The head of Taylor Swift's Big Machine Label Group, Scott Borchetta, recently tried to shed more light on why the artist took her back catalog of music off Spotify earlier this week.
"We never wanted to embarrass a fan," Borchetta told Motley Crue's Nikki Sixx during a radio interview, Rolling Stone notes. "If this fan went and purchased the record, CD, iTunes, wherever, and then their friends go, 'Why did you pay for it? It's free on Spotify,' we're being completely disrespectful to that superfan."
Swift's most recent release, 1989, came out at the end of October and sold 1.3 million copies in its first week. The "22" singer didn't like Spotify's model, so fans that use the streaming service will have to obtain the record another way. "I'm not willing to contribute my life's work to an experiment that I don't feel fairly compensates the writers, producers, artists, and creators of this music," she told Yahoo. "And I just don't agree with perpetuating the perception that music has no value and should be free."
Borchetta agreed with Swift, saying that "music has never been free" and suggesting that Spotify try something like Netflix where they give potential users a 30-day free trial to hook them and make them pay for the service. "They have a very good player. It's a good service," he said. "And they're going to just have to change their ways on how they do business. If you're going to do an ad-supported free service, why would anybody pay for the premium service?"
1989 is still available on other pay-to-stream services like Beats Music, Rhapsody and Tidal, RS notes.
The album is Swift's fifth studio effort, following her successful 2012 release, Red.
