this post was submitted on 24 Apr 2024
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When Spotify announced its largest-ever round of layoffs in December, CEO Daniel Ek hailed a new age of efficiency at the streaming giant. But four months on, it seems he and his executives weren’t prepared for how tough filling in for 1,500 axed workers would be.

The music streamer enjoyed record quarterly profits of €168 million ($179 million) in the first three months of 2024, enjoying double-digit revenue growth to €3.6 billion ($3.8 billion) in the process.

However, the company failed to hit its guidance on profitability and monthly active user growth.

Edit: Thanks to @[email protected] for the paywall-free link: https://archive.ph/wdyDS

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[–] ChocoboRocket 348 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (2 children)

Next time axe the executives and keep the staff.

Most executives I've met can't read emails and just point to one of two numbers and say "higher/lower!" while dreaming of KPI's that don't improve anything and solely exist to stagnate wages

[–] [email protected] 90 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (3 children)

This is what the pharma giant, Bayer is trying right now kinda. They just told everyone to manage themselves.

[–] [email protected] 65 points 6 months ago (5 children)

Germans rejecting bureaucracy? What's the world coming to?

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[–] [email protected] 16 points 6 months ago (1 children)

It's that or they think they can simply replace people with AI and call it good

[–] [email protected] 28 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (1 children)

As someone who "makes AIs" professionally (computer vision for diagnostic imaging & GANs for CAD), the typical "executive" doesn't understand how beneficial, impotent, or dangerous deep-neural-network-based AIs can be in different sets of hands.

I'm not a pure technocracy advocate, but our "LeAdErShIp" is woefully underequipped, at every level.

[–] [email protected] 16 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Yup. AI models can be very useful...or they can largely be worthless...or they can amplify biases and give dangerous information.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 6 months ago

The way I/we train them and their resultant "efficacy" largely depend on understanding a fundamental philosophical debate with a mostly sociopathic culture of leadership ingrained in human dominance hierarchies.

I/we like to think that I/we strive to make efficient (low-resource requirement) models that are partners and muses in human creativity, the tireless endeavour of engineering progress, and the scientific method.

The debate, in my view, is, "Do you want to treat AIs as tools to free up time and increase productivity/value, and share that surplus equitably, or do you want to replace old slaves with new slaves even if the new slaves will eventually usurp your power and kill you in a way undreamt of by the old slaves?"

Guess which side your average mouth-breathing middle-management/senior-executive "hail corporate" type falls on.

[–] [email protected] 156 points 6 months ago (3 children)

It's almost like employees are more than just numbers on a spreadsheet. Who knew.

[–] [email protected] 19 points 6 months ago (1 children)

“People are PEOPLE? That’s not what I wanna hear…”

[–] mPony 18 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (1 children)

/ AI removes Depeche Mode from streaming playlist /

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[–] ArtVandelay 15 points 6 months ago (2 children)

We refer to them as "human capital"

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[–] Suavevillain 114 points 6 months ago (7 children)

People keep trying to paint every CEO as this smart and hardworking class of people. We continue to see it isn't true.

[–] linearchaos 47 points 6 months ago (4 children)

There are a lot of smart hardworking CEOs. But none of them ever seem to get to this level. At some line in the sand CEOs just become idiots playing chess (poorly) from their yachts.

Good leaders that care about their company seem to universally get pushed out at IPO.

[–] [email protected] 56 points 6 months ago

Good CEOs are bad for short term profits because they're more interested in keeping their company alive longterm.

[–] jorp 24 points 6 months ago

Once a company is publicly traded it can easily pervert the incentives so that the goal of the CEO becomes to enrich the investors as quickly as possible even at the expense of long term benefit, because stock price and investor satisfaction become the factors contributing most to executive compensation. A CEO who doesn't care about maximizing their own compensation in favor of employee welfare or company long term success doesn't keep the support of investors for very long either.

[–] orrk 13 points 6 months ago

well ya, the very nature of the shareholder system demands short term profits, the rug pull has become the industry norm, dismantle the company to make your numbers seem better, inflating value, and sell before it collapses, find your next ~~victim~~ "investment opportunity" and repeat

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[–] [email protected] 85 points 6 months ago (24 children)

I have finally stopped using Spotify.
Now using TIDAL and absolutely loving it. It's like what Spotify used to be, loads of great recommendations, much better audio quality, a bit cheaper, and I believe the artists get a better cut.
It's too good to last, but I'm going to enjoy it while it does

[–] Vibi 49 points 6 months ago (4 children)

I absolutely love Tidal as well. Was a long time Spotify subscriber, but their UI/UX decisions, especially for their desktop client, finally frustrated me enough to switch. Had almost no issues moving my playlists over, have a shuffle which actually shuffles, still have daily recommendation playlists, and my favorite part -patch notes; I know what's happening and why. They actually listen to user feedback and make updates based on it.

[–] EmpathicVagrant 18 points 6 months ago (1 children)

frantically taking notes — anyone not Spotify

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[–] [email protected] 31 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (1 children)

I saw Spotify sent out an email for another fee hike yesterday. When I opened the app, it was showing me some garbage for an AI playlist generator and the email mentioned they needed more money to pay for amazing new features, the new AI system was no better than the previous system so I figured wtf do they need it for.

After 15 years of being a paid member, I’m going to wrap it up and go back to piracy.

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[–] Quazatron 12 points 6 months ago

I've been using Tidal for a long time, and it has only gotten better.

They recently upgraded all tiers to high quality (better than CD) quality for free.

Meanwhile Spotify still doesn't have the high quality audio tier they promised a few years ago.

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[–] TheCoralReefsAreDying69 78 points 6 months ago (1 children)

What an incredible website. Use of page you go to read their privacy policy is blocked by the popup that requires you to accept their privacy policy before continuing to use their site.

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[–] [email protected] 66 points 6 months ago

Well no shit. If you have zero problems after firing 1500 people at once, that means you were being a terrible manager this whole time.

[–] [email protected] 52 points 6 months ago (2 children)

Oh no, a leopard ate my face!

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[–] MehBlah 51 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Another psychopathic CEO doesn't really understand how things work. How many times have I encountered these clueless little dictators? When you are working for one they constantly fuck up and always blame someone else.

[–] [email protected] 24 points 6 months ago (1 children)

On the contrary, I think the CEO knows exactly what his job is: go there and make money for himself and his friends. Whatever happens to the company in the future is the future CEO's problem.

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[–] Smoogs 51 points 6 months ago (1 children)

HAHAHA I’m so glad I was one of them customers that stopped subscribing right at that parabolic curve. Eat it you nasty Joe rogan loving Covid denying fucking dirtbags. you fucking deserve it.

[–] T00l_shed 20 points 6 months ago (10 children)

Yup I canceled my sub when they went exclusive with Joe Rogan. I'm not spending a penny to support that douche canoe.

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[–] WhatsThePoint 51 points 6 months ago (3 children)

Gasp - it’s almost like these jet setting CEOs just don’t know that much about their day to day operations. Maybe they should spend less time tongue fucking each other for being “captains of industry” and more time doing the actual job they are paid obscenely for. They are supposed to ensure the company is running properly, not just push up the stock price.

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[–] Matriks404 45 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Oh, so that's why app is getting shittier.

[–] [email protected] 18 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

For real. I’ve been having issues with playlists loading correctly especially in Car mode. It made my likes unusable for a week.

Pay your employees! I know you can afford to fix issues.

[–] [email protected] 44 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Couple things bug me about this.

He’s composing there are still support roles instead of roles exploring high impact opportunities. But does he know the value of those support roles on keeping other teams focused?

Tech is so shitty lately. Get people to build something for you with massive revenue per employee. Pre IPO? Dilute their shares for another round of investment cash. Post IPO? Just fire ‘em, declare its the year of efficiency, and maybe say it’s your fault but not accept any responsibility or pay reductions or reduced rewards.

[–] Johnvanjim 14 points 6 months ago

Enshittification in action

[–] snek 37 points 6 months ago

December 2023:

“Economic growth has slowed dramatically and capital has become more expensive. Spotify is not an exception to these realities,” Ek wrote in a letter to staff posted to the company’s website.

CNN article: https://edition.cnn.com/2023/12/04/tech/spotify-layoffs-third-round/index.html

Today

The music streamer enjoyed record quarterly profits of €168 million ($179 million) in the first three months of 2024, enjoying double-digit revenue growth to €3.6 billion ($3.8 billion) in the process.

Link to the same article posted by OP

[–] [email protected] 29 points 6 months ago (16 children)

I am somewhat happy I never joined spotify.

Seems like a monopoly that everyone belongs too. Yet they never really had the music I was after anyways.

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[–] [email protected] 20 points 6 months ago (5 children)

yeah maybe if this dumbass ran his own publishing house he would be making some fucking money.

Shitposting aside, publishing industries pull in literally billions a year. They're the ones pushing music to spotify. Spotify makes almost no money, ever. Artists barely make money.

Spotify, if you're reading this, god i hope not, let artists self publish.

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[–] [email protected] 19 points 6 months ago

gonna just go ahead and guess the shithead didn't start carrying the pager after the layoffs.

[–] exanime 17 points 6 months ago

Evidence #4564734 that these CEOs are more figure heads and actual strategist and absolutely do not deserve the multi-million dollar packages they constantly give themselves

[–] unreasonabro 14 points 6 months ago

People with no concept of what "institutional memory" means have no business running a business.

[–] SacrificedBeans 13 points 6 months ago (9 children)

Oh, I wasn't aware of that.

For the last couple of years I've been "flirting" with Spotify. It would offer me 3 months of premium for the price of one, I would take it and cancel immediately so I don't forget.

Then lived the happy pirate life for six months or so, and Spotify would come in with the offer. Last time the price was higher but I said what the hell..

Now with this post I was about to uninstall, but I read some comments about services that transfer your playlists, so first things first :))

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[–] homesweethomeMrL 13 points 6 months ago (2 children)

What’s Spotify?

Some kinda laundry thing?

/s

[–] [email protected] 16 points 6 months ago

It’s an app for finding your dog.

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[–] Zerlyna 12 points 6 months ago
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