I wouldn't say Spotify "rescued" recorded music. Rather, they merely softened the blow iTunes dealt the music industry years prior. If their distribution servi

I wouldn't say Spotify "rescued" recorded music. Rather, they merely softened the blow iTunes dealt the music industry years prior. If their distribution service is any indication, a Spotify record label would likely churn out focus-grouped mass-audience sonic piddle at razor-thin margins, in exchange for business favors from the Big Four and lucrative partnership deals with overpriced vodka brands. This won't result in an evolved or improved music industry, just a music industry with a new top dog leading the pack, who will be adopting the same tired, lowest-common-denominator approach as their predecessors. These guys at Spotify aren't exactly the most creative entertainment executives to walk the Earth. For how long they've been around, they've not gotten a whole lot accomplished. They've done a poor job at filling out their catalog and have not done nearly enough outreach to the independent labels. They should be able to take on TicketMaster in the live concerts game at this point. Yet, their biggest tech-brag to date is being able to generate somewhat-compatible playlists for users of non-adventurous tastes, on the most fundamental and superficial musical data points. ("Oh, you like this specific sub-genre of electronic music? Here's more music that has been described as existing within that same sub-genre category.") Given the data Spotify is exposed to, they should easily be able to give me better recommendations than my local record store clerk. But they can't. Of course, Apple's services does not fare any better, but at least Apple has an excuse: they also make computers and phones. Apple only uses the music industry as leverage for acquiring users into their ecosystem. Spotify, on the other hand, only does music distribution. And they do a horrible job at it, cheapening the art in the process, and severely limiting the control the user has over their music. If we want music to ever recover from the shit-tastic way the Napster issue was handled, we should hope that Spotify's grubby paws stay far away from the music production space.