No, he’s just stating that Spotify doesn’t have a good business plan, which they don’t.
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Apple Music's Jimmy Iovine: 'Streaming Services Have a Bad Situation'
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No, he’s just stating that Spotify doesn’t have a good business plan, which they don’t.
Another thing related to "The Defiant Ones":
It was presented as though Beats Music was the brain child or Dr. Dre and Jimmie Iovine; as though it was built from the ground up. They bought MOG Music, re-branded it, and made it more hip-hop centric. That's it!
It was presented as though Beats Music was the brain child or Dr. Dre and Jimmie Iovine; as though it was built from the ground up. They bought MOG Music, re-branded it, and made it more hip-hop centric. That's it!
You're right, that's not what he said, it's the sub-text of what he said. You think he's some benevolent businessman giving out unbiased advice to his direct competitor that they really don't know or haven't considered? Come on. I'm not saying Spotify's business model is necessarily sustainable or lucrative, but at the same time he's mad they're a significant roadblock in his path to milking customers for all he can.
And you're right, he has been in the business a long time. Long enough to be partly responsible for the hot mess that is the music industry today. This guy doesn't have the best interest of the artists in mind. He's a front man for the labels and record execs. He's just trying to find the angle that nets the largest payday for the old guard, just like in the good old days when they could rape people's wallets.
It was my understanding that Spotify is getting hurt by all its "free" customers.
They have 60 million paying customers (good)... but they have 80 million free listeners (bad). And advertising doesn't even come close to providing enough revenue to offset all those free listeners.
I wonder if Spotify can ever become profitable.
I also wonder if a fully paid service like Apple Music is profitable (minus free trials).
Though like he said... it's a different story if streaming music is just one facet of your business like Apple... whereas streaming music is ENTIRELY Spotify's business.
He may be right, but I doubt Spotifys long term plans are to gain as many subscribers as possible and make no money. The more subscribers they have, the higher value they have when they get bought out by some other big company that wants to get into streaming like Walmart, or maybe an existing company that already offers streaming like Google. Weren't there rumors a while back about Apple buying Tidal? The customer base here is the product, not necessarily it's streaming.
There's a reason Facebook paid $20 billion for WhatsApp.
There's a reason Facebook paid $20 billion for WhatsApp.
Artists never had support. Pretty much since the invention of recording, the top few percent made tons of money and the rest got peanuts. Nothing changed.
I have a few musician friends. They say: If you want to get paid reliably, join a good cover band with a wide range and play weddings and such; those people can walk away with a $1k/night or more per band member. If you want to create original music, get used to hustling and barely getting by.
I think Microsoft had the right business model, just ahead of their time when the tech and people weren't ready for it: $15-$20/month, unlimited streaming, get to "own" 5-10 tracks per month forever DRM-free. This way, the consumer gets more value, and the musicians that consumers like enough to select as keep forever downloads get paid for it.
Amazon Music app/web UX is horrible, no one would switch over from Spotify to save $2 a month.
I never saw Jimmy Iovine as a good fit at Apple ever since he made the infamous introduction of Apple Music as a 'revolutionary' music service, where the audience all laughed at that statement.
The guy is off and out of touch with reality.
I never saw Jimmy Iovine as a good fit at Apple ever since he made the infamous introduction of Apple Music as a 'revolutionary' music service, where the audience all laughed at that statement.
The guy is off and out of touch with reality.
I don't think he is saying their model is necessarily right, just that it's hard for a stand-alone music streaming service to work and that it needs to be bundled into a larger company's services. I have no idea if he's actually right (he does make a compelling argument), but he would have a unique insight into this since Beats tried their hand at their own streaming service before being gobbled up by Apple.
I don't know where in the world you could've developed that "understanding." It is Spotify's choice, to the chagrin of the entire rest of the industry, to maintain their free tier precisely because it benefits them. It is their #1 source, by far, of new subscribers. Why would they maintain the free tier if it hurt them?
Absolute nonsense.
That’s a good joke. Lots of people would switch over to a cheaper streaming service if they had the same music. Maybe not everyone, sure, but don’t underestimate the power of saving money.
Spotify's business model is to gain as many subscribers as possible, then sell themselves off to the highest bidder. Of course they will make no money simply doing streaming. Not sure why it's so hard to figure out.
Because they believe in the idea of free music. That’s why they do it. It’s a philosophy thing, not a business thing. They lose money on free users.
Music isn't what it used to be. It has become a backdrop for lives. It used to be something that was celebrated, listened to time and time again. With the explosion of music everywhere, there are too many songs which sound alike, there's too much watered-down-mainstream.
I do see myself as a music buff, I own thousands and thousands of songs. Music means a lot to me. Apple demotes actively the music business by pushing everybody to their streaming services and neglecting those who really do love music and do not just want to rely on an algorithm (as good as it may be, I want to be in control of my music, my moods and my choice.)
I am not a fan of streaming formats, just as I never was a big fan of radio. I am a fan of music, music that I can control - music that is not controlled by computers. And yes, I still want to own it, not pay a culture "flatrate".
Apple itself doesn't know what to do with music.
Music used to be in their DNA.
This is not for the love of music.
This is business and the aim to eliminate competitors.
Nothing more. Nothing less.
I do see myself as a music buff, I own thousands and thousands of songs. Music means a lot to me. Apple demotes actively the music business by pushing everybody to their streaming services and neglecting those who really do love music and do not just want to rely on an algorithm (as good as it may be, I want to be in control of my music, my moods and my choice.)
I am not a fan of streaming formats, just as I never was a big fan of radio. I am a fan of music, music that I can control - music that is not controlled by computers. And yes, I still want to own it, not pay a culture "flatrate".
Apple itself doesn't know what to do with music.
Music used to be in their DNA.
This is not for the love of music.
This is business and the aim to eliminate competitors.
Nothing more. Nothing less.
I’ll go download it right now and see what my Prime Membership gets me.
Can't disagree with you there. However, I've always felt that a bands "breakthrough" was inevitable regardless of who produced the album.
No, this is nonsense. Absolute nonsense. I don't know where you heard this, but it is objectively wrong. They have the free tier because it makes them money by eventually converting them into paid subscribers. End of discussion.
He might be right about Spotify, since that company is a one trick pony, but he's wrong about the music industry in general. Most metal bands for example already put their music on youtube and other streaming services knowing that people will simply download it using other means anyway. The way they make money is through live gigs, merchandise, and various online sales. One way or another, streaming is already irrelevant to most musicians; unless you're in the top one percent, you're not going to make a living out of Spotify or Apple Music. If you want to make money, you need to know how to connect to people on an intimate level, and create an on-line following willing to buy your stuff.
No. He just wants the competition to go away, so that Apple can charge $19.99. If he thinks that companies like Apple and Amazon can do it, why haven't they? I know Amazon can afford to. But Apple, Nope!.
I'm asking the question, I'm fascinated by the possibilities. What future is there for music media? Is it simply 'streaming until the end of the Universe'... or is there something else? I didn't say "let's go back to physical media", Im interested in what kinds of design ideas people could come up with in order to shift copies of albums.
I keep coming back to art. Album art has always been a big part of music. I sometimes wonder if artbooks, with free downloads, could be an interesting option. I certainly would buy artworks by my favourite artists. This is actually half the appeal of vinyl, as many would agree. A music-format artbook. Who know's maybe instead of download cards they come with NFC chip readers for iPhones or something. Thats what I mean by physical.
Spotify is like Apple. People talk down to it because of the bitrate, he talks down to it because of a price issue... so if music is free why are people paying for it? Some do it because of the thought of being fair, others do it in fear of being illegal, but most probably only do it because of the convenience. Spotify just works. Spotify is what iTunes was, Spotify is what the iPod was, Spotify is what buying an Apple computer was... to expensive but beating everyone in usability and compatibility.
iTunes is horrible. I used to use it all the time, now its just cluttered with so much stuff... Music at least is compatible with devices, but look at that Movies ****, only on Apple TV or you have to go look for cords and ****... Netflix beats iTunes by miles. - Amazon Prime Music is just so bad that i NEVER used it to listen to anything. For movies its bad aswell, but at least there is some kind of accessibility via all devices.
iTunes and Apple Music have become the Microsoft of Computers past. Cluttered, aimless, feeding of their marked-share.