I hate to tell ya, but Spotify will eternally be stuck between unprofitability and price raises. Spotify has to negotiate with record labels who mostly act as

I hate to tell ya, but Spotify will eternally be stuck between unprofitability and price raises. Spotify has to negotiate with record labels who mostly act as a unified block, and they have leverage because Spotify needs all major labels or else customers can’t find all their music. No one is a “interscope” loyalist - they’re loyal to artists. This gives them power to basically demand >100% of the profit margin. That’s why they’re trying to get into other markets like podcasts. Record labels get ~50% of revenue, then Apple/Google app stores get 30% from some customers - that doesn’t leave a lot of room for Spotify. That’s also why YouTube music and Apple Music will be the only long term players - but they need Spotify. They can take a loss to keep customers in the ecosystem BUT they need Spotify to always be the first to break to keep rates tolerable.