Spotify denies squashing Apple songsters

Spotify denied a report that it has been burying search results for music acts who have signed exclusive streaming deals with rivals Apple Music and Tidal.

A spokeswoman for the Swedish music-streaming service said a Friday report from Bloomberg that it was tweaking its search engine to punish certain acts was “unequivocally false.”

The company declined to comment on other parts of the story, which said that Spotify has told artists their songs won’t be featured on promoted playlists if they sign deals with competitors.

The Friday report came after Frank Ocean’s new album “Blonde” debuted exclusively on Apple Music this weekend, where it is expected to remain for the next week or two before becoming available on Spotify.

Earlier this week, the release of “Blonde” on Apple Music reportedly spurred an internal announcement from Universal Music Group Chief Executive Lucian Grainge, decreeing that the music major will put a stop to exclusive, long-term streaming deals.

The dispute over exclusives comes as Spotify is angling to launch an initial public offering by the end of next year. With about 30 million subscribers, Spotify is currently generating about $2 billion in revenue.

Apple Music, which launched little more than a year ago, said in June it has amassed 15 million paying subscribers without disclosing revenue.

Spotify still isn’t profitable, according to reports, partly because record labels take about 55 percent of that revenue, as well as an additional cut to publishers.

Bloomberg said Spotify also has threatened to retaliate against lesserknown acts who introduce music on Apple’s Beats One streaming radio service.