How to run a big web music biz (Spotify): Grab more cash from fans, sink deeper into the red Spotify has taken advice from Taylor Swift and shaken off its haters: the online music streaming upstart is in good shape despite increased losses. Founded in 2006, Spotify is privately held but published its 2013 consolidated financial results in Luxembourg on Tuesday. Although it's headquartered in London, UK, and Stockholm …
>It told stakeholders: "The more time people spend with our product, the more likely they are to become paying subscribers."
That's not the kind of phrase that would encourage me to invest in Spotify, confidence does not appear to reign here...
After reading through the article and the amount of risk mentioned, it is extremely difficult to imagine anything bright about the future for Spotify.
I hope not, for all involved.
I pay 120 euros a year for spotify. I used to pay about 40 a year for Cd's that I wanted. (and still do that's well). That means the music companies are getting triple from me than they were.
And yet they still complain that I am not paying them enough? Would they rather that I reduce my expenditure and only buy the one or two albums a year again?
And for me all music on tap that I like enough to listen to via a subscription service but that I would not consider buying in itself.
Seems win win except for those with exceptional greed. Shame that describes the music industry really!
Apple have already said they'll be moving into streaming. Google don't seem that bothered, but might try it as an afterthought. Amazon probably will, once Bezos wakes up.
Streaming only works when there's bandwidth to support it. Domestic b/band is fine, mostly. Mobile is a data-capped nightmare in a lot of the world. So unless Spotify is planning to become an MNO, customer appeal is going to remain limited.
Spotify Premium does a lovely job of putting playlisted music into your phone's memory before you leave the WiFi zone. That's the appeal of Spotify and why it won't allow offline 'delayed' streaming like this for Spotify Free.
Using Spotify Free has allowed me to realise I love it for 4 hours a month as does the missus.
Might go up to 8 hrs/month each if offline were allowed.
For which we are not going to pay £20 - presumably to subsidise those listening for 100 hrs/month.
No pay as you go (or pay lite) option is what's stopping any of my spend going to Spotify.
Google already have moved into streaming. See for example this Reg article
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