4 ms·

Yep, sounds like that's exactly it. “Virtually every new dollar of revenue went directly to music companies as royalty payments, evidencing the fact that the m

Yep, sounds like that's exactly it. “Virtually every new dollar of revenue went directly to music companies as royalty payments, evidencing the fact that the more members Spotify adds, the more money the company loses. In almost a one-for-one scenario, every dollar Spotify is generating immediately exits the company due to licensing fees.” This predatory relationship has to stop if the record companies want to exist at all in the future. I don't think they realize that they're pointing the gun at their own foot.

agpen 14y ago
That's been the case for almost 15 years now and any sign of a clue materializing has yet to be demonstrated. Just look at Netflix's slow death spiral as its content library keeps shrinking in favor of overpriced walled gardens. Valve is virtually the only major media company to understand that the only way to win back dollars from pirates is by offering a compelling service at fair prices.
macspoofing 14y ago
>This predatory relationship has to stop if the record companies want to exist at all in the future. There is a lot demand for their product. It's not like people are switching to something else. People still want Lady Gaga and the Beatles.
dasil003 14y ago
Their goal is to stripmine music startups as a revenue strategy. They'd rather have the companies there as an alternative to piracy, but they don't want them to have any power at all, so they string them along and siphon as much investment as they can.
jbigelow76 14y ago
> This predatory relationship has to stop if the record companies want to exist at all in the future. If I had to gamble on who would be around in 10 years, Spotify or the labels, sad to say but my money would be on the labels.
- pattern 14y ago
  I don't think the parent was claiming that Spotify would necessarily outlive the record labels, but rather some new paradigm for music recording/distribution would disrupt the label's current stranglehold.

agpen 14y ago

That's been the case for almost 15 years now and any sign of a clue materializing has yet to be demonstrated. Just look at Netflix's slow death spiral as its content library keeps shrinking in favor of overpriced walled gardens. Valve is virtually the only major media company to understand that the only way to win back dollars from pirates is by offering a compelling service at fair prices.

macspoofing 14y ago

>This predatory relationship has to stop if the record companies want to exist at all in the future. There is a lot demand for their product. It's not like people are switching to something else. People still want Lady Gaga and the Beatles.

dasil003 14y ago

Their goal is to stripmine music startups as a revenue strategy. They'd rather have the companies there as an alternative to piracy, but they don't want them to have any power at all, so they string them along and siphon as much investment as they can.

jbigelow76 14y ago

> This predatory relationship has to stop if the record companies want to exist at all in the future. If I had to gamble on who would be around in 10 years, Spotify or the labels, sad to say but my money would be on the labels.

pattern 14y ago
I don't think the parent was claiming that Spotify would necessarily outlive the record labels, but rather some new paradigm for music recording/distribution would disrupt the label's current stranglehold.