I don't know... maybe there could be another big competitor to Spotify. I can imagine the record labels would want one. The threat of there eventually being s

I don't know... maybe there could be another big competitor to Spotify. I can imagine the record labels would want one. The threat of there eventually being such a replacement probably puts a cap on how much leverage Spotify has. I don't think the data Spotify owns (my playlists? listening preferences?) is particularly valuable, but maybe I'm wrong about that. Another factor is that selling physical products often results in a market for lemons, where the buyers can't figure out which product will last longest and so purchase based on other more visible factors. Buyers can try to trust brands, but many brands will cash in on their brand by switching to greatly reduced quality at the same cost. Replacing a product with a service can better align the incentives. If, instead of a refrigerator, you purchased a service contract for refrigeration for X years, then the supplier will want to provide a refrigerator that doesn't break.