Spotify opens on NYSE, valuing company at almost $30B • Hacker News Board

Re: Spotify opens on NYSE, valuing company at almost $30B

#91

Post by pm90 » Tue, Apr 03, 2018, 5:59 PM UTC

whymsicalburito wrote: post #63

komali2 wrote: post #47

I'm not quite clear on why people are choosing spotify over google play music - to me the google option is superior in UI and offerings (including ad-free youtube). Am I missing something? Is it just one runs better on iPhones or is more hip (like why people choose snapchat over instagram or something)?

It's the music discovery aspect of Spotify that is their game changer. They are constantly adding new ways to find new music.

Google Play has good options for music discovery too... I stick to them mostly for their "Radio" option which is very good at selecting music similar to a song I'm listening to.

That being said... I've been underwhelmed by the app's UI and performance and have given frequent feedback but haven't got any response and there has been no changes. Typical of Google... Its been so bad that I'm considering switching to Spotify soon. Its really annoying when you're trying to select some romantic music for dinner with your partner and the app keeps refusing to work.

Re: Spotify opens on NYSE, valuing company at almost $30B

#92

Post by rhino369 » Tue, Apr 03, 2018, 6:00 PM UTC

guelo wrote: post #23

I just don't see how this can be a successful company long term. If the labels see any profit they will demand more fees at the next deal negotiation. To become music's Netflix they would have to produce their own music which people want to listen to, which is a lot easier said then done. The easiest route is probably to become Tidal and give the company away to a few big artists in exchange for exclusives.

The goal is to make the labels need them too. Plenty of people just won't listen to music if its not on spotify.

Re: Spotify opens on NYSE, valuing company at almost $30B

#93

Post by giarc » Tue, Apr 03, 2018, 6:00 PM UTC

komali2 wrote: post #47

I'm not quite clear on why people are choosing spotify over google play music - to me the google option is superior in UI and offerings (including ad-free youtube). Am I missing something? Is it just one runs better on iPhones or is more hip (like why people choose snapchat over instagram or something)?

I was a longtime user of Google Play (Songza before that) on iPhone. I loved the playlist but the app was incredibly buggy. I was using the free version so I had ads. Often the ad wouldn't play and then freeze all playback, or the ad would play and then the music wouldn't start again. This made me very hesitant to pay a monthly subscription.

I've switched to Amazon Music (free with my Prime membership) and although the app works well, the curated lists aren't as great.

My point is that maybe other people have started with the free Google Play (Music?) app and had the same experience and looked for options elsewhere.

Re: Spotify opens on NYSE, valuing company at almost $30B

#94

Post by jpalomaki » Tue, Apr 03, 2018, 6:01 PM UTC

Can it be a problem for Spotify that it will be hard for them to increase the revenue they extract even from the most loyal customers? If streaming music becomes a commodity and price sensitive people switch to competing services what will happen? Some companies like Apple are in nice position, because they can just sell more stuff to the loyal customers. Phone, pad and watch instead of just phone. And then more expensive variants of these.

Is there something Spotify could do to differentiate, something that matters even for those who don't value the sophisticated playlists? Should they go the Netflix route and start producing their own music? Or would it make sense to produce some other audio content? Think programs like "Serial" [1]. Or maybe some radio drama [2]?

[1] https://serialpodcast.org/ [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radio_drama

Re: Spotify opens on NYSE, valuing company at almost $30B

#95

Post by lern_too_spel » Tue, Apr 03, 2018, 6:02 PM UTC

ChuckMcM wrote: post #74

synaesthesisx wrote: post #27

I do love Spotify as a product, however I don't think it will scale the same way Netflix does. Spotify is at the mercy of major record labels, and as their books become more transparent the record labels will squeeze every dollar they can for licensing. That is, unless they find a way to upend the record industry entirely. Spotify has a unique position with their amazing discovery/recommendations engine- they could p…

> Spotify is at the mercy of major record labels For now. They have a large enough reach to essentially "become" a major record label, all they need is to start signing artists to contracts.

They can't pay them as well.

Re: Spotify opens on NYSE, valuing company at almost $30B

#96

Post by meritt » Tue, Apr 03, 2018, 6:02 PM UTC

harshgupta wrote: post #73

meritt wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is Spotify a tech company? I thought they were just sending an audio stream to subscribers with a website/app for searching?

Spotify is a tech company by all measures. Their core value propositions - recommendation engine, UI/UX, scaling responsive applications - those are pretty 'tech' problems.

And exactly the same can be stated for Blue Apron and Stich Fix, thus the point of my rhetorical question. Just because the two in question aren't as sexy as Spotify or Dropbox shouldn't exclude them from being considered a tech company.

I'd argue that the logistics of shipping perishable food is significantly more difficult than streaming an audio file, and recommending clothing to meet an individual's specific style/size/gender/budget is a lot more complex than applying publicly available [1] Netflix-style collaborative filtering to recommend music.

[1] https://www.netflixprize.com/assets/GrandPrize2009_BPC_BigCh...

Re: Spotify opens on NYSE, valuing company at almost $30B

#97

Post by alannala » Tue, Apr 03, 2018, 6:03 PM UTC

komali2 wrote: post #47

I'm not quite clear on why people are choosing spotify over google play music - to me the google option is superior in UI and offerings (including ad-free youtube). Am I missing something? Is it just one runs better on iPhones or is more hip (like why people choose snapchat over instagram or something)?

Also, I think there might be something in diversifying the companies you use online. It's a bit scary how much of ones life is wrapped up in about 5 companies these days...

Google know enough already!

Re: Spotify opens on NYSE, valuing company at almost $30B

#98

Post by whatok » Tue, Apr 03, 2018, 6:03 PM UTC

samfriedman wrote: post #85

whatok wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Who is listening to all of this self-published music to get training data for Discover Weekly?

I'd imagine that the self-published music gets discovered by a few people and put into playlists, then more people who follow those playlists discover those songs, and then they percolate upwards through layers of algorithmic and editorial Spotify playlist generation including Discover Weekly. There's also the Fresh Finds playlists, which work a little differently by surfacing unknown songs that "tastemakers" have be…

Agreed that your hypothesis makes sense given the current state of things but I do not think it scales with any sort of consistency/quality control in the utopian "no labels all self-published" world.

Re: Spotify opens on NYSE, valuing company at almost $30B

#99

Post by Afforess » Tue, Apr 03, 2018, 6:04 PM UTC

ttul wrote: post #64

fortythirteen wrote: post #9

> The company says that in 2018, shares traded on the private markets between $90 and $132.50. > Losses for last year were 1.2 billion Euros ($1.47 billion), which compares to 539 million Euros ($661 million) the year before. Well, there's the short of the year.

May I introduce you to the Efficient Market Hypothesis ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Efficient-market_hypothesis ).

I can't tell if you're serious (Poe's Law), but very few economists find EMH to be credible. Did you even read the "Criticisms" section of that wikipedia entry?

Re: Spotify opens on NYSE, valuing company at almost $30B

#100

Post by giarc » Tue, Apr 03, 2018, 6:04 PM UTC

verelo wrote: post #4

So i bought in, who knows where this will go though :) One of my hopes it that just like NFLX, once the company focuses on producing / licensing it's own content they can do really well. I'm interested in hearing what others have to say on this! Did you buy, will you buy? Why?

>once the company focuses on producing / licensing it's own content they can do really well.

I think the issue is that music content is so much more than just streaming. Musicians want a label that can also help with promotion, touring, merchandise, radio play, tv/movie placements. I'm not sure Spotify has experience with that. Therefore musicians will have to sign one deal for (All Items - Streaming), and a Streaming License. Are the major labels going to agree to that?