How do you revive an industry that peaked in 1999?
Ask Daniel Ek.
The Spotify CEO spent more than a decade ignoring everyone who told him his digital music service would never work. Now he has more than 71 million subscribers around the world and $5 billion in revenue.
Along the way, Ek has made streaming mainstream, which has boosted revenue for the big music labels — and made them dependent on Spotify’s distribution and cash.
Now investors want even more out of Ek: In an unusual public offering, they valued his company at more than $26 billion, which means they’re expecting Netflix-style results.
So what’s Ek’s plan? Kara Swisher and I are excited to ask him ourselves at the Code Conference in May.
This will be Ek’s first live interview since Spotify went public, and one of many high-profile chats we have scheduled for Code. You can read about all of them here.
Want to join us next month? Apply here, and we’ll see you there.
This article originally appeared on Recode.net.
Will you support Vox’s explanatory journalism?
Most news outlets make their money through advertising or subscriptions. But when it comes to what we’re trying to do at Vox, there are a couple of big issues with relying on ads and subscriptions to keep the lights on:
First, advertising dollars go up and down with the economy. We often only know a few months out what our advertising revenue will be, which makes it hard to plan ahead.
Second, we’re not in the subscriptions business. Vox is here to help everyone understand the complex issues shaping the world — not just the people who can afford to pay for a subscription. We believe that’s an important part of building a more equal society. And we can’t do that if we have a paywall.
So even though advertising is still our biggest source of revenue, we also seek grants and reader support. (And no matter how our work is funded, we have strict guidelines on editorial independence.)
If you also believe that everyone deserves access to trusted high-quality information, will you make a gift to Vox today? Any amount helps.
Yes, I'll give $5/month
Yes, I'll give $5/month
We accept credit card, Apple Pay, and
Google Pay. You can also contribute via
:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/59374245/Daniel_Ek_Spotify_Code.0.jpg)
