Spotify: BMG The Latest To Leave The Streaming Giant

Blue Music Group, "The small label with big music", is the latest in line of small jazz and classical producer-labels to withdraw its catalog from the streaming giant, Spotify. "Having the catalog available at Spotify's pitiful rates - and we're talking about fractions of cents per streamed song - kills all chances to produce new fruitful music," says Mika Pohjola, the producer and record label do-it-all, who also often composes and plays piano. "Blue Music Group is keen to pay its artists fairly, we have one of the highest royalty rates in the industry. We rely on people buying our downloads from Apple iTunes, Amazon or Bandcamp. These vendors, especially Bandcamp, gives a straight-forward deal on downloads, and they understand musicians need to get paid."

Blue Music Group launched its catalog originally on Spotify shortly after Spotify opened in October 2008. During their nearly six years of cooperation, Blue Music Group has had considerable success with its 2006 release Swedish Traditional Songs by vocalist Johanna Grüssner from the Åland Islands. The total streams count to approximately one million. "Although we've been fairly successful with some albums, it's a question of fair play for all artists," Pohjola explains. "Most artists suffer from Spotify eating up their download sales. Maybe in the future, when the deal is fair toward artists and producers, we can consider Spotify and other streaming services again."