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

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

#341
post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is alot easier (cost and effort) to start a band and put on album on Spotify, compared to creating a movie/tv show. Consumption is different, as well - several minutes at a time versus dedicated visual attention for a minimum of 22 minutes.

And how is anyone supposed to sift through all that garbage to find something worthwhile?

I built https://www.jqbx.fm to help with that. It let's other people play music for you. So if you know someone's whose taste or playlist you like you can listen to music in sync with him/her/them. Like a user-generated radio.

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

#342
Congrats to them, but I don’t think I’ll ever understand renting music. I can understand Netflix’s success because movie content is much less replayable and more expensive, but music is relatively cheap to own your own collection. I love music, but I don’t understand the appeal of Spotify and Pandora—I’d rather take the cost of subscription and build out my library over time.

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

#343

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>"Starting their own label is exactly what they need to do to remain competitive. It's exactly what Netflix ended up doing and I think it's turning out pretty well for them." This seems to be a common refrain that Spotify can just "pull a Netflix." And this is very unlikely. Firstly no matter how much opriginal content they could create, if they don't have back catalog it's going to be a total non-starter for the mai…

> A streaming service that has no Beatles, Pink Floyd, No Motown, No AC/DC etc is going to shed users pretty quickly. I could mangage quite well without all these. Just one datapoint but...

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

#344
post #168

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Starting their own label is exactly what they need to do to remain competitive. It's exactly what Netflix ended up doing and I think it's turning out pretty well for them. I wouldn't be surprised if Spotify tried poaching higher-level strategy people from Netflix.

>"Starting their own label is exactly what they need to do to remain competitive. It's exactly what Netflix ended up doing and I think it's turning out pretty well for them." This seems to be a common refrain that Spotify can just "pull a Netflix." And this is very unlikely. Firstly no matter how much opriginal content they could create, if they don't have back catalog it's going to be a total non-starter for the mai…

A streaming service that has no Beatles, Pink Floyd, No Motown, No AC/DC etc is going to shed users pretty quickly

Last I checked, Spotify has those artists. Have you actually used Spotify lately?

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

#345
post #135
post #5

Maybe my perception is off, but it seems like we're getting lots of tech IPO's in a relatively short time. Stitch Fix, Dropbox, Blue Apron, Snap, and Roku to name a few. For a long time we weren't seeing too many big tech IPO's. Did something fundamentally change in the market to lead to this, or did all these companies just happen to make it to "market maturity" around the same time?

My thoughts are after almost a decade of growth, the popular opinion (right or wrong) is we are due for a market correction. I think that these companies want to cash out at the top of the curve.

A decade of growth....?? Where were you in 2008?

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

#346
post #5

Maybe my perception is off, but it seems like we're getting lots of tech IPO's in a relatively short time. Stitch Fix, Dropbox, Blue Apron, Snap, and Roku to name a few. For a long time we weren't seeing too many big tech IPO's. Did something fundamentally change in the market to lead to this, or did all these companies just happen to make it to "market maturity" around the same time?

> Did something fundamentally change in the market to lead to this, or did all these companies just happen to make it to "market maturity" around the same time? One successful IPO will beget a whole raft of follow-ons in similar segments to profit from the 'atmosphere' as much as possible. Until the first one that bombs, then it is immediately game over. So there tends to be a bursty nature to this IPO thing.

This leads me to believe that a Hawkes process would be an excellent way to model IPOs.

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

#347
post #344

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>"Starting their own label is exactly what they need to do to remain competitive. It's exactly what Netflix ended up doing and I think it's turning out pretty well for them." This seems to be a common refrain that Spotify can just "pull a Netflix." And this is very unlikely. Firstly no matter how much opriginal content they could create, if they don't have back catalog it's going to be a total non-starter for the mai…

A streaming service that has no Beatles, Pink Floyd, No Motown, No AC/DC etc is going to shed users pretty quickly Last I checked, Spotify has those artists. Have you actually used Spotify lately?

Read the context.

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

#348

I'm afraid about what will happen as more of these streaming services compete. It seems to be mirroring the Netflix/Hulu/Disney battleground -- subscription platforms which start differentiating themselves by owning exclusive content. Spotify has started this, and Jay-Z & Co have refused to give streaming rights to their competitors, such that Spotify doesn't have access to any Jay-Z, or, oddly enough, any Metallica.…

Metallica's collection is definitely available on Spotify... at least in the US.

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

#349
post #344

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A streaming service that has no Beatles, Pink Floyd, No Motown, No AC/DC etc is going to shed users pretty quickly Last I checked, Spotify has those artists. Have you actually used Spotify lately?

Read the context.

I did. The context is Spotify's back catalogue. Which includes the Beatles, Pink Floyd, Motown, et al.

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

#350

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because people expect broad coverage in their music service. When I ask alexa to play a song and she doesn't know it, I am like wtf? But I don't care if Netflix doesn't have every Matrix movie, I just watch something else.

Not just watch something else, if they don't have that matrix movie, you might watch it somewhere else. People don't make movie playlists and consume 35 movies in a row. Switching from one service to another to make up content gaps is OK when you're talking about a 2-2.5 hour block of time. It's not something people are going to do to listen to a mix of artists at a party.

> Not just watch something else, if they don't have that matrix movie, you might watch it somewhere else. People don't make movie playlists and consume 35 movies in a row. Switching from one service to another to make up content gaps is OK when you're talking about a 2-2.5 hour block of time. It's not something people are going to do to listen to a mix of artists at a party.

You nailed it. Music has a fundamentally different mode of consumption from music. People consume music in so many different ways and contexts. Music doesn't always demand your attention like a sensory-engrossing medium (like movies). But when music demands your attention (like having to change providers to hear a specific song) it introduces friction that is unnatural to that medium.

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