Platforms1 like Spotify are market actors that are culturally and economically relevant in ways that other capitalistic actors are not. The case for Spotify specifically is authoritatively made in Liz Pelly’s “Mood Machine: The Rise of Spotify and the Costs of the Perfect Playlist”. Generally their lifecycle can be approximated through Cory Doctorow’s enshittification thesis. Early in their existence platforms generate value for all or most stakeholders. Then they iteratively begin to screw everyone until a critical equilibrium is reached that is just not terrible enough to make everybody leave.
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