Brantley Gilbert and Justin Moore Pull New Albums From Spotify

Brantley Gilbert and Justin Moore are the latest country stars to pull their music from Spotify.

Brantley and Justin's decision to pull their music comes a week after Taylor Swift also pulled her take her entire catalog off of the online streaming service. Taylor's album '1989' debuted at No. 1 and sold 1.2 million copies in its opening week, something she wasn't sure would have happened if she had allowed streaming of individual tracks.

“If I had streamed the new album, it’s impossible to try to speculate what would have happened. But all I can say is that music is changing so quickly, and the landscape of the music industry itself is changing so quickly, that everything new, like Spotify, all feels to me a bit like a grand experiment,” Taylor said. “And I’m not wiling to contribute my life’s work to an experiment that I don’t feel fairly compensates the writers, producers, artists and creators of this music. And I just don’t agree with perpetuating the perception that music has no value and should be free.”

Jason Aldean followed Taylor's lead days later, pulling his newly-released album, 'Old Boots, New Dirt,' from the site, though the rest of his songs remain for now.

According to Rolling Stone, that's the same call Brantley and Justin have made. Brantley's most recent album, 'Just as I Am,' and Justin's latest, 'Off the Beaten Path,' are no longer available for streaming on Spotify, leaving just one single for listeners to listen to as a teaser.

Spotify offers people the choice to stream music at no charge with commercials, or pay five or ten dollars per month to avoid commercials and access special features. The service pays out between 0.006 cents and 0.0084 cents for each stream, which critics say is simply too low.

I completely understand where artists are coming from because they're in  the business to make money, but on the other hand, had it not been for Spotify, I wouldn't have heard Brett Eldridge's 'Mean to Me' or 'One Mississippi.' And if I hadn't heard those songs on Spotify, I would have just assumed, based on Brett's songs played on the radio, that he was just another pretty bro-country boy and that while his music is fun, there wasn't depth to it. 'Mean to Me' and 'One Mississippi' proved me wrong. Here's a verse from 'One Mississippi:'

Lipstick on the coffee cup
I know I should wash it up
But maybe I'll just wait here for a little while
I run my fingers around the top
Where your lips were I just stop
Cause I, I can almost see your smile

Those lyrics stopped me in my tracks. I felt like I was sucked into the song and was filled with so many emotions- my heart literally ached for the man in the song. And it was in that moment that gained a new appreciation for Brett Eldridge and the depth of his music and decided to buy his full album 'Bring You Back,' a decision I don't regret.