Spotify is facing criticism over the expansion of the streaming platform’s controversial Discovery Mode. CEO Daniel Ek unveiled the plan at the company’s Stream On event on March 8.
Discovery Mode is essentially a trade: it gives opportunities for more algorithmic exposure in exchange for lowered artist royalties. This new expansion allows for independent artists to take advantage of the system previously only available to record labels using the Spotify for Artists tool.
Called “digital payola” by some, Spotify insists the program works for artists trying to be discovered. “On average, we’ve seen users save Discovery Mode songs 50% more often, add them to playlists 44% more, and follow the artists 37% more. And that’s just what they see in the song’s first month of Discovery Mode use,” said Global Head of Artist Partnerships and Audience Joe Hadley.
