Spotify: Use ads for non-paying users to help cover the costs
Freeloading Users: Use third party software to sidestep this source of revenue, essentially getting the product for free.
Spotify: Ban these users.
Freeloading Users: shocked_pikachu.jpg
Users: Blocks known malware vector.
Spotify and 'the usual' HN crowd: shocked_pikachu.jpg
Literally this service delivered malware in 2016. You are permitting spotify to distribute adverstising malware.
[1]: https://pi-hole.net/
In other words you use the service when you are satisfied with it's cost, instead of using the service and then negotiating the transaction posthoc.
Neglegible marginal impact. Nevermind that most of this manpower seems to be wasted on adtech and bullshit redesigns. Their service sure hasn't improved recently.
> resources
This was completely self-inflicted. They used to run a p2p network, they chose to shut that down. That's fine, but they can't blame that on their users.
> licensing
Spotify's licensing budget is a fixed percentage of their revenue. A user that doesn't bring in any revenue won't increase their licensing costs.
I guess artists could opt out if they thought their licensing slice was too small, but that's effectively career suicide. Just look at Prince.
What do you mean? Prince only took his music off spotify for about a year before he died. Was there a very obvious effect on his career in this time?
Prince took a pretty hard stance against online music, in all of its forms, from the beginning.
> Was there a very obvious effect on his career in this time?
I have never listened to any of his songs, accidentally or intentionally. I have never heard anyone talk about his songs. The only time I have ever seen him mentioned online was when he died.
Anecdotal of course, but that's pretty impressive for a supposed superstar.