[hedora]

I'm happy their subscriber counts are up, but I've noticed a steep negative trend their library selection in the last month. I poked around a bit for more info. All I could find were complaints that they don't publish this information anymore.

Does anyone know how to see if my anectdote is a trend?

Perhaps they lost some contracts with major labels, or perhaps there is a way to probe their search API to estimate their library size.

[matt4077]

Maybe the golden age* of music subscription services is ending, following in the footsteps of these services for video:

- A startup negotiates contracts with most/all content providers

- said startup becomes a sensation

- Google, Apple & Amazon enter the market, signing similar deals

- Content providers realize the value of their material and negotiations become more complicated

- The services want need differentiation and it can't be price because they all have more or less the same lower bound of licensing costs

- The startup's contracts are up for renewal. They don't have the financial background of Apple/Google/Amazon and loose a few contracts

- There are now 5-10 services and each one has some exclusive content, overlap in the libraries keeps shrinking

- I go back to bit torrent because 10$/mo is already more per year than I paid for music in the first 25 years of my life total.

* length: about 3 years or as it's commonly called "A good Netflix"

[UlyssesSKrunk]

I would say the golden age never even started. I've stuck with torrenting over streaming with things like spotify because it's the only way I can guarantee that I will hear things that I like. Sure it takes a bit more planning, but for higher quality and customization I think it's more than worth it.

[charrondev]

I'm not sure if it's something that varies heavily by country, but I just switched back from Apple Music to Spotify and couldn't be happier.

So many artists that I like were missing albums or songs on Apple Music for some reason. One group that I particularly like was missing over 3/4 of their music at Apple. All available in iTunes of course, but I don't feel like paying for individual songs on top my subscriptions. Worth noting that I'm in Canada and I'm talking about mostly Electronic, Metal, and Jazz tracks.

[ggordan]

I tried out Apple Music and really wanted to like it, but I came back to Spotify mostly because the apps (desktop and mobile) that apple were offering were just completely unusable.

[cache-monet]

I have noticed this as well. I actually cancelled my subscription and will continue using Google's service which has more of the music I listen to available in the US.

[k-mcgrady]

I might be wrong but I'm pretty sure I read that their contracts with all the major labels ran out a few months ago and they're still renegotiating. Maybe labels are removing small amounts of music in the mean time to force the issue?