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Spotify's new ad format

6 points by rplnt ↗ HN
New (first time I've seen one at least) ads are simply perfect.

* the ads autoplay right after program startup, even when the music is paused

* they are full volume and don't respond to Spotify's UI (mute, volume change, play/pause)

* they do have separate controls (pause/volume) - it's a small embed video hidden in a big ad, the controls only show on hover over that video

* BONUS: you can press play and music starts to play over the ad

Reproducible every time.

What drives company like Spotify to turn into annoying ad-ware-like model? This will drive customers away, not into subscription. Or is it advertisers' fault and Spotify simply let them too loose? Either way, it was an instant uninstall for me.

10 comments

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Bino
"This will drive customers away, not into subscription."

It probably will not, I'm pretty sure they have the statistics, however it will make some annoyed non-paying customers complain on the internet.

rplnt
Maybe it's targeted.

Increase level of unusability for long-time users because there's a better chance they will switch. And it's still better for Spotify if those users leave as Spotify can't sell ads for shit - haven't heard any real ad in months (it's only Spotify ads that are intentionally annoying or ads for playlists by major music labels which are supposedly subsidized by Spotify).

But be gentle to new users at the same time to not drive them away.

(As for being a non-paying customer, global pricing tells me it's expensive; I would use the freemium model, but apparently they are not capable of running it as a freeemium)

tedmiston
IIRC they pay artists the same whether a listen was free or paid.
thomasrossi
It's unlikely that they made such decisions "lightly". Most of the time the correct pricing decision is: make higher pricing (especially for a "startup" which had aggressive pricing to conquer the market). To raise the price of your ads, you need to make them more sticky/entangling, the outcome is straightforward!
rplnt
It was an ad by/for Universal Music and their Spotify playlist. I was once told here at HN that these ads are not actually paid but are part of a licensing deal.
thomasrossi
Interesting, thanks for sharing! I think it still applies in some ways, if I get it right that is probably used to lower the licenses fee. Raise the price or lower the costs, I think they need to show margin somehow.
samfisher83
You could pay the $10 a month. I don't understand why people are so hesitant to pay for stuff on the internet?
rplnt
Does it really cost that much? It's actually cheaper here, so my previous comment about global pricing was not entirely true.

But I still find it too expensive, for my use cases that is. I used it because it was free(mium), I wouldn't have touched it otherwise. I'm sure it's valuable service for some, just not for me. I'd be willing to pay 2-3 beers[1] worth a month (but I would still be hesitant because I really don't need to).

This post was mostly about anti-user behavior from Spotify, perhaps because they can't afford free users.

1. cost of domestic beer (or local food in general) translates better than money across different regions across the world

i0nutzb
Simple! Because they don't want to take my money.

Let me explain: I'm living in a country where Spotify isn't present just yet. So I have to use a VPN every now and then to „trick” Spotify that I'm an US user traveling abroad.

I want to buy a subscription, I really want, but I can't use Paypal nor a credit card (because of the country restriction) so the only way of getting a valid subscription is to buy an overpriced gift card (i.e. $16+ for a $10 card).