iPhone: Is it worth it?

[txa1265]

But it requires both of your machines to log in to the same iTunes account. What an annoyance. It also limits 5 computers to sharing. But it does have an import button (yeah!) and options to automatically sync "new purchases" with each library on the other computers. This includes everything from music, and videos to books and apps. Sweet!

A lot of that stuff is due to contractual details with record companies ... I know the 5 computers per account one is ...

 

[GothicGothicness]

- Spotify is not making money … in fact they are apparently living off of VC funds and bleeding cash. They blame greedy record companies, but while I inherently agree that greedy record companies are to blame for most woes in the music biz, I don't think it is that simple.

Acctually it had the first ever profit with 1.4 million euro in july. But profit is for sure the biggest problem for them. However paying members have been steadingly increasing, I think this is there hope of earning money.

- Also, there is already an iPhone Spotify App … so if it was REALLY all about Apple, don't you think they would have killed that?

Yeah I was surprised they finally approved it, but I think they were worried about android stealing sales from iphone otherwise…. probably hard to understand in some countries…. but spotify is like facebook here… oo and BTW it works with facebook too….

- I wonder about the artists … I had done an article on how many sales / plays an artist needs to make minimum wage, and Spotify was the absolute worst, needing >4.5 MILLION plays per month for the artist to make 'minimum wage' (US definition).

Yeah, I have also thought about this……. that's also a thing about US market….. in general US people pirate much less than us swedes… but think about a country like china…. almost none buys music… so instead of earning nothing… you could get 100 million plays of your song per day there……

But either way, yes, some artist will need to get used to earning less, but I don't think that has anything to do with spotify… it has been a trend even before spotify was availiable…. why buy a song if you can pirate it? why pirate a song if you can write its name on spotify.. and it'll play immidietly no waiting, no visiting mysterious sites no risk of being caught… you support the artist.. get a list of all his songs, get a rating from millions of users… reccomendation of other things to listen to…. can put it on a playlist with your friends and so on.

O, and mike I have enjoyed arguing with you, you've brought in new arguments and so on all the time and kept fairly civil tone ( at least compared to me )... just wanted to make that clear, especially after you got such a negative comments from some other people here, which I think was undeserved.

 

[txa1265]

Acctually it had the first ever profit with 1.4 million euro in july. But profit is for sure the biggest problem for them. However paying members have been steadingly increasing, I think this is there hope of earning money.

Of course there is a big difference between having a profitable quarter and being profitable

Yeah I was surprised they finally approved it, but I think they were worried about android stealing sales from iphone otherwise…. probably hard to understand in some countries…. but spotify is like facebook here… oo and BTW it works with facebook too….

Like I said - it makes total sense ...

As an aside, in spite of me being a old block-headed 'buy the MP3 CD and listen linearly start to finish' sort of guy, my family uses Slacker and Pandora extensively - since we all have different tastes in music, we can make custom stations and have a range of stuff come on. There is no doubt that has cost some sales ... well, at least for teh kids with pop / metal songs.

But of course, the first question anyone asks with those things is 'I want to hear ___' ... and of course you can't! So Spotify is a great natural extension.

But either way, yes, some artist will need to get used to earning less, but I don't think that has anything to do with spotify… it has been a trend even before spotify was availiable…. why buy a song if you can pirate it?

Two things:
- Artists will deal with it, heck I've also done articles on artists using 'pay what you want' models and so on ... but the folks who make the decisions - record execs - need to feel they are getting adequate return or they will pull the plug.
- Also, if they feel Spotify is making too much money they will demand more for themselves - the music biz hates how powerful they let Apple become while their heads were in teh sand and refuse to let it happen again!
- We know digital sales help curb piracy, and so does streaming. But streaming also hurts digital sales, though we also know it can help it. But the thing is, it helps those who make quality music with integrity more than those who are 'product' ... in other words, the ones the industry is pushing.

O, and mike I have enjoyed arguing with you, you've brought in new arguments and so on all the time and kept fairly civil tone ( at least compared to me )… just wanted to make that clear, especially after you got such a negative comments from some other people here, which I think was undeserved.

Me too - some frustrating stuff, but we never let it get out of hand. I think we can agree to disagree on some stuff, and have called each other on other things. It is all part of having spirited debate

As for the others ... including those who wanted to pay to have me gone - I understand their point. I am not a 'shrinking violet' in discussions, and my passion over things can sometimes come across as though I believe I hold absolute truth. I know I don't, but anyone debating something starts from a position of thinking they are right ... otherwise what is the point?

 

[Pladio]

You should argue for the other side instead.
Starting point, that person is right, I am wrong.