Taylor Swift has recently made the decision to pull her music from Spotify, and for good reason. Spotify rips off artists by encouraging people to listen anytime instead of buying an album on iTunes, which is unfair to the artists.

In a recent interview featured on yahoo.com, Swift justly points out, “I’m not willing to contribute my life’s work to an experiment that I don’t feel fairly compensates the… creators of this music.” In addition to Swift, many big-name artists including Beyoncé, the Black Keys and Aloe Blacc have rightfully pulled their music from Spotify. Since rates are as low as less than a cent per stream, it has contributed to a decrease in record sales. This system unfairly punishes those who produce the very music fans crave.

Artists’ work has value and should be paid for appropriately. In this day and age of streaming services, teens need to be more aware of what happens when they stream their music as opposed to purchasing the songs or album. If teens continue to succumb to music streaming services such as Spotify, more will follow the trend. As Spotify grows, many artists will face a decrease in their profit.

Ultimately, music is an art and profession which should be paid for. Just like any artist, musicians should be paid for their hard work and energy spent making an album or single.