That somebody backed up all the data from Spotify and made it available in raw is a pretty good example for what is actually at the core of platforms business models. It's not the data itself, it's the human behaviour: playlists, interactions, recommendations, ease-of-use and availability. Sure, you can listen to the music without the service, but what makes the service profitable is how it is made available and integrated into our lifes. The music isn't under control. The users are.
