Spotify spends millions on naming rights as songwriters struggle [Chris Castle]
Marissa M. Conner
2 min read
Spotify recently bought the naming rights to FC Barcelona’s super stadium for around 225 million euros, while songwriters and artists are still getting pennies in royalties, writes Chris Castle.
A guest post by chris castle by Artist Rights Watch.
If duds were Easter eggs, Daniel Ek would be the Easter Bunny. In the midst of Spotify’s stock price crash, billion-dollar stock buybacks, Copyright Royalty Board shenanigans (which are getting more chaotic by the day), controversy into Joe Rogan and investigation by UK competition authorities after investigation by the UK House of Commons Digital Culture, Media and Sport Committee, here’s another easter egg that Little Danny missed.
According to Spain-based sports site Marca, Ek is sweetening his (so far) failed bid to buy British soccer club Arsenal by acquiring the naming rights to FC Barcelona’s super-stadium, Camp Nou, the most Europe’s largest football stadium. According to Marca:
The sponsorship appears to be the means by which Laporta hopes to bring the Blaugrana out of the red and black.
A deal with music streaming platform Spotify, which is expected to be confirmed shortly, will see the club receive 225 million euros.
In turn, Spotify will sponsor both men’s and women’s shirts as well as their workout clothes. Additionally, Spotify will have the rights to the stadium for the next three seasons, which has received mixed reviews from the club’s fans.
Barcelona expect an annual income of 20 million euros from Spotify to sponsor the Camp Nou, which is estimated to be more than Manchester City‘s deal with Etihad – which sponsors their stadium for 15 million euros per season.
That’s right – not a red penny for the artists (or songwriters) but millions for the tribute. And according to you, how did this agreement go? Well, know that Barcelona are also buying a pretty big loan to renovate the Camp Nou stadium and they turned to… Goldman Sachs, who just happens to be one of Spotify’s investment bankers. So who came first?
Does Goldman think there’s anything unethical about a company that fucks creators all day but spends hundreds of millions to name a football stadium after it? (OK, I said it without laughing, but you can laugh now.) Obviously not, because in Goldman’s catechism, you stop at the novena of fees.
And speaking of fees, what is the source of funds for Daniel Ek’s latest self-aggrandizement or whatever you call it? Perhaps a loan from Goldman before interest rates rise this year if the Federal Reserve really says goodbye to the era of easy money that has swelled assets around the world?
