Spotify’s global head of creator services, Troy Carter, has said Taylor Swift’s decision to withhold her album Reputation from streaming services will send music fans back to piracy.
Speaking at the Internet Association's Virtuous Circle Summit, Carter said: “A lot of it is going to be pirated. It kind of sets the industry back a little bit.”
According to Variety, Carter also described Swift as “smart” in her execution of the Reputation campaign.
“Taylor is super smart,” he said. “We are not mad at her for the decision she made.”
Spotify has signed deals with majors, including Universal, that make provisions for windowing options. But Carter, a former manager of Lady Gaga and Meghan Trainor, said that it was generally resistant to exclusive or windowed streaming releases.
“We just felt like it wasn’t a great consumer experience,” said Carter.
Speaking to Music Week earlier this year, Spotify UK’s George Ergatoudis noted that “obviously we are favouring the labels, artists and managers that want to work with us”. Call It What You Want, the fourth track released ahead of Reputation, was not heavily promoted on Spotify playlists shortly before the album dropped as a physical and download release.
It’s not yet clear when Reputation will appear on streaming services. In its first week on sale, Swift’s album is racking up big numbers on physical and, unusually for an album in 2017, downloads.
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