Must read. Castle questions whether the IPO delay has been leaked by Spotify to try to shift blame to labels and artists. Nevermind that hundreds of thousands of songwriters have NEVER been paid.
“Why is Spotify leaking this IPO information now? Was any serious person refreshing their news feed in anticipation of a Spotify IPO announcement? My bet is that it is mostly, if not entirely, to get out ahead of an anticipated breakdown in their negotiations with major labels and to try to put some chum in the water about the beastly record companies, greedy artists and nasty songwriters. You know–the people who make Spotify’s only product.”
Already we see leaks to the tech press that Spotify is pushing off its IPO to next year while it pursues a “path to profitability”. Now that’s a new one–the company has previously told investors a growth story like many other startups. But unlike most other startups, Spotify now has a $1,000,000,000 convertible loan from private equity companies staring it in the face–along with what will no doubt turn out to be credit card interest rates when the total cost of the money is calculated (interest plus discounts on Spotify’s anticipated public stock).
Why is Spotify leaking this IPO information now? Was any serious person refreshing their news feed in anticipation of a Spotify IPO announcement? My bet is that it is mostly, if not entirely, to get out ahead of an anticipated breakdown in their negotiations with major labels and to try to put some chum in the water…
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The Trichordist 