Spotify claims 40 million subscribers
mainThe Swedish music service says it has twice as many users signed up as Apple Music, which is good for competition.
But both are lousy for classical consumers.
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I have posted a comment and was told that I posted comments too fast. I don’t begin to understand this.
I only posted a single comment and took some time drafting it.
Happens all the time on this site. I have never encountered this phenomenon elsewhere, and I have no guess either what the sense of it could be.
I’ll ask our tech people to look into it.
I have a “lousy” Spotify playlist of 42 different Mahler Firsts! (Which I rarely listen to).
Lousy Spotify. Always suggesting new composers that I might be interested in and recently introducing me to the symphonies of Johann Baptist Vanhal and William Herschel.
I have been immensely satisfied with Spotify’s classical offerings from the time I began subscribing (as a premium member) more than five years ago. In that time, I’ve watched the service add so much that I purchase far fewer recordings than ever in my adult life.
Yes, there are annoying lacunae in their offerings. Warner, for example, has long been stingy about the albums it makes available for streaming, and since their acquisition of EMI, a number of that label’s offerings have disappeared from Spotify. Metadata also leaves something to be desired, but that’s not entirely Spotify’s problem either (much or the metadata appears to come from third-party sources).
In short, I see few reasons not to recommend to any but the most hardcore audiophiles.
The challenge now is to persuade them to pass on more by way of income to the creative artists whose work they make so readily available.
Lousy?!?! If only Hyperion jumped on board Spotify would have almost everything
I’m surprised they only have 40 million subscribers though, I don’t think I know anyone who don’t use Spotify. Maybe they mean premium users only
Norman,
Why exactly is Spotify lousy for classical users? Audio quality? Lack of selection?
As the Rolling Stones say, “You can’t always get what you want.” But I would add that with Spotify and Apple Music very often you can. What I might be willing to pay for in addition are the CD program notes, but these don’t seem to be offered separately.