Smells a bit like a "loss leader" to me. But, at this stage, its likely an effort to build a base of users. Once a user invests in LT, there is a stronger commitment to the platform. Once you have that committed base, there's any number revenue generating services you can test against them.
- Let's take the lesson of cable TV for example. It was sold as an ad-free subscription alternative to free broadcast TV. Once people got used to the quality of HBO, ESPN, MTV, etc, they weren't going back to rabbit ears and tinfoil. So then cable TV was free to introduce ads. [Please, no.]
- Or Spotify and Youtube, who uses the freemium model to attract a large base of non-paying users with the idea that they can get a huge base of committed users of which a number of them can be converted to paying premium ad-free subscribers. [Please, no]
- Also gives them a market for point purchases like individual songs/videos, downloads, etc. [Already there.]
- Or Apple who used a different tactic to gather their base of committed users, then used that commitment to the Apple platform to lock them into other Apple offerings (iPod, AirPod, iPad, etc). [SLR Toy.]
- Tiered premium membership like credit cards or Amazon TV that grants you access to services not available to "basic" members. [SLR Drive subscription. "Exclusive" videos only available to "Elite Premium" users. Additional subscription for AI multiaxis scripts. etc etc]