Spotify’s CEO, Daniel Ek, talked with Music Ally about how he sees the music industry going forward:

“There is a narrative fallacy here, combined with the fact that, obviously, some artists that used to do well in the past may not do well in this future landscape, where you can’t record music once every three to four years and think that’s going to be enough,” said Ek

“The artists today that are making it realise that it’s about creating a continuous engagement with their fans. It is about putting the work in, about the storytelling around the album, and about keeping a continuous dialogue with your fans.”

Ek cited Taylor Swift’s activity around her new album ‘Folklore’ as just one recent example of an artist benefitting from that kind of effort.

“I feel, really, that the ones that aren’t doing well in streaming are predominantly people who want to release music the way it used to be released,” he said, as the interview ended.

Couple thoughts:

• As someone that loves the album experience, I hate this. I barely remember to listen to singles when they’re released and then forget they ever came out. Fine, I’m getting old, but shouldn’t the next “model” for releasing music actually be one where artists can release music in various ways, that they think best suits their art, and make a living doing it?
• Taylor Swift, and artists of her size, are usually the exception, not the rule.
• Spotify is worth $50 billion and barely, if at all, making money. That’s not sustainable. There’s a reason they’re spending so much money on premium podcasts and other content that’s not related to music.