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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

#101

Post by ericwood »

albertgoeswoof wrote: post #16
froindt wrote: 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?

Are blue apron and stitch fix tech companies? I thought they were just sending out boxes of stuff to subscribers, with a website/app for taking orders?

I used to work at Blue Apron...sending people boxes of perishables is actually a very tough problem to solve and there was extensive tech powering the warehouse side of things. We had a fairly large engineering team working on these problems.

At the end of the day who really cares what is and isn't a "tech company"? Every company has a tech aspect to it these days.

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

#102

Post by jklinger410 »

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)?

As someone who just made this choice, let me add some insight.

- My friends use Spotify

- Larger library

- Well made playlists

- Social feed

In the end, they are very similar products. I feel that Spotify has a huge head start on Google here, and it shows. The more mature product is Spotify. I think Google can't really compete in terms of curation and popularity.

Really, the edge cases of "music that is not on Spotify" ends up being so small that Google's upload your own music feature doesn't tip it in their favor. At least in my eyes.

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

#103

Post by noxToken »

whatok wrote: post #72
whitepoplar wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Discover Weekly

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

They're not starting in a vacuum. Spotify has metric tons of listening and catalog data to help properly tag a newly signed artist. Discover weekly would help fine tune the data that's already on hand.

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

#104

Post by salvar »

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)?

Yeah, it's just because it's more hip. After all, you know best which UI is superior for all people.

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

#105

Post by kevin_thibedeau »

whatok wrote: post #72
whitepoplar wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Discover Weekly

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

You algorithmically seed new music to those with an interest in the genre and keep the songs with higher replays around for more recommendations. With perfect knowledge of who is listening to what and their overall tastes you can cut out all the inefficiency of the current gatekeepers (labels, billboard, and corp. radio) who act as self imposed kingmakers for a few anointed acts. The cream will rise to the top naturally.

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

#106

Post by paulie_a »

isostatic wrote: post #68
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.

Or purchase some existing labels. Warner, which is about 20% of the global market, was worth $3.3b -- 11% of spotify -- in 2011 [1] If I read that correctly, it implies the bulk of the recording industry is worth less than Spotify. 1. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-warnermusic/blavatniks-ac...

People tend to overestimate the size of the music and movie industries, apple and google could buy them outright with change from their couch cushions.

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

#108

Post by andrewstuart2 »

dublinben wrote: post #67
gm-conspiracy wrote: post #46

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.

I suspect that the average paid Spotify user is actually listening for hours at a time, while they are working or driving. I don't think people are turning it on and off a few songs at a time.

The point that it's a different consumption model is still valid and interesting, though. Nobody with a long commute (until self-driving is solid) is/should be watching Netflix to pass the time. Audio-only is feasible, though. Same goes for the gym and during the day at work. Music is common and acceptable, but video is definitely more of a leisure activity since it monopolizes your attention.

Do I think Spotify has anything special over Apple, Google, or Amazon? Call me skeptical. I'm just not sure you can make a direct comparison between an audio service and a video service.

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

#109

Post by DisruptiveDave »

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.

Spotify + extreme bias towards X # of artists due to rights ownership = potentially crap experience for listeners.

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

#110

Post by nickysielicki »

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 has a unique position with their amazing discovery/recommendations engine- they could potentially start their own "label" and promote their own artists that sign on. Small/independent musicians could see more exposure and Spotify can deliver more music tailored for individual tastes. I've personally found myself listening to lots of small/indie artists as a result of their algorithms, to the point that these now make up the majority of my listening experience.

Have you ever used last.fm? I would be interested to hear if people still think that last.fm gives better recommendations than spotify can. I use last.fm with various music streaming services, currently Google Play Music, previously Amazon, but always using last.fm for discovering.

With the amount of users spotify has, it wouldn't surprise me to hear that it has eclipsed last.fm in terms of recommendation quality.

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