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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

#361

Post by alphaalpha101 »

orbitur wrote: post #358
bogomipz wrote: post #357

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>" In 20 years, the Beatles and ac/dc will be less relevant and easier to live without." If you made that statement I'm guessing that you don't realize that the Beatles have been relevant for 50 plus years now and AC/DC for 40 plus years. They are so enduring because they are classics. It's amusing that you believe that when yet another generation discovers these artists they are somehow going to become less relevant…

They have been relevant, yes, but that doesn't mean their primary audience isn't aging. If you truly believe the Beatles and AC/DC are gaining more followers than they are losing, you are woefully out of touch. Spotify was excited to get them because it means older people might join. A larger audience, that's it.

The Beatles is definitely gaining more fans that they're losing.

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

#362

Post by bogomipz »

orbitur wrote: post #358
bogomipz wrote: post #357

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>" In 20 years, the Beatles and ac/dc will be less relevant and easier to live without." If you made that statement I'm guessing that you don't realize that the Beatles have been relevant for 50 plus years now and AC/DC for 40 plus years. They are so enduring because they are classics. It's amusing that you believe that when yet another generation discovers these artists they are somehow going to become less relevant…

They have been relevant, yes, but that doesn't mean their primary audience isn't aging. If you truly believe the Beatles and AC/DC are gaining more followers than they are losing, you are woefully out of touch. Spotify was excited to get them because it means older people might join. A larger audience, that's it.

You are flat out wrong.

65% of those 50 million streams in the first 48 hours were by people under the age of 34. See:

https://www.thewrap.com/beatles-songs-stream-50-million-time...

So yeah, catalog is king.

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

#363

Post by k_sh »

pc2g4d wrote: post #305
_zachs wrote: 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.

Spotify already is a label. Right? A bunch of artists have done "Spotify Sessions".

Publishing recordings of live performances is pretty different from having a division of the company dedicated to supporting the careers of an artist roster

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

#364

Post by toomanybeersies »

bootlooped wrote: post #316
bogomipz wrote: post #222

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 disagree. I think for most people music is fungible; they just want something to listen to. I think Spotify can afford to have gaps in it's library. Sure, if a large enough portion of the music industry cut them off it would be an issue, but I don't think they're in imminent danger of that.

Most people listen to top 40 music and artists, and not much else.

Most people on Spotify don't make their own playlists at all, and just rely on the ones that Spotify supplies in the Browse tab, or listen to albums.

From a quick scan of the friend activity pane, if Spotify only had music from the past 5 years, 80% of my friends would still be able to listen to their music.

People complaining about gaps in their library are a definite minority.

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

#365

Post by k_sh »

whatok wrote: post #212
fspacef wrote: post #194

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This. The money in the game doesn't come from just direct sales and hasn't for quite sometime. In the same vein an artist can get a million streams and still make >$5000. [1] In recent years artists like Drake have started their own labels and collaborated directly with tour organizers to generate different sources of income and cut out middlemen. While it's difficult to imagine Spotify generating hit music at the sa…

> In recent years artists like Drake have started their own labels and collaborated directly with tour organizers to generate different sources of income and cut out middlemen. Drake starting his own "label" is not a new innovation he came up with (rappers been doing that since the 90s) and still comes with just as many middlemen. Emphasis on last sentence in quote. >During the composition of Nothing Was the Same, Dr…

Generally, artist labels are for creative control, and distribution (along with most of the "business end") is left to a major.

See: G-Unit, OVO, GOOD Music, DFA Records, OWSLA...

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

#366

Post by jsjohnst »

bogomipz wrote: post #362
orbitur wrote: post #358

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They have been relevant, yes, but that doesn't mean their primary audience isn't aging. If you truly believe the Beatles and AC/DC are gaining more followers than they are losing, you are woefully out of touch. Spotify was excited to get them because it means older people might join. A larger audience, that's it.

You are flat out wrong. 65% of those 50 million streams in the first 48 hours were by people under the age of 34. See: https://www.thewrap.com/beatles-songs-stream-50-million-time... So yeah, catalog is king.

And you don’t think those folks weren’t streaming because they were heavily pushed towards it? First 48hrs is completely irrelevant, I want to see sustained numbers. I’m not saying the later numbers don’t show them leading still, I’m just saying your choice of facts doesn’t support the argument you are making.

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

#367

Post by asfasgasg »

jadeklerk wrote: post #345
astura wrote: post #135

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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?

How long ago was 2008? It's 2018, so about ten years. Now what's another word for ten years. It's on the tip of my tongue.

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

#368

Post by dude_abide »

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…

I honestly hope they don't take that approach. One of the biggest benefits of spotify is that they have damn near everything. If suddenly music becomes fragmented across a bunch of different services (like video), spotify loses their value.

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

#369

Post by giarc »

alex504 wrote: post #356
giarc wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 t…

I've recently tried out every major service: Google, Spotify, Apple Music, Tidal, and Amazon Prime. They are all insanely buggy. I was a Spotify user for about 6 years before this and it was buggy, and is getting buggier as far as I can tell.

I've only been using the Amazon Music for a few weeks now but I haven't encountered many bugs. It just doesn't seem overly feature rich. Although the one very annoying thing I have encountered is that my Alexa device doesn't seem to have a list of all of the possible Playlists. For a time, there was one called "Top Prime Hits". I could play it on my phone, but when I asked Alexa "Play Top Prime Hits" it couldn't find it. I now have to pair my phone, play it on my phone and set output to my Alexa. Seems to defeat the purpose of voice with Alexa.

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

#370

Post by stochastic_monk »

pgm8705 wrote: post #348
stochastic_monk wrote: post #274

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.

Oh, thank you! I had it backwards. Tidal doesn't have Metallica, while Spotify doesn't have Jay-Z and friends.
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