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Theresa May has dramatically faced down Nicola Sturgeon over a new Scottish independence referendum, declaring that “now is not the time” and effectively pushing any second vote beyond the completion of Brexit in 2019.

The UK prime minister risks inflaming Scottish nationalist sentiment by refusing to grant Ms Sturgeon’s demands, made earlier this week, for a second poll in late 2018 or the spring of 2019, but has decided to tough it out. In an interview with ITV News, Mrs May said: “We should be putting all of our energy into getting the right deal for the UK and Scotland in these negotiations with the EU. We should be working together, not pulling apart.”

Mrs May refused to say what she meant with her repeated assertion that “now is not the time”, but her allies have made it clear she will not permit a second independence vote until Brexit is complete. Ms Sturgeon responded on Twitter, saying that Downing Street’s refusal to agree to another referendum would be “undemocratic” and “proof positive that the Tories fear the verdict of the Scottish people”. The prime minister’s surprise intervention was intended to pre-empt Ms Sturgeon’s SNP party conference in Aberdeen, starting on Friday, and to assert her control over the process. Westminster has to sanction a second Scottish vote on separation.

Mrs May said that Scots would not have “crucial information” about the UK’s future relationship with the EU while Brexit talks were continuing, but did not rule out permitting a Scottish vote while she was prime minister. The prime minister’s team concede that it is politically dangerous to resist the Scottish first minister’s call for a second referendum over many years, but believe they can hold the line for now. The last Scottish referendum was in 2014 and Mrs May argues that there is scant evidence that Scots want a second vote now.

Meanwhile the leader of the Scottish Conservatives has declared that Scotland cannot hold an independence referendum at least until the UK’s post-Brexit relationship “is working”.  Speaking in the Scottish parliament, Ruth Davidson signalled a tough line on Ms Sturgeon’s call for a fresh referendum on leaving the UK to be held the by spring 2019 at the latest.  “The Scottish Conservatives reject the proposals set out by the first minister on Monday,” Ms Davidson said.  “A referendum cannot happen when the people of Scotland have not been given the opportunity to see how our new relationship with the European Union is working and it should not take place when there is no clear political or public consent for it to happen,” she said.

Ms Sturgeon responded by pointing out that the SNP won the 2016 Scottish parliament election with a much greater share of the vote than the Conservatives managed across the UK in 2015.  The SNP 2016 manifesto included a demand for the right to hold a second referendum if Scotland was to be forced out of the EU against its will, the first minister said, adding that there was a majority for independence in the Scottish parliament.  “Let me issue this direct challenge to Ruth Davidson and to the Conservative party,” Ms Sturgeon said. “If on Wednesday next week this parliament votes for an independence referendum to give the people of Scotland a choice over their own future, will the Conservatives respect the will of this parliament?” she said.

Spotify is closing in on licensing deals with the world’s largest record labels, hoping to clear a hurdle in the streaming music company’s path towards an initial public offering after months of tough negotiations.   As part of the proposed deals, the music companies have agreed to trim the royalty fees that Spotify pays for their songs, according to people familiar with the discussions. In exchange, Spotify would restrict the biggest album releases to its paid tier for a period of time — a substantial concession after years of friction with pop stars including Taylor Swift, who pulled her music from the platform in 2014. Recorded music companies, and the likes of Ms Swift, want to limit Spotify’s free service, which generates far less revenues than paid subscriptions. People close to the matter say licensing talks have picked up considerably and deals could be inked within weeks after months of gridlock, with the caveat that nothing has been signed and talks could again stall. The long-term licensing deals would boost Spotify’s appeal before an IPO, as it looks to convince investors it can translate its fast customer growth into a solid business. Spotify, valued at $8.5bn in a recent funding round, made a net loss of €173m in 2015, despite revenues surging to €1.95bn, as royalty and distribution fees jumped to €1.63bn. 50m Number of paying customers using Spotify Spotify’s contracts have been up for negotiation with Universal, Sony and Warner, the label owners on whom it depends for most of its 30m songs. It has not had a long-term contract with Vivendi-owned Universal, the world’s biggest record company, in nearly two years. The “big three”, which together control the vast majority of the world’s popular music, also hold minority stakes in Spotify and have an interest in a public offering succeeding, label executives say.  The Big Read How streaming saved the music industry Spotify and Apple are making money for the big labels but technology is likely to change the equation again This month Spotify said it had reached a milestone of 50m paying customers, underscoring the music industry’s dependence on the streaming pioneer as it navigates a digital future. Spotify enjoyed a growth spurt in the past year, adding 20m paying subscribers, while its main rival, Apple Music, has so far signed up only 20m paying customers. Spotify’s growth has helped revive the music industry, as streaming last year powered the fastest revenue growth for recorded music since the file-sharing days of Napster.  The music industry has for years been pushing for “windowing”, or making some music available only to paying customers for a set period of time, likening the strategy to releasing movies in theatres before allowing them to be streamed online.  However Daniel Ek, Spotify’s founder, has steadily defended his “freemium” streaming model as the path forward for music in the digital era, even in the face of a high-profile critique from Ms Swift, who said she was “not willing to contribute my life’s work to an experiment”. Mr Ek has argued that offering music for free lures in new listeners who later sign up to pay.  Spotify declined to comment.