“Spotify represents an important piece of our music industry ecosystem, and the system is vulnerable,” Paul Wiltshire, CEO & Founder of music licensing platform Songtradr, writes for Music Business Worldwide. “Spotify is considering delaying its planned IPO pending renegotiating fairer terms with the three major record companies: Sony, Universal and Warner (‘the BIG 3’).”
“The BIG 3 are at a crossroads. If they continue to think short-term, they may face a future in which Apple will be the only streaming platform,” Wiltshire writes. “If Spotify and other independent streaming services fail, what will be left? Answer: the biggest company in the world, Apple Inc, along with their streaming platform, Apple Music.”
“Apple Music can afford to lose money while it quietly grows to be the number one – or the only one – streaming platform in the world,” Wiltshire writes. “Let’s put that in perspective. Assuming Apple has its recently reported $246bn cash in a bank account returning 2% interest per annum, Spotify’s 2015 losses of $184m represent about 2 weeks of interest earnings for Apple.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Tough shit. Having a better business model with more income streams is not illegal, nor should Apple be discriminated against and/or Apple’s failing competitors be unfairly propped up by the music labels.
MacDailyNews Note: Today is Washington’s Birthday in the U.S.A., a federal holiday and, as such, the U.S. markets are closed for the day. We will resume our normal posting schedule tomorrow.
Washington’s Farewell Address, September 19, 1796
SEE ALSO:
Apple Music appears to be the most artist-friendly streaming service – January 20, 2017
Apple Music still tails Spotify’s growth rate – December 19, 2016
Apple Music surpasses 20 million paid members 17 months after launch – December 6, 2016
