A third independent metal label Prosthetic Records has pulled it's content from Spotify. "There [does] not appear to be an upside," Prosthetic co-owner E.J. Johantgen told the L.A. Weekly. The income from the streaming music service is just "fractions of pennies," according to the label head. Prosthetic joins Century Media and Metal Blade, two other Los Angeles-area metal labels who recently pulled out of Spotify.
A few small labels pulling material off Spotify, does not leave significant holes in the music streamers catalog - unless perhaps if you're a fan of indie LA metal. But it is symptomatic of what appears to be a bigger problem brewing for Spotify within the independent and d.i.y. music community.
Spotify & Hypebot Readers React
Reaction to our post yesterday "Spotify Responds To Artist Payments Controversy" has been strong and negative. "My beef is that they treat indie artists like second class citizens: they pay different rates for different artists, based on the secretive deals that no one is allowed to talk about," wrote successful indie artist Zoe Keating. "While the basic idea of Spotify is better than piracy, the pay for indie artists is about the same…," wrote commenter ictus75.
We've asked Spotify for reaction. Until then get involved in the discussion here.