Music Venue Trust responds to Spotify's new FC Barcelona partnership

Spotify and FC Barcelona have just announced a new "long-term partnership" which will see the football club's stadium update its name to Spotify Camp Nou. Spotify's logo will also be featured on FC Barcelona's team and training shirts for the 2022-23 season.

Following the partnership announcement, Music Venue Trust has responded, highlighting how Spotify could have used the money from the deal to invest in the grassroots music sector.

Music Venue Trust wrote, "For the amount of money Spotify have agreed to spend on branding FC Barcelona they could, instead, have secured a permanent future for circa 700 UK Grassroots Music Venues by investing in the bricks and mortar of the sector."

"Such an investment could have unleashed £40 million per annum into grassroots artist talent development, from which Spotify, Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment, Warner Music and others are the ultimate financial beneficiaries," Music Venue Trust's statement continued. "Not only that, but an investment of money in this way would generate a reasonable financial return, being invested into bricks and mortar and therefore remaining an asset."

Music Venue Trust also wrote, "Literally, instead of throwing money at football shirts, Spotify could have taken that money, invested it into music, kept the value of that money, improved the economics for every new and emerging artist, and be making a small and reasonable return on a sensible and protected investment which completely aligns with the best interests of their company."

"If you are a Spotify investor, or you work at the company, it’s probably worth asking why this temporary branding opportunity has been selected in preference to a long term structured investment in music with an assessable impact," the statement added. "We'd like to talk with Daniel Ek so we could tell him the incredible opportunity he is missing. But we can't even get Spotify to take a meeting about the need to support and secure the grassroots music sector."

OWN OUR VENUES@Spotify and @FCBarcelona have just announced a branding deal worth circa $310 million which will see the Spotify logo branded on football jerseys, memorabilia and even on Camp Nou pic.twitter.com/Y7dfxTWAQN

— Music Venue Trust (@musicvenuetrust) March 16, 2022