mark fearing

I think Spotify should prove they have any viable business at all. They make money only because they are part of a group of 'streaming' services paying creators next to nothing. I don't see a long term future for them. But I could be wrong and maybe they are going to be a huge success and everyone will pay for podcasts while they raise rates on streaming music. cough-cough...

Little boys with too much money. Of all the things you could do in the world this is about the most worthless way to ‘spend’ billions. 

ppietra said:

I don’t think it’s that hard to understand why! Patreon is also used for different purposes that are not related with digital content to be consumed on a device.

Exactly. I think the whole 'app store fees' argument is disingenuous. If you want to place a product in a grocery store, you pay a shelving fee. And grocery stores charge more depending on what shelf your product is on! Eye level vs. bottom ETC. It's negotiated. Walmart decides what they will pay you as a manufacturer or wholesaler and then you take it or discuss or leave it. Then Walmart marks it up to what they think they can get. I think the people who are raising h*ll over 'app store fees and a monopoly' are either disingenuous (just manipulating the discussion so they can make more money) or don't understand anything about selling. 

Pretty much what you'd expect. And I don't think you can attach a value statement to what is being said. Companies get older and cultures and expectations change. Sort of like happens in life to all of us. Companies have lifespans too. At least when it comes to them being important, culturally relevant, able to move quickly. You can't do that when you have 130,000 + employees. It's actually a good thing, because that opens space for new companies and new ways of doing things. The trendsetter eventually becomes status quo. Look at just the last 30 years of tech history at the number of companies that were HUGE and today are irrelevant or less relevant or gone completely.

I think the fact that when companies grow large they ossify is an important aspect of a healthy business ecosystem. And it's more than just 'competition is good' because that isn't always true. It's simply a matter that what a company can do well changes and being large increases certain negatives.

Beats said:

With Apple having a 10 year lead and inventing the platform how the hell have they allowed Spotify to even be a competitor??

I think there’s room for other companies. And I’m not sure anyone’s winning anything given the market size of podcasts.