Two of the entities that made Drake’s life a living hell in 2024, Spotify and Universal Music Group (UMG), have come together to ink a new multi-year agreement. One that could finally see Spotify deliver on its promises to bring hi-res audio to subscribers – nearly four years later – as part of a streaming tier aimed at “superfans”.
The phrase being thrown around by both Spotify and UMG is “Streaming 2.0” which is seemingly where the idea to charge dedicated customers more for certain privileges was born. It lines up with UMG’s philosophy on the subject at the very least, a plan for which it showed off to investors last year.
Streaming 1.0 is so last year
“When we first presented our vision for the next stage in the evolution of music subscription several months ago—Steaming 2.0—this is precisely the kind of partnership development we envisioned,” said Sir Lucian Grainge, Chairman and CEO of Universal Music Group in a statement.
“This agreement furthers and broadens the collaboration with Spotify for both our labels and music publisher, advancing artist-centric principles to drive greater monetization for artists and songwriters, as well as enhancing product offerings for consumers.”
Whether all of those features will eventually make it onto the platform remains to be seen, but we can assume that at least one of them will – hi-res audio. It’s a feature Spotify has mulled over for years, going back and forth on the best method of delivery – eventually settling internally on a similar “Supremium” tier that has yet to see the light of day.
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As for the rest of the features mentioned, we imagine Spotify and UMG will want to significantly beef up the new tier, especially considering that most of the competition already offers hi-res audio without a price hike. But a new tier that offers hi-res audio on top of early access to music and deluxe albums as well as Q&A sessions? That might just be enough to convince the user base to upgrade. 20% of them at least.
Speaking with Variety, the National Music Publishers Association (NMPA) reckons that the deal “appears” to increase royalty rates for artists, though it didn’t delve into any specifics.
“A rising tide lifts all boats and this signals that Spotify is coming back to the table after its disastrous attempt to manipulate royalty rates… Songwriters should not be treated as the enemy, but should instead be treated as valued business partners,” it said.
