Coldplay aren’t doing an Adele, but they are doing a bit of a Taylor Swift.
MBW understands that the huge UK band’s hotly anticipated new album, A Head Full Of Dreams, will be on paid streaming services including Apple Music and TIDAL when it’s released around the world at midnight tonight (December 4).
However, the record will not be available on Spotify – and you can probably guess why.
UPDATE: It’s been confirmed. A Head Full Of Dreams is available on paid streaming services including Apple Music, TIDAL, Rhapsody/Napster, Amazon Prime Music, O2 Tracks and MTV Trax, but not on Spotify, who said in a statement: “Coldplay’s A Head Full Of Dreams is not yet on Spotify, but we look forward to making it available very soon.”
MBW is told that Coldplay and their management specifically pushed for the record to be made exclusively available on Spotify’s premium tier in its opening week, but Daniel Ek’s company stuck to its guns.
Spotify told the band that it would not make an exception to its stringent commercial rule – that all albums released on the platform have to be made available on both its free and paid-for tiers.
“A HEAD FULL OF DREAMS WON’T BE ON SPOTIFY AT LAUNCH – NOT UNLESS THERE’S A LAST-DITCH CHANGE OF HEART IN THE NEXT FEW HOURS.”
MBW SOURCE
“A Head Full Of Dreams won’t be on Spotify at launch, not unless there’s a last-ditch change of heart within the next couple of hours,” said MBW’s source.
“The band’s team aren’t anti-Spotify, they’re just not in love with ‘free’ – you can probably expect it to drop on the service after a few weeks.”
Spotify hasn’t been completely frozen out by Coldplay.
Two tracks from the new album, Everglow and Adventure Of A Lifetime, are already available to stream on the service.
Meanwhile, MBW understands that Coldplay’s promo will get a big boost when the band play the Superbowl half-time show in the US on February 7 next year – sharing a bill which also includes ‘at least two R&B superstars’.
Despite the Spotify album release week blackout, Coldplay’s strategy for Head Full Of Dreams still marks something of a step forward into streaming for the band.
Their last album, 2014’s Ghost Stories, only became available on audio streaming services four months after it was released.
Coldplay are signed to Warner Music Group-owned Parlophone, while their records are issued on Warner’s Atlantic in the US.
A WMG spokesperson declined to comment when contacted by MBW.
