

How Spotify Almost Sold To Google For $1 Billion, Plus New Apple Rumors - charlief
http://techcrunch.com/2010/10/26/how-spotify-almost-sold-to-google-for-1-billion-plus-new-apple-rumors/

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jacquesm
That would be a pretty impressive exit.

The reason why it didn't sell reminds me of Dalton Caldwell's startup school
talk, if you haven't seen it yet and intend to do a music startup (or are
doing one) you probably should go and watch it:

<http://www.justin.tv/startupschool/b/272178844>

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TamDenholm
I really hope Apple dont buy Spotify. Spotify made me stop pirating music, I'm
now a legitimate paying customer. I detest itunes with the heat of a nova.

Google would be the lesser of two evils but i'd rather they remain
independent, become profitable (if they arent already, i've no idea) and
continue to do the great work they're doing right now.

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ladon86
If Apple acquired Spotify they could kiss those streaming contracts goodbye.
There's no way the labels would risk handing even more power to Apple, paying
only micropennies per play, when they're still kicking themselves over the
near monopoly Apple grabbed the first time round.

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alexyoung
I'd rather Spotify were independent, because someone like Google owning it
might discourage potentially innovative competitors from springing up.

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BillMartin
Spotify's business model is based upon a collection of dubious contracts with
record labels that have nothing to gain from spotify. That is amazing.

Is it me or does anyone realise that spotify is napster all over again? I mean
come on even Sean Parker is on board. lol.

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jacquesm
I must have missed something, I can't find any indication that the contracts
mentioned are 'dubious', the only thing that seems to be the case is that they
are so good that if they're not part of the deal Google does not think they
can re-negotiate them on such favorable terms.

How does that make the contracts 'dubiuos'? To me that indicates they are of
questionable legality, that does not seem to be the case here.

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BillMartin
In terms of longevity.

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jw84
Nice of Spotify to tip off TC to clinch this buyout.

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philwelch
I never thought leaks clinched deals. I always thought leaks queered deals.

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mahmud
Wow! didn't know "queer" was a verb.

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philwelch
"To queer the deal" is one of my favorite idioms. It's not really a verb
outside of that.

