Spotify strikes a deal, independent goes backwards.

This is gossip I guess but I got it from several sources and I don’t know if it’s out yet, could be. Spotify seems to have stroke a deal with Universal so they have saved their catalogue. Unknown if they got Universal to lower their cut of each stream that was the goal for Spotify. I guess they got more shares and lower the payment for each stream, so the rumor says.

Congratulations if you are on Universal as an artist (not on Spinnup or just distribution services, but on the actual label). But how can I say that, the artist will get lower paid each stream?  Yes but at the same time Universal is first out so Spotifys crew will focus on their catalogue more. I guess Sony and Warner will follow very soon, but for time being Universal unlocked so people can work on their catalogue. So that means that if you are a focused artist on Universal you can do things fast right now.

Overall now everyone has to join so it will be a lower cut on each stream for all companies even if you don’t get shares or not. That will save Spotify for this time.

What happens in the independent world? Well they are most discussion radio to be not Spotify.

Been on several meetings where the topic is just radio. The thing is that national radio in Sweden plays lower than 2 % music from independent companies. Yes you read right they only play music from Universal, Warner and Sony. For commercial stations that is okey, they can choose. National radio is though paid for playing all music and a paid by the government to do so.

Yes we know they have a hard time to keep their listeners on national radio but playing whatever the other is playing is not make things better.

To add to this the government license program (the program that holds every license for the frequency they use) has to be negotiated this autumn. Today it’s a big cooperation owning most of these and rent them out to the commercial stations. So it can be a bidding war and the cost for the commercial stations might be so high that they close stations. Or it can be more secure for them to broadcast so they make a more impact on the listeners and national radio gets even less listeners.
My opinion though is why bothered with radio? The discussion would be how the independent should get into the closed world of Spotify. No we are mainly discussion a format that is already dying and try to get them the play the music. I guess to be a frontrunner as the independent used to be we now just seems to focus on old goals.