Do we need to redefine buying?
I often use Spotify.
A lot of people I know often use Spotify.
And I think all of us by now have understood that the business model of Spotify has affected our idea of ownership. But have we considered that it is questioning our notion of “buying” as well as the sense of power we might associate with it?
Buying has for a long time meant that when money (or goods in equal worth) is exchanged in an agreement, an object comes into our possession, and we understand it as something that we have ownership over for all foreseeable future. This is changing as we move from an industrial to a post-industrial economy where we buy more services than products. This as a service is not something we own, it is something we get access to. Buying hence has lost it meaning as “possessing” or “owing”, and instead comes to mean “to borrow” or “to gain access to”.
It is also creating a change in power. Earlier when we bought an object we had power over the object. We decided where the car drove, or we decided where the sofa would be placed. We as owners held all the power. In the case of us buying Spotify as a service the power relationship is changed as we are no longer owners but merely subscribers. We do not own Spotify in itself so Spotify might exercise power over us by withdrawing certain songs for example. So when buying into a service like Spotify we also agrees to not having all the power ourselves.
This changed definition of buying is something that we working in the realms of Business & Design need to keep a close eye on, as these changes may affect the perception and experience of a purchase.

PS! If you want to read further on this topic look to Scenario Magazines interesting blog post here!

