Spotify's Playlist Gamble
Grammar: Hedging and diplomatic language in professional contexts
A Business English English lesson exploring media.
What's in this lesson
A Business English ESL lesson on media, practising hedging and diplomatic language in professional contexts. The worksheet has a reading, target vocabulary, a grammar reference with practice and discussion questions.
From the reading: Spotify's Playlist Gamble
In 2006, Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon founded Spotify in Stockholm with a modest-sounding promise: any song, instantly, for free. The music industry, battered by piracy since Napster, was hardly enthusiastic. Yet by 2008, Spotify had signed licensing agreements with the major labels, and it launched in Sweden, Norway and the United Kingdom. Ek has often said that the real rival was never another company but piracy itself, because it was faster and easier than buying a CD.
Vocabulary
- it could be argued
- it seems fair to say
- remains an open question
- tells only half the story
- at arm's length
- draw a line
- move the needle
- pass the buck
- set the bar
Grammar
- Hedging verbs
- The model seems sustainable. — softens a strong claim
- Modal hedging
- This could be argued. — polite possibility
Discussion questions
- What was the last song you played on repeat?
- Is free music ever really free?
- How do you discover new music?
Spotify's Playlist Gamble
Grammar: Hedging and diplomatic language in professional contexts
What's in this lesson:
Full lesson plan with reading, grammar, vocabulary, and discussion.
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