Users of the free version of Spotify may not be able to access certain songs soon.
The Financial Times on Thursday reported that Spotify is in talks with “the world’s largest record labels” to limit “the biggest album releases to its paid tier for a period of time.” In exchange, the record companies will lower the royalty fees it charges Spotify for songs.
Restricting some new releases to its $10 monthly premium tier would be a major change of direction for the music streaming firm, which for years rejected the idea such a move, even at the cost of losing music from big artists. Spotify recently hit 50 million paying subscribers, and with rumors have it planing to go public soon, hopes such a move will show investors it can “translate its fast customer growth into a solid business,” per the FT report.
The FT said the deals could be finalized “within weeks,” although nothing has been set in stone.
