Points of interest and worthy reads around the web:
Labels rumored to be squeezing Spotify Free: Emphasis on rumor. A site called Hits Daily Double reports that Spotify’s negotiation with major labels is focused on the “freemium” portion of Spotify’s platform, a point of complaint for some labels and artists. the rumor is that Spotify will be negotiated into limiting Spotify Free to a time period, after which users upgrade to paid subscriptions, or are bounced out. There is no question that Spotify’s high level of music access in the Free plan is controversial. No confirmation of a label negotiating tactic along these lines, yet.
The future of podcasting: Forbes contributor Dorie Clark reviews the long, slow growth of podcasting, debunking the meme that podcasting has suddenly emerged as a new content category. but that’s history, and the article also charts a future in which podcasting reigns in the car on equal footing with music and radio.
Streaming “done right”: Jason Epstein and Rob Glaser, both on the Board of Directors of music service Rhapsody, hold forth on Taylor Swift and the “freemium” controversy. One interesting stat from the opinion piece: Rhapsody pays the music industry $65/year per subscriber, and calculates $20/year from Spotify for all its active users, most of whom are not paying subscribers.