Tag: Daniel Ek

Ciara Takes the Stage at Spotify and Hulu’s Cannes Kickoff Celebration

June 18, 2019

This week thousands have descended upon the French Riviera for the annual Cannes Lions Festival­ of Creativity. For our seventh year, we’re delighted for partners, artists, podcasters and influencers to join us in relevant conversations—and to celebrate all the creative potential that streaming has to offer. Monday evening Spotify and Hulu did just that, once again co-hosting a kickoff gathering to toast the best in storytelling, culture, and entertainment.

Spotify and Hulu are long-time partners committed to providing users with the best in sight and sound. We showcased this firsthand from the beautiful Villa Mirazur at a few kilometers away from the Croisette. Celebrities Kerry Washington, Wyclef Jean, Russell Wilson and Sophia Bush, (among others) joined Spotify CEO Daniel Ek, Spotify Chief Content Officer Dawn Ostroff, Hulu CEO Randy Freer and Hulu CMO Kelly Campbell for a night of connections, fine dining, and of course, music.

DJ, Author, and Founder of HBFIT Hannah Bronfman first took to the poolside stage with two high-energy sets.

Looking Back on a Year of For the Record

April 2, 2019

This month, For the Record turns one year old. We couldn’t have gotten to this milestone without support from you, our readers. To mark the occasion, we’re taking a look back at some of our favorite stories—and some of yours.

Take a walk down memory lane or check out a piece you might have missed.

Rosalía’s Flamenco-Inspired Sound Is Rooted in Tradition, but Fearlessly New

Rosalía, a twenty-five-year-old Barcelona native, is combining traditional flamenco and modern beats to make a sound all her own. We sat down with the artist on the heels of her “De Mi Nombre” single drop. Since then, she’s released her second, wildly acclaimed album, El Mal Querer, and her star is only getting brighter.

EQL Resident Roundtable: Meet the Women Behind the Mixers

The EQL Residency was created to help aspiring female and non-binary engineers gain the experience and mentorship needed to take their careers to the next level. We went behind the mic—and the mixer—with the first three members of our EQL Residency to learn a little about their work. Stay tuned for applications for our next cohort.

The Top Songs, Artists, Playlists, and Podcasts of 2018

Our readers tuned in en masse to take a look at the world’s top artists, genres, songs, and playlists for 2018. Be sure to check out some surprising stats—like which age group is the most chill—and some classics, like the year’s top throwback songs. And don’t worry: December 2019, in all its Wrapped glory, will be here before you know it.

Audio First by Daniel Ek

In February our CEO, Daniel Ek, shared our goal of becoming the world’s number-one audio platform and the addition of podcasting companies Anchor and Gimlet. On the heels of those acquisitions, we announced that Spotify also acquired Parcast.

Nadia Dies. Nadia Lives. ‘Gotta Get Up’ Plays. Users Repeat.

We noticed that the late Harry Nilsson’s “Gotta Get Up” was playing in (almost) every episode of Netflix’s Russian Doll. It turns out that fans were also streaming the song on repeat. Check out the soundtrack, or, namely, the “theme song” to see if you think it’s as catchy too.

4 Questions (and Answers) with Amarjit Batra, Managing Director, Spotify India

India is the most recent addition to the seventy-nine markets that can now enjoy Spotify, following our thirteen new market launches in the Middle East and South Africa. Opening in this region helps us bring the music of artists around the globe to over a billion people and exposes Indian artists from multiple genres to the rest of the world.

And there’s plenty more where that came from. Here’s to another year of discovery!

Consumers and Innovators Win on a Level Playing Field

March 13, 2019

My goal for Spotify is and has always been to reimagine the audio experience by giving consumers the best creativity and innovation we have to offer. For that to be a reality, it is my firm belief that companies like ours must operate in an ecosystem in which fair competition is not only encouraged, but guaranteed.

It’s why, after careful consideration, Spotify has filed a complaint against Apple with the European Commission (EC), the regulatory body responsible for keeping competition fair and nondiscriminatory. In recent years, Apple has introduced rules to the App Store that purposely limit choice and stifle innovation at the expense of the user experience—essentially acting as both a player and referee to deliberately disadvantage other app developers. After trying unsuccessfully to resolve the issues directly with Apple, we’re now requesting that the EC take action to ensure fair competition.

Apple operates a platform that, for over a billion people around the world, is the gateway to the internet. Apple is both the owner of the iOS platform and the App Store—and a competitor to services like Spotify. In theory, this is fine. But in Apple’s case, they continue to give themselves an unfair advantage at every turn.

To illustrate what I mean, let me share a few examples. Apple requires that Spotify and other digital services pay a 30% tax on purchases made through Apple’s payment system, including upgrading from our Free to our Premium service. If we pay this tax, it would force us to artificially inflate the price of our Premium membership well above the price of Apple Music. And to keep our price competitive for our customers, that isn’t something we can do.

As an alternative, if we choose not to use Apple’s payment system, forgoing the charge, Apple then applies a series of technical and experience-limiting restrictions on Spotify. For example, they limit our communication with our customers—including our outreach beyond the app. In some cases, we aren’t even allowed to send emails to our customers who use Apple. Apple also routinely blocks our experience-enhancing upgrades. Over time, this has included locking Spotify and other competitors out of Apple services such as Siri, HomePod, and Apple Watch.

We aren’t seeking special treatment. We simply want the same treatment as numerous other apps on the App Store, like Uber or Deliveroo, who aren’t subject to the Apple tax and therefore don’t have the same restrictions. What we are asking for is the following:

  • First, apps should be able to compete fairly on the merits, and not based on who owns the App Store. We should all be subject to the same fair set of rules and restrictions—including Apple Music.
  • Second, consumers should have a real choice of payment systems, and not be “locked in” or forced to use systems with discriminatory tariffs such as Apple’s.
  • Finally, app stores should not be allowed to control the communications between services and users, including placing unfair restrictions on marketing and promotions that benefit consumers.

As I recently shared, competition pushes us to evolve and improve both the customer and creator experience. It’s not something we ever have—or will—shy away from. So, let me be clear that this is not a Spotify-versus-Apple issue. We want the same fair rules for companies young and old, large and small. It is about supporting and nurturing the healthy ecosystem that made our two companies successful in the first place.

Consumers win and our industry thrives when we’re able to challenge each other on fair footing. That’s what competition on the merits is all about.

To learn more please visit TimeToPlayFair.com

Spotify Launches in India

February 26, 2019

Today, we’re excited to announce that Spotify is now available in India. Spotify comes to the world’s second-most-populous country with all-new features that are finely tuned to Indian music fans’ personal tastes. With this launch, we’re offering the best listening experience in local and international music—and the freedom to play it across a wide range of devices and app integrations.

“As Spotify grows, our goal is to bring millions of artists and billions of fans together from every country and background,” says Daniel Ek, Spotify founder and CEO. “India has an incredibly rich music culture and to best serve this market, we’re launching a custom-built experience. Not only will Spotify bring Indian artists to the world, we’ll also bring the world’s music to fans across India. Spotify’s music family just got a whole lot bigger.”

The exclusive features include:

  • Multi-language music recommendations: Many Indians speak several local languages, so Spotify’s music recommendation engine can now be tuned to Hindi, Punjabi, Tamil, and Telugu. Indian users can select their preferred language(s) to receive tailored Daily Mix, Home, Radio, and Search results and recommendations.
  • Spotify Free with full control: For the first time on Spotify Free, smartphone users can play every song on demand.
  • Playlists made for India: Our new playlists, expertly curated and regularly updated by our team of Indian music experts, include Indiestan, Rap 91, Namaste Love, Punjabi101, and Bollywood Butter, as well as Top Hits in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, and Punjabi. These sit alongside our celebrated international playlists, including mint, RapCaviar, ¡Viva Latino!, and the This is… artist compilations. Add billions of creator and fan-built playlists to the mix, and Spotify has a playlist for any mood or moment.
  • Spotify goes to the movies: Introducing Starring…, a series of playlists featuring the best music from the most popular Bollywood, Tollywood, Kollywood, and Punjabi actors. Spotify’s recommendations will also include songs from India’s favorite movies and actors.
  • City playlists: Find out what’s hot in each city, with new algorithmic playlists tracking what’s trending in Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru, and Chennai.

“Spotify’s arrival in India is a big step forward in our overall global growth strategy,” says Cecilia Qvist, Spotify’s Global Head of Markets. “A fundamental piece of that strategy is staying connected to global culture while allowing room for local adaptation, and we’ve certainly achieved that with our India launch. We’ve worked closely with local teams of researchers, engineers, and cultural tastemakers to ensure this global product is going to be loved, used, and favored by people all over India, whether they’re listening to local Bollywood and Punjabi hits, or discovering curated global playlists of K-pop or Brazilian funk.”

Today’s launch comes on the heels of our recent expansion across MENA and Southeast Asia, bringing the total number of Spotify markets to seventy-nine. Spotify now has more than 200 million users, including more than 96 million subscribers.

For the sounds of India, take a listen to Rap 91.

Hear Daniel Ek Trace Spotify’s Origin Story on the ‘Masters of Scale’ Podcast

September 19, 2018

Spotify was founded in 2008, and in the decade since, millions of people around the world have joined the music streaming revolution. But where did it all begin? According to our CEO Daniel Ek, Spotify was built on the concept of trust, and that idea has remained core to our beliefs.

“At the end of the day, it’s about trust,” Daniel reveals in the latest episode of the podcast Masters of Scale. “If you say what you’re going to do, and then keep on doing that, you will do pretty well.”

Masters of Scale, hosted by investor, entrepreneur, and cofounder of LinkedIn Reid Hoffman, features reflections on success with prominent CEOs and founders. In this episode, Reid and Daniel share a thoughtful conversation about how Swedish values like transparency and honesty first set Spotify apart.

As Daniel says about Swedish society, “You can’t screw people over, and you have to honor your agreements.” In fact, he says it’s normal behavior to walk on other people’s property–and even set up camp. “This notion of private vs. public just doesn’t exist to the same extent,” Daniel explains.

When Spotify first entered the music landscape, trust within the industry was at an all-time low, but Daniel envisioned a future where artists and fans could believe in each other once again.

“I had this idea of the kind of product I wanted to see in the world,” he says. “I told my team, ‘If we can create the feeling that people have all the world’s music on their hard drives, we will have built something that’s much better than piracy.'”

Listen to Daniel’s full Masters of Scale episode right here.

6 Questions (and Answers) with CEO Daniel Ek about Spotify and Samsung’s New Partnership

August 9, 2018

It’s never been easier to play music on-demand. With your trusty smartphone and handy Spotify app, the music you love is no more than a few taps away. But when it comes to playing across your many devices, things aren’t as simple.

That’s why we’re excited to share that Spotify has been named Samsung’s new go-to music service provider, which gives Samsung users a seamless listening experience between devices. You can look forward to a more meaningful music experience, thanks to integrations across a variety of Samsung products.

We sat down with Spotify CEO Daniel Ek to ask a few questions about Spotify and Samsung’s partnership:

Q: What inspired this integration?

A: Since Spotify’s inception, we’ve studied how people use Spotify. We know that listeners stream different kinds of music at different times, in different places, and most importantly, on different devices. We think music should be easy to access on ALL of your devices—and we want it to be seamless to switch from one device to another.

Q: Why did you choose to partner with Samsung?

A: Samsung makes devices for every aspect of our lives – everything from smartphones and TVs, to tablets, speakers, and watches. And we have designed Spotify to deliver personalized music to consumers around the world – wherever they are, across millions of devices. This partnership with Samsung reduces the friction for users to get Spotify up and running on multiple Samsung devices once the accounts have been linked. It allows us to create a seamless music listening experience together for the user that would be hard for either of us to build alone. It’s a great fit.

Q: What can users look forward to right away?

A. First off, users can get excited about Spotify becoming part of the set-up experience on a Samsung device from the very beginning. For example, when someone buys a phone, the user can easily discover the Spotify app on Samsung Smart Switch. And soon, Samsung Smart TV users will be able to play Spotify through the SmartThings app. It’s a new level of integration that will allow Spotify to be easily accessible and discoverable on Samsung Devices. As you move from room to room, your devices will be aware of your location and prompt you to effortlessly transition your listening between them.

Next, Spotify is excited to be even more deeply integrated with Bixby, Samsung’s premier voice solution, and serve as the only music service to be fully integrated with Samsung Music. When a user asks Bixby for music, Bixby will look to Spotify—even if that user has never used Spotify before—allowing listeners to receive recommendations from Spotify, discover new playlists, and create new musical experiences.

Q: How does this “seamless control” make switching between devices easier?

A: The short answer is that on several key Samsung surfaces, you’ll be able to link your Samsung and Spotify accounts to play music across all Samsung devices.

The [slightly] longer answer is that – for example – when you buy a new Samsung phone and use the SmartThings app to set up your Samsung Smart TV or Galaxy Home, you will be prompted to link your Spotify account. So right from the beginning, you’ll have that collaboration. It only takes a few simple steps.

Additionally, we’re also making it easier to move playback to various hardware devices with Spotify Connect. When a user enters WiFi while listening to music on mobile with the Spotify app, they’ll be able to move playback from the mobile lock screen, instead of having to go back in the Spotify app.

Q: How will this integration benefit existing Samsung users?

A: As Samsung’s new go-to music provider, Spotify is giving hundreds of millions of Samsung listeners better access to our 35 million songs, as well as our innovative Discovery and Personalization features, connecting more artists with more fans.

We believe that this significant long-term partnership will provide Samsung users across millions of devices with the best possible music streaming experience, and make discovering new music easier than ever – with even more opportunities to come.

Of course, it will also help artists reach new fans. Our goal has always been to make music accessible to everyone by giving a million creative artists the opportunity to live off their art and billions of fans the opportunity to enjoy and be inspired by it.

Q: Do Samsung and Spotify users have any other features to look forward to going forward?

A: We’re excited for the future of this incredible partnership. Users will be able to discover and enjoy new music in ways that have never before been possible.

As my friend DJ Koh (President & CEO, IT & Mobile Communications, Samsung Electronics) said today, “With Spotify, Samsung Galaxy users will be able to enjoy seamless music experiences across all our devices. We’re excited about today’s announcement, and it’s just the start of things to come!”

Equalizer Project Networking Dinner – Get to Know the Rising Female Stars of Swedish Music

June 15, 2018

On her “Witness” World Tour stop in Stockholm this weekend, pop megastar Katy Perry did more than perform. Before entertaining the thousands of fans in her audience, Spotify invited her to sit down with the next generation of Swedish female music professionals to network, provide advice, and encourage them to follow their dreams.

Katy was invited to be a part of the third Equalizer Project networking event and dinner, during which five up-and-coming female creators (artists, songwriters and producers) met with industry professionals including Katy, Spotify CEO Daniel Ek, and Swedish songwriter and record producer Max Martin—one of the most awarded producers globally—to share their experience and learn from each other.

The Equalizer Project was initiated last year in our Stockholm office. The project, which currently includes a podcast and networking events, comes out of a desire to fuel discussions about equality and breaking norms in the music industry, and music studios in particular. The goal of these discussions is to drive change and increase the prevalence of women in the music industry.

Other guests included Spotify’s Nordic Managing Director Jenny Hermanson, as well as some of the world’s most prominent producers and songwriters – Shellback, Noonie Bao and Tove Styrke. The group welcomed five rising Swedish talents to the dinner on Saturday.

The five rising stars included names such as Janice Kavander, whose debut album “Fallin Up” was released in the beginning of 2018. Another attendee, Caroline Cederlöf aka GRANT made her 2018 debut with three critically acclaimed singles. Triple threat producers, songwriters and artists Thea Gustafsson aka Becky and the Birds, Bishat Araya joined the crew along with Emma Bertilsson aka KIDDO, who has co-written for Icona Pop, Soleima, Alan Walker, and SHY Martin.

Spotify Lists on NYSE as SPOT

April 2, 2018

This post was originally published on April 2.

Tomorrow, Spotify becomes a listed public company on the New York Stock Exchange. And it feels like the right time to pause and acknowledge the thousands of Spotify employees around the globe who helped build out the Spotify ecosystem while staying true to who we are and what we believe. You make me proud to come in and learn and work alongside all of you.

Lots of people have asked me how I feel about tomorrow’s listing. Of course, I am proud of what we’ve built over the last decade. But what’s even more important to me is that tomorrow does not become the most important day for Spotify.

It’s the day after, and the following day that matters — and all those days to come. Because that’s when we will continue the hard and important work of our mission: To unlock the potential of human creativity — by giving a million creative artists the opportunity to live off their art and billions of fans the opportunity to enjoy and be inspired by it.

Spotify is not raising capital, and our shareholders and employees have been free to buy and sell our stock for years. So while tomorrow puts us on a bigger stage, it doesn’t change who we are, what we are about, or how we operate.

This is why we are doing things a little differently.

Normally, companies ring bells. Normally, companies spend their day doing interviews on the trading floor touting why their stock is a good investment. Normally, companies don’t pursue a direct listing. While I appreciate that this path makes sense for most, Spotify has never been a normal kind of company. As I mentioned during our Investor Day, our focus isn’t on the initial splash. Instead, we will be working on trying to build, plan, and imagine for the long term.

Sometimes we succeed, sometimes we stumble. The constant is that we believe we are still early in our journey and we have room to learn and grow.

I have no doubt that there will be ups and downs as we continue to innovate and establish new capabilities. Nothing ever happens in a straight line — the past ten years have certainly taught me that. My job is to ensure that we keep our foot on the pedal during the ups, so that we don’t become complacent, and that we continue to stay the course with a firm grip on the wheel during the downs.

We have a lot to do — we are only in the second inning — and I’m more excited than ever for the future.

Remember, tomorrow is just another day in our journey to fulfill our mission.

Harder, better, faster, stronger.

Daniel

 

Spotify has filed a registration statement (including a prospectus) with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) relating to its ordinary shares. Before you invest, you should read the prospectus in that registration statement and other documents Spotify has filed with the SEC for more complete information about Spotify and its ordinary shares. You may obtain these documents for free by visiting EDGAR on the SEC web site at www.sec.gov. The registration statement relating to Spotify’s ordinary shares was declared effective by the SEC. This communication shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to the registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such jurisdiction.