Yesterday Spotify announced that they are removing songs from their database, and imposing country restrictions on others. Again, we see the record labels showing off their power. But it’s really a dangerous game to play.
As I’ve said before, both in lectures and on this blog, the only way to properly fight piracy is to provide a BETTER service than the illegal one. And this is exactly what Spotify has been so successful in achieving. With Spotify you don’t have to host huge amounts of data yourself, and you have a shared library with your friends so that you only have to share links.
But there are potential weaknesses in Spotify. One important weakness is if the database of music is too limited compared to pirated alternatives. Then piracy will start gaining momentum again.
Thus, seeing the labels forcing Spotify into actions like the ones of yesterday is alarming. Are they aware of the long term risks of taking action in this direction, or are they blinded by short term greed?
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Most of the music being removed has nothing to do with the big labels. Instead, it is music from small labels, labels without current contracts with Spotify.