Aldean is the latest artist to pull an album from Spotify, an official with the streaming service told The Associated Press.
Aldean has yet to comment on the album’s removal from Spotify. His label, Broken Bow, did not immediately respond to a call seeking comment.
Aldean’s newest album, Old Boots, New Dirt, has sold more than 467,000 copies since its release and hit No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart. It also had the biggest first week for a country album on Spotify with more than three million streams and Aldean also recorded a track-by-track commentary for Spotify listeners.
Last week, Taylor Swift‘s label, Big Machine Records, pulled her music from Spotify, removing her back catalog from and electing not to put her new album, 1989, on the service.
photo: Santi/Splash News Online
Today, citing the Taylor Swift defection, Spotify CEO Daniel Ek posted a blog responding to complaints he said he’s heard about the service.
“All the talk swirling around lately about how Spotify is making money on the backs of artists upsets me big time,” Ek wrote. “Our whole reason for existence is to help fans find music and help artists connect with fans through a platform that protects them from piracy and pays them for their amazing work.”
After the announcement that Swift’s label would be pulling all of her earlier, Swift spoke to Yahoo Music about the decision.
“All I can say is that music is changing so quickly, and the landscape of the music industry itself is changing so quickly, that everything new, like Spotify, all feels to me a bit like a grand experiment,” she 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. And I just don’t agree with perpetuating the perception that music has no value and should be free.”
Listen to the new single from Jason Aldean, “Just Gettin’ Started” here:
