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Apple in Exploratory Talks to Acquire Jay Z’s Tidal Music Service

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Re: Apple in Exploratory Talks to Acquire Jay Z’s Tidal Music Service

#51

Post by coldtea »

Mandatum wrote: post #48

To me it seems anti-competitive to disallow streaming services to use their own payment model. I expect a lawsuit to come from this and within the next two years either Spotify will be Daenerys, Breaker of Chains or Erlich Bachman, Waster of Cash. It seems like Apple have created a monopoly within their own ecosystem. Whether their ecosystem is too big to be monopolised will be up to the lawyers as regulations are pu…

>It seems like Apple have created a monopoly within their own ecosystem.

There's no such thing as a "monopoly within an ecosystem".

Either you cover the majority of the full market (not of your market), and you're a monopoly, or you don't.

If you don't, then within your own platforms, shops, and premises it can be your way or the highway.

Nobody has a right to tell you what to sell or not sell, and how much to charge for things in your own shop -- kind of like with a physical shop. It's not Apple wanting Spotify to be sold through their platform/store and asking them -- it's Spotify wanting to take part in Apple's marketplace.

Re: Apple in Exploratory Talks to Acquire Jay Z’s Tidal Music Service

#52

Post by cocktailpeanuts »

gleenn wrote: post #47
cocktailpeanuts wrote: post #35

I knew this would happen from the beginning, but actually seeing it happen breaks my heart. I really can't interpret this as anything other than Jay-Z trying to be like Dr. Dre. The difference is Dr. Dre's company actually created a product people wanted, and he deserves the success. As for Tidal, how is this not different from union workers going on a strike? Except that people going on a strike do have legitimate r…

I have no issue particularly with your statement but technically Kanye isn't rich, last I heard he was 50 mil in the hole haha.

If 50 million dollars isn't rich I don't know what is. Maybe reading a lot of Techcrunch made us think people aren't rich unless they're billionaires, but stop and think about it. He's much richer than me, and probably richer than you. And I'm not poor.

Re: Apple in Exploratory Talks to Acquire Jay Z’s Tidal Music Service

#53

Post by prawn »

cocktailpeanuts wrote: post #52
gleenn wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have no issue particularly with your statement but technically Kanye isn't rich, last I heard he was 50 mil in the hole haha.

If 50 million dollars isn't rich I don't know what is. Maybe reading a lot of Techcrunch made us think people aren't rich unless they're billionaires, but stop and think about it. He's much richer than me, and probably richer than you. And I'm not poor.

$50m in the hole means he's carrying $50m in debt.

Re: Apple in Exploratory Talks to Acquire Jay Z’s Tidal Music Service

#54

Post by [deleted] »

cocktailpeanuts wrote: post #52
gleenn wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have no issue particularly with your statement but technically Kanye isn't rich, last I heard he was 50 mil in the hole haha.

If 50 million dollars isn't rich I don't know what is. Maybe reading a lot of Techcrunch made us think people aren't rich unless they're billionaires, but stop and think about it. He's much richer than me, and probably richer than you. And I'm not poor.

[deleted]

Re: Apple in Exploratory Talks to Acquire Jay Z’s Tidal Music Service

#55

Post by prawn »

cocktailpeanuts wrote: post #35

I knew this would happen from the beginning, but actually seeing it happen breaks my heart. I really can't interpret this as anything other than Jay-Z trying to be like Dr. Dre. The difference is Dr. Dre's company actually created a product people wanted, and he deserves the success. As for Tidal, how is this not different from union workers going on a strike? Except that people going on a strike do have legitimate r…

But why not create that conglomerate themselves rather than join another service where they have less control as individuals, say signed exclusively to Spotify or whatever?

I've long thought that elite-brand athletes (LeBron, Durant, etc) should collectively start an alternative social media network that gives them more functionality that suits them, rather than just play on Instagram, Twitter and the like.

You already see things like The Players' Tribune - a media presence by players giving them direct control over things like signing announcements and so on.

Re: Apple in Exploratory Talks to Acquire Jay Z’s Tidal Music Service

#56

Post by 1123581321 »

markcerqueira wrote: post #11
colinbartlett wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Isn't Apple Music already the #2 most popular streaming music service behind Spotify? I'd hardly call 15 million paid subscribers unpopular.

How many of those 15 million are people who forgot to turn off auto-renew on their free trial?

Mark, that's a legitimate question, but shouldn't you also ask how many Spotify customers forgot to turn off auto-renew? After all, they are also quickly acquiring customers.

In my opinion, a lot of users of streaming media services are neither enthusiastic customers nor entirely forgetful. Their opinions of the services they pay for aren't consistent from day to day, either.

Re: Apple in Exploratory Talks to Acquire Jay Z’s Tidal Music Service

#57

Post by abritinthebay »

Esau wrote: post #33
abritinthebay wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It also is way better than Spotify for me. It's everything I wanted out of a music service. Spotify was never going to have me as a subscriber but Apple Music was so much better (for me) that it was a no-brainer. But then I always preferred Pandora over Spotify anyhow (different use cases I know, but still).

In what way is Apple Music better than Spotify? I've tried both and, other than catalog differences, I don't see one as really being better than the other.

For a start: the UI.

I know Apple Music gets hate for it's UI but it's nirvana compared to the horrible, grating, death by 1000 papercuts UI that Spotify has.

So that contributes a LOT to my impression of Spotify.

I find their radio offerings better than Spotify, and the curated playlists to be of higher quality and better variation. The For You tab alone is better than a lot of what I found on Spotify.

The importing of my existing library and linking of it into the service with all sorts of metadata made for a seamless experience that I haven't found from any other service either.

Basically... it's just a little bit better (for me) in every possible way, while being nicer to use.

Re: Apple in Exploratory Talks to Acquire Jay Z’s Tidal Music Service

#58

Post by mdrzn »

dawnerd wrote: post #44
Tiksi wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I once paid $80/mo for a year for a server I forgot I had. It happens.

Or at a certain point 10 dollars is nothing and the time alone to figure out apples weird settings isn't even worth it. I still pay for a few things that I never use but just don't feel like figuring out how to cancel.

I'd be happy to unsubscribe you from those services, in exchange for 50% of what I'll save you monthly.

Re: Apple in Exploratory Talks to Acquire Jay Z’s Tidal Music Service

#59

Post by mdrzn »

sdornan wrote: post #41
Esau wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In what way is Apple Music better than Spotify? I've tried both and, other than catalog differences, I don't see one as really being better than the other.

I chose Apple Music for a couple reasons: 1. I can add music to my streaming library that is not on their service and that music isn't treated any differently than the stuff in their catalog from a UI standpoint. 2. It integrates better into the Apple ecosystem, which I've already tied myself too. For example, play music using Siri and Apple TV support. Also, I'm not a fan of Spotify's UI.

1. With Spotify I can also add all the music I want from "local" sources, aka my computer. And later I can stream that music from my Android phone.

2. Spotify works great with Google Now and Chromecast.

Also, I'm not a fan of Apple Music's UI.

Re: Apple in Exploratory Talks to Acquire Jay Z’s Tidal Music Service

#60

Post by tedmiston »

k-mcgrady wrote: post #2

Makes sense if it's for the exclusive content opportunities. I remember seeing a report when Kanye made his new album a Tidal exclusive and the number of users they got from that deal alone was staggering. The problem is that a lot of those users will cancel after their free trial but if they keep coming back for exclusives they'll a) want to stick around b) have no free trial so will pay for a month anyway and might…

> ... Kanye made his new album a Tidal exclusive and the number of users they got from that deal alone was staggering. The problem is that a lot of those users will cancel after their free trial ...

Exactly. If. I tried it and canceled once the The Life of Pablo was on Spotify a little over a month later. Their "growth hacking" is not sustainable and their user base is fragile. Jay is smart to flip while Tidal hits a peak from the chain of major releases from its biggest artists.

Also, the average music fan doesn't care about audiophile-level sound quality. I think they're just trying to emphasizing that point for differentiation since Spotify has a stronger catalog in general.

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