If I were to write an E-book called “101 Things To Do With 1 Hour and 33 Minutes,” I highly doubt watching the video I assigned for homework would make the list. I think it’s safe to assume 90% of you clicked on the link and 100% of the 90% closed the link after realizing how long the video was. If you fall into the above percentages, no worries, I won’t be testing on this material.
What is Spotify?
For anyone that is the least bit socially active (facebook skanks/twitter sluts) you have probably seen Spotify invitations show up on your screens as of late. I decided to jump on the bandwagon and see what this craze was about. For those that don’t have the luxury of a computer (wait- how are you reading this?) Spotify is a “music streaming service offering streaming of selected music from a range of major and independent record labels.”
After 3 minutes of jamming out to Uncle Kracker, I immediately fell in love with what I was looking at. It wasn’t the chain-smoking twang of his voice or the good looks that could only be found in a Subway strategically placed inside of Walmart; it was free.
Typically if you’re viewing something “free” you are actually “paying” by getting slammed in your pretty face with pop-ups. This was different. After spending roughly 20 ad-free minutes playing my air guitar, a barrage of questions barged into my brain.
Land of the Free
This marks the beginning of my series: The Psychology of Free. Over the next week I’m going to answer a few questions such as – what is “free”? – how do people view “free”? – and how can companies afford sell “free”? Before I dive into the intricacies of the free business model, let’s first define that which we are diving into.
What is free?
Free can informally be defined as “without cost.” Traditionally this has been viewed as requiring no money. If time equals money, then one could make the argument that nothing is truly free, unless you have the time freezing abilities of Zach Morris.
Some people flock to free while others fear it. Sometimes it’s expected as the norm, while other times its considered a bonus. Before I descend deeper on this dive, tell me:
How do you view free?
