You and I can agree on one thing: Europe is better than America. We speak more languages. We made stronger, tastier cheese. Our money is more colourful. We embrace the letter “u” in our words.
Like all good Europeans, we are at heart socialists, not capitalists: we think music – like healthcare – should be free. And we also have a healthy contempt for journalists who would question our ability to pay our bills.
Most importantly, though, like all good Europeans, we also know that Americans are – to a man – suckers: albeit with far more than one born every minute. What’s theirs – including their money – is rightfully ours, Daniel. After all without us they’d all be speaking – well – American.
And yet, trying to conquer America with arrogance is like trying to conquer a sheep with wool. Rather, the secret to victory is to to play into their ego, not to fight against it. I realised this when I moved here: by playing the unemployable drunken Brit card I was able to get a job writing anti-American diatribes like this for TechCrunch (“oh, the Brit sense of humo(u)r”) and to start charming their women with my accent. Rdio understands the need for faux-humility too: they’ve used it to beat you to launch here, despite a far inferior product.
Life is good on this side of the Atlantic, Daniel, and Spotify could be living it too. All you have to do is start telling America what it needs to hear. Swallow your ego and do whatever deals you have to do to get Spotify US launched, even if it’s as a full subscription product. Yes, it will be an embarrassing climb down but, while you’re stubbonly sticking to your guns, Rdio is romping away with your market share. If VHS vs Betamax has taught us anything, it’s that the clear superiority of your product doesn’t matter a damn if Rdio has all of the users by the time you finally launch in 2095.
Once you’ve launched here, everything will change. Once every man, woman and child in America is hooked on Spotify (which they will be, because it’s the best music service in the world, right Daniel?) then you can start to show your true colours. Slowly extend the trial period – first to a week, then a month, then get a bit lax with paying your licencing fees; maybe a contract renegotiation or two to tip the financial balance further in your favour. By that point the labels will need you, Daniel, and you can do whatever the hell you like. Oh, yes, Daniel, they’ll see. THEY’LL ALL SEE.
Alternatively keep playing the same old broken record, telling the world that you’re launching your fremium service in the US before the end of 2010. And in the meantime, I’ll keep enjoying your free magical musical ATM until the cash runs out.
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