Spotify Wikipedia. Spotify is a music, podcast, and video streaming service that was officially launched on 7 October 2. If youre the kind of person who spends the first ten minutes of the Lyft ride to the airport worrying that you accidentally left the oven oneven if you didnt. It is developed by startup Spotify AB in Stockholm, Sweden. It provides digital rights managementprotected content from record labels and media companies. Spotify is a freemium service basic features are free with advertisements or limitations, while additional features, such as improved streaming quality and music downloads, are offered via paid subscriptions. Spotify is available in most of Europe, most of the Americas, Australia, New Zealand, and parts of Asia. It is available for most modern devices, including Windows, mac. OS, and Linux computers, as well as i. OS, Windows Phone and Android smartphones and tablets. Music can be browsed through or searched for by parameters such as artist, album, genre, playlist, or record label. Users can create, edit, and share playlists, share tracks on social media, and make playlists with other users. Spotify provides access to more than 3. As of June 2. 01. Cara Update Patch Fm 2008' title='Cara Update Patch Fm 2008' />Usage Statistics for communitygaze. Summary Period May 2016 Search String Generated 08Oct2017 0208 PDT. Spotify is a music, podcast, and video streaming service that was officially launched on 7 October 2008. It is developed by startup Spotify AB in Stockholm, Sweden. July 2. 01. 7. Spotify pays royalties based on the number of artists streams as a proportion of total songs streamed on the service, unlike physical or download sales, which pay artists a fixed price per song or album sold. They distribute approximately 7. Greek Language Font. Spotify has faced criticism from artists and producers, including Taylor Swift and Radiohead singer Thom Yorke, who feel that it does not fairly compensate music creators as music sales decline and streaming increases. Spotify announced in April 2. Premium service for a maximum of two weeks if they are part of Universal Music Group and Merlin Network, as part of its efforts to renegotiate new license deals with record labels for a reported interest in going public. Business modeleditSpotify operates under a freemium business model basic services are free, while additional features are offered via paid subscriptions. Spotify makes its revenues by selling premium streaming subscriptions to users and advertising placements to third parties. In December 2. 01. Spotify for Artists, that explained its business model and revenue data. Spotify gets its content from major record labels as well as independent artists, and pays copyright holders royalties for streamed music. The company pays 7. Spotify for Artists states that the company does not have a fixed per play rate, instead considers factors such as the users home country and the individual artists royalty rate. Rights holders received an average per play payout between. Spotify offers an unlimited subscription package, close to the Open Music Model OMMestimated economic equilibriumfor the recording industry. However, the incorporation of digital rights management DRM protection6 diverges from the OMM and competitors such as i. Tunes Store and Amazon Music that have dropped DRM. Spotify encourages people to pay for music, with subscriptions as its main revenue source. The subscription removes advertisements and limits, and increases song bitrates to 3. The Spotify for Artists website claims that a Spotify Premium customer spends 1. U. S. music consumer who buys music not including those who spend 0 on music, with the annual value of the average U. S. paying listener identified as 1. The website also claims that a Spotify customer is 1. Spotify U. S. music consumer. Additionally, the website also includes a section entitled Spotifys impact on piracy as a response to the criticisms against the company regarding the exploitation of musicians. Spotify states that it has proven the theory given a free and legal alternative, people will pirate less, and uses Sweden, Norway, Denmark, the United States, Netherlands and the United Kingdom to provide evidence. For example, in Norway, the figure of 1. BBCMusic Week editor Tim Ingham wrote Unlike buying a CD or download, streaming is not a one off payment. Hundreds of millions of streams of tracks are happening each and every day, which quickly multiplies the potential revenues on offer and is a constant long term source of income for artists. Accounts and subscriptionseditAs of June 2. Spotify subscription types, all offering unlimited listening time, are The Premium subscription allows users to download media for later offline listening, offers enhanced sound quality up to a 3. Spotify Connect functionality, and allows mobile users to listen to the exact songs they want instead of being limited to a shuffle only mode in playlists and full albums. In March 2. 01. 4, Spotify introduced a new, discounted Premium subscription tier for active students. Students in the United States enrolled in a university can pay half price for a Premium subscription. In April 2. 01. 7, the Students offer was expanded to 3. Spotify introduced its Family subscription in October 2. Premium subscription. Spotify Family was upgraded in May 2. In order to get a family subscription, users would have to provide the exact same address as the head of the family, and their accounts would have to originate from the same setting a full 6 member family made up of accounts made in Australia, etc. A shared subscription does not mean that all family members would have to share their music and playlists. Family members each have their own account and are entitled to their own library of music, including playlists, albums, and songs. Getting a family subscription simply reduces the cost of getting Spotify Premium. MonetizationeditIn 2. Swedish kronor 4. In October 2. 01. Wired reported that Spotify was making more money for labels in Sweden than any other retailer online or off. Years after growth and expansion, a November 2. In 2. 01. 1, it reported a near US6. Another income source was music purchases from within the app, but this was removed in January 2. In May 2. 01. 6, Spotify announced Sponsored Playlists, a monetization opportunity in which brands are able to specify the audiences they have in mind, with Spotify matching the marketer with suitable music in a playlist. In September 2. 01. Spotify announced that it had paid a total of over 5 billion to the music industry. In June 2. 01. 7, as part of renegotiated licenses with Universal Music Group and Merlin Network, Spotifys financial filings revealed its agreement to pay more than 2 billion in minimum payments over the next two years. As of 2. 01. 7update, Spotify is not yet a profitable company. FundingeditIn February 2. Spotify received a small investment from Founders Fund, where board member Sean Parker was recruited to assist Spotify in winning the labels over in the worlds largest music market. In June 2. 01. 1, Spotify secured 1. U. S. launch. The new round of funding valued the company at 1 billion. A Goldman Sachs led round of funding closed in November 2. In April 2. 01. 5, Spotify began another round of fundraising, with a report from The Wall Street Journal stating it was seeking 4. The financing was closed in June 2. Spotify raising 5. In January 2. 01. Spotify raised another 5. In March 2. 01. 6, Spotify raised 1 billion in financing by debt plus a discount of 2. IPO of shares takes place. The company was, according to Tech. Crunch, planning to launch on the stock market in 2. IPO in 2. 01. 8 in order to build up a better balance sheet and work on shifting its business model to improve its margins.