Contrary to prior media reports, Britney Spears' new Glory album is not in fact an exclusive on Apple Music's paid streaming service. The collection, which is released today, is in fact available on Spotify and other music streaming services as well as available for download on iTunes and other digital download sales channels.
Spears' latest studio album was widely heralded as the latest in a stream of Apple Music exclusive releases, which included the latest Katy Perry single and the most recent albums from Snoop Dog, Chance The Rapper and Frank Ocean's Blonde collection. It appears the reports were based on the "Oops I Did It Again" singer's Aug. 3 tweet, in which she implied that the album would be available on Apple Music.
#Glory. My new album & the beginning of a new era. Available 8/26 on @AppleMusic. Pre-order tonight at midnight ET. pic.twitter.com/pkZZkC2QLR
— Britney Spears (@britneyspears) Aug. 3, 2016
Media reporters literally read between the lines in assuming that because the singer only mentioned Apple Music and no other streaming services, the album would be available exclusively on that music player only, at least upon initial release.
This has now been confirmed to not be the case, as Spotify has not only announced that all tracks from the album will be released on the world's largest on-demand streaming service, but that the company is in an active partnership with Spears and her record company Sony Music to promote Glory, although that relationship is also not part of any exclusivity deal nor window.
It looks as if the days of streaming service exclusives are in fact coming to an end quite abruptly, as Universal Music has just announced that it will no longer be teaming up with streamers to offer music on just one outlet. Troy Carter, who is the former manager of pop stars such as Lady Gaga and Meghan Trainor, and now functions as Spotify's global head of creator services, recently stated that:
"Most labels are getting around to understanding that exclusives aren't great for the business. As a manager, I would want my artists' music to be everywhere. When you carve it out to one service, you miss out on fans."
The comments are all the more telling when you consider that Carter's recent hiring at Spotify was reported as ostensibly in order to acquire exclusives for the streamer which has trailed behind Apple Music in bagging them. Now, it appears to be the beginning of a new era in which albums will be released across as many channels as possible.
So why did Britney's Glory tweet only mention Apple Music? Some observers speculate it could be due to her recent commitment to perform at the upcoming Apple Music Festival, as well as a new Apple Music commercial, in which she co-stars with Kevin Bacon. The tweet may simply have been an offshoot of the singer's newly tightened relationship with Apple.
