JAY-Z Is Losing $1 Million Per Week By Keeping ‘4:44′ Off Spotify
JAY-Z’s 4:44 album is currently available on several streaming platforms except for Spotify. This doesn’t appear to be a smart business move, considering that his album would be generating a lot more money if it was on one of the largest streaming services.
According to Billboard, Hov is losing an estimated $1 million per week by withholding 4:44 from Spotify. The calculation is based on music industry sources approximating the cost of the Spotify ban based on the service’s share of the market and the average rate paid per song stream.
For example, Drake’s Views generated approximately $20.7 million in royalties after going from an Apple Music exclusive to a wide release on Spotify and other services. In fact, the streaming plays doubled once it hit Spotify. So Hov's refusal to have his album on Spotify is going to cost him a ton of money.
And for those who don't know, JAY has a long-standing grievance over Spotify's free, ad-supported version of the service and has taken his catalog off of the platform. And we must also mention that JAY-Z might be a little salty over the fact that Spotify has Prince's music catalog on their service and not his (refer to "Caught their Eyes" on 4:44)
However, the Spotify snub won’t likely hurt JAY-Z's pockets too much. MusicWatch analyst Russ Crupnick says that streaming is more like “pocket change” to established musicians like Hov. “I’m guessing the diapers for those wonderful new children aren’t being paid out of streaming royalties,” he said, referencing Sir and Rumi Carter, JAY-Z and Beyoncé’s newborn twins.
In the end, JAY-Z is not a businessman, he's a business, man. Hopefully, the two parties can settle their differences and let Spotify users hear his fantastic album.