Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Spotify will reduce total headcount by approximately 17%

newsroom.spotify.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

931–940 of 1001 posts

Re: Spotify will reduce total headcount by approximately 17%

#931

Post by mrbonner »

keehun wrote: post #745
mrbonner wrote: post #743

I didn’t know they have that many people (9000) to work for a single product. I’ve been a subscriber for more than 5 years and the app on the iPhone just gets worse everyday. Why? - daily updates is gone. This is where I can get a snapshot of all new releases from artists I love. I’m not sure if Release Calendar is the new one but I don’t bother to check. - I listen to classical and the song title naming is just subp…

If you primarily listen to classical music, Apple's new Classical Music app (part of its Music subscription) is *fantastic*.

Really? I didn't know Apple has a dedicated streaming app for classical now. Will check it out. Thanks

Re: Spotify will reduce total headcount by approximately 17%

#932

Post by [deleted] »

guyzero wrote: post #799
deng wrote: post #773

Spotify is a completely mistery to me. I'm asking: What does Spotify really have ? They don't own the music. They don't own podcasts (OK, they may have some exclusives like Rogan). All they have is a license, a bit of software, and lots of users. How will they ever turn a profit? What's the end game here? I just switched my whole family from Spotify to Deezer and it was literally a matter of minutes. There are even s…

Spotify is a sales channel. Walmart doesn't actually make anything, US car dealerships don't make anything. But they have customers and that's all it takes to sell something. And, strangely enough, once a sales channel is big enough it can begin taking a bigger slice of profits and telling suppliers what they should be doing (a la Walmart).

[deleted]

Re: Spotify will reduce total headcount by approximately 17%

#933

Post by guluarte »

mrbonner wrote: post #743

I didn’t know they have that many people (9000) to work for a single product. I’ve been a subscriber for more than 5 years and the app on the iPhone just gets worse everyday. Why? - daily updates is gone. This is where I can get a snapshot of all new releases from artists I love. I’m not sure if Release Calendar is the new one but I don’t bother to check. - I listen to classical and the song title naming is just subp…

I count not open the app on my phone because the timezone reported by my carries was not compatible

Re: Spotify will reduce total headcount by approximately 17%

#934

Post by ntlk »

dandesim wrote: post #893
mrbonner wrote: post #743

I didn’t know they have that many people (9000) to work for a single product. I’ve been a subscriber for more than 5 years and the app on the iPhone just gets worse everyday. Why? - daily updates is gone. This is where I can get a snapshot of all new releases from artists I love. I’m not sure if Release Calendar is the new one but I don’t bother to check. - I listen to classical and the song title naming is just subp…

It's very much more than supporting 'one product'. Off the top of my head, regarding engineering, I can think of: 1. iOS App 2. Android App 3. Windows App 4. Microsoft App 5. Web App 6. Underlying API 7. Artist Portal/App 8. Advertising Portal/App 9. PlayStation App 10. Xbox App There are probably entire engineering teams for each micro-service in the overall product (personalization, playlists, player, etc.).

They used to have Soundtrap, which is a DAW in the browser and had two separate apps. They sold it back to the founders AFAIK.

Re: Spotify will reduce total headcount by approximately 17%

#935

Post by araes »

tracerbulletx wrote: post #901
mrbonner wrote: post #743

I didn’t know they have that many people (9000) to work for a single product. I’ve been a subscriber for more than 5 years and the app on the iPhone just gets worse everyday. Why? - daily updates is gone. This is where I can get a snapshot of all new releases from artists I love. I’m not sure if Release Calendar is the new one but I don’t bother to check. - I listen to classical and the song title naming is just subp…

Every damned time this happens someone asks how it's possible they have so many employees when it's just an app... Spotify owns multiple large podcast studios, has sales people, negotiators, music industry people, lawyers, facility staff, lawyers, marketing, content curators. It is the business engine through which the vast majority of the world consumes music these days. You can quibble about if they have too many e…

Spotify's issues and costs are royalty payments. Of the €567 million increase in cost of revenue for the Nine months ended September 30, 2023, higher royalty costs were €534 million of that total. (~94%) [1] This delta is vs 7,159 total cost of revenue on 9,576 of revenue (€millions).[1, pg4] From looking at the rest of the report, most other cost of revenue contributors are minor (5 here, 10 there).

In the total category, R&D (1,257), S&M (1,101), G&A (430). R&D trending up, possibly plateauing, S&M, G&A trending down. [1, pg4] All relatively minor compared to 7,159. ([1] pg 36, Spotify 2023 Financial Report, "Spotify Technology S.A.", FORM 6-K, October, 2023 - https://s29.q4cdn.com/175625835/files/doc_financials/2023/q3...

Re: Spotify will reduce total headcount by approximately 17%

#936

Post by acjohnson55 »

esskay wrote: post #631
acjohnson55 wrote: post #462

Earlier quoted context omitted.

At every company I've worked at, there are things we want to do that nearly everybody think are a good idea. But we can't do them all, because we have limited capital. So we have to be very strategic. Spotify has developed a huge surface area, because they are attempting to be the one-stop shop for all things audio. The thesis is that the whole is greater than the sum of the parts, and that's what they're selling to…

> they are attempting to be the one-stop shop for all things audio The only problem with that approach is they now have a huge number of half baked or broken features. It's infuriating as hell when you spot a bug or something not working as expected only to find a post on their community dating back close to a decade, with thousands of people confirming the issue and someone from their team repeatedly replying with a…

I'm not defending how Spotify strategizes or delivers. I'm just saying that given their surface area, it's not difficult for me to imagine that a big chunk of the company is running on developing a bunch of parallel efforts.

Re: Spotify will reduce total headcount by approximately 17%

#937

Post by acjohnson55 »

digger495 wrote: post #749
acjohnson55 wrote: post #462

Earlier quoted context omitted.

At every company I've worked at, there are things we want to do that nearly everybody think are a good idea. But we can't do them all, because we have limited capital. So we have to be very strategic. Spotify has developed a huge surface area, because they are attempting to be the one-stop shop for all things audio. The thesis is that the whole is greater than the sum of the parts, and that's what they're selling to…

> there are things we want to do that nearly everybody think are a good idea. They aren't a good idea. Almost always. For example, "lets put podcasts in spotify". Not a single person I know wanted podcasts in spotify.

I don't want podcasts in my Spotify, but it makes sense to me why Spotify wants to do it. Or rather, the opportunity they see.

Re: Spotify will reduce total headcount by approximately 17%

#938

Post by expazl »

atbpaca wrote: post #858

I wish CEOs would resign when layoffs happen. It should be like some governments where the whole cabinet resigns. If layoffs are a necessity, then the CEO and the top management should show the example and take responsibility for taking the company into the wrong direction, leading to layoffs. That would be fair and more understable than a "thank you for your hard work and commitment".

That's like demanding that anytime a F1 driver takes a pit stop he should be fired. Obviously the pit stop itself doesn't improve the time, and he's just sitting still. Imagine if a driver was sitting still after the race started!?

Layoffs are not desirable for a company, but sometimes they are required. The fact that a CEO decides to go with layoffs when it's the right thing to do shouldn't be seen as a failure of the CEO. It's the pit stop that keeps the company from exploding if you just ignore all financial health markers and keep everyone employed until the money runs dry and you have to gut the business and sell of part to cover the bankruptcy.

Post reply on HN