Spotify has announced that it has sold its entire $504 million stake in Spotify this week. During an earnings call, Warner Music CEO, Steve Cooper, explained that it would share $126 million of its sale with its artists in the future. Cooper also made a point to explain that this sale did not demonstrate the label’s lack of enthusiasm for music or streaming services.
In a lengthier statement, Cooper said, “While Apple and Spotify continue to grow their global subscriber numbers, Amazon and YouTube are both off to a great start with their premium services. This increased competition is good news for our business, and we’re happy to see other large tech companies, such as Facebook, begin to recognize the true value that music brings to their platforms.”
The large multi million dollar sale is the culmination of the label’s fourth month long effort. In May, Warner announced that it had sold 75% of its stake for $400 million. The move away from Spotify is interesting, but not unheard of. With 180 million subscribers, Spotify is the largest’s music streaming platform in the world, so it is an attractive entity for labels to invest in. However, labels like Sony and Warner have sold their stakes in the streaming service for $768 million and $504 million respectively. As Warner exits Spotify, Universal remains as the only major label to still own a major stake in the streaming service.
