This is how much it cost Apple Music to nab a major exclusive
Apple paid Chance The Rapper a whopping $500,000 (about £433,000) for two-weeks of Apple Music-exclusive access to his latest mixtape, Coloring Book.
In a series of tweets posted on Friday (below), the Grammy Award-winning rapper, offered a rare glimpse into the sky-high value of exclusive content in the new streaming economy.
The one-time deal for the critically acclaimed Coloring Book album also included promotion in an Apple Music commercial.
Perhaps, in his most poignant tweet in the thread, he said: “I think artists can gain a lot from the streaming wars as long as they remain in control of their own product.”
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Exclusives have become a huge weapon in the emerging streaming wars between Apple Music Tidal and Spotify.
While Spotify has generally stayed out of the bidding wars, the other two have enjoyed some successes by aligning themselves with artists.
Just yesterday it emerged Spotify might be about to fall in line with those streaming services on one major issue by making some releases available to paying customers only.
Do streaming exclusives harm the consumer? Or are artists right to go with the highest bidder when streaming revenues fall below albums sales? Let us know below