Great job on selecting the music for this, Hugh! Some absolute gems, a couple of which made our Top 20!

Wow, brilliantly argued piece, Gerd. My personal favourite is: "This is simply because their very existence may quickly and irreversibly change the entire playing-field, and may make it very hard for the incumbent rights-conglomerates to continue to effectively control distribution (and by extension, advertising prices) in the same way as before." Negotiating as Spotify is with a system rather than an individual entity or even a group of entities is certainly not for the faint of heart, but the potential rewards for success are substantial. While the egalitarian in me loves your call for a system in which experimental models requiring licensing are strongly encouraged (I would probably stop short of saying enforced), the business strategist in me relishes the competitive advantage that comes with a successful licensing deal for those who have the fortitude and perseverance to get it. It is unfortunate but natural for businesses and industries to want to protect a status quo that serves them well. I'm sure I don't have to tell you how much effort is required to bring about a level of understanding among legislators for the kind of legislative change you are proposing, and in most cases legislators won't move until the market already has. So, while you fight the good fight with the legislators of the world, I'm going to hold fast to my belief that a true zeitgeist carries with it ideas and people that can work for evolution and change within existing commercial structures and thereby evolve the structures themselves.