Well, it kind of depends on there cost and value compared to competitors
No, that determines whether they are the best deal. What determines whether or not they are worth purchasing a service from, is whether you value the service. Suzuki might offer great cost and value compared to Harley Davidson, but unless I'm in the market for a motorbike, it's irrelevant.
I wish people would stop comparing music to movies. There different things.
It's not useful to compare things to themselves! You have to compare them to something else. In order to show other things that you could get for the same money, I picked on rented movies. I could pick a lot of other examples, too. The idea is to try and gauge the value of €10 so that the cost of streaming music can be properly calibrated. Not everyone values renting movies. Some people might value beer and I could have said: it's the cost of a couple of beers. But enough people rent movies that it's a decent enough tool to use to draw a value comparison. 10 is just a number. It could be a lot or a little. By pegging other items that are found at position "10" however, we can get a feel for where 10 is on the scale of things.
For the price of pizza and beer you get pizza and beer. If you buy spotify you get a "virtual service".
What's virtual about it? I pay the money and music comes out of my speakers. If you'll pardon me for the phrasing, it sounds pretty real to me.
It was the BBC news (Funded in the UK by a compulsory [for those with TVs that can receive broadcast programming] subscription/tax) article that highlighted the "So long, guess I'll go back to pirating music" comment.
Both the BBC and Slashdot did.
This is why my first sentence was a warning against conflation. You're conflating talent with knowledge.
I don't believe I am. Firstly, "knowledge" isn't a good word to use for playing an instrument. Skill would be. Secondly, I don't see this clear distinction between "talent" and skill. Do some people have a greater or lesser aptitude for music? Yes. But it's misguided to put that aptitude on a pedestal above practice and study. Do you play an instrument? Because myself and my friends who are professional musicians - I know that they would disagree with your stance. Being a great musician is a little bit raw aptitude and an overwhelming amout of study and practice. The bald statement that "talent is singular, and cannot be bought or taught" sounds very hollow to me. As I said earlier, I don't know of any really good musician that wasn't taught. I suppose there might be an example out there somewhere, but they'd be a massive exception.
If they cannot transcend the mechanical aspect of music and play (let alone compose!) in a way that connects them emotionally with their audience (which is a talent)
Actually, that is something largely learned and also a false dichotomy. I strongly suspect that you haven't played music professionally and would be interested to know what experience as a musician you have.
I think you were replying to ElectricTurtle.
Well, I was meaning to...
For a lot of people - like me - music isn't all that important. [...] Perhaps when you manage to look beyond your own situation you will see that Spotify for many people no longer makes sense.
I don't think Spotify should be basing their pricing around what appeals to people who don't have much interest in music.
50p per year for unlimited streaming is about the maximum that I'd be willing to pay.
Then you are either phenomenally cheap or your have no interest in streaming music. Neither of which apply to most of the people in this discussion.
The average person doesn't have a clue about this media vs copyright war that has been happening since before the internet even existed.
I don't know what this "average person" is to whom you refer, but outside of Slashdot, I think most people think the notion of copyright is reasonably fair. Inside of Slashdot, you get modded down for being anti-piracy.
If A = B and B = C, then A = C, except where void or prohibited by law. -- Roy Santoro