Spotify CEO Daniel Ek

We sit down with Spotify CEO Daniel Ek live in Stockholm at Spotify’s amazing HQ studio. This was an incredibly special and timely conversation: for those who haven’t been paying attention over the past few years, after revolutionizing music Spotify has now ALSO completely transformed our own industry in podcasting. Starting from way behind with ~zero market share in 2018, Spotify has now aggregated the listener market and amazingly surpassed Apple as the world’s largest podcast platform — including close to home with the Acquired audience, where it has 60%+ market share among you all! We discuss the origins of this “second act” strategy with Daniel, the vision to move from a music company to an audio company, and what’s coming next with Spotify’s entry into Audiobooks. And of course we relive some key moments from the Acquired canon that Daniel was involved in, including his pivotal conversations with Taylor Swift and her team convincing her to come back to streaming following the release of 1984. Tune in! *Links:* - Follow Daniel on Twitter: https://twitter.com/eldsjal *More Acquired:* - Get email updates https://www.acquired.fm/email and vote on future episodes! - Join the Slack http://acquired.fm/slack - Check out the latest swag in the ACQ Merch Store https://www.acquired.fm/store! _Note: Acquired hosts and guests may hold assets discussed in this episode. This podcast is not investment advice, and is intended for informational and entertainment purposes only. You should do your own research and make your own independent decisions when considering any financial transactions._

Ben GilberthostDavid RosenthalhostDaniel Ekguest

May 18, 20231h 38mWatch on YouTube ↗

EPISODE INFO

Released: May 18, 2023
Duration: 1h 38m
Channel: Acquired
Watch on YouTube: ▶ Open ↗

EPISODE DESCRIPTION

We sit down with Spotify CEO Daniel Ek live in Stockholm at Spotify’s amazing HQ studio. This was an incredibly special and timely conversation: for those who haven’t been paying attention over the past few years, after revolutionizing music Spotify has now ALSO completely transformed our own industry in podcasting. Starting from way behind with ~zero market share in 2018, Spotify has now aggregated the listener market and amazingly surpassed Apple as the world’s largest podcast platform — including close to home with the Acquired audience, where it has 60%+ market share among you all! We discuss the origins of this “second act” strategy with Daniel, the vision to move from a music company to an audio company, and what’s coming next with Spotify’s entry into Audiobooks. And of course we relive some key moments from the Acquired canon that Daniel was involved in, including his pivotal conversations with Taylor Swift and her team convincing her to come back to streaming following the release of 1984. Tune in! *Links:*
• Follow Daniel on Twitter: https://twitter.com/eldsjal *More Acquired:*
Get email updates https://www.acquired.fm/email and vote on future episodes!
Join the Slack http://acquired.fm/slack
Check out the latest swag in the ACQ Merch Store https://www.acquired.fm/store!
_Note: Acquired hosts and guests may hold assets discussed in this episode. This podcast is not investment advice, and is intended for informational and entertainment purposes only. You should do your own research and make your own independent decisions when considering any financial transactions._

SPEAKERS

Ben Gilbert
host
David Rosenthal
host
Daniel Ek
guest

EPISODE SUMMARY

In this episode of Acquired, featuring Ben Gilbert and David Rosenthal, Spotify CEO Daniel Ek explores daniel Ek on Spotify’s growth, podcasts, audiobooks, and culture-building lessons Daniel Ek explains that Spotify’s shift from “music company” to broader “audio company” wasn’t a single master plan but a first-principles response to user behavior, including early signals like audiobook uploads in Germany and internal demand for podcasts in one unified app.

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