer's minds remains to be seen.
One thing is clear, though: Spotify needs all the paying customers it can get. In the last two years, the company has tripled its losses. Despite raking in $1.3 billion (1.14 billion euros) in revenue in 2014, the Swedish startup bottom line was $197 million in the red. That's nearly three times as bad as 2013, when the company lost $68 million.
The company is also facing fierce competition from other streaming services such as Apple Music, which was launched in June.
