Spotify is preparing to be acquired at a price tag ‘north of $14 billion,’ according to multiple sources now speaking with Digital Music News. Signatures and final approvals are ‘exceptionally close,’ with an announcement carefully planned for exactly one week from now, according to one dealmaker.
The buyer is not being disclosed, though the Wall Street Journal is already preparing a front page story for next Wednesday morning. The article will symbolically be available only to paying subscribers.
The paid-only symbolism is part of a massive shift in philosophy by both Spotify, the major labels, and its soon-to-be-named mega-buyer. The deal comes amidst cantankerous negotiations between Spotify and the major recording labels, with the CEOs of both Universal Music Group and Sony Music Entertainment applying heavy pressure on Spotify to eliminate their free access tier. Spotify initially resisted those moves, but is now softening its stance as part of an artist-friendly, three-way deal involving YouTube and its various music properties.
According to the details of this momentous plan, shared under strict confidence with Digital Music News, YouTube has agreed to stop showing free music videos entirely if Spotify agrees to close its free access tier at the same time. The unilateral move will make listening to free music far more difficult for casual music fans, and millions of Spotify and YouTube listeners will be shocked to find free streaming music completely shut off, effective next Wednesday.
The plan is expected to mint several million paying subscribers overnight, and substantially change the music industry balance sheet in the process.
“We’re finally making streaming fair for every musician and rights owner, and I’m happy that everyone can equally enjoy the spoils of our years of hard work,” Ek stated, in a quote approved for the Wall Street Journal. “I hope our friends over at Pandora will follow our example.”
In parallel with those efforts, Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) CEO Cary Sherman is planning to announce a bombshell deal with the Russian cultural ambassador Viktor Petrov that will effectively close 99% of illegal torrent and mp3 download sites in the country. That, coupled with an initiative by US Department of Homeland Security special advisor Douglas Stamper to block virtually all illegal music sites worldwide, will finally deliver the ‘paid only’ environment envisioned by Universal Music Group exiting executive Rob Wells.
The deal will also feature a number of artist-friendly aspects, part of a ‘Sustainable Streaming’ core of principles arranged in round-the-clock sessions just outside of Stockholm. As part of the buyout, Spotify CEO Daniel Ek has reportedly insisted that at least half of the $14 billion-plus payout be paid directly to a musicians fund, with Taylor Swift a symbolic beneficiary. Billionaire Sean Parker, a high-ranking Spotify executive and co-founder of the original Napster, has also committed to donating his payout of approximately $1.41 billion to create a pro-bono legal and accounting fund designed to help artists locate and receive streaming royalties from their labels.
More as this develops. Image by Official LeWeb Photos, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic.
“The buyer is not being disclosed”
Perhaps it’s Jay Z, again? 🙂
April 1st? In who’s calendar?
I guess it is not April 1st.
I guess it must be the truth, wow! …is it the Google FUNNEL?
Francis Keeling, Universal Music’s Global Head of Digital Business: Google Streaming Service ‘Is the Biggest Funnel We Can Have’ (Billbord Feb 26th/2013)
NOPE, It is Francis Keeling’s trust in music ubiquity!!!
He means big time UBIQUITY!
The plan is to mutate humankind so we all urinate with gold infused music induced liquid!
Time to buy stock in Sewer Equipment Company of America!
Hmmm, wanna bet Sony is buying them outright? Anyone who’s been using the Sony streaming service knows that Spotify takes over as their provider of streaming music at the end of the month…
Oh, the synergy. The question is, will Spotify be for Sony, what the Walkman was once to them or the iPod to Apple?
“exactly one week from now”
Let’s see, today it’s March 25. Which means… 🙂
Exactly! Bastards had me fooled for a moment there!
Trying to beat @Lefsetz to the April Fool’s punchline?
What did he do?
I see some House of Cards fans here
“The unilateral move will make listening to free music far more difficult for casual music fans, and millions of Spotify and YouTube listeners will be shocked to find free streaming music completely shut off”
I can see how you came up with that scenario. 🙂 But not even that would be enough to make people pay again.
I had some similar thoughts yesterday though, and my conclusion was that you would have to hide not only YouTube and Spotify but also Facebook, Twitter, Gmail and Instagram behind a global paywall.
That might work: Users would not go back to the Pirate Bay (as they would in your scenario) since they would need the social networks as well. And YouTube would be as viral as ever behind the global paywall…
Feel free to use the concept in March 2016…
Yes and no. Some people will NEVER pay and its not even a matter of being able to pay or not. However, that is a minority. The majority are ruled by convenience and price. If you are time rich but cash poor and thus genuinely cannot afford the Spotify subscription then yes you will still go hunting for torrents, downloads etc, etc. But given that Spotify subscription is like $9.99/month – most working adults or even some college students who are just want to listen to music and don’t have the time to go hunting for it will just pay for the convenience of easy access. So I think people will pay. Netflix and other subscription services have proven that people will pay when the price and convenience add-up to an enticing offer.
Good one! Happy April Fools Day.
Next Wednesday huh.. April 1st?
Ain’t nothin artist friendly in the music biz…
Waka waka. Funny joke.
It appears we are going back to the days of major labels controlling everything. Its like we went in one big loop. Now artists will get .25% again while execs buy multiple mansions in Beverly Hills. Musicians will get pushed and then thrown out like they did in the past.
what do you mean “back to”?
The majors are stronger than ever, and the only people actually hurt from all the “evil label” bullshit are the dwindling middle-class artists…
You guys can’t do this shit
This is BS. April Fools joke.
Paul… Nearly almost killed me.
Best April Fool’s joke EVER!
The funniest part is if you put this much effort into ACTUAL news stories, this site might not get shit on so much….
So is that a back-handed shit-on-DMN?
Not back-handed, pretty straight forward. There’s more text and detail in your fake stories than there is in 98% of your real stories.
Thanks for wasting my time assmaster.
How much time could that possibly have wasted for you? 2 seconds?
This is a really desperate ploy for readership. April Fools jokes are done ON April 1. Everyone knows that if this was a real news story, it would get picked up by a news source and not a digital rag.
Well, I think it’s an OK way to discuss the current topics.
Though it might be a bit more relevant to take a look at the real news today — Vessel:
http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/mar/25/vessel-app-youtube-shortform-video-first-window
http://www.cnet.com/news/vessel-lures-youtube-stars-to-its-subscription-site/
http://musically.com/2015/03/25/vessel-opens-public-music-exclusives/
Thanks for sharing the links. I’m actually a bit surprised Vessel hasn’t been more of a story on DMN. Seems extremely relevant, and it’s implementing a promising concept.
I’m not sure the audio-only generations understand what’s going on in video.
we are definitely super old and ancient!
https://www.digitalmusicnews.com/permalink/2015/03/25/facebook-goes-youtube-improved-video-features-analytics
https://www.digitalmusicnews.com/permalink/2015/01/08/watch-youtube-facebook-video-now-billion-views-day
https://www.digitalmusicnews.com/permalink/2015/02/19/wont-understand-potential-snapchat-see
You’re right, your Facebook story is relevant and certainly not ancient.
But it’s stll primarily an audio-only site, isn’t it… Spotify, Pandora, Spotify, Pandora — a new article every day. There’s even this Spotify Top 5 on your front page, and I mean, why…
I’m not sure the audio-only generations understand what’s going on in video.
The video is already over and done with, its gone big east, its lost its edge, its gone super duper corporate, lost all cool, and thats just the way it is…
That doesnt mean its bad, i love video, its a great artform and a craft ive always wanted to delve into, almost went to school for it, so dont get it twisted, what it does mean though is dont buy into the tech hype and service providers hype and their rhetoric, when i say its a dead format it means that there is zero need to spend a dime on a music video if you dont have it covered one way or another already, whether through product placement, sponsorship or funding, label investment, or youre rich or are willing to accept the reality of a decent loss on the books etc. Because there is no way to recuperate the cost of a professional well done storyboarded video with professional equipment and people anymore, and that alone aint gonna do ish for you, because without about 2-10x more money then the cost of the video just to market and promote the thing, itll just collect dust and leave a large dent in any revenues…
Essentially what this incredible technology and lower costs has done, is plummet the quality to straight garbage for the most part, colluded the market place and spread so much propaganda that now every last person shoots a laptop camera music video of them singing some famous celebrities song all in hopes they become famous or something, the internet has shown us how pathetic most people are and how so brutally desperate for fame most people are, and thats what the entertainment, show and music and fashion businesses have really become, just platforms to make people who want to be famous famous, and not developing true passionate professionals, just money grabbing from wannabes, its awful….
Anyways, If you are touring you might want one to help draw some bums in to warm some seats, but i can think of a lot of successful people that dont have much video anywhere, regardless the profession, and in that case, a simple decent handycam of shows is more then enough to give potential customers the idea of what sort of product you are putting on…
andd just like that, you’ve lost all credibility. though the editorial on DNW was devolving into a mix of reactionary ‘get off my lawn’ rhetoric and plain ol hysteria, this is not the onion nor is it april 1. has every article been an april fools joke? would explain a lot.
I live outside of your box.
Ew, I don’t want you living anywhere near my box!
Don’t worry, you never leave your box, so you’ll never see me 😉
You just lost credibility… Nice Joke!
Retards. The irony that this is probably the most detailed editorial you’ve written all year. How about actually serving the industry rather than mocking it. Go back to buzzfeed
Sometimes the only thing people respect is disrespect.
So anything that appears on this site from now until April 1st is basically tongue in cheek. So much for being the “authority of the music industry” if you’re happy to justify it
Nice one douchebags. you’ve just lost all credit in the industry
Nice one douchebags. you’ve just lost all credit in the industry
Not a bad thing as the industries lost all credibility with everyone already anyways, so not having credibility in the industry, is a good thing these days, as all the industry does is lie and steal and rip people off and etc. etc. etc.
Right…. sounds as though you don’t even know who or what “industry” you are talking about. Artists are in the industry. So they rip you off? What about session musicians, they’re in the industry too. They rip you off? Vevo and their free music videos, they rip you off? Music stores!! they sell guitars, so, they should hand them out for free? Typical response from someone who has absolutely zero idea what they are talking about.
Right…. sounds as though you don’t even know who or what “industry” you are talking about.
My elusive and often difficult to interpret posts and talk, do not make me at fault for your poor assumptions or your misinterpretations… The sentence i replied with left no information to ascertain any conclusion one way or another upon anything further then the very direct and succinct point i made…
Artists are in the industry. So they rip you off?
That is what i said above if im not mistaken, but for further clarification, yes, yes they do, not all of them of course, but hey, these days i have to give back what i get, and since im guilty by association and guilty before being proven innocent, well, lets see how everyone else enjoys it…
What about session musicians, they’re in the industry too. They rip you off?
Session musicians work for hire, so they would tend to not be informed or totally complicit, and while some of them may be in possession of stolen property, my property, session musicians would mostly have it to listen and enjoy and to study, which is far down my list of problems, otherwise if they are in possession of any unreleased and unpublished property, then yes, they are on the hook like anyone else, so they can start squirming now…
Otherwise they may be complicit in a crime if they worked with certain producers and teams and labels who were engaging in crimes against my person, but hey, im not out to hurt the working man just trying to make a living who isnt publicly humiliating me and ruining my reputation and defaming my character…
Vevo and their free music videos, they rip you off?
Vevo is owned by Universal, so yes, yes they most certainly have, and you can write that down put it in bold and underline it, send it everywhere you need to…
I didnt want it to work out like this, i never had a problem with any of them or anyone, it all just sort of happened, very unfortunately i might add, i didnt ask for any of this…
Music stores!! they sell guitars, so, they should hand them out for free?
Music stores never ripped me off, actually they were one place of satisfaction, always treated me very well with plenty of respect, gave me deals when they could, were straight up when the couldnt, very good service from some of the guys, always have nothing but great things to say about Graham…
Where do you come up with handing out free guitars??
Are you assuming im someone im not??
Are you assuming im something im not??
Typical response from someone who has absolutely zero idea what they are talking about.
Perhaps you need to check yourself there mate, cause i got some of the biggest players in the music industry in check mate, mate, so i think i have a slight idea of what im saying, otherwise i wouldnt be saying it…
Should i possibly clarify that not every last faction of the industry is ripping me off?? Possibly, but quite frankly, im not overly concerned with having to add addendum after addendum, on my own time and my own money, when i dont get the same treatment or respect in return, therefore if you so choose to run off on some wild assumption of something that doesnt even exist or isnt true, then so be it, not my problem…
Ah, I caught you at Douglas Stamper. Too late.
Calling BS.. you can’t pull an April Fools before April 1st. #lame #thatsjustlying
In other words, you bought it…
pfft. welcome to more bit torrents and youtube extractors. this changes nothing other than making it harder to access music for free, but it won’t stop the erosion of sales for the free music generation. nice try though. too little too late.
“I did real work putting together a real story!” – DMN
Just kidding,
Happy April Fools!
Unfunniest joke of 2015? This site is pathetic. Get on my level.
Get on my level.
What level is that?
What game are you playing?
Is this mario bros? Tetris? Mortal Kombat? or are you xboxing? some cod?
Or are you mountain climbing?
Or do you mean pyramids? Are you in a pyramid like hierarchical structure and you are high up it? How does one increase their levels in that scheme then? Is it by job title? Paycheck? What exactly ups your level?
Clearly April fools. Douglas Stamper is a character from House of Cards and Rob Wells plays Ricky in the Trailor Park Boys
This fantasy article was published because Ben Sisario and Brian Chen at the NY Times reported the skinny on Apple Beats.
I’ve heard that these possible rumors increase the valuation of a company!
It looks like the Industry people will get paid………..while the songwriters that create the music still receive next to nothing. Look into the percentages that the songwriter / band(s) make on sales of their product with these companies. Again, those that create…..starve……….those that take……..prosper.
Paul – running out of original jokes about Spotify are you?
https://www.digitalmusicnews.com/permalink/2014/04/01/breaking0401
You spent your time on this garbage while on the same day the NY Times and others are reporting on Apple’s inability to secure more favorable on–demand streams rates than their competitors? Oh, wait, you’ve got a hard on for ignoring anything related to Dre…
if this is an april fool you are morons and your site has just lost all respect. sick joke
That cuts it. I’m done with this POS site.
Major Fail Digital Music News! April fool jokes are only funny on the 1st of April.
unsubscribe
April 1st is NEXT week..
of course now I’m wondering if last week’s article was also a pre-April fools joke.. and last month’s also..
First question – who has that money to spend?
Second question – who is in the space (music and/or tech) that has that money to spend?
Answer – Google
Paul-
I object to this article. It’s not April 1st, and you’re not The Onion or Lefsetz.
Last visit.
Nice try! go – Doug Stamper!
Can anyone weigh in on the legality of publishing an article like this? It seems like it’s teetering on a fine line of corporate defamation… Granted, most anyone that is anyone in the Music Industry now regards this site as a tabloid rather than a news source, but you’ve got to wonder, if Spotify was actually in acquisition talks and this article was interpreted as true by a potential party, it could potentially impact an actual deal. There are three general factors that illustrate corporate defamation: False Statement, Publication, and Damages. Should this article impact any of Spotify OR YouTube’s business, there could be serious consequences.
If anyone has more info on this please chime in!
Also, Jesus Paul, this is the best you can do? Yikes.
why doubt that someone is buying the biggest music streaming service,gives me the feeling even you know that spotify or any streaming service is not worthy a company to be bought. shows how subscription music business is too broken and uncertain to believe in
Goddammit, DMN. Just when I thought there was hope for the industry. The ironic thing is, there is SO much wisdom in this ruse. Forget the BS $14B acquisition, if Spotify, YouTube, the labels and Pandora all got on board with this, we’d have a music industry again. So while I’m pissed at being had, I’m hopeful that the seeds of genius here might percolate into the actual industry subconscious.
I didn’t realize typewriters connected to the internet!
agree w/ bad timing and waste of time
Almost had me there.
Where’s everyone going for actual digital music NEWS now?
Anyone thinking if this is real or not google Douglas Stamper. Seem’s the fictional character is moonlighting from House Of Cards.
The last of the great merger and acquisitions on the digital music landscape ! All I can say is that the crystal ball equity investors should be well pleased with Spotify’s latest performance. . . ; your loving partner , Literati X . . .
“It’s totally believable that Spotify could sell for $14B”
No, it really, really isn’t. 🙂
If this is a pre-April Fools Joke, its in bad taste, and is totally irresponsible.
“Viktor Petrov”? “Douglas Stamper”? WTF? Is it April 1st already?
Paid streaming services for TV and music would be applicable if content was released world wide. 99% of streaming from Russian torrent site is directed at non-US countries.
Looks like i wont be coming back,
If this is a pre-April Fools Joke, its in bad taste, and is totally irresponsible.
If this is a pre-April Fools Joke, its in bad taste, and is totally irresponsible.
If this is a pre-April Fools Joke, its in bad taste, and is totally irresponsible.
If this is a pre-April Fools Joke, its in bad taste, and is totally irresponsible.
If this is a pre-April Fools Joke, its in bad taste, and is totally irresponsible.
So bummed that this is an April fool’s joke!! Not really funny… just made me sad after realizing it….
None of this is true… Hey ever hear of fm radio.. Oh yeah … None of this is about the artist.. All about the companies behind them.
This is not April Fools.. It is real story. Rumor has Apple as Buyer.
Did anything happen yet?