Great idea, Tom. It's funny. I was just telling a friend yesterday how a greed-inspired, Carl Icahn-led bit of blackmail was the first domino to fall in a series of, let's call them financial engineering gambits, that led to the gutting of my Rust Belt hometown. I'd have to look at the ownership structure of Spotify to see if Ek has a controlling share (when my application to the music engineering program at the U was botched, I switched to the B-school, only to abandon that line of work for the greener pastures on the far fringes of music journalism). It's a longshot for sure, but nothing else seems to stop him--except for maybe a newer, more cynical and even more exploitative competitor who might make Spotify the MySpace of the vulture-capitalism-in-music space. Oy.
Thanks for this comment! As you note, there's the long history of financial engineering gambits that leave actual people/workers out. Why should the music business be different? Turns out Ek and his co-founder do have a controlling share, like over 60%. So they're bulletproof. Sigh.
I kind of hoped Neil Young's Spotify strike would spark a rebellion among A-listers (which, let's face it, is the only hope this could ever happen). I also hoped people would flee Twitter when Elon Xed it. And that Hillary Clinton would be POTUS.
Wonderful idea, Tom! As you and I discussed on my podcast Philly Jazz Talks About. https://youtu.be/apNhrFLbBR8?si=fHIbvuf-l3JmD-lW
Wow I forgot about that! Thanks Suzanne!
Great idea, Tom. It's funny. I was just telling a friend yesterday how a greed-inspired, Carl Icahn-led bit of blackmail was the first domino to fall in a series of, let's call them financial engineering gambits, that led to the gutting of my Rust Belt hometown. I'd have to look at the ownership structure of Spotify to see if Ek has a controlling share (when my application to the music engineering program at the U was botched, I switched to the B-school, only to abandon that line of work for the greener pastures on the far fringes of music journalism). It's a longshot for sure, but nothing else seems to stop him--except for maybe a newer, more cynical and even more exploitative competitor who might make Spotify the MySpace of the vulture-capitalism-in-music space. Oy.
Thanks for this comment! As you note, there's the long history of financial engineering gambits that leave actual people/workers out. Why should the music business be different? Turns out Ek and his co-founder do have a controlling share, like over 60%. So they're bulletproof. Sigh.
I kind of hoped Neil Young's Spotify strike would spark a rebellion among A-listers (which, let's face it, is the only hope this could ever happen). I also hoped people would flee Twitter when Elon Xed it. And that Hillary Clinton would be POTUS.
Not only no Hillary POTUS, no more PONO. (sorry!)