Spotify turned down the opportunity to stream the multi-Grammy Award-winning Adele's 21 album because the songstress wanted to make it available only to Premium customers.
Fast Company says 'multiple sources' have confirmed that the singer was willing to do business with Spotify as long as users of the free service weren't able to access the stream.
For Spotify however, any agreement would have meant completely changing its business model to accommodate the six-time Grammy winner - something it was unwilling to do.
The company remained steadfast in its desire to allow ad-supported freemium members and Premium users (who pay £9.99 a month) equal access to its entire music library.
No separate music libraries
The Fast Company report claims: "Ultimately, Spotify decided it did not want to split up its content catalog, so as to create separate music libraries for paying subscribers and freemium users.
"Thus, it was essentially Spotify that decided against providing streaming access to Adele's content for paying subscribers - not the other way around."
Spotify is used to artists opting out of its streaming model, with the likes of Coldplay, The Beatles, Metallica and other mainstream acts refusing to license its tracks to the digital jukebox.
However, while it would have loved to have the most popular album of 2011, Spotify's stance proves that, no matter who the artist, it won't be bullied into compromising its model, which has seen three million users sign up for the Premium service.
Via: FastCompany, The Verge
