PRESS RELEASE

Washington, D.C. – The Content Creators Coalition (c3) released the following statement on Spotify’s plan to go public on the New York Stock Exchange:

“Spotify’s founders had an opportunity to pioneer new models and partner with artists on ways to make the music ecosystem work for everyone – services, artists, and fans.  Instead, they cashed in – enriching company owners and deep pocketed investors and doing nothing for working artists who continue to chase pennies online.  This IPO chooses a short term payday over long term progress and will only weaken the streaming ecosystem, burdening the art of music with Wall Street’s bottom line first mentality and erecting new barriers between creators and their fans.

“Spotify’s algorithms and curated playlists have already failed artists and songwriters, making haphazard and emotionally stunted connections between supposedly ‘related’ acts and pushing costly advertising tools as the best way to reach new fans.  The result is the worst of all worlds – at one end artists and independent rights holders have no meaningful input into how their work is presented and promoted on the service and at the other end, they are paid grossly substandard wages for the airplay they do receive.  And it will get worse as Spotify’s managers focus more and more on shareholders and less and less on music.

“Artists stand ready to embrace streaming models that work for all.  But we will always reject corporate greed and ‘too big to fail’ models that squeeze the soul out of our work and distances us from our fans.”

About c3:

The Content Creators Coalition (c3) is an artist-run non-profit advocacy group representing creators in the digital landscape. C3’s work is significant to anyone who creates and makes a living from their creations. c3’s objectives are two-fold: First, economic justice for musicians and music creators in the digital domain. Second, ensuring that the current and future generations of creators retain the rights needed to create and benefit from the use of their work and efforts. C3 has grown into a national organization based on representation, advocacy, and mobilization for sustainable careers in the digital age.