Taylor Swift and Spotify part ways

By +Brad Naylor

Ex-country music performer Taylor Swift has pulled her entire back catalog and her current new release, 1989, from all pay as you go music sources including streaming giant Spotify over a disagreement which basically boils down to royalties, even though she made it sound like it was a lack of respect for her 'art'.

Why would I give my music away for free?

Spotify CEO Daniel Ek blogged about the disagreement and put forward some very valid points about how he agrees with Taylor's thoughts about distributing 'free' music but also how she is mistaken about how Spotify works. He crunched some numbers and based on estimated sales of her new CD so far, she could have netted $6 million in royalties through 2015 if she had stayed with Spotify. SIX MILLION DOLLARS! You could buy a man for that. A bionic one.

The timing of this announcement coincides with the sudden release of her new single, 'Blank Space', which can't be found on any free media sites. A search for 'Blank Space' yields nothing but blank space. I am told that in the video she pokes fun at all of the men from her dozens of failed relationships, but sadly I can't confirm that fact because I refuse to give that whining elven emotion vampire any money by paying to see her material.

Where could she be?

In typical Taylor Swift style, she will spin this into a positive thing for her, selling millions of copies of her new album on iTunes and amazon and no doubt garner more broken hearted, spurned little girl material for her next CD.

Please share your opinion about this Splitify situation. Who is right, Taylor or Ek? Do artists get ripped off by the streaming giants or are they better off with Pandora and Spotify than having people download pirated versions or watching and listening for free on YouTube? How long will Taylor Swift be able to dupe the music buying public?