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18., Sweden., Belgium., Canada., Denmark., Finland., France., Germany., Italy., Japan., Colombia., Mexico., Netherlands., Norway., Poland., Spain., United Kingdom., United States, CEO Industry Streaming on-demand media US$4.6 billion ( 2017) US$-426.4 million ( 2017) Employees 2960 Website rank 122 (December 2018 ) Registration Required 191 million (87 million paying) Launched 7 October 2008; 10 years ago ( 2008-10-07) Spotify Ltd. ( ) is a developed by Swedish company Spotify Technology, headquartered in, Sweden and listed on the NYSE. Spotify launched their service on 7 October 2008. As of 14 November 2018, it is available in 78 regions. It provides -protected content from and media companies. Spotify is a service; basic features are free with advertisements or limitations, while additional features, such as improved streaming quality and music, are offered via paid subscriptions. Spotify is available in most of Europe, most of the Americas, Australia, New Zealand and parts of Africa & Asia.
It is available for most modern devices, including, and computers, and smartphones and tablets, as well as TVs via factory-installed means, the,. Music can be browsed through or searched for by parameters such as artist, album, genre, or record label.
Users can create, edit, and share playlists and tracks on, and make playlists with other users. Spotify provides access to more than 40 million songs. As of November 2018, it had 191 million monthly active users, including 87 million paying subscribers. Unlike physical or sales, which pay artists a fixed price per song or album sold, Spotify pays based on the number of artists' streams as a proportion of total songs streamed.
It distributes approximately 70% of total revenue to rights holders, who then pay artists based on their individual agreements. From artists and producers including and, who argued that it does not fairly compensate musicians. In April 2017, as part of its efforts to renegotiate license deals for an interest in Spotify announced that artists will be able to make albums temporarily exclusive to the Premium service if they are part of. On 28 February 2018, Spotify filed for a direct listing on the. Spotify's shares began trading on 3 April 2018.
Contents. Business model Spotify operates under a business model (basic services are free, while additional features are offered via paid subscriptions). Spotify generates revenues by selling premium streaming subscriptions to users and advertising placements to third parties. In December 2013, the company launched a new website, 'Spotify for Artists', that explained its business model and revenue data. Spotify gets its content from major record labels as well as, and pays holders for streamed music.
The company pays 70% of its total revenue to rights holders. Spotify for Artists states that the company does not have a fixed per-play rate, instead considers factors such as the user's home country and the individual artist's royalty rate. Rights holders received an average per-play payout between $.006 and $.0084. Spotify offers an unlimited subscription package, close to the (OMM)—estimated —for the recording industry.
However, the incorporation of (DRM) protection diverges from the OMM and competitors such as and that have dropped DRM. Spotify encourages people to pay for music, with subscriptions as its main revenue source. The subscription removes advertisements and limits, and increases song bitrates to 320 kbit/s.
For example, in Norway, the figure of 1.2 billion unauthorised song downloads in 2008 is compared to a figure of 210 million from 2012. Music Week editor Tim Ingham wrote: 'Unlike buying a CD or download, streaming is not a one-off payment. Hundreds of millions of streams of tracks are happening each and every day, which quickly multiplies the potential revenues on offer – and is a constant long-term source of income for artists.' Accounts and subscriptions As of November 2018, the three Spotify subscription types, all offering unlimited listening time, are: Type Free of ads Mobile listening Enhanced sound quality (up to 320kbps bitrate) Listen offline Spotify Connect Spotify Free No Limited (shuffle-only mode) No No Limited (Spotify Connect speaker with new SDK) Spotify Premium Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Spotify Family Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes In March 2014, Spotify introduced a new, discounted Premium subscription tier for active students.
Students in the United States enrolled in a university can pay half-price for a Premium subscription. In April 2017, the Students offer was expanded to 33 more countries. Spotify introduced its Family subscription in October 2014, connecting up to five family members for a shared Premium subscription. Spotify Family was upgraded in May 2016, letting up to six people share a subscription and reducing the price. In November 2018, Spotify announced it is opening up Spotify Connect to all of its free account customer, although these changes still required Spotify Connect speakers to support latest SDK. Monetization In 2007, just after launch, the company made a loss of 31.8 million Swedish kronor ($4.4 million).
In October 2010, reported that Spotify was making more money for labels in Sweden than any other retailer 'online or off'. Years after growth and expansion, a November 2012 report suggested strong momentum for the company. In 2011, it reported a near 60 million net loss from revenue of $244 million, while it was expected to generate a net loss of $40 million from revenue of $500 million in 2012. Another source of income was music purchases from within the app. This service was removed in January 2013.
In May 2016, Spotify announced 'Sponsored Playlists', a monetisation opportunity in which brands are able to specify the audiences they have in mind, with Spotify matching the marketer with suitable music in a playlist. That September, Spotify announced that it had paid a total of over $5 billion to the music industry.
In June 2017, as part of renegotiated licenses with Universal Music Group and Merlin Network, Spotify's financial filings revealed its agreement to pay more than $2 billion in minimum payments over the next two years. As of 2017, Spotify was not yet a profitable company. Funding In February 2010, Spotify received a small investment from, where board member was recruited to assist Spotify in 'winning the labels over in the world's largest music market'.
In June 2011, Spotify secured $100 million of funding, and planned to use this to support its US launch. The new round of funding valued the company at $1 billion.
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A -led round of funding closed in November 2012, raising around $100 million at a $3 billion valuation. In April 2015, Spotify began another round of fundraising, with a report from stating it was seeking $400 million, which would value the company at $8.4 billion. The financing was closed in June 2015, with Spotify raising $526 million, at a value of $8.53 billion. In January 2016, Spotify raised another $500 million through convertible bonds.
In March 2016, Spotify raised $1 billion in financing by debt plus a discount of 20% on shares once the (IPO) of shares takes place. The company was, according to, planning to launch on the in 2017, but is instead planning on doing the IPO in 2018 in order to 'build up a better balance sheet and work on shifting its business model to improve its margins'. Advertisements Spotify offers advertisers ten different types of advertising formats, described in 2016 as: Branded Moments, Sponsored Playlists, Sponsored Sessions, Video Takeovers, Audio, Display, Overlay, Homepage Takeovers, Branded Playlists, and Advertiser Pages. These advertisements vary in size, type and user engagement. Branded Moments allow brands to 'tell their story over a series of sequential displays with 100% share-of-voice during the 30-minute session' by using 'an immersive vertical video' and can unlock 30 minutes of uninterrupted music. Sponsored Playlist is an 'exclusive one week sponsorship of Spotify’s top owned & operated playlists'.
Sponsored Sessions allow brands to 'offer their audience uninterrupted listening in exchange for a video view'. They are only available on mobile and tablet devices and are limited to select markets. Video Takeover is a 'video spot with a companion display unit', are 'served during commercial ad breaks between songs in a music session', and are only available on the computer apps. Audio Ads are 'served during commercial ad breaks between songs in a music session' with a maximum duration of 30 seconds and play every 15 minutes.
Display Ads are 'clickable images displayed for 30 seconds'. Display ads are shown at the bottom of the Spotify client. Overlay is 'Spotify's 'welcome back' ad. It greets returning users on mobile and desktop with a can't-be-missed, large display ad to maximize brand impact and performance'. Homepage Takeovers are 'a combination of background skin and optional interactive area that takes over the Spotify homepage'. Branded Playlists are 'Spotify playlists that contain a branded cover art image and text'.
They can only have one song per artist, and must have a minimum of 20 tracks in the playlist. Advertiser Pages are a 'microsite seamlessly integrated into the Spotify player', that can 'contain practically any content you'd find on a webpage, including videos, clickable images, blogs, news, links, and comments.' Downloads Starting in March 2009, Spotify offered music downloads in the United Kingdom, France, and Spain.
Users could purchase each track from Spotify, which partnered with to incorporate the feature. However, the ability to purchase and download music tracks via the app was removed on 4 January 2013. Spotify for Artists In November 2015, Spotify introduced a 'Fan Insights' panel in limited form, letting artists and managers access data on monthly listeners, geographical data, demographic information, music preferences and more. In April 2017, the panel was upgraded to leave beta status, renamed as 'Spotify for Artists', and opening up to all artists and managers. Additional features include the ability to get 'verified' status with a blue checkmark on an artist's profile, receiving artist support from Spotify, and customising the profile page with photos and promoting a certain song as their 'pick'.
Industry initiatives In June 2017, reported that Spotify would announce 'Secret Genius', a new initiative aimed at highlighting songwriters and producers, and the effect those people have to the music industry and the artists' careers. The new project, which will feature awards, 'Songshops' songwriting workshops, curated playlists, and podcasts, is an effort to 'shine a light on these people behind the scenes who play such a big role in some of the most important moments of our lives.
When the general public hears a song they automatically associate it with the artist who sings it, not the people behind the scenes who make it happen, so we thought the title Secret Genius was appropriate', Spotify's Global Head of Creator Services Troy Carter told Variety. The first awards ceremony will take place in late 2017, and is intended to honour 'the top songwriters, producers and publishers in the industry as well as up-and-coming talent'. Additionally, as part of 'The Ambassador Program', 13 songwriters will each host a Songshop workshop, in which their peers will collaboratively attempt to create a hit song, with the first workshop to take place in sometime in June 2017.
In October 2017, Spotify launched 'Rise', a new program aimed at promoting emerging artists. Stations by Spotify On January 31, 2018, Spotify started testing a new -styled standalone app called Stations by Spotify for Australian Android users. It features 62 music channels, each devoted to a particular genre. Spotify itself has two channels named after its playlists that link directly to the users' profile: 'Release Radar' and 'Discover Weekly'. The aim is to get users to listen to the music they want straightaway without or spending time building their own playlists.
At launch, the skipping feature is not featured to 'reinforce the feel of radio', but it was quietly added later, and with no limits. Songs can be 'loved' but can't be 'hated'. If a song is 'loved', a custom radio channel will be created based on it, and when there are at least 15 songs, a 'My Favourites' channel is unlocked. In case the users don't subscribe to Spotify Premium, they'll hear location-targeted adverts. Platforms Spotify.
'Clearest Blue' by being played in the Spotify for app. Spotify AB Initial release 7 October 2008 ( 2008-10-07) Android 8.4.81.558 / 23 November 2018; 10 days ago ( 2018-11-23) Android Wear 8.4.81.558 / 23 November 2018; 10 days ago ( 2018-11-23) iOS 8.4.79 / 13 November 2018; 20 days ago ( 2018-11-13) Windows 10 (Microsoft Store) 1.0.94.262 / 28 November 2018; 5 days ago ( 2018-11-28) macOS 1.0.87.491 / 6 August 2018; 3 months ago ( 2018-08-06) Linux 1.0.92.390 / 25 October 2018; 39 days ago ( 2018-10-25) Android 8.4.81.554 / 20 November 2018; 13 days ago ( 2018-11-20) Written in Primarily, with some, and components, and Available in. Map of the countries in which Spotify is available.
Spotify is available across 78 markets worldwide. Daniel Ek addressing Spotify staff Spotify was developed in 2006 by a team at Spotify AB, in, Sweden. The company was founded by, former CTO of, and Martin Lorentzon, co-founder of. The company's title, according to Daniel Ek, was initially misheard from a name shouted by Martin Lorentzon. Later they thought out an of a combination of 'spot' and 'identify'.
Spotify Sweden AB, headquartered in, Sweden, handles research and development. The company is a subsidiary of Spotify Ltd., a company headquartered in, which in turn is a subsidiary of Spotify Technology S.A., headquartered in Luxembourg. Spotify has offices in 20 countries as of November 2016. Launch in 2008. Former Spotify headquarters in Stockholm In February 2009, Spotify opened public registration for the free service tier in the United Kingdom. Registrations surged following the release of the mobile service, leading Spotify to halt registration for the free service in September, returning the UK to an invitation-only policy. Premium cards were offered for the 2009 Christmas season that allowed recipients to upgrade an account to 'Premium' status for 1, 3, 6 or 12 months.
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For the service's launch in the United States in July 2011, Spotify had a six-month free ad-supported trial period, where new users could listen to an unlimited amount of music. In January 2012, the free trial started expiring, with users limited to ten hours each month and five song replays. In March, Spotify removed all limits on the free service tier indefinitely. In April 2016, Ek and Lorentzon wrote an open letter to Swedish politicians demanding action in three areas that they claimed hindered the company's ability to recruit top talent as Spotify grows, including access to flexible housing, better education in the programming and development fields, and stock options. Ek and Lorentzon wrote that in order to continue competing in a global economy, politicians needed to respond with new policies, or else thousands of Spotify jobs would be moved from Sweden to the United States.
Towards the end of the year, the company launched its 'largest marketing campaign to date', by placing large-scale billboards in major cities around the world that humorously mocked users' listening habits. Billboards featured commentary such as 'Dear person who made a playlist called: ‘One Night Stand With Jeb Bush Like He’s a Bond Girl in a European Casino.’ We have so many questions'; 'To the 1,235 guys who loved the “Girls Night” playlist this year, We love you', and 'Dear person who played ‘Sorry’ 42 times on Valentine’s Day, What did you do?” Spotify's Chief Marketing Officer Seth Farbman told Creativity that 'there has been some debate about whether big data is muting creativity in marketing, but we have turned that on its head. For us, data inspires and gives an insight into the emotion that people are expressing.' In February 2017, Spotify announced a major expansion of its US operations in, at, into one of its largest operations worldwide, adding approximately 1,000 new jobs and retaining 832 existing positions. The company's US headquarters are located in New York City's. In 14 November 2018, The company announced a total of 13 new markets in the region, including the creation of a new Arabic hub and several playlists, while supporting Right-to-left text in their apps. Other developments Streaming records.
Main article: In October 2015, ' by became the first song to pass 500 million streams. A month later, Spotify announced that ' by and featuring was its most streamed song of all time with over 525 million streams worldwide. In April 2016, overtook to become the biggest artist on Spotify, with 31.3 million monthly active listeners.
In May 2016, Rihanna was overtaken by with 3.185 billion total streams. In December 2016, Drake's just-under 26 million monthly listeners were overtaken by the 's 36.068 million. Later that month, Drake's song ' became the first song to hit one billion streams on Spotify. Upon its release in August 2017, the single ' by earned over eight million streams within 24 hours, breaking the record for the most single-day streams for a track.
On June 19, 2018, controversial rapper 's hit single ' broke Swift's single-day streaming record, amassing 10.4 million streams the day after he was fatally shot in Florida. User growth In March 2011, Spotify announced a customer base of one million paying subscribers across Europe, and by September 2011, the number of paying subscribers had doubled to two million. In August 2012, reported 15 million active users, four million being paying Spotify subscribers. User growth continued, reaching 20 million total active users, including 5 million paying customers globally and 1 million paying customers in the United States, in December 2012. By March 2013, the service had 24 million active users, 6 million being paying subscribers, which grew to 40 million users (including 10 million paying) in May 2014, 60 million users (including 15 million paying) in December 2014, 75 million users (20 million paying) in June 2015, 30 million paying subscribers in March 2016, 40 million subscribers in September 2016, and 100 million total users in June 2016. As of November 2018, Spotify has 191 million active users, including over 87 million paying subscribers.
Initial public offering According to, Spotify was planning to launch on the in 2017, but is instead planning on doing the IPO in 2018 in order to 'build up a better balance sheet and work on shifting its business model to improve its margins'. The value of its IPO is estimated to be in a range of $6.3 billion to $23 billion. The latter figure would make Spotify's IPO one of the biggest in the tech sector since 2012. However, unlike in an ordinary public offering, Spotify will not issue new shares, but the company's exisiting shareholders will be taking their shares directly to the market.
This approach is not intended to raise fresh capital, but to let investors get their returns. Morgan Stanley is the company's slated advisor on the matter. Reported in March 2017 that, as part of its efforts to renegotiate new licensing deals with music labels, Spotify and major record labels had agreed that Spotify will restrict some newly released albums to its Premium tier, with Spotify receiving a reduction in royalty fees to do so. Select albums would be available only on the Premium tier for a period of time, before general release. The deal 'may be months away from being finalized, but Spotify is said to have cleared this particular clause with major record labels'.
New reports in April confirmed that Spotify and had reached an agreement to allow artists part of Universal to limit their new album releases to the Premium service tier for a maximum of two weeks. Spotify CEO Daniel Ek commented that 'We know that not every album by every artist should be released the same way, and we’ve worked hard with UMG to develop a new, flexible release policy. Starting today, Universal artists can choose to release new albums on premium only for two weeks, offering subscribers an earlier chance to explore the complete creative work, while the singles are available across Spotify for all our listeners to enjoy'. It was announced later in April that this type of agreement would be extended to artists signed to the agency. After going live on the New York Stock Exchange on April 3, 2018, reported that Spotify opened at $165.90, more than 25 percent above its reference price of $132.
Acquisitions In March 2014, Spotify announced that it had acquired, a music intelligence company that has 'in depth musical understanding and tools for curation to drive music discovery for millions of users around the globe'. In June 2015, Spotify acquired Seed Scientific, a data science consulting firm and analytics company. In a comment to, Spotify said that Seed Scientific's team would lead an Advanced Analytics unit within the company focused on developing data services. In April 2016, Spotify acquired CrowdAlbum, a 'startup that collects photos and videos of performances shared on social networks', and would 'enhance the development of products that help artists understand, activate, and monetize their audiences'.
In March 2017, Spotify acquired Sonalytic, an audio detection startup, for an undisclosed amount of money. Spotify stated that Sonalytic will be used to improve the company's personalised playlists, better match songs with compositions, and improve the company's publishing data system. Spotify also acquired MightyTV later in March, an app connected to television streaming services, including and, that recommends content to users. Spotify will mainly be using MightyTV to improve its advertising efforts on the free tier of service. In April 2017, Spotify acquired Mediachain, a startup with several technologies that can aid Spotify's effort in connecting artists and rights-holders with the tracks on its service.
In May 2017, Spotify acquired startup Niland, and will use its technology to improve its personalisation and recommendation features for users. In November 2017, Spotify acquired SoundTrap, an online music studio startup. On April 12, 2018, Spotify acquired the music licensing platform Loudr. Company partnerships In January 2015, announced PlayStation Music, a new music service with Spotify as its exclusive partner. PlayStation Music incorporates the Spotify service into Sony's and gaming consoles, and mobile devices, in 41 markets around the world.
The service enables users to listen to their favourite tracks while gaming. The new service launched on 30 March 2015. In March 2017, Spotify announced a partnership with the (SXSW) conference for 2017, presenting specific content in special playlists through a SXSW hub in Spotify's Browse tab in the mobile and desktop apps. The integration also enabled Spotify within the SXSW GO app to help users discover and explore artists performing at the conference. Two more partnerships were announced in March; one with, and one with. The WNYC Studios partnership will bring various podcasts from WNYC to Spotify, including,.
Spotify also announced that the third season of WNYC Studios' podcast will premiere with a two-week exclusivity period on the service on 21 March 2017. The podcasts will be available for all Spotify Free and Premium users. The Waze partnership will allow Android app users to view directions to destinations within the Spotify app, and access their Spotify playlists through the Waze app.
In October 2017, announced that it would be ending its streaming service by December, with all music from users transferring to Spotify as part of a new partnership. In November 2017, it was announced that Pat McGrath Labs cosmetics would be sold through Spotify via Merchbar on singer 's artist page. In December 2017, Spotify and 's music arm, Tencent Music Entertainment (TME), agreed to swap stakes and make investment in each other's music businesses, forming an alliance in the music industry. As a result of this transaction, Spotify gained a 9% stake in TME with TME gaining a 7.5% stake in Spotify. In February 2018, Spotify and teamed up, allowing Discord desktop app users, on both PC and Mac, to publicly display on their profile what music they're listening to, and if the users have Spotify's Premium service, they can listen to each other's music together in real-time. In April 2018, Spotify announced a discounted entertainment bundle with video-on-demand provider. Dispute with Apple.
See also: In July 2015, Spotify launched an email campaign to urge its subscribers to cancel their subscriptions and start new ones through its website, bypassing the 30% transaction fee for in-app purchases required for applications by technology company A later update to the Spotify app on iOS was rejected by Apple, prompting Spotify's general counsel Horacio Gutierrez to write a letter to Apple's then-general counsel Bruce Sewell, stating: 'This latest episode raises serious concerns under both U.S. And EU competition law. It continues a troubling pattern of behavior by Apple to exclude and diminish the competitiveness of Spotify on iOS and as a rival to, particularly when seen against the backdrop of Apple's previous anticompetitive conduct aimed at Spotify we cannot stand by as Apple uses the App Store approval process as a weapon to harm competitors.' Sewell responded to the letter: 'We find it troubling that you are asking for exemptions to the rules we apply to all developers and are publicly resorting to rumors and half-truths about our service.'
He also elaborated that 'Our guidelines apply equally to all app developers, whether they are game developers, e-book sellers, video-streaming services or digital music distributors; and regardless of whether or not they compete against Apple. We did not alter our behavior or our rules when we introduced our own music streaming service or when Spotify became a competitor'. Furthermore, he stated that 'There is nothing in Apple’s conduct that ‘amounts to a violation of applicable antitrust laws.’ Far from it. I would be happy to facilitate an expeditious review and approval of your app as soon as you provide us with something that is compliant with the App Store’s rules'. The following months, Spotify began efforts to 'punish' artists who gave Apple Music exclusives by displaying their content less prominently on Spotify and offering fewer promotional opportunities, and joined several other companies in filing a letter with the 's body vaguely accusing Apple and of 'abusing their 'privileged position' at the top of the market', by referring to 'some' companies as having 'transformed into 'gatekeepers' rather than 'gateways'. The complaint led to the European Union announcing that it will prepare an initiative by the end of 2017 for a possible law addressing unfair competition practices. Spotify released its first version of the Apple Watch app in November 2018, which features playback control of the iPhone via the watch.
Users can also choose which devices to play music on via Bluetooth. Accolades In September 2010, the (WEF) announced the company as a for 2011. In August 2017, Spotify was the most downloaded music app on the iOS platform in the United States. Criticism. Main article: Spotify has attracted significant criticism since its 2008 launch. The primary point of criticism centres around what artists, music creators and the media have described as 'unsustainable' compensation.
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Unlike physical sales or legal downloads, which pay artists a fixed price per song or album sold, Spotify pays royalties based on their 'market share'—the number of streams for their songs as a proportion of total songs streamed on the service. Spotify distributes approximately 70% of its total revenue to rights-holders, who will then pay artists based on their individual agreements.
Multiple artists and bands have given harsh critique to Spotify over its payment policy, with the most notable examples being and, two hugely successful artists who withdrew their entire music collections from the service. Their content has since been restored. While the streaming music industry in general faces the same critique about inadequate payments, Spotify, being the leading service, faces particular scrutiny due to its free service tier, allowing users to listen to music for free, though with advertisements between tracks. The free service tier has led to a variety of major album releases being delayed or withdrawn from the service. In response to the allegations about unfair compensation, Spotify claims that it is benefitting the industry by migrating users away from and less monetised platforms to its free service tier, and then encouraging them to upgrade to paid accounts.
A study has shown that keep a high amount of the money earned from Spotify, and the CEO of, a representative body for over 10,000 independent labels, has also observed significant yearly growth rates in earnings from Spotify, while clarifying that Spotify pays labels, not artists. In May 2018, Spotify attracted criticism for its 'Hate Content & Hateful Conduct policy' that removed the music of and from its editorial and algorithmic playlists because 'When we look at promotion, we look at issues around hateful conduct, where you have an artist or another creator who has done something off-platform that is so particularly out of line with our values, egregious, in a way that it becomes something that we don't want to associate ourselves with'. Kelly has faced accusations of sexual abuse that have never been proven, while XXXTentacion was on trial for domestic abuse in a case that did not reach a judgement before that June. This policy was revoked in June because the company deemed the original wording to be too 'vague'; they stated that 'Across all genres, our role is not to regulate artists.
Therefore, we are moving away from implementing a policy around artist conduct'. In addition to the previous criticism, the company has attracted media attention for several forms of security breaches, as well as for controversial company behaviours, including a significant change to its privacy policy, 'pay for play' practices based on receiving money from labels for putting specific songs on popular playlists, and allegedly creating 'fake artists' for prominent playlist placement, the last of which Spotify has vehemently denied. Spotify has also come under criticism for carrying podcasts of the right wing conspiracy theorist Alex Jones. He claims, for instance, that the Sandy Hook Massacre where 20 children were killed in 2012 was a government hoax. It has however decided to remove some of his media content.
See also. References.