Sure that is what saved them initially, but following that early 2010’s period of hemorrhaging money and eventual recovery, then they started digging that moat.
Very interesting thank you for the links. I'm not knowledgeable in the Music Modernization Act, but maybe some of this lobbying is to avoid being sued rather than building legal long term moat
https://www.politico.com/story/2015/04/spotify-washington-lo...
https://www.opensecrets.org/federal-lobbying/clients/issues?...