More than 200 indie labels just pulled music from Spotify, other streaming services

Music streaming services like Spotify have been great for consumers, allowing music fans to sample  millions of songs for a nominal subscription fee. But if you're in the business of creating and selling recording music, the good of these services is not yet clear—Spotify pays a fraction of a penny per play, and seems to take away the incentive to buy something that is easy enough to stream whenever you want. U.K.-based music distributor STHoldings has decided that the exposure that comes from having your songs played on these services is no longer worth the supposed "cannibalizing" of their digital revenues. The company, which specializes in electronic music and oversees the sourcing, manufacturing, and supplying of physical and digital product, announced that it is pulling 238 indie labels off of Spotify as well as Rdio, Napster, and Simfy. STH cited a report by the National Association of Recording Merchandisers about buying habits among listeners who use streaming services, though the findings aren't specific to Spotify and don't "prove" that these consumers are buying less music. Nevertheless, STH's position is summed up in a statement on its website: "Let's keep the music special, fuck Spotify." A complete list of STH labels can be found here. [via Gizmodo]