Spotify: Face the music update $(2021)$

$1.$ Assess the attractiveness of the U$.$S$.$ Music industry as of $2023.$ Specifically speaking, identify all five forces and describe the industry structure by using the underpinnings of five forces. For the power of buyers, be sure to include the projection of market growth over the next three years.

$2.$ Explain Spotify's two unique features that competitors or substitutes don't have. Using a resource$-$based view, evaluate whether those features will provide the Company with a significant advantage and discuss whether the advantage is sustainable.

$3.$ Spotify has been losing money for a long time, as shown in Table $2.$ Analysts believe that cost and expense problems could be both temporary and structural. Based on the content of this case, identify a single item in Table $2($e$.$g$.,$ cost of sales in premium, cost of sales in ad$-$supported, R&D expenses, sales & marketing expenses, general and administrative expenses$)$ that relates to a structural, not temporary, cost$/$expense problem and that Spotify must improve first. Discuss why the identified cost$/$expense problem should be the first thing to fix and suggest how to solve the problem strategically.

$4.$ Do some research on the value chain of the music industry and explain the current bargaining power among artists, labels, and streaming service providers like Spotify and Apple Music. Identify a current or future event $($e$.$g$.,$ TikTok, podcasts, new entrants$/$substitutes$,$ M&A among labels, etc.$)$ that may change the current industry structure and provide strategic recommendations on what Spotify should do to achieve strategic competitiveness in that change.