
(Roy Rochlin/Getty Images)
(Roy Rochlin/Getty Images)
Credit to the NEW YORK TIMES' BEN SISARIO for noticing the single most amazing sentence in the 250-plus pages of SPOTIFY's official filing for its public listing: "We do not have a phone number." If you're looking for those missing royalties, you can always @ them though. #2018. If you're signed to SONY, you might want to @ the label, too, as Sony, which owns a bigger piece of Spotify than the other two major labels, could make more than $1 billion when Spotify hits the NEW YORK STOCK EXCHANGE. Sony has built its stake to 5.7 percent stake through several funding rounds, more than either UNIVERSAL or WARNER, and "those bets are paying off," PETER KAFKA and RANI MOLLA write in RECODE. "The downside? Those bets are paying off in public, and Sony musicians will want a piece of the winnings." Spotify's registration, filed with the US SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION Wednesday in advance of its unusual direct stock listing, puts a wealth of information on the public record about the company's financials, user metrics, programing philosophy, future ambitions, risks and rewards. If you read one thing today, read that. It's topped by an inspirational mission statement from CEO DANIEL EK (see quote of the day, above). One of the goals of the document is to sell investors on a company that still isn't turning a profit. And so: Subscriber numbers up, daily usage up, revenue up. Churn rate down. The company sees itself as an "audio first platform" whose chief competition is radio, not other subscription services, and it believes it's fully prepared to take that competition on as "a significantly better alternative to linear broadcasting." That's a $28 billion global advertising market that Spotify thinks it can bite into. And it's already doing a good job of programming its users' listening. Spotify's curated playlists are responsible for 31 percent of all listening across the service. Message: We’re the tastemakers now. Look out, music biz. But look out investors, too. Stock prices "may be volatile, and could, upon listing on the NYSE, decline significantly and rapidly." Just thought you might want to know. Oh, and thank you, Mr. Ek, for naming your NYSE ticker symbol after the producer of several of my favorite SST albums. SPOT. I like the sound of that. MusicSET: "Spotify Puts Itself on the SPOT"... Run the world (women). Well done, BEBE REXHA... Educate the world (women). Well done, DOLLY PARTON.