Streaming, Spotify and profits

[Dave2002]

See https://fortune.com/longform/spotify...=pocket-newtab

[richardfinegold]

interesting article, thanks Dave
As always, it is hard to know how much of what is written applies to the Classical Music side of things. Although streaming has clearly made in roads with Classical Listeners, with several enthusiastic Qobuz listeners in this Forum, I think that Classical Listeners tend to be more attached to Physical Media on the average than non Classical Listeners. I found the comments about the Japanese Market interesting, as the Japanese have done a lot to sustain the viability of Physical Media. It is inevitable hat that streaming companies will make in roads into that market, but I'm hoping that they do it slowly, as I am finding that I order more items from Japan that are becoming unavailable here

[teamsaint]

An interesting article here about “ ghost” composers and musicians.



An area I didn’t really know about, and which with the march of AI may become even more significant. Fascinating stuff. The article alludes to “ Classical” music a number of times,but I suspect they may be thinking of sub Einaudi style music, Not Sure.

in some ways the article feels like a bit of a rant against big money which is fair enough. But it also acknowledges that there is nothing new under the sun, and that what is happening here is in some ways an old model in a new technological environment. Composers getting paid up front for library- style music isn’t news.
But the implications for what might happen in an AI dominated world is more alarming .Book publishers are already queuing up to do deals in the AI area, and in industries where margins are tight, cash is always very persuasive.

[richardfinegold]

The original article here dates from 2019. I think Spotify must have navigated the waters as they seem to be going strong. They made a bet on Podcasts and that seems to have paid off for them, as witnessed by the fact that Amazon and Apple are aggressively going after the podcast business.
The article also discusses Spotify attempts to crack the Japanese market, which is described as being more oriented to Physical Media. I wonder if that situation has changed. I have ordered a lot more physical media from Japan in the past couple of years that is not obtainable elsewhere

[mopsus]

In general, various formats persist in Japan after being discontinued elsewhere, despite the country's reputation for technological innovation. I believe that it is one of the last redoubts of the fax machine (helpful for communicating handwritten messages in its complex script) and the floppy disk.