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by matt4077 3565 days ago
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"

1 comments

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.