Taylor Swift Shakes Off Spotify

So, you’ve probably heard of Spotify, the music streaming service that allows on-demand play of a plethora of artists for free from the convenience of your laptop. Spotify was introduced as a platform to avoid piracy and give opportunity to artists and fans everywhere.

Most recently, mega-star Taylor Swift has caused a major stir by pulling her catalog of music from Spotify. Her reasoning? Apparently, Spotify’s compensation is unfit and unfair. In a recent interview, Swift said, “I’m not willing to contribute my life’s work to an experiment that I don’t feel fairly compensates the writers, producers, artists and creators of this music.” In response Spotify Chief Executive Daniel Elk, called it a myth that royalties on streaming services are too low to support artists. Spotify even projects that an artist of Swift’s success and caliber would have likely made  more than $6 million a year on its site. Swift’s label even offered to restrict access to her music for paid subscribers, but Spotify refused.

Fame and controversy aside, what kind of questions regarding greed does a situation like this raise? Not all fans can afford to pay for all of the music that they love. Perhaps Swift has forgotten that, while Spotify builds its foundation on that very idea. Taylor Swift is a known name, fan or not. She’s highly successful and is constantly receiving plenty of compensation for her work, was $6 million not enough? As we climb the ladder of success, we should never be too busy or consumed to stop and be grateful. We should always look back on our past as an opportunity for reflection. Use the questions below to have a conversation with young adults about greed and gratitude:

  • What do you think about the whole Spotify/Taylor Swift situation? Whose side are you on?

  • Have you ever fallen into the trap of being greedy? What happened? How did you reclaim a sense of fairness or self-control?

  • How can you be more grateful for what you have and avoid the tendency toward wanting more than you need?

  • How can you spread an attitude of gratitude in your community and family?