If there's any evidence against this, please let me know. I think it's interesting.
Apple Music is supposedly set to surpass Spotify in number of paid subscribers this summer.
Youtube has always had more free listeners than Spotify, as far as I know.
It's not at all clear who the major players in the music streaming business will be five years from now, which means that all of the power remains with the owners of the music that people want to listen to. AKA the major record labels.
Where did you get this info? Look at the graph
https://www.statista.com/chart/8399/spotify-apple-music-paid...
In recent years artists like Drake have started their own labels and collaborated directly with tour organizers to generate different sources of income and cut out middlemen. While it's difficult to imagine Spotify generating hit music at the same pace as Netflix produces hit shows, there is nothing stopping them from becoming a tour organizer or bringing artists to perform at their own show (hint: iTunes festival).
If they are really serious about the long term they would be developing new ways to experience "live" music. Perhaps VR concerts and performances or features that let the audience send feedback to the artists.
The good news is that they have shown they are not afraid of trying new things (ex: Video player within the playlist and the RapGenius tie ins).
Time will tell but I am bullish on Spotify changing how we listen to music for the better because the industry is ripe for a new disruption (Records -> CDs -> Digital -> ???)
[1] - https://www.digitalmusicnews.com/2016/05/26/band-1-million-s...
Drake starting his own "label" is not a new innovation he came up with (rappers been doing that since the 90s) and still comes with just as many middlemen. Emphasis on last sentence in quote.
>During the composition of Nothing Was the Same, Drake started his own record label in late 2012 with producer Noah "40" Shebib, and business partner, Oliver El-Khatib. Drake sought for an avenue to release his own music, as well helping in the nurturing of other artists, while Shebib and El-Khatib yearned to start a label with a distinct sound, prompting the trio to team up to form OVO Sound.[297] The name is an abbreviation derived from the October's Very Own moniker Drake used to publish his earlier projects. The label is currently distributed by Warner Bros. Records.
See: G-Unit, OVO, GOOD Music, DFA Records, OWSLA...
There's probably a danger that large record labels will threaten to revoke their licensing agreements if they think that Spotify may start competing with them on that front. Not sure if that will be a problem, though, I'm not familiar with the whole streaming market.