Spotify deals for an interest in going public, Spotify announced that artists will be able to make albums temporarily exclusive to the Premium service if they are part of Universal Music Group or Merlin Network. On 28 February 2018, Spotify filed for a direct listing on the New York Stock Exchange. Spotify's shares began trading on 3 April 2018. Spotify operates under a freemium business model (basic services are free, while additional features are offered via paid subscriptions). Spotify generates revenues by selling premium streaming subscriptions to users and advertising placements to third parties. In December 2013, the company launched a
Criticism of Spotify an apology on the Spotify blog by Ek, in which he wrote that "We should have done a better job in communicating what these policies mean and how any information you choose to share will – and will not – be used", along with details on what features the permissions would enable. An updated privacy policy, with "clearer language" focused on helping users, rather than lawyers, understand its contents, was rolled out in September 2015. In August 2015, "Billboard" reported that Spotify was among the streaming services influenced by "pay for play", in which labels pay for songs to be