If it is too good to be true, it is probably... Spotify. You may have
been unaware, as I was, of the limitations that will be imposed within a few
months of use. So unless you plan on paying for the service, you should
read this, as I hope to clear up some of the confusion, so the less informed will know what is up.
Read the fine print: After 6 months there are serious limitations.
Once you have used the free version of Spotify for 6 months you
will be subject to the following stifling limitations (unless you begin paying for the service):
1
A limit of 10
hours of use per month,
and
2
A limit of 5 listens to any song, FOREVER! (until you pay).
This essentially continues to allow you to have endless,
free, access to a service which has been rendered practically useless.
What does this mean?
If you do not intend to pay: What is your favorite song?... You can listen to it 4 more times.
Your favorite playlist is now nothing more than a list of songs you can no longer listen too! [I assume
you can still use it as music player for music you own, if you don’t already have
a better program (iTunes, Winamp, Songbird, etc).]
So what is my point?
Enjoy Spotify while it lasts, but do not get too excited about it being an awesome free service. Spotify’s
business plan is quite brilliant: Offer a great service, rope in users, get
them accustomed to the ease of Spotify for
six long months, have them invest time in their profile and share-able playlists, and then render the best
features useless, until you pay.
There is nothing wrong with this business plan, except they
have been misleading users by burying the limitations in their Terms of Service,
which of course no one reads. And that is what gets my goat.
What are the versions
of the service?
- Free version: Works great with ads for 6 months. Then it essentially becomes a piece of software for previewing new music.
- Unlimited: $5 a month gets you no ads and no limitations (obviously, because you paid)
- Premium: $10 gets you amazing features. Any (available) song, anytime, anywhere, and on any device. There is even an offline mode where you can download 3,333 tracks and take them with you. A pretty freakin’ sweet service.
Spotify offers free music and makes money by selling
advertisements. They then keep some of that cash, and pass most of it to the
music conglomerates who share the tiniest
little fraction to artists.
Artists making money is a farce.
Although you may think you are passing some 'internet-money' along the artists, the actual amount is minuscule. It is no doubt based on some complex algorithm, but the end result is that
artists still get virtually nothing. Spotify refuses to be transparent about
this (most likely because it is embarrassed that it runs ads boasting artists make money from Spotify) but it has been leaked that the going rate at
about 0.001 to 0.002 cents per play. That is one-thousandth of a penny per play!
Lets put that absurdly tiny amount into perspective.
Assuming an average song length of 2 minutes, if you play a single artist ALL
DAY (24 hours straight), they will make between 0.7 and 1.4 cents! An entire weeks worth of play (24/7) will
earn them about 5 to 10 cents! So in all of your play time,
you have earned your favorite artists less than a penny.
How vast is the library?
There are a reported 15 million songs available on Spotify. That’s a lot, but not nearly all (with some major omissions). And let’s not get too comfortable. There is no reason to
think the library is static as many music labels have already dropped
out.
Just recently an electronic music distributor STHoldings pulled
234 labels from Spotify,
noting that services like
Spotify “cannibalize the revenues of more traditional digital services.” No
kidding, since certain independent music is so off the radar (read as: not pirate-able), that it is usually only available via paid download. So it is very likely the amount of
available independent music will continue to dwindle. Most large
labels are still trying to decide if this will make them enough money. Here is
the list of major Labels that are in.
Spotify and the Music
Industry
The music industry is the poster-child of an outdated
industry, desperately trying to ride out its sinking-ship business model as it
drowns in the internet’s vast oceans of potential. Along comes Spotify (the
life preserver in this drawn-out metaphor) to help the music industry float on a
bit longer. The potential offered by Spotify could have an immense impact on the drowning music industry.
At first glance it appears that Spotify could be the saving
grace for the music industry. It offers such easy
access to music, that it even makes music
piracy seem like an inconvenience. In this capacity it has duel benefits to
music industry; it curbs music downloading and directs those retired Pirates
back to a revenue-generating model.
Bowing to pressure from the music industry, who
were demanding more money (sooner), Spotify has altered its Terms of Service and halved
the original amount of limited hours from 20 to 10 hours per month (after 6
months of use) and implemented the 5 song limit.
So let’s not be deluded into thinking that the music industry will allow itself
to benefit from the very thing that could save it.
It may very well be that the Spotify model is already eroding: Large labels are tightening their grip to squeeze out a quick buck, and the small labels are starting an exodus that could snowball.
In Summary:
If you can afford the monthly fee, the service provided by Spotify is superb. My real issue is that their free model is nothing more than a trap, into which they are more than willing to lure
users by misleading them. And I do
believe they are misleading users.
Do not get me wrong; the very idea of having access to most music for a mere 5 to 10 bucks a
month is revolutionary. Who could possibly balk at that deal? I will tell you
who. People who can have ALL the
music in the world for free (and not to mention commercial
free) with just a modicum of extra effort. Those people have been sailing
freely across the internet since its creation. They are known as Pirates. So, as the music industry punctures holes
in its own life preserver, the Pirates are re-boarding their vessels.
