First Taylor Swift kept "1989" off free music streaming services and scored the best weekly album sales in more than a decade. Then Adele spurned Spotify and Apple Music with her new "25" and did one better: She shattered the record for opening week sales, set in 2000 by the boy band 'NSync.
Now, Coldplay is next. The British rock group, which is scheduled to release "A Head Full of Dreams" on Friday, has reportedly announced that the album won't be "immediately available" on Spotify, though it looked likely to be released via paid streaming sites such as Apple Music and, perhaps, Tidal.
Some of the biggest recording artists, while making a few new tracks available for streaming, are withholding music to boost album purchases, which generate more revenue. Coldplay, a group without the global appeal of Adele, kept its last two albums off Spotify when streaming was much newer.
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