Disturbing change in spotify

[M-E-D The Poet]

Spotify used to be all about the "listen to music for free, help reduce piracy by using spotify" message

Now today I find that my spotify no longer works as I have exceeded my 10hours of free music this month?

Why the hell would you make something and promote it in such a fashion to then take it away from people?

Spotify was an incredible service and I never minded the adds.

This however is a disturbing change for me because I used to use spotify to find new bands and listen to music from artists I can't actually buy records off


I'm not promoting piracy here, I'm just wondering where I'm supposed to get the same service from if I need to pay for it I am paying for something I have no idea of what it's going to mean to me

 

[Carrotslayer]

That's odd. That update was implemented long ago, and you recieved it yesterday?

And yes, I agree that it is kinda bollocks to make such a drastic turn in design. The fact that I got an invite, i.e. I prettymuch recieved the premium version free, didn't make my case any different. So here I am with an open account.

At least they have expanded their library quite a bit, nowadays I can even find Hardstyle music from indie artists

 

[Queen Michael]

I've got a paid account, so I never noticed this.

 

[M-E-D The Poet]

That's odd. That update was implemented long ago, and you recieved it yesterday?

And yes, I agree that it is kinda bollocks to make such a drastic turn in design. The fact that I got an invite, i.e. I prettymuch recieved the premium version free, didn't make my case any different. So here I am with an open account.

At least they have expanded their library quite a bit, nowadays I can even find Hardstyle music from indie artists

Yup I only got that just then, I tried to fire up my spotify and it suddenly gave me that message

 

[Griffolion]

As Spotify has taken off, it's received more pressure from music corporations, which has thus forced its hand to make the paid tiers more appealing by lessening the experience of the free tier. I've been a paid Spotify user for a while now, and saw this coming about 18 months ago.

 

[M-E-D The Poet]

As Spotify has taken off, it's received more pressure from music corporations, which has thus forced its hand to make the paid tiers more appealing by lessening the experience of the free tier. I've been a paid Spotify user for a while now, and saw this coming about 18 months ago.

Sure but don't advertise your service in this way then

if your motto is "Spotify to reduce music piracy" (Believe me I've been slapped with that commercial for half a year at least on daily basis) I find it absurd you'd pull a scheme like this

 

[Littaly]

As Spotify has taken off, it's received more pressure from music corporations, which has thus forced its hand to make the paid tiers more appealing by lessening the experience of the free tier. I've been a paid Spotify user for a while now, and saw this coming about 18 months ago.

I always kind of assumed it was their plan from the beginning. They always knew that the free version would be unsustainable, and you can't get all those people to subscribe to a paid service. But you can get them to embrace a free service and then reluctantly make them pay for it.

But honestly, I don't mind paying in the slightest. In part because I hate ads, and it was only a matter of time before I would have switched to the paid version anyway. But mainly because it's so very much worth it. $5 a month and you get practically all the music you could ever wish for, even I can afford that. It's not quite as unbelievably good as getting it for free, but it's still by far the best thing that happened to music distribution in a very long time.

 

[Shodan1980]

But it is still giving you free music, its just got a cap on how much free music, and 10 hours is quite generous, its still about 150 songs a month. This is how the world works, nothing is free. All they've done is switch to a FTP model

 

[BiscuitTrouser]

But it is still giving you free music, its just got a cap on how much free music, and 10 hours is quite generous, its still about 150 songs a month. This is how the world works, nothing is free. All they've done is switch to a FTP model

My spotify allows you to listen to a song 4 times. After that you can never listen to it again ever. Ever.

Its fucking worthless as a "replacement" for piracy. Its good to sample new music dont get me wrong! But it cant replace piracy with a system like that.

 

[Aurgelmir]

Pay for it man!
It's not expensive at all, it gives unlimited music with better sound, and you can use it on mobile devices and with offline play lists.

Also this change happened over a year ago...

 

[Mayhaps]

My spotify allows you to listen to a song 4 times. After that you can never listen to it again ever. Ever.

Its fucking worthless as a "replacement" for piracy. Its good to sample new music dont get me wrong! But it cant replace piracy with a system like that.

1. Have a song, or a friends song on spotify
2. Make lots of (free) accounts and put that song on a loop
3. ????
4. Profit

OT
I've never heard them market themselves with the statement "listen to music for free, help reduce piracy by using spotify"

What they did was start off with a great product to receive fame and good press, then they moved to a sustainable model. And what they offer now is availability that outdoes bit-torrent piracy (in the matter of speed, not selection).

 

[5-0]

Yep, I remember when the ten hours four songs limit came in I was pretty pissed. But then I found an alternative. Grooveshark. (grooveshark.com) Their library's pretty messed up, having multiple copies of songs and wrong titles, but they often have stuff that spotify doesn't.Unfortunately they're a website rather than an program.

 

[Gardenia]

It's 49 NOK a month for the unlimited version. The cheapest pint of beer at my local pub is 75 NOK. I'm ok with this.

 

[Queen Michael]

But honestly, I don't mind paying in the slightest. In part because I hate ads, and it was only a matter of time before I would have switched to the paid version anyway.

I hear you. I used to turn off my speakers at the end of every song so I wouldn't have to hear the ads, which I promise that I hated more than anybody else. After a while I started turning on a new song right before the old one had endes, since the ads don't start until the song is completely over, but that started feeling ridiculous. All that trouble just so I wouldn't have to pay 49 Swedish kronor, which is less than a pizza costs? Getting a paid account just seemed like the smartes move.

But in my opinion, Spotify has too much music. If you want to hear, say, "We Didn't Start The Fire," then you get tons of horrible cover versions. And yeah, they got a system to help you pick the top hit for your search, which does help a bit, but it still bugs me that they do have all those awful covers but not, say, the Cardcaptor Sakura soundtrack. I mean hey, what do you think people are more interested in hearing?

 

[getoffmycloud]

But it is still giving you free music, its just got a cap on how much free music, and 10 hours is quite generous, its still about 150 songs a month. This is how the world works, nothing is free. All they've done is switch to a FTP model

My spotify allows you to listen to a song 4 times. After that you can never listen to it again ever. Ever.

Its fucking worthless as a "replacement" for piracy. Its good to sample new music dont get me wrong! But it cant replace piracy with a system like that.

Well the other option was that they go bust cause the were losing millions when you could listen to unlimited free music

 

[Yopaz]

It's 49 NOK a month for the unlimited version. The cheapest pint of beer at my local pub is 75 NOK. I'm ok with this.

I think that's the most expensive beer I've heard about since I started drinking. Still a bottle of my favourite beer costs 45 NOK and it only lasts me around 15 minutes. Spotify lasts a month and with the premium edition I don't need a mp3 player. I honestly can't see why anyone would complain about the price.

 

[Griffolion]

As Spotify has taken off, it's received more pressure from music corporations, which has thus forced its hand to make the paid tiers more appealing by lessening the experience of the free tier. I've been a paid Spotify user for a while now, and saw this coming about 18 months ago.

I always kind of assumed it was their plan from the beginning. They always knew that the free version would be unsustainable, and you can't get all those people to subscribe to a paid service. But you can get them to embrace a free service and then reluctantly make them pay for it.

But honestly, I don't mind paying in the slightest. In part because I hate ads, and it was only a matter of time before I would have switched to the paid version anyway. But mainly because it's so very much worth it. $5 a month and you get practically all the music you could ever wish for, even I can afford that. It's not quite as unbelievably good as getting it for free, but it's still by far the best thing that happened to music distribution in a very long time.

Yeah, anyone could have guessed it would go this way. It's a bit like Facebook, start out cool, get people in, and then ramp up the revenue making once the users are there. Despite this, Spotify is still one of the best sub-based music services out there. Basically, if you normally buy 1 CD a month at normal retail price either on iTunes or in a store, then Spotify has already paid for itself.

Also, it's probably the best thing to happen to US as far as music distribution goes, but for artists it's a completely different tale. Lady Gaga is the most played artist on Spotify, the royalties she's received from them for those millions of plays is about $150. Bono came out and said a few months back that Spotify is only good as a publicity tool, not straight up money making.

 

[Littaly]

-

I always kind of assumed it was their plan from the beginning. They always knew that the free version would be unsustainable...

Yeah, anyone could have guessed it would go this way. It's a bit like Facebook, start out cool, get people in, and then ramp up the revenue making once the users are there. Despite this, Spotify is still one of the best sub-based music services out there. Basically, if you normally buy 1 CD a month at normal retail price either on iTunes or in a store, then Spotify has already paid for itself.

Also, it's probably the best thing to happen to US as far as music distribution goes, but for artists it's a completely different tale. Lady Gaga is the most played artist on Spotify, the royalties she's received from them for those millions of plays is about $150. Bono came out and said a few months back that Spotify is only good as a publicity tool, not straight up money making.

That's actually a shame. I'm not 100% up to speed with how much money they make or how the income is distributed. The last thing I heard (which granted, was a couple of years ago), the service was pretty profitable for the record companies while the artists made an all but insignificant amount from it.

I'd be kind of curious to see why that is, and how much smaller the artist's share is when compared to retail sales.

 

[Griffolion]

-snip-

Probably some loophole in the artists contract with the company. Artist is entitled to so much of a % of sales, but Spotify plays aren't sales. Greedy corporations.

 

[Sexy Devil]

As Spotify has taken off, it's received more pressure from music corporations, which has thus forced its hand to make the paid tiers more appealing by lessening the experience of the free tier. I've been a paid Spotify user for a while now, and saw this coming about 18 months ago.

Sure but don't advertise your service in this way then

if your motto is "Spotify to reduce music piracy" (Believe me I've been slapped with that commercial for half a year at least on daily basis) I find it absurd you'd pull a scheme like this

Dude, you're getting free music in exchange for a slightly annoying commercial every now and again. Be thankful.