Online music service Spotify in agency talks

Spotify, which has more than two million paid subscribers, and 10 million on its free subscription list, currently works with Splendid Communications and Grayling – it is not known if these contracts are under threat.

Alison Bonny, head of PR at Spotify, declined to comment but did not deny Spotify was in talks with UK agencies.

It is thought Spotify is looking to build its consumer presence following the arrival of CJ Stanley from Everything Everywhere as its head of consumer PR in February.

Stanley was responsible for the phone operator’s BAFTA, Glastonbury, Orange Prize, Orange RockCorps and Orange UnsignedAct sponsorships. Before Everything Everywhere she worked for Yahoo Music.

Spotify is facing increasing obstacles to forging deals with artists to allow their content into its catalogue. The latest battle was with UK artist Adele who wanted her latest album 21 to be available to paying subscribers and blocked to free users.

Coldplay refused to release its latest album Mylo Xyloto to Spotify until months after its commercial release and recordings by Metallica, The Beatles, Pink Floyd, AC/DC and Led Zeppelin have not been licensed to appear on the site.

Spotify could also find it difficult to attract consumers if the music industry starts following the film business model by delaying the release of songs to streaming sites in a process called  ‘windowing’, in order to stop subscriptions from taking sales away from labels and artists.

This article was first published on prweek.com