I expect Spotify is outsourcing their non-audio components to a third-party SaaS to turn ‘revenue minus infrastructure cost minus sysadmin cost, high minimum opex/yr’ into ‘revenue minus writer share, no minimum opex/yr’— and that Substack was willing to discount their revenue share to sign the publication under non-disparagement terms, i.e. not saying any reason that isn’t ’Substack is great’ as it could present Substack in a less-than-glowing light.
I expect Spotify is outsourcing their non-audio components to a third-party SaaS to turn ‘revenue minus infrastructure cost minus sysadmin cost, high minimum opex/yr’ into ‘revenue minus writer share, no minimum opex/yr’— and that Substack was willing to discount their revenue share to sign the publication under non-disparagement terms, i.e. not saying any reason that isn’t ’Substack is great’ as it could present Substack in a less-than-glowing light.