Subsidising Spotify
In an interesting article on Techradar (http://bit.ly/5PZSoc), Garry Marshall raises the idea of getting ISPs to subsidise Spotify subscriptions instead of having the expense of trying to implement the unworkable 'three strikes' system being proposed by the UK government. As a huge Spotify fan, part of me likes the idea of having my ISP pay for my Spotify service. However as an even bigger fan of competition and not being forced to pay for services I don't necessarily want, I'm not entirely comfortable with this proposal - though surely anything is better than the three strikes idea.
Spotify has been a game changer for me and I love being able to have such a huge catalogue of music available instantly. I can now read the album reviews in the Sunday paper (yes - I still like the old school ones made from trees) while listening to the album blasting out of my computer. What I would have given to have had this type of service 15 years ago as a music obsessed teenager on a very limited budget! I few months ago I heard the band "Sweet Billy Pilgrim" being interviewed on the radio and they came across really well, but I missed the end of the interview and didn't get to hear them play. When I got home later, I typed the name of the band into Spotify and within seconds I was listening to their album. 9 tracks later I had become a huge fan. Over the last few years I had kind of drifted away from music, I guess I'd stopped being a music fan (and I hardly bought any albums), but Spotify has managed to open my ears to music again. If Spotify were to stop it's free service, I would now seriously consider buying a subscription even if my ISP didn't buy one for me!
