🔵 Is Spotify getting rattled?
Defensive PR, a change of heart on AI, now Ek moving to an Exec Board role... what gives?
It is safe to say that this year has seen criticism of Spotify increase. Be it the general dissatisfaction with the payment model (which, in fairness, is one applicable to all DSPs), or Daniel Ek’s investment into AI defence tech, it feels like the narrative has been slowing turning negative.
When you see posts like this…
... it feels like this has moved from being just a music industry problem, to one being recognised beyond that. I even spotted UK podcast The Rest Is Entertainment working out on one episode that Alison Moyet would be earning the minimum wage via Spotify based on current payouts. Notable, not for the fact itself, but the place it was being shared - again, beyond music industry-specific spots like this, and much more into mainstream culture and media.
Reading
’s “Spotify Backs Down” article last week, it was also interesting to note Spotify’s tone when announcing it was taking some 75M AI-made tracks down from the platform:We envision a future where artists and producers are in control of how or if they incorporate AI into their creative processes. As always, we leave those creative decisions to artists themselves while continuing our work to protect them against spam, impersonation, and deception, and providing listeners with greater transparency about the music they hear.
Also notable was this remark from Gioia:
A company spokesperson even tried to allay my concerns by sending a personal email to me—that had never happened before.
This was revealing. Spotify had previously seemed immune to criticism.
Cut to today and ironically whilst penning this very article, news landed that Daniel Ek has announced his move to an Executive Chairman role, leaving Alex Norström and Gustav Söderström to become co-CEOs from Jan 2026.
So much to unpick!
Ultimately, I feel the AI move is a clever one on the company’s part. 75M songs is a lot of music to store, and I’d wager that the lion’s share was receiving little-to-no plays, making it just another burden on costs. Ergo, removing those tracks works for Spotify, and making a big deal about it in the context of it being an artist-friendly move is something of a PR masterstroke. I suspect, however, based on Ek’s prior comments that suggest a man ambivalent with the general plight of artists, that the driving force here was not benevolence toward the musicians whose music is being hosted.
Similarly, Ek’s move to a boardroom slot feels like a win-win for all involved, on Spotify’s side anyway. He retains his shareholdings no doubt, and can now earn wildly from them whilst doing less on a day-to-day basis. Alongside that, Spotify as a company can distance itself from this burgeoning problem of Ek’s investments in AI defence tech that has seen various artists - the latest being Massive Attack - either pull their music down or at least publicly request that their labels take it down.
Meanwhile there’s also the matter of Spotify’s audio quality getting a bump, again providing more grist to the mill for a claim that as a platform it is delivering a better experience - even if the reality is that as a company it is one of the last to the table on this front, and even then, the quality may not actually be as good as competitors.
So - is Spotify getting rattled? Hard to say for sure. Doubtless one could paint a picture that the company has made a bunch of moves to address negative press, but on some level I am sceptical. Equally, does this change much? AI slop was (is?) an issue, certainly, but doesn’t speak to the wider problems people have with the company - namely its payments to artists and its main shareholders investments into defence tech.
A less cynical take might be that if Spotify is finally coming around to doing more to protect artists and their output, then all power to them. At a time where any tech company wants to convince us that AI should be everything to everyone, it is certainly laudable that a company stands up to reject it on certain levels.
Beyond that? Let’s see, but these are all interesting developments, for sure.
Have a great evening,
D.
🎶 Listening to “Auratones” by Deepchord. Only I can attend a music hardware expo - in this case, Machina Bristronica, this last weekend - and manage to spend over £120 on a record stall that not only had just three crates of vinyl on sale, but which was the only record stall in the entire event, LOL. I care not a jot though - this album is a stone cold classic and worth every penny. (In case you’re wondering, other purchases included four Rhythm & Sounds 12”s and the rare-but-reissued Elecktroids “Elecktroworld” LP, all of which are incredible.)
📖 (Still) Reading “The Brain at Rest: Why doing nothing can change your life” by Joseph Jebelli. This book is a mind-blower, examining how the brain functions when at rest, and how that benefits in our daily lives. If that sounds a little obvious, trust me, it runs much deeper than that. This is not just some “sleep’s great, yeah?” argument: it actually shows how we are far more capable of achieving great things - particularly having great ideas - if we allow our brains periods of complete rest. That means gazing off into space, taking a walk and letting your mind wander etc etc. Honestly, it’s a fantastic read. Buy it and thank me later.
📺 Watching “Spotify Lossless has a problem” on YouTube. This is a very deep dive on the shortcomings of Spotify’s lossless audio, which highlights issues with the way in which Spotify delivers audio compared to most other DSPs, it seems. Granted, this is exceptionally nerdy stuff, and I doubt the average listener would notice any difference, but I still thought it notable how the architectures of the platforms differ and how that affects output.
🤖 Playing with Melbourne Instruments’ Roto Control. I was demoed this by the very excellent Jason from Signal Sounds at Machina Bristronica, and it was an instant sale. Highly adaptable control surface for both Ableton Live and Bitwig, and one of those “where has this been all my life?” products for yours truly. Fantastic stuff.
Still up: my appearance on Scuba’s excellent “Music, Not Diving” Podcast!
A couple of weeks ago I sat down with Scuba to chat about a variety of topics, chiefly led by what I’ve been writing about here. It was a great conversation though, touching on the death of monoculture, the purpose of labels in 2025, the true value of music, the importance of local scenes and much much more. Dive in (sorry) below, or find it on your podcast app of choice.
Definitely a change of tone in PR! I was shocked.
At the end of the day, I am writing about how musicians especially recording artists were the seeds of the digital economy. Spotify was just a tool. After Napster made music free in 1999 which spoiled things. The cat was out bag. I started my label in 1999. I have rode this devaluation of music. People however, have no emotion on this. They just see it as somebody else problem. So now all illusions are finally falling some. When music is .003 a stream that is free!!! But folks still feed into the narrative that Spotify saved the industry. To late now. We have a new system that is a negative for the fuel of the music game. These people in Silicon now have Suno in the attempt to devalue the producer. the safe heaven is the songwriter but how much does the songwriter make from streaming??? not even pennies. These folks tricked everyone and folks can't say they got hoodwinked.