SPOTIFY's subscriber numbers, active users and podcast listening hours are all up, revenues too, and while advertising is down, it's starting to pick up again as the global pandemic drags on. But the streaming music leader is still piling up net losses like DRAKE piles up hits, according to the company's Q2 earnings report. The quarterly loss of $418 million was more than quadruple the company's losses a year ago, which it attributed partly to increased payroll taxes in some countries as a result of its booming stock price. Spotify executives are feeling good, all things considered, and not just because they got to spend Wednesday reporting their earnings rather than doing a ZOOM call with a Congressional subcommittee. "The big news here is that there isn’t really a lot of big news," chief exec DANIEL EK told the WALL STREET JOURNAL. "I've never been more bullish about where we are" was his message to investors. In line with a strategy that focuses on "growth rather than maximizing revenue," Spotify is continuing to spend on podcast acquisition, international expansion and other priorities. One area where growth is a little slow is goodwill with artists, and I've been wondering lately if Spotify—or any streaming company—might consider offering some temporary relief to artists by unilaterally raising royalty rates for as long as the pandemic continues to keep musicians locked up at home. A Spotify CARES act, if you will, to benefit artists in need while growing goodwill rather than revenue for the company. I wonder how an investment like that might pay off in the long run, in subscription numbers, in content, in any number of intangibles, and if the short term financial hit would even matter... Some fascinating between-the-numbers analysis of SPOT's earnings by MUSIC BUSINESS WORLDWIDE's TIM INGHAM... Writing in ROLLING STONE, New York State Health Commissioner HOWARD ZUCKER makes the case for why the CHAINSMOKERS (and, never forget, GOLDMAN SACHS CEO DAVID SOLOMON) concert last weekend in the Hamptons was not only "an illegal and reckless endangerment of public health" but also callous and cruel. "What struck our collective nerve," Zucker writes, "was seeing so many with so much to their advantage—concert attendees were generally young, healthy, and, as indicated by the $850 ticket prices, able to afford health care if they should need it—be so cavalier about taking a risk that could have dire consequences for many." His department is investigating "how this rule-flouting event was able to get off the ground." Organizers say they worked with state and local officials to take all the precautions they could... GARTH BROOKS does not want to be the CMA Entertainer of the Year yet again—he is not alone in this wish—and he's asked the org to take him off the ballot. The CMA says its rules don't allow it to tamper with its own ballot and it will be "up to voters" to decide what to do... The MERCURY PRIZE's rules prevent it from considering critically acclaimed RINA SAWAYAMA at all, because although she's lived in the UK since she was a child, she isn't a citizen. She calls it an act of "othering" and says it's much worse than if she had simply been snubbed... Whip-Smart Little Pill: LIZ PHAIR should interview ALANIS MORISSETTE more often and the LA TIMES should transcribe the results every time... RIP MALIK B (QUESTLOVE remembers his old ROOTS bandmate with this amazing story) and BENNETT GLOTZER.
