back to article Spotify flips bird at Taylor Swift, adds MILLIONS more users

Spotify says it now has 15 million subscribers, up five million from last May, having added 2.5 million paying punters in the Christmas period alone. It also claims to have 35 million users on its free ad-supported version. Spotify launched a new “family plan” in October, allowing two household members to subscribe for £17.99 …

  1. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    99p

    I'm pretty sure the promo was 3 months for 99p. At least that's what I paid (and cancelled straight away).

    1. Mark #255

      Re: 99p

      Yes, Spotify were really pushing that one, presumably so they can say "we have x million paying customers" without adding the subscript "and y million will be churning away when we apply a 15x price hike".

      Still, to Spotify's credit, at least they've stopped the insane "new users can only sign up using their Facebook account" which they were set on when I last looked at their offering.

  2. FartingHippo
    Alert

    Pricey

    How do they justify charging [almost] double the cost of a Netflix account? To my admittedly simple mind it feels wrong to charge more for a tune than a movie.

    1. Lionel Baden

      Re: Pricey

      I have tried netflix twice now and cancelled it twice.

      Spotify does "just work"

      You can install it on any number of devices you own, you can download for offline play (dodgy signal area) They have a decent catalogue, although not 100% complete it is pretty damn good.

      It is a solution that works for the customer, not the producer.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Pricey

      Music royalties and TV/Film royalties are calculated differently.

      With Spotify, royalty is paid every time the song is played.

      With films/tv, Netflix etc. pay a fixed fee to show the film an unlimited number of times for X weeks/months.

      Both of these are standard for the industry.

  3. zebthecat

    Loss Leader

    How long will their VC money last though?

  4. myhandler

    1) can someone please explain exactly what flipping the bird is?

    2) whatever it is, it's a nasty Americanism

    1. Preston Munchensonton
      Mushroom

      Johnny Cash has a message for you. You'll understand after you see this:

      https://iconicphotos.wordpress.com/2009/08/22/johnny-cashs-finger/

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Surprisingly, it's not an Americanism.

      It simply refers to the recommendation that the bird is turned over halfway through to ensure the bottom and breast are evenly browned.

      Obviously there is a presumption that the bird is properly oiled and the degree of browning is a matter of taste but sometimes you should just be grateful for what has been put in front of you.

      That actually started out as a food/cookery joke but somehow ended up somewhere else entirely...

  5. David Nash Silver badge

    You are right. 0.99 total (not per month) for three months. Three people signed up in my house, all of which will revert to free membership within the three months.

    I can't help thinking Spotify are going to lose most of those new members by April, and more in a year's time when those who forgot to cancel within 3 months decide to do so.

    I am sure they are not stupid and know this is how many people work, but I wonder how many they reckon they will keep from this promotion.

  6. Stretch

    If they make it £1.99 a month I might consider paying. Until then Blockify + v0.8.5 for all your listening needs.

  7. The Nazz

    Stolen is not the correct word.

    If the Music Biz would have us believe we have only rented/leased their product when buying a CD/download then surely pirates/torrenters et al are merely BORROWING the product?

    1. Doctor_Wibble

      Re: Stolen is not the correct word.

      > surely pirates/torrenters et al are merely BORROWING the product?

      Good point - yes, if they put if back where they found it, and as long as it isn't scratched that should be fine!

  8. The Nazz

    Stolen is the wrong word.

    If the Music Biz would have us believe that we have merely rented/leased their product whenever we have purchased a CD/download then surely pirates/torrenters are merely BORROWING the product?

  9. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Modern music isn't worth playing for. It is of such poor quality in terms of mastering even if the actual songs are good.

    http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/sep11/articles/loudness.htm

  10. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    I'm very certain...

    ...that Taylor Swift has nothing to be concerned about. Sportify however may end up as just a boot note.

  11. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Evil bastards, i hope they go out of business as soon as possible

  12. stringyfloppy

    I'd probably join if the selection of music wasn't so small. There's tons of stuff I have on CD that they don't offer.

  13. stringyfloppy

    Does Spotify pay the artist or their agent directly?

  14. John Lilburne

    These companies don't have a business without the content. I robot banned Google Image Bot last year and it is quite instructive to see a blank page when you do a site:john_lilburne.com on Google Image Search and 1000s of images when you do the same thing on Bing.

    And yes I know that Bing is as bad as Google but lets deal with one group of arseholes at a time.

  15. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Preview

    Personally I choose to torrent a new CD, have a listen and delete it, if I think it's worth it then I'll buy the album legitimately. That way I pay the artsists for what I actually listen to and avoid paying for the rubbish.

    I seem to find a lot of artists who create fantastic first albums, then have some ass of an overpaid producer totally ruin their second album by trying to make it comercially successful. I've been bitten too many times on that one.

    1. John Lilburne

      Re: Preview

      Isn't the problem that you favour musicians or a genre that is a bit hit and miss?

      I've bought 5 CDs this week. None of which I've listened to first, and only 2 have I heard the artists before, and although I have plenty of opportunity to sample the tracks. I'd much rather listen to the entire thing with the CD case in hand. I doubt I'll be disappointed.

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