Certainly, one must not overestimate studies. It never hurts to have your own thoughts on the matter.
Certainly, there are many cancellations when the (long) phase of the free initial offer ends. Apple and Amazon were very aggressive here at first. In some cases, 16 months could be stacked for free with Apple, so this trend lasts even longer.
Now it becomes understandable why Spotify want to stop the HiRes bet. It just doesn’t help growth.
Instead, they are vigorously expanding their free offering with new advertising partners, offering exclusive podcast, audio market leadership outside of the music business, and making multi-million dollar acquisitions again to do so. Only highly specialized insiders understand what is being prepared.
The pay card seems to be wobbling in the mass market and new advertising markets are just emerging. Is Spotify keeping its nose in front?