Taylor Swift & Nelly Furtado Spotify Drama: Calvin Harris ‘Feel So Close’ Cover Released After Taylor Swift Split

Taylor Swift’s ex-boyfriend, Calvin Harris, has inspired Nelly Furtado! The blue-eyed, Portuguese Canadian songbird dropped a raw, acoustic cover of Calvin’s 2011 hit, “Feel So Close,” on Spotify. Taylor Swift pulled her music from Spotify, feeling they did not properly compensate artists, according to TIME.

Nelly shocked fans with the Calvin Harris cover, as it’s been more than a decade since the 37-year-old has dominated radio stations. The “I’m Like a Bird” hitmaker’s acoustic rendition of the DJ’s 2012 track is the first newly-recorded music she’s shared with fans since her The Spirit Indestructible LP almost four years ago. Furtado released the song on Spotify Monday afternoon. Nelly says she chose the music streaming service to exclusively promote her music because the company is “artist-friendly” and offers good compensation to musicians.

Taylor Swift explained her views on the future of music in a Wall Street Journal op-ed.

“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. I hope they don’t underestimate themselves or undervalue their art.”

“I decided recently to record my own version in the studio and post it exclusively on SPOTIFY so that music fans can enjoy streaming it,” she continued. “I chose SPOTIFY for this as they are very artist friendly and compensate musicians well for their art. I know some people have been using this as a ‘first dance’ wedding song, and summer is here, so enjoy!” Nelly wrote on Facebook.

Taylor Swift On The Value of An Album

How much can Spotify artists’ earn? According to Spotify Artists, the website explains the artist earn on average less than one cent per play, between $0.006 and $0.0084. Taylor Swift feels much differently than Furtado when it comes to Spotify. According to TIME, Swift calls for artist to reject services that devalue their work via tiny payouts.

Taylor Swift said the following in her Wall Street Journal op-ed.

“In my opinion, the value of an album is, and will continue to be, based on the amount of heart and soul an artist has bled into a body of work, and the financial value that artists (and their labels) place on their music when it goes out into the marketplace. Piracy, file sharing and streaming have shrunk the numbers of paid album sales drastically, and every artist has handled this blow differently.”

The music streaming service had this to say to Taylor.

“We hope she’ll change her mind and join us in building a new music economy that works for everyone.”

Is this the beginning of Nelly Furtado’s comeback? Furtado has teased fans for months with her cryptic Instagram posts, which many believe is the album cover. Furtado has not given any further details as to when she may release more music.

Nelly Furtado, 37, grammy Award-winner, first came onto the music scene with debut album Whoa! Nelly! in 2000. Major hits like “I’m Like A Bird,” followed by “Promiscuous” and “Maneater,” propelled her into superstar status. Nelly has sold over 40 million records worldwide and received four Grammy nominations in 2002 for “I’m Like A Bird.” Furtado also won Best Female Pop Vocal Performance. The Portuguese Canadian dropped off the radar after giving birth to her daughter, Nevis Chetan, on September 20, 2003, in Toronto with then-boyfriend Jasper Gahunia.

Furtado came back into the spotlight in late 2015 not wearing a wedding ring, though she was thought to be married to sound engineer Demacio Castellon, according to the Daily Mail.

As for Taylor Swift and Calvin, it’s been reported there is no “Bad Blood” between the two. Calvin very publicly tweeted, though the couple has broken up, they will remain great friends. A source close to Calvin reports to E! News, “He liked how innocent Taylor was and that she had a good caring heart. Taylor’s heart was more in it than he was. He started to lose interest over the past few months, but really tried to not just break up.”

Taylor had her own performance at a wedding after the split. Taylor is reported to have sang her 1989 hit, “Blank Space.”

What’s your thoughts regarding artist compensation on music streaming services? Do you agree with Swift on piracy, file sharing, and streaming? Sound off in comments below!

[Photo by Jason Merritt, Mark Davis/Getty Images]