In one video, Ek complained that Apple was making it impossible to communicate directly with his consumers—meanwhile, his app prevents artists from messaging their listeners, or reaching them directly without participating in its paid promotions. “Apple wants to tax us with 30 percent,” Ek complains—the exact percentage of royalties that artists must give up in order to have their music surfaced by Discovery Mode. When Ek claims that Spotify is all about the open internet and leveling the playing field, at a certain point it starts to feel like what the musician Holly Herndon has called
...more
