I am sure most of you might be aware that Google plans to bans the simple act of sideloading [though I presume adb driven sideloading remains] on it’s platform in name of security. At the same time Play Store itself remains riddled with malware. However, here I wish to throw light on a different rising case of apps, a set that actually deserves to be pirated.

With the start of the so called subscription driven economy where one time purchases are becoming a thing of the past,everything needs to be a subscription. Some things like a newspaper make sense, a music tracking app does not. Let us turn our eyes to Stats.fm. It aims to link to Spotify/Apple Account and present data in good format. It was a one time purchase back in the day when I barely used Spotify, so I got the legit version. Spotify usually retails for INR [Indian National Rupee] 1200 per year but was retailing for 500 as an initial promotional scheme last week. Fed up with the mess that YT Music is [Yes, I do hoard music via Soulseek as well], I thought why not give Spotify a try. So, I installed both the streaming app and this fancy scrobbling service which as I repeat, was a one time purchase linked to a Google account.

As soon as I open the app, I am told I need to subscribe [bait and switch]. To put salt on wound, their cheapest plans were INR 750 for 6 months, which ironically is equivalent to YT Premium [when equating to per year]. So, what is basically a Last.fm clone with little third party support [Last.fm offers a largely working free tier and has open APIs that make it work with third party plugins/clients] and now did a classic bait; is it not ethical to pirate such kind of stuff?

I would go on a limb and say that Google actually has a case for asking money for YT Premium since they offer 2 services : music and video streaming [yes, the apps are shit, I know that] which incur server costs. But am I to truly believe that equivalent server costs are incurred by err,a music tracking app that ONLY tracks one music client?

As Cory Doctrow coined the term enshittification, we are heading down that route. I am sure many more apps would have done that bait and switch. [I even saw an Wear OS watch face as a yearly subscription option once].

  • 9limmer@lemmy.zipEnglish
    3·
    23 hours ago

    He’s recently stepped down as CEO but apparently still remains heavily involved in the business.

    Spotify’s stock price has taken a bit of a tumble since Ek’s announcement on September 30, dropping around 7.5% as of mid-day trading on the NYSE on October 9. That may be a reflection of the confidence that investors have in Ek as the driving force behind Spotify, and why Ek has gone to pains to stress that he is not leaving the company, and will continue to have an active hand in the business as a “European”-style Executive Chairman.

    “Most investors may come at it from a US perspective, where [Chairman is] mostly a ceremonial role. In Europe, it isn’t. In fact, a Chairman is someone who’s quite active in the business, sometimes even represents the business externally to different stakeholders, like, for instance, governments or key partners,” Ek said on a recent investor call.

    Ek walks away from the CEO role as one of the 10 richest people in Sweden, with Forbes estimating his fortune at $9.6 billion. Amid a massive run-up in Spotify’s stock over the past few years (at around $673 per share, it’s gone up about 8.5-fold since a bottom below $80 in late 2022), Ek has cashed in a significant amount of Spotify shares. By MBW’s estimates, he had sold nearly $808 million in Spotify stock as of this past May.

    …

    But some of Ek’s investments have proven controversial, most notably Prima Materia’s leading role in a €600 million ($700 million) Series D funding round into German defense firm Helsing. The company has sparked concerns over its joint project with Swedish aerospace company Saab to build an AI “combat agent” that can operate fighter jets.

    That left a bitter taste in the mouths of many artists on Spotify, especially those who already considered the streaming service to be paying out what they see as low royalty rates on streams, cutting corners on mechanical royalties in the US, and (particularly irksome for some) paying Joe Rogan a huge sum for his podcast.

    For some artists, it was the last straw. A number of them, including Sylvan Esso, Godspeed! You Black Emperor, Deerhoof and King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard have announced they’re pulling their music from Spotify.

    …Spotify’s Chief Executive Daniel Ek announced that he’d led a funding round of nearly $700 million (through his personal investment firm, Prima Materia) into the European defense firm Helsing. That company, which Ek now chairs, specializes in AI software integrated into fighter aircraft like its HX-2 AI Strike Drone. “Helsing is uniquely positioned with its AI leadership to deliver these critical capabilities in all-domain defence innovation,” Ek said in a statement about the funding round.