The Power of A Music Platform
Gabe Newell, the man who single-handedly put video game piracy on the brink of extinction, famously once said that piracy is almost always a service problem, since people find it easier to pirate than to wait around for publishers to provide the legal route of obtaining content (Tito, 2011). Such was the case with Pakistan, where up until the late 2010s, there was no unethical way of consuming music on demand, and the bootleg industries were in full swing.
That is, until Spotify launched in 2021 (Paracha, 2021). The world’s fifth most populous country could now enjoy the Swedish audio streaming service that took the world by storm. But even though the company has over a decade of history, it is still new to the South Asia. As such, it has run into problems that is common to this region alone.
For a large chunk of the population, the monthly subscription fee is a little high, especially after the currency devaluation (Hanif, 2022). Moreover, due to lax anti-piracy laws, piracy is deeply ingrained into the way people consume content (Ali, 2018). Even though Spotify can be used free, people are used to listening to their music on demand without any ads.
This can be changed. For a country that has created some of the world’s most renowned musicians, the challenge will be to communicate how Spotify, despite its ads and subscription fee, is a better way of consuming music than pirating. The value that Spotify brings to the local artists should also be communicated to the masses, and people should be encouraged to support their favorite artists through Spotify. The ease of use and the vast library of songs are monumental features that are worth paying for and should be highlighted in Spotify’s messaging. If implemented, these factors could make Spotify the streaming platform of the nation.
