Completely agree, but they're playing a game with artists which is something like "How little can we pay them and still have enough material for the average consumer to pay $10-15/mo to believe they have all the music in the world?" and they're not going to start paying artists more of their own volition.
Unpopular opinion: I get a lot more value from the output of Spotify's owners than I get from billions of musicians.
I only listen to hundreds of musicians and Spotify gives me those hundreds for $15/mo.
Those hundreds change by 10% ~ 30% every month into other hundreds.
I don't feel any ethical need to compensate musicians I don't listen to. And the ones I do listen to I don't feel strongly enough attached to to pay more than $15/mo for recurring access.
There are perhaps 10 whose permanent media I would buy and replay, if they left Spotify.
> I get a lot more value from the output of Spotify's owners than I get from billions of musicians.
I bet you don't. Since without the musicians there's no music, and without Spotify there's Apple Music, CD's, Napster, and so on and so forth.
The degree to which people attempt to ignore the value of recorded music from a financial standpoint always bothers me. It's one of the most enduring and useful things that makes people happy in the history of civilization. It's important to nearly all people in all cultures on earth, and unites and inspires us.
The largest peaceful gatherings of human beings that have ever happened, and ever happen, are people getting together to hear music performed.
So I disagree. I think you aren't actually allocating the value of music creation vs music distribution correctly,
I don't listen to billions of musicians: I listen to hundreds of musicians. I don't go to concerts or see live music performed.
Spotify's owners have made it easy for me to listen to those hundreds I like. I don't get any value at all from the creation of those billions I don't listen to. I get daily value from the creation of Spotify's owners.
Daniel Ek (born 21 February 1983) is a Swedish billionaire entrepreneur and technologist. Ek is known for being the co-founder and CEO of music streaming service Spotify.
Could be stock in Spotify, which is speculation, not corporate profit. The fact that they got 2.5 billion investment show people think it will make money, not that it's making money.
So what action does that leave?