Interview with Axel Bard Bringéus, former director of expansion at Spotify. Berlin, May 2018.
Skavlan. “Interview with Daniel Ek.” Swedish Television, SVT. March 5, 2012.
Interview with Teymour Farman-Farmaian, former CMO at Spotify. Over the phone, October 2020.
“Sommar i P1. Daniel Ek.” Swedish Radio P1. July 12, 2012.
Edgecliffe-Johnson, A. “Lunch with the FT: Daniel Ek.” Financial Times. September 27, 2013.
Three anonymous sources on Martin Lorentzon’s role at Spotify.
Three anonymous sources on Daniel Ek’s private life and work trips for Spotify employees.
Three anonymous sources on the life of Sofia Levander.
“Sommar i P1. Martin Lorentzon.” Swedish Radio P1. August 1, 2020.
12. Spotify TV
Eight anonymous sources with insight into Spotify’s TV project.
Interview with Jonas Sjögren, former CEO of Discovery Networks Sweden. Stockholm, August 2018.
Edgecliffe-Johnson, A. “Lunch with the FT: Daniel Ek.” Financial Times. September 27, 2013.
13. Apple Buys Beats
Anonymous source who spoke with Daniel Ek about Spotify’s recommendations.
Interview with Erik Bernhardsson, former developer at Spotify. Phone conversation, May 2018.
Interview with Ola Sars, former director at Beats Music. Stockholm, June 2018.
Interview with Fredric Vinnå, former CTO/CPO at Beats Music. Former VP of Product at Spotify. Phone conversation, July 2018.
Sherman, E. “Apple’s $100 million U2 debacle.” Cbsnews.com. September 17, 2014.
Press statement and annual report from Spotify about the purchase of Tunigo and The Echo Nest.
Four anonymous sources with insight into Spotify’s negotiations with Google.
Gradvall, J. “The Tech Genius the Giants are Fighting Over.” Di Weekend, September 8, 2016.
An anonymous source with insight into Beats Music’s operations and merger negotiations in the USA.
An anonymous source at Spotify’s New York offices.
Three anonymous sources with insight into the work at Spotify’s product division in 2014.
Startuppodden. “#21 - Gustav Söderström, Spotify, Kenet Works.” October 29, 2014.
“Dr. Dre Hip Hop’s first Billionaire Celebrates with Tyrese Gibson.” YouTube. May 10, 2014.
14. Death Valley
Interview with Henrik Landgren, former Chief Analyst at Spotify. Stockholm, September 2018.
Four anonymous sources about how Spotify built the free app and negotiated with the record companies, and two on the Christmas party of 2013.
Internal documents showing Spotify’s growth in 2013.
Annual reports from Instructus Limited and Rosello Limited. Department of Registrar of Companies and Official Receiver, Cyprus.
Startuppodden. “#21—Gustav Söderström, Spotify, Kenet Works.” October 29, 2014.
“Daniel Ek, Niklas Zennström, Ilkka Paananen: How We Failed our Way to Success.” YouTube, November 2016.
15. From Nashville to Brooklyn
Two anonymous sources on Daniel Ek’s new habits and eagerness for growth.
Interview with Per Sundin, former director of Sony BMG Sweden, now Universal Music. Stockholm, June 2018.
Interview with Rob Wells, former digital director at Universal Music. Phone conversation, June 2018.
Interview with Axel Bard Bringéus, former director of expansion at Spotify. Berlin, May 2018.
Two anonymous sources on Jay-Z’s offer for exclusive licenses and Martin Lorentzon’s view of Tidal.
Carlsson, S. “Spotify: A Music Streaming Service going for Broke.” Business Insider. March 11, 2015.
Leijonhufvud, J. “Jay Z vill köpa Aspiro.” Dagens industri. January 31, 2015.
“Jay-Z’s Tidal Opening Official Launching!!!” YouTube. March 30, 2015.
16. Big Data
Two anonymous sources on Daniel Ek’s conversations with investors, Gustav Söderström’s internal rhetoric, and Spotify Running.
Two anonymous sources on how Discover Weekly came about.
“Shop Talk: Product // Spotify Discover Weekly.” YouTube, February 2016.
“Spotify. Media Even.” YouTube, May 2015.
“Apple - WWDC 2015.” YouTube, June 2015.
Interview with Fredric Vinnå, former VP of Product at Spotify. Phone conversation, July 2018.
Goldberg, D. Daniel Ek om Apple Music: “Man måste inte vara nummer ett.” Dagens industri. June 10, 2015.
Atkinson, C. “Competition Commission Probing Music-Streaming Services.” New York Post, April 1, 2015.
Wiggers, K. “Apple Pushing Music Labels to Kill Free Spotify Streaming Ahead of Beats Relaunch.” The Verge, May 4, 2015.
Chen, Brian X and B. Sisario. “Apple Music and Labels Investigated in Two States.” The New York Times, June 9, 2015.
Three anonymous sources about the rollout of Moments.
Two anonymous sources on Spotify’s evolving content strategy.
17. Brilliant Sweden
Global Music Report. IFPI, April 2016.
Three anonymous sources about Daniel Ek’s, Katarina Berg’s, and Barry McCarthy’s leadership styles as well as Martin Lorentzon’s role at Spotify 2015–2017.
Carlsson, S. “Daniel Ek: Jag kommer inte sälja.” Dagens industri. June 9, 2016.
Carlsson, S. “Daniel Ek has sold shares in Spotify for 300 million.” Dagens industri. May 19, 2017.
Interview with Sören Granath, reporter at Swedish Radio. Via email, September 2018.
Granath, S. “Spotify förnekar börsplaner.” Swedish Radio P1, June 2, 2017.
Two anonymous sources about Barry McCarthy’s initial time at Spotify.
Three anonymous sources about Alex Norström’s advancement.
Three anonymous sources about the Fourth Swedish Pension fund’s courtship, the Wallenberg family’s irritation, and the conditions of Spotify’s billion-dollar loan.
Social media posts from Daniel Ek and Sofia Levander’s wedding. Instagram and Facebook, 2016.
Molla, R and Peter Kafka. Episode 1: “Netflix is a team, not a family.” Land of the Giants. June 23, 2020.
#Ensakidag (a Swedish podcast). “435. Ett samtal med Daniel Ek om Spotify och livet - igår, idag och imorgon.” June 24, 2020.
Several friends and former colleagues on Daniel Ek’s wedding and new lifestyle.
18. The Streaming Wars
Roettgers, J. “Streaming Overtakes Downloads, CDs as Top Music Revenue Driver.” Variety. March 22, 2016.
Daniel Ek. “Så ska Spotify utvecklas kommande 10 år.” TV4 Morning News. August 13, 2016.
Two anonymous sources, who got to know Daniel Ek before he started Spotify, speaking about his origin story.
Four anonymous sources speaking about Spotify’s conversations about Justin Bieber’s video, negotiations with Tidal, and negotiations with SoundCloud.
Three anonymous sources on SoundCloud’s development 2012–2016.
One anonymous source on Spotify’s reason for wanting to buy SoundCloud.
“Senator Elizabeth Warren’s Keynote | America’s Monopoly Problem.” YouTube, July 2016.
Four anonymous sources about Spotify’s lobbying in Washington, DC, and delays in the App Store through the years.
US public records on Spotify’s lobbying activities.
Weich, C. “Spotify Urges iPhone Customers to Stop Paying Through Apple’s App Store.” The Verge. July 8, 2015.
Love, J. and M. Shanley. “Apple Fires Back at Spotify over Music Streaming Claims.” Reuters, July 1, 2016.
19. Wall Street
Four anonymous sources on Stefan Blom’s work in 2017.
Safian, R. “Spotify’s $30 Billion Playlist for Global Domination.” Fast Company, August 6, 2018.
Khan (formerly JMO) v Khan (formerly KTA) [2018]. England an
d Wales High Court 241 (QB). February 15, 2018. Retrieved via: http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWHC/QB/2018/241.html
Six anonymous sources about the former staff members’ share profits and gray market trade in Spotify’s shares.
Two anonymous sources on Spotify’s negotiations with Tencent.
Internal documents on Spotify’s cap table and the transaction with Tencent.
Contract between Spotify, Tencent, Daniel Ek, and Martin Lorentzon, dated December 15, 2017. SEC, April 2018.
Ingham T. “Spotify Denies it’s Playlisting Fake Artists. So Why are all these Fake Artists on its Playlists?” Music Business Worldwide, July 9, 2017.
Three anonymous sources on Spotify’s strategy to raise its margins and the acquisition of Soundtrap.
Carlsson, S. “Spotify bought Swedish App Company for Half a Billion.” Dagens industri, January 2, 2018.
“Investor Day—March 2018.” Video presentation, 2018. Spotify.
Ingham, T. “Revealed: How Sony’s $750m Spotify equity cash will be shared with artists and indie labels.” Music Business Worldwide. June 14, 2018.
Three sources on the subject of Stefan Blom’s departure.
Official information from Spotify, Sony, Warner, and Universal.
An anonymous source about Anthony Tiffith’s conversation with Daniel Ek.
Rys, D. “Top Dawg Explains how he Warned Spotify’s CEO that Kendrick Lamar, Others would Pull Music over Conduct Policy.” Billboard, June 1, 2018.
“Spotify CEO Daniel Ek | Full interview | Code 2018.” YouTube, May 2018.
Blumberg, A. “Exit.” StartUp. October 11, 2019.
Dance, G., M. LaForgia, N. Confessore. “As Facebook Raised a Privacy Wall, It Carved an Opening for Tech Giants.” The New York Times, December 18, 2018.
20. The House That Daniel Built
VanDerWerff, T. “Trump Signs the Music Modernization Act, the Biggest Change to Copyright Law in Decades.” Vox. October 11, 2018.
Anonymous source about Spotify’s legal situation in the United States.
Digitally China Podcast. “Tencent Music vs. Spotify.” January 3, 2019.
Public records concerning Daniel and Sofia Ek’s home and building projects. Danderyd municipality and Värmdö municipality, 2018.
S1 filing, Warner Music. May 26, 2020. Retrieved via: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1319161/000119312520150678/d833365ds1a.htm.
#Ensakidag (a Swedish podcast). “435. Ett samtal med Daniel Ek om Spotify och livet - igår, idag och imorgon.” June 24, 2020.
Two anonymous sources on Martin Lorentzon’s thoughts during 2018.
Two anonymous sources on Daniel Ek’s leadership in 2018.
Dredge, S. “Spotify countersues Sosa Entertainment alleging stream fraud.” Musically.com. May 19, 2020.
Ingham, T. “Spotify execs praise TikTok owner’s new Spotify rival . . . while trashing Apple and Amazon Music’s reach.” Music Business Worldwide. November 20, 2019.
Leijonhufvud, J. “Spotify om fusket med fejkade lyssningar: Mindre än en procent.” Dagens industri. February 17, 2020.
Deahl, D. “Justin Bieber told fans to game Spotify and iTunes to give him a chart-topping song.” The Verge. Jan 10, 2020.
Ek, H. “Han räddades från döden av Daniel Ek och blev tech-sfärens ‘legosoldat.’” Dagens industri. May 23, 2020.
Gurman, M and Emily Chang. “Spotify CEO Expects Apple to Further Open Up After Complaint.” Bloomberg.com. May 5, 2020.
Dredge, S. “Spotify CEO talks Covid-19, artist incomes and podcasting.” Musically.com, July 30, 2020.
Regarding Quotes and Events
With the exception of taped conversations and cited interviews, the quotes in this book are recollections by one or several sources who participated in, witnessed, or have first-hand knowledge of the actual conversation. The presentation of all quotes, events, and factual occurrences, gathered from anonymous and on-record sources, reflects the best journalistic efforts of the authors.
About the Authors
Sven Carlsson is a tech journalist based in Stockholm. He is currently the technology correspondent for Swedish Radio News. He has a master’s degree from Columbia Journalism School and previously worked at the daily newspapers Dagens industri and Svenska Dagbladet.
Jonas Leijonhufvud has been a business journalist in Sweden since 1998. He interviewed Jeff Bezos when the tech bubble was about to burst, and Spotify founder Martin Lorentzon when it first launched. He has a BA in Media Arts from The University of Arizona and is currently a tech reporter at Dagens industri, Sweden’s leading business newspaper.
The Spotify Play was updated and translated from Swedish by the authors themselves.
1 Spotify’s cap table in April 2007.
The Spotify Play Page 33