On its surface, the shift to digital audio should have led to further increases in song length. After all, there was no longer any limitation to run-time. However, the reverse occurred. Technology might have relaxed its grip on music’s length, but it had strengthened its hold on business models.

On top of all that, there’s the cultural convergence: because likes are a form of consensus, the fact that the most exposure goes to the most likes means we spend most of our time looking at the most generic artifacts of mass-appeal. Have you noticed that the music on the radio sounds hardly different than 20 years ago? That was not the case back i... See more

In the Western world and the big markets, we've come back a little bit full circle to say, "Hey, we'd like you to consume music at the price points you were comfortable with," and this is nominal. We haven't gotten into real yet, but for that price we're not going to give you a vastly better experience.