Spotify denies penalizing artists who make deals with Apple Music

Spotify allegedly penalizes artists who make exclusive deals with competitor Apple Music. For example, such artists would be banned from popular playlists, making them more difficult for listeners to find. However, Spotify denies.

Bloomberg news agency was the first to report on Spotify’s alleged practices, based on unnamed insiders familiar with Spotify’s practices. The arrows would be aimed at artists who make deals with Apple Music, for example on exclusivity. Such artists would be deliberately kept out of popular playlists by Spotify, and would also be made more difficult to find with the search engine. Incidentally, this would also be done with some artists who have made agreements with the music streaming service Tidal. Spotify has responded to the report, with a spokesperson telling Recode that the allegations are “completely wrong.” The company does say it is “not happy” with artists who offer their music first at Apple Music or Tidal.

However, according to Bloomberg sources, Spotify has been putting artists at a disadvantage by making them harder to find for about a year now. The practice is said to have even intensified in recent months. Incidentally, it is unclear exactly which artists have been excluded from the playlists, although it would mainly concern lesser-known artists.

Although Spotify denies that it disadvantages artists who work with Apple, the two companies have been at odds with each other for some time. Spotify, for example, accuses Apple of hindering competition on iOS, because providers of apps such as Spotify are obliged to use Apple’s payment system. As a result, Apple gets a share of the revenue and Spotify says it should raise its prices. However, Apple in turn claims that Spotify is trying to enforce preferential treatment.