Premium spotify users get early access to new music

Signal12 Apr 2017

New music albums will now available exclusively to premium Spotify users for the first two weeks after release. The music streaming service hopes that by withholding content, it can persuade impatient non-paying users to fork out. But it could simply cause them to listen elsewhere.

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case study·
22 Jun 2015

Tidal: premium streaming for Gen iPhone

case study·
22 Jun 2015·
LAST UPDATED 13 Oct 2023

In March 2015, a little-known boutique music streaming service became the most talked about thing in the music press. Jay Z’s acquisition and relaunch of Tidal was met with ambivalence at best, ridicule at worst. Yet beyond the uproar, Tidal provides clues about how people like their music.

case study·
8 Jul 2016

Lemonade: sweetening up a souring music industry

case study·
8 Jul 2016·
LAST UPDATED 13 Oct 2023

When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. And with the music industry in flux, that's exactly what Beyoncé has done. Visual album Lemonade debuted on HBO, before being released exclusively on Tidal, seeing sign-ups surge accordingly. Is this what the future of the album launch looks like?

case study·
8 Oct 2015

Found Them First: bragging rights for music geeks

case study·
8 Oct 2015·
LAST UPDATED 13 Oct 2023

Discovering new music was once a preserve of A&R scouts at major labels. But with unsigned acts now playing to anyone with an internet connection, how can music fans be sure of who was there first? A new Spotify feature is quantifying ‘cool’, giving music geeks the bragging rights they deserve.