Recode Daily: Why you should care about today’s unusual Spotify IPO

Here’s why you should care about what happens with Spotify’s unusual IPO today — even if you don’t care about Spotify: If the company’s direct listing strategy is successful, then the push-and-pull power struggle between Silicon Valley and Wall Street would shift more toward the former. [Theodore Schleifer / Recode]

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Spotify is 12 years old and has never been profitable. Today, as it goes public, it wants investors to value it at something above $20 billion. In order to believe that’s a good idea, you have to believe that Spotify has figured out how to change the way it works with its most crucial partners: The big music labels. Over time, the company imagines a growing tier of music acts will work directly with the streaming service, which could improve its profit margins. [Peter Kafka / Recode]

Apple is reportedly planning to use its own processors in Macs by as early as 2020, replacing Intel. Moving to its own chips would let Apple release new Mac models on its own timeline; the initiative is part of a larger strategy to make all of Apple’s devices — including Macs, iPhones and iPads — work more similarly and seamlessly together. [Ian King and Mark Gurman / Bloomberg]

Instagram is cutting off API access for some developers and limiting how often others can use its API to collect data on Instagram users. The move appears to be part of Facebook’s efforts to cull back data access in the wake of the company’s Cambridge Analytica privacy scandal. For some industries that rely on near-constant access to Instagram data — think customer service or brand marketing — these limits can make it difficult to keep up with customer complaints or posts. [Kurt Wagner / Recode]

Tesla is starting its second quarter in a defensive crouch: Its semiautonomous “Autopilot” driver-assist technology was found to be involved in a recent fatal crash in California; it is struggling to meet its production goals for the Model 3, its first-ever mass-market car; and last week, Tesla voluntarily recalled 123,000 of its luxury sedans, the Model S, to fix a power-steering issue — that’s close to half of all the vehicles the company has produced. Tesla stock is down about 36 percent since its September 2017 peak. [Johana Bhuiyan / Recode]

Facebook has lost almost $100 billion in market value in recent weeks as it struggles with compounded controversies over fake news, electoral interference, privacy violations and a broad backlash to smartphone addiction. In a wide-ranging interview yesterday, CEO Mark Zuckerberg said “it will take a few years” for the company to dig itself out. Zuckerberg also fired back at Apple CEO Tim Cook, calling his recent criticism of Facebook “extremely glib.” [Ezra Klein / Vox]

Also: Remember that time Apple’s Steve Jobs tweaked Mark Zuckerberg about “onerous” Facebook? We do! [Kara Swisher / Recode]

Recode presents ...

Do you have questions about the Spotify IPO or the latest in the Facebook-Cambridge Analytica scandal? We’ll be talking about both of those hot topics on this week’s Too Embarrassed to Ask podcast. Email your questions about either or both topics to TooEmbarrassed@recode.net, or tweet them with the hashtag #TooEmbarrassed.

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This article originally appeared on Recode.net.

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