41–50 of 218 posts
Seems really hard to build a sustainable music-streaming business when all major competitors can simply subsidize this rather complementary part of their business (AZ, Apple, etc.).
I hope they do get funding so they can support messaging again, one of the reasons I came back to Spotify was for one of my most beloved features. Sending tracks to friends within the application, but then found out it was removed. I still subscribe to Spotify, but the "copy link" send to friend via text is so much worse than being able to just message within.
Is there anything to expect from Spotify aside from music streaming? Anything that might differentiate them in the long run? Seems really hard to build a sustainable music-streaming business when all major competitors can simply subsidize this rather complementary part of their business (AZ, Apple, etc.).
Earlier quoted context omitted.
>"When you buy Apple Stock it's not from Apple." How are these two comparable? When Apple IPO'd back in 1980 you were buying stock from Apple. >"...but they are probably not raising money because they either don't need it or believe they can get better funding terms." They lose hundreds of millions of dollars year over year, why would they not need it? Also why would they believe that they can get better funding now…
An IPO provides 1) a fundraising opportunity 2) a liquidity event 3) an opportunity to fulfill contractual obligations One of the conditions of their recent debt financing was that they IPO within a certain time frame. If they believe that they don't need additional funding at the moment or can get better terms then they are simply fulfilling criteria #2 and #3 with their unique IPO. I imagine Spotify can get decent…
>" I imagine Spotify can get decent debt financing terms b/c they have such a steady and predictable source of revenue (though not necessarily profit)."
Again if this true, why would they raise a billion dollars in convertible debt?
Disclaimer: I worked for a Spotify competitor in the past, so i have a pretty solid understanding of how the business works.
I think it is a bad investment for one simple reason: Spotify purchases its main product (music) from a oligopoly. I'd estimate that 95%+ of the tracks streamed (by total playtime) are from one of the 3 major music labels: Universal, Sony or Warner. That includes sublabels that in some cases may have a seperate deal with Spotify, but at the end of the day are still part of the big 3. Imagine you are a Sony executive, walking by a news stand and the Wall Street Journal Headline is "Spotify Q2 earnings 30% up". What are you gonna do? You will squeeze them, make them pay, just enough that they survive. And Spotify has zero negotiation power here. If Sptify fails to have a deal with any 1 of these 3 labels, they become useless overnight. People will switch to Apple Music, Amazon PrimeMusic, Tidal or any other service quickly. It doesn't matter if Spotifys app is slighty better than the competitors software if they lack 1/3 of the music.
I hope they do get funding so they can support messaging again, one of the reasons I came back to Spotify was for one of my most beloved features. Sending tracks to friends within the application, but then found out it was removed. I still subscribe to Spotify, but the "copy link" send to friend via text is so much worse than being able to just message within.
Isn't the point of an IPO generally to raise funds? In this case, it's just allowing people to sell their shares to the public, right? From the company standpoint, this is almost certainly a negative: additional oversight & reporting to do, no funds raised. I guess a positive is that shareholders can cash out, but as an investor, isn't that a giant red flag? I guess as an investor, I don't see why I'd buy Spotify sha…
This allows them to cash out and then go sue Spotify for all the stuff they were previously lenient with.
They will no longer have vested interest in the company and no reason to protect it.
I don't think this is a good long term investment. Disclaimer: I worked for a Spotify competitor in the past, so i have a pretty solid understanding of how the business works. I think it is a bad investment for one simple reason: Spotify purchases its main product (music) from a oligopoly. I'd estimate that 95%+ of the tracks streamed (by total playtime) are from one of the 3 major music labels: Universal, Sony or Wa…
I don't think this is a good long term investment. Disclaimer: I worked for a Spotify competitor in the past, so i have a pretty solid understanding of how the business works. I think it is a bad investment for one simple reason: Spotify purchases its main product (music) from a oligopoly. I'd estimate that 95%+ of the tracks streamed (by total playtime) are from one of the 3 major music labels: Universal, Sony or Wa…
I believe the recently announced lawsuit, coming right before this IPO, may be a fine example of exactly what you're describing.