RAIN Notes: January 27

Jottings of note:

 

Two Views

Finance news site The Motley Fool is running an interesting analysis of SiriusXM stock performance over its 20-year run as a traded stock. Showing the stock performance against the S&P 500 total return during that span is a harsh comparison (see below). “After 30 years, an investor who bought in at the IPO, held on, and reinvested all of their dividends, would have seen a $75 initial investment turn into a holding worth just $42 today.” That’s just cruel, if the article’s only thrust. It isn’t, though — the main revelation is that Warren Buffet’s company bought into the stock in 2023, and is holding. Further, according to The Fool, Buffet’s investment team added shares inDecember, seeming to know something. “Shares are cheap at 8 times earnings,” the article points out. (RAIN News does not make stock recommendations.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Justifiably Emotional?

 

 

We recently noted the publication of Mood Machine, a critically analytical analysis of Spotify’s music programming. The Economist now reviews it, describing how author and NYU professor Liz Pelly discusses the streaming giant’s pioneering of playlist culture, which fostered a music genre called “streambait” — tracks designed to prevent skipping before the 30-second threshold which triggers a royalty payment. Citing statistics, the book informs us that newness suffers in the Spotify realm: nearly three quarters of streamed songs are over 18 months old. Interestingly, in the book Pelly reports that Spotify hired working musicians “often operating under fake names, to produce formulaic fodder at cheap rates, bypassing labels.” The introduction of AI programming gets covered in the book, unsurprisingly, producing “bewildering micro-genres.” The Economist piece reviews Mood Machine as both overwrought and convincing. Read the review HERE.

January 27, 2025


Brad Hill