Independent artists rejoice. Spotify is testing a new method that will allow users to upload their own music. At the moment, the only way for independent artists to get music is through a third-party service. Tunecore, CD Baby, and others have made a profit on working the middleman position, but Spotify is pulling the rug from under those companies. The aforementioned third party services upload independent artists' music to several other platforms though, so they might not see an enormous hit caused by Spotify's new service. Still, Spotify's latest function will change the game.
Here is a snippet from the announcement, via Spotify:
“You’ll be able to deliver music straight to Spotify and plan for the perfect release day. You’ll see a preview of exactly how things will appear to listeners before you hit submit. And even after your music goes live, you’ll be in full control of your metadata with simple and quick edits.
Just like releasing through any other partner, you’ll get paid when fans stream your music on Spotify. Your recording royalties will hit your bank account automatically each month, and you’ll see a clear report of how much your streams are earning right next to the other insights you already get from Spotify for Artists. Uploading is free to all artists, and Spotify doesn’t charge you any fees or commissions no matter how frequently you release music.”
At the moment, the service is in an invite-only beta mode.