Exclusive releases for streaming services are ‘never good’ for the music industry in the long run. That said Apple CEO Eddy Cue in an interview. If an artist releases music exclusively on a streaming service, it is for short-term promotion, according to the CEO.
In the short term, however, exclusive releases will fuel the growth of music subscription services like Apple Music, Cue said in the interview onstage at Code Media, an event hosted by tech site Recode.
According to Cue, this growth is necessary because less than a hundred million people worldwide have a subscription to a streaming service, while there are ‘billions’ of people who often listen to music. Apple also wants to grow with its Apple Music service. The number of subscribers is now “well above 20 million”, but Cue says the electronics maker is “not satisfied” with the number of customers for its streaming service.
Exclusive releases for streaming services have been under discussion for some time, as fans of artists have to figure out which platform their artist can be listened to. For example, Apple has done exclusive projects with Chance the Rapper and Drake, while Beyonce’s album Lemonade, for example, can only be heard through competitor Tidal.