Why did Taylor Swift have a star on Spotify? Singer's roller coaster history with the music streaming service explored

With over 110 million monthly listeners, Taylor Swift is the second most popular artist on Spotify. The 34-year-old is one of this generation's most famous pop stars, with 14 Grammys and as many as 118 Guinness world records.

A few months ago, Spotify honored her achievements by introducing Taylor Swift's Spotify Sparkle. A star-shaped sparkling symbol appeared in the middle of the progress bar when playing a Taylor Swift song in the Spotify Android or iOS app.

However, Spotify hasn't always had such a cordial relationship with the Cruel Summers singer. In fact, between 2014 and 2017, Taylor's songs suspiciously disappeared from the streaming giant because of an extended feud between the two parties.

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Taylor Swift's Spotify sparkle explained

Taylor Swift's Spotify sparkle refers to the sparkling star symbol that used to appear on the progress bar while playing a Taylor Swift album in the Spotify app on Android or iOS.

Spotify introduced this new feature to celebrate the singer's achievements as one of the most prominent artists of 2023.

Taylor's Spotify Sparkle (via Spotify)

The touch was more than just a star slapped on top of the progress bar. It would change colors based on the Taylor Swift album the user was listening to. Different colors represented different 'eras' in Swift's musical career.

However, the feature wasn't available for anyone using Spotify from their laptops or PCs. The sparkle would only appear if a user played a Taylor song on Spotify's Android or iOS app.

Spotify also said that the Spotify sparkle would be there “for a limited time,” but no date was provided. The sparkle doesn't exist in the Android or iOS Spotify app now.

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Spotify's tumultuous relationship with Taylor Swift explained

Taylor Swift and Spotify have always had a topsy-turvy relationship, with the 34-year-old pulling all her songs from the streaming giant for three years straight, from 2014 to 2017.

In 2014, Taylor and her label, Big Machine, decided to remove all her albums from the streaming giant after a public feud over artists not receiving enough royalty from Spotify.

Spotify has a two-tier user base. One-fourth of its 600 million users are premium subscription holders who pay a periodic fee to listen to music free from advertisements on the platform. The rest listen to music that's interspersed with advertisements.

Spotify pays higher royalties to artists when a premium user listens to their songs compared to someone from the free tier. Many artists, including Taylor Swift, have protested against the streaming giant's royalty system. In an essay for the Wall Street Journal in 2014, the 14-time Grammy winner wrote:

Music is art, and art is important and rare. Important, rare things are valuable. Valuable things should be paid for.

"It's my opinion that music should not be free, and my prediction is that individual artists and their labels will someday decide what an album's price point is.

Swift and her music label wanted the streaming service to restrict her new 1989 album to premium subscription holders and remove it from the free-tier listing. However, Spotify denied the request, and Big Machine Records decided to remove the entire Swift collection from Spotify.

Spotify launched social media campaigns to lure the pop star back to the platform, but Swift and her record label didn't budge. That forced the streaming giant to make paradigm shifts in its business model and make the royalties lucrative enough to lure Swift back to Spotify.

On June 9, 2017, Swift finally returned to Spotify and announced on X that her entire library was back on Spotify and other major streaming platforms.

Swift announced that her decision to return to streaming platforms was a celebration of 1989 crossing 10 million albums in sales. In a statement, Spotify also confirmed the news and announced:

"We can confirm that Taylor Swift’s entire back catalogue is now available on Spotify for her millions of fans to enjoy."

Spotify isn't the only platform Swift has criticized. The 34-year-old had previously protested Apple Music for not paying royalties to artists when users listened to their songs during the three-month trial period, forcing the platform to change its policy.

Swift has always been outspoken about the rights of artists and other creative professionals and about giving them the remuneration they deserve.