Carter also reveals that Spotify now has 39 million paid subscribers, up from 30 million in March.
In June, when Atom Factory founder/CEO Troy Carter announced he was joining Spotify as global head of creator services, many music executives thought he would be securing his new employer exclusive releases, a la Apple Music's deals for Frank Ocean's Endless and Chance the Rapper's Coloring Book. But on a recent afternoon at the company's New York office in Chelsea, Carter, 43, declares that "exclusives are bad for artists, bad for consumers and bad for the whole industry."
Instead, he half-jokingly promises "Spotify inclusives."
Since most users will never subscribe to more than one streaming service, he believes that limiting access to music only incentivizes fans to seek it out on pirate sites or YouTube, where it generates less revenue. "I was brought onboard to strengthen the bridge between Spotify and the music community," he says.