Newly appointed New York City Global Welcome Ambassador Taylor Swift is busy these days. But despite the launch of her new album, 1989, and her hustling people to visit Times Square, Swift has probably made the most news lately for pulling her songs from Spotify, the controversial streaming music service.
Swift pulled her music from Spotify as a protest–not because she didn’t do well on the service, but as a sign of solidarity with other artists who complain about how Spotify compensates artists. “Valuable things [music] should be paid for,” Swift wrote last summer in the Wall Street Journal. Spotify’s CEO Daniel Ek points out that his company has paid over $2 billion to artists and labels since 2008. Payout to top artists like Taylor Swift would probably “exceed $6 million a year.” That’s an expensive protest Swift is making.
