Streaming music service Spotify has grabbed the rights to premier the new album by veteran rock band REM.
From today, the company’s premium subscribers in the UK, Sweden, Spain, Norway, Netherlands and Finland will get one week’s exclusive access to the album ‘Collapse Into Now’ a week ahead of its European release. Spotify is also running a competition offering users the chance to win prizes including guitars, signed merchandise and Sonos music systems.
This isn’t the first time Spotify has run an exclusive preview of a well-known artist’s new album but it is probably its second biggest deal since it offered U2’s 2009 album exclusively for a week prior to its full release. Other big names like Katy Perry have offered pre-release samplers, but not full albums.
While some artists have complained about the meagre royalties Spotify pays for streams from its service, it’s still clearly a useful tool for labels looking to stir up a bit of promotional pre-release interest.
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