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Spotify isn’t using their market dominance in another industry to squeeze either artists or competitors. Nothing is stopping another streaming service from off

Spotify isn’t using their market dominance in another industry to squeeze either artists or competitors. Nothing is stopping another streaming service from offering a bigger cut to artists (indeed Tide purports to do exactly this). If Spotify started pushing artist contracts that prevented artists from getting a better deal else where, then they should be regulated. But they don’t, and there’s plenty of artists that don’t sell on Spotify because they don’t like the deal they offer.

scarface74 6y ago
Spotify isn’t using their market dominance in streaming to give artist a pittance? Nothing is stopping another streaming service from offering a bigger cut to artists (indeed Tide purports to do exactly this). A bigger cut of a tiny pie? In the same vein nothing is stopping app developers from ignoring iOS or users from buying iPhones, using Google, FaceBook, or Amazon.
- avianlyric 6y ago
  > Spotify isn’t using their market dominance in streaming to give artist a pittance? What evidence do you have back this up? There’s every suggestion that Spotify are struggling to defend themselves against artists who demand bigger payments. Additionally there’s every suggestion that Apple Music now have a larger portion of the market than Spotify, and if it hasn’t happened yet, it will soon. All of that is ignoring other competitors like Google Music (or YouTube, wherever they’re calling it today) and Amazon Music. Simply put, your assertion fails on multiple fronts.
  - scarface74 6y ago
    There’s every suggestion that Spotify are struggling to defend themselves against artists who demand bigger payments. So you’re okay with Spotify “defending themselves” against artist who want more of a cut? It takes 180,000 plays to make minimum wage. https://help.songtrust.com/knowledge/what-is-the-pay-rate-for-spotify-streams https://help.songtrust.com/knowledge/what-is-the-pay-rate-fo... Spotify also takes a 30% cut. Artist are also complaining about Spotify’s payout. https://www.businessofapps.com/data/spotify-statistics/ https://www.businessofapps.com/data/spotify-statistics/ It has drawn criticism from recording artists, who complain that it pays too little. Claims to democratize the music industry Maybe Spotify needs to remember that whole “those in glass houses”. Actually Apple Music pays artists more per stream than Spotify.
    - avianlyric 6y ago
      > So you’re okay with Spotify “defending themselves” against artist who want more of a cut? Yes, there’s no god given right to be paid for your art. Just because I put some tones together and throw it on the Internet doesn’t mean I deserve to paid significant amounts of money. Or indeed any money at all. > Actually Apple Music pays artists more per stream than Spotify. That only proves my point, competition is driving up payments to artists, the system works. Not only that but Apple Music may soon be the dominant streaming platform, and if they can do that would resorting to anti-competitive behaviour then is show that artists can make a living, and consumers can continue paying ~$7/month for music.
      - scarface74 6y ago
        Yes, there’s no god given right to be paid for your art. Just because I put some tones together and throw it on the Internet doesn’t mean I deserve to paid significant amounts of money. Or indeed any money at all. But there is a God given right for software developers to get more than 70%? Not only that but Apple Music may soon be the dominant streaming platform, and if they can do that would resorting to anti-competitive behaviour then is show that artists can make a living, and consumers can continue paying ~$7/month for music. How do you propose that Apple becomes more dominant than Spotify worldwide when Apple only has a 15% market share? Are people really signing up for Apple Music on Android or are the few Android users who use Apple Music doing so only as part of a Family Plan where the other member of the household is an iOS user? That only proves my point, competition is driving up payments to artists, the system works. It’s only “working” because Apple, Amazon, and Google don’t need for music streaming to be profitable - unlike Spotify. They can operate at break even. Artists aren’t choosing one over the other.
        avianlyric 6y ago
        > But there is a God given right for software developers to get more than 70%? No, but the market clearly values developer time significantly more than artist time. If you wanna have a debate about the relative worth of people professions to society vs their pay. Then talking about the difference between a sports persons pay and doctors pay tends to make for a better argument. > How do you propose that Apple becomes more dominant than Spotify worldwide when Apple only has a 15% market share? Are people really signing up for Apple Music on Android or are the few Android users who use Apple Music doing so only as part of a Family Plan where the other member of the household is an iOS user? Apple own almost 20% of the streaming market to Spotify’s 35% and show no signs of slowing down. Apples hardware market clearly hasn’t been a limitation so far. But again that isn’t a surprise when you consider that core markets for streaming are mostly western. And Apple have very high HW market share there, such as almost 50% of the US mobile market. > It’s only “working” because Apple, Amazon, and Google don’t need for music streaming to be profitable - unlike Spotify. They can operate at break even. Artists aren’t choosing one over the other. That just shows that Spotify’s cut isn’t unreasonable, they’re barely making a profit. Ultimately artists choose to make art, they aren’t forced into. They, like any small business owner, takes a gamble. They trade a stable income for the opportunity to do some they love, and do something that has unbounded upside. If they strike a cord with popular society then they stand to make millions, an opportunity that a software developer earning a salary doesn’t have. If they don’t like that deal, they get a salaried or wage job like the rest of us. I started my own business for the reasons above, it didn’t pan out, and now I have a salaried job. But you don’t see me gripping about how someone else should have paid me more to run my business. Simple fact of the matter is that society just doesn’t value artists that much. Neither Spotify or Apple is gonna change that.

scarface74 6y ago

Spotify isn’t using their market dominance in streaming to give artist a pittance? Nothing is stopping another streaming service from offering a bigger cut to artists (indeed Tide purports to do exactly this). A bigger cut of a tiny pie? In the same vein nothing is stopping app developers from ignoring iOS or users from buying iPhones, using Google, FaceBook, or Amazon.

avianlyric 6y ago
> Spotify isn’t using their market dominance in streaming to give artist a pittance? What evidence do you have back this up? There’s every suggestion that Spotify are struggling to defend themselves against artists who demand bigger payments. Additionally there’s every suggestion that Apple Music now have a larger portion of the market than Spotify, and if it hasn’t happened yet, it will soon. All of that is ignoring other competitors like Google Music (or YouTube, wherever they’re calling it today) and Amazon Music. Simply put, your assertion fails on multiple fronts.
- scarface74 6y ago
  There’s every suggestion that Spotify are struggling to defend themselves against artists who demand bigger payments. So you’re okay with Spotify “defending themselves” against artist who want more of a cut? It takes 180,000 plays to make minimum wage. https://help.songtrust.com/knowledge/what-is-the-pay-rate-for-spotify-streams https://help.songtrust.com/knowledge/what-is-the-pay-rate-fo... Spotify also takes a 30% cut. Artist are also complaining about Spotify’s payout. https://www.businessofapps.com/data/spotify-statistics/ https://www.businessofapps.com/data/spotify-statistics/ It has drawn criticism from recording artists, who complain that it pays too little. Claims to democratize the music industry Maybe Spotify needs to remember that whole “those in glass houses”. Actually Apple Music pays artists more per stream than Spotify.
  - avianlyric 6y ago
    > So you’re okay with Spotify “defending themselves” against artist who want more of a cut? Yes, there’s no god given right to be paid for your art. Just because I put some tones together and throw it on the Internet doesn’t mean I deserve to paid significant amounts of money. Or indeed any money at all. > Actually Apple Music pays artists more per stream than Spotify. That only proves my point, competition is driving up payments to artists, the system works. Not only that but Apple Music may soon be the dominant streaming platform, and if they can do that would resorting to anti-competitive behaviour then is show that artists can make a living, and consumers can continue paying ~$7/month for music.
    - scarface74 6y ago
      Yes, there’s no god given right to be paid for your art. Just because I put some tones together and throw it on the Internet doesn’t mean I deserve to paid significant amounts of money. Or indeed any money at all. But there is a God given right for software developers to get more than 70%? Not only that but Apple Music may soon be the dominant streaming platform, and if they can do that would resorting to anti-competitive behaviour then is show that artists can make a living, and consumers can continue paying ~$7/month for music. How do you propose that Apple becomes more dominant than Spotify worldwide when Apple only has a 15% market share? Are people really signing up for Apple Music on Android or are the few Android users who use Apple Music doing so only as part of a Family Plan where the other member of the household is an iOS user? That only proves my point, competition is driving up payments to artists, the system works. It’s only “working” because Apple, Amazon, and Google don’t need for music streaming to be profitable - unlike Spotify. They can operate at break even. Artists aren’t choosing one over the other.
      - avianlyric 6y ago
        > But there is a God given right for software developers to get more than 70%? No, but the market clearly values developer time significantly more than artist time. If you wanna have a debate about the relative worth of people professions to society vs their pay. Then talking about the difference between a sports persons pay and doctors pay tends to make for a better argument. > How do you propose that Apple becomes more dominant than Spotify worldwide when Apple only has a 15% market share? Are people really signing up for Apple Music on Android or are the few Android users who use Apple Music doing so only as part of a Family Plan where the other member of the household is an iOS user? Apple own almost 20% of the streaming market to Spotify’s 35% and show no signs of slowing down. Apples hardware market clearly hasn’t been a limitation so far. But again that isn’t a surprise when you consider that core markets for streaming are mostly western. And Apple have very high HW market share there, such as almost 50% of the US mobile market. > It’s only “working” because Apple, Amazon, and Google don’t need for music streaming to be profitable - unlike Spotify. They can operate at break even. Artists aren’t choosing one over the other. That just shows that Spotify’s cut isn’t unreasonable, they’re barely making a profit. Ultimately artists choose to make art, they aren’t forced into. They, like any small business owner, takes a gamble. They trade a stable income for the opportunity to do some they love, and do something that has unbounded upside. If they strike a cord with popular society then they stand to make millions, an opportunity that a software developer earning a salary doesn’t have. If they don’t like that deal, they get a salaried or wage job like the rest of us. I started my own business for the reasons above, it didn’t pan out, and now I have a salaried job. But you don’t see me gripping about how someone else should have paid me more to run my business. Simple fact of the matter is that society just doesn’t value artists that much. Neither Spotify or Apple is gonna change that.