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But to GP's point - Netflix put themselves in the same situation in regards to their original content. While it has impacted their selection of titles from the companies they compete with, it wasn't in a catastrophic way.


I understand what you're saying and Netflix has been pretty spectacular in that regard. I think there might be a couple of differences between Spotify and Netlix though.

Record contracts are exclusive. Beyonce can't go and record an album for some other records label whereas in the Netflix model those actors aren't exclusive to Netflix. They are free to go out and make movies for Universal for 20th Century Fox when their series wraps for Netflix. As such it doesn't threaten the business model of the studios in the same way Spotify becoming a record label and paying artists directly from streams might.

The other difference I think is that consuming Netflix tends to be a concentrated experience in that you sit down to watch a movie or else you binge watch during a whole Saturday while the weather is crap. Music on the other hand is more passive. People play music pretty endlessly - while at work, on the train, at the gym. I think it would be much harder to be majority original content streaming service with music while keeping your existing subscribers satisfied.




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