post yall Spotify wrapped though 😊

nytimes.com/2023/12/04/business/spotify-layoffs.html

Spotify to Cut 1,500 Jobs After Spending Spree

The music streaming service has expanded into podcasting and audiobooks but found it difficult to turn a consistent profit.

Spotify said on Monday that it would cut nearly a fifth of its work force, at least the third round of layoffs this year, as it has struggled to become consistently profitable after spending aggressively to expand beyond music streaming into areas such as podcasting.

Spotify’s chief executive officer, Daniel Ek, wrote in a note to employees posted on the company’s website that the platform now needed to “rightsize” to account for a “very different environment.” Spotify will let go of about 1,500 people, or 17 percent of its staff.

“Economic growth has slowed dramatically and capital has become more expensive,” Mr. Ek said. “Despite our efforts to reduce costs this past year, our cost structure for where we need to be is still too big,” Mr. Ek added.
Despite being the largest music streaming platform, Spotify has long struggled to be profitable because of the terms of licensing deals it has with record labels and music publishers. The company has pushed into new areas like podcasting, including buying the podcast studios Gimlet for $230 million in 2019 and The Ringer for about $200 million in 2020. It struck expensive deals with well-known figures such as former President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama, as well as Prince Harry and wife, Meghan. More recently, the company has expanded into audiobooks.

The shifts have helped Spotify attract listeners and subscribers, but have not been a financial breakthrough. In the first nine months of 2023, Spotify lost $462 million, more than double the loss in the same period in 2022. But the company turned a small profit last quarter, its first in more than a year, in what Paul Vogel, its chief financial officer, at the time called “an important inflection point for the business.” Spotify had 226 million paying subscribers at the end of September and is on track to add 30 million for the full year, 50 percent more than it expected at the outset of 2023. The company recently raised prices for its subscriptions in more than 50 countries.

The jobs cuts are the largest Spotify has announced this year. In June, Spotify cut about 200 jobs, including many involved in podcasting. Another 600 employees had been let go in January.

As part of its leaving package for the job cuts announced on Monday, Spotify said an average employee would receive about five months of severance pay.

I wonder how much their CEO makes

i gotta sign up to read this?

late stage capitalism is ass

Another Apple Music W

Bum couldn't even afford Arsenal FC.

I feel like you gotta be a little stupid to not turn a profit with the biggest musical streaming platform on earth

I’m about to switch back tbh

with all the aggressive expansion and marketing and the fact that EVERY person I know has Spotify and pays for it AND the fact that they rip artists off with 0.003 cents per stream or something and it's still their THIRD round of layoffs this year and they still struggle to maintain profit

just who on earth convinced us that it's a sustainable business model and the future of music listening. even the business side is so trash they have to cut their own off to please investors

for any corporate newcomer who reads it ima tell you this -- no matter how many awesome packages and merch and free lunches and gym discounts they offer, these companies are NOT your friends and they do NOT care about you

this cute inclusive welcome culture stuff will be over in a millisecond the moment investors come knocking. do not get your hopes up once you're in, stack coin, cut corners and rip these people off any chance you get

its not even that

you gotta be parasitic

im sorry bro totally forgot, added text to op

Thing is Spotify is parasitic and somehow can’t turn a profit lol

It feels like there’s an internal problem if you can fleece an industry that hard and still struggle to keep the lights on

They’re wildly underselling their product which by all accounts should be much more expensive

I feel like even if they now decide to settle into something more conservative the entire thing will immediately collapse

It’s a fine line, Netflix kinda has a similar problem and they keep raising the prices and people complain but they don’t seem to actually cancel their subscription

I think they could get away with a gradual price hike tbh

apple music goat but no competition is bad

Music streaming is more competitive though.

Television & movie streaming services can differentiate in their library, music streaming has no such thing. Spotify, AM, Tidal, Deeznuts all offer you the exact same library.

competition my ass cant wait till tech industry collapses

Yeah right, picture that with a NFT

These mfs still not turning a profit kinda worrying though I'm not tryna go back to downloaded files get y'all s*** together preferably without extreme price hikes cheers

it's a wrapped

music streaming is way too cheap
should be tripled the price rn

also eliminate piracy by only making it doable for people purposely running outdated OS that's easily hacked and f***ed over.

eye tracking unblockable ads need to come sooner

It struck expensive deals with well-known figures such as former President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama, as well as Prince Harry and wife, Meghan. More recently, the company has expanded into audiobooks.

nobody under the age of 40 cares abt this