Of course, the music industry has a long tradition of separating a song’s profit from its creators. Still, wrote Krukowski, “the ways in which musicians are screwed have changed qualitatively, from individualized swindles to systemic ones.” May 16, 2013 at 12:43AM

Spotify is now nearing a new deal with the labels to let it offer more free music on its mobile app. Why? Its data shows that many people are discovering Spotify on their phones, ignoring the desktop client entirely…”

Gerd adds: hear hear ;)
IMHO despite the fact that I love Spotify I think the record labels’ approach of having your cake and eating it will ultimately stop them from getting anywhere close to enough paying users to sustain them beyond VC money. Ek rocks, though ! April 12, 2013 at 09:24AM

We, the tech/startup/VC world, are not doing ourselves any favors by bragging about the big valuations we are raising money at. We are in fact doing ourselves great harm. Because it makes us look like spoiled brats who are being fed with a silver spoon. Those inside these companies (Spotify, Airbnb, Square, Twitter, etc, etc) know that is not what is really going on. We know how hard it is to build something really new and different. It is a struggle and nothing comes easy. But it is important to realize how the broader world sees it. And they just see billions December 05, 2012 at 11:14PM

according to internal Spotify data, after an initial burst of interest that resembles the pattern for sales of music, a funny thing happens. Songs in the company’s catalog are played again and again, with no diminution in popularity. The reason is simple: people are building playlists. It’s as if an artist were paid every time one of their fans dropped a needle on their record…”

Gerd comments: I love Spotify and certainly hope they can indeed change the way the music industry work - all it will take is approximately $3 billion in VC money ;) November 27, 2012 at 08:09AM

Apple’s clout in music, which began building when the company introduced the iPod in 2001, could face threats as more consumers choose to stream music over the Internet, rather than purchasing it. September 08, 2012 at 08:55AM

futuristgerd:

Told you so:)). Long time ago, here. And again, yesterday. The music business ecosystem is utterly dysfunctional - thanks to the IPFI, RIAA, most of the rights societies and widespread arrogance and egocentric obsession with control. Bummer, really. (Thanks to Fran van Horn for the Hypebot link btw).