The Playlist on Netflix dramatises the implausible rise of Spotify — review (2024)

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The Playlist on Netflix dramatises the implausible rise of Spotify — review? ›

I like how this series takes multiple perspectives to show us the rise and controversy of Spotify, and what issues were plaguing the record industry at the time. It's certainly worth the watch, especially if you like stories about start-ups.

The Playlist is a docu-drama miniseries created for Netflix. It was inspired by the book Spotify Untold written by Sven Carlsson and Jonas Leijonhufvud. Directed by Per-Olav Sørensen, the series tells a "fictionalized" story of the birth of the Swedish music streaming company Spotify, along with its early challenges.

That structure helps slice up a story that doesn't have a ton of conflict. A lot more interesting than you might initially expect. All in all, The Playlist is a worthy exercise about how much the tech industry loves to corrupt good intentions. I can't wait for the series Netflix makes about itself.

Bobbi T doesn't actually exist -- she's not even based on a real person; she's fictional. Carlsson mentioned in his book about Ek's paranoia over his dealings with Apple, and how the founder at one degree believed that Steve Jobs was prank-calling him.

Spotify is owned by a number of individual and institutional investors, including the company's co-founders, Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon, and leading investment managers, such as Baillie Gifford.

As for Taylor Swift, the opposite was true. The singer withdrew her entire catalog from Spotify so no Spotify user could listen to her music. The conflict escalated, and Taylor Swift stuck to her guns. Her music can still be heard on TIDAL and Rhapsody.

Ek sold the stock as part of his long-term financial planning, a representative for Spotify said. The 41-year-old chief executive officer still controls a roughly 7% stake in the Stockholm-based company, which makes up the bulk of his $4.4 billion fortune, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

Hansson's commercialization of Spotify, stemming from her pursuit of sustainability, irked Ehn. This and other issues with Daniel Ek also affected his personal life and resulted in Lisa (Hanna Ardéhn), his partner, leaving him.

In interviews Ek and Lorentzon claim that they are best friends and there has not been a day since 2006 when they did not speak at least once a day. Lorentzon is responsible for developing the company's future goals and development strategy, budget, salaries, verification of legal and annual financial reports.

When an eligible song gets played on Spotify, the rightsholders receive royalties for it, whether it's played by a Premium or ad-supported customer. For detailed info on music industry economics and artist payments, check out spotify.com/loudandclear.

Who is boycotting Spotify? ›

Joni Mitchell, Graham Nash and India Arie followed Young in boycotting Spotify, and 270 doctors, health care workers and public health experts sent a letter to the company calling on it to set a misinformation policy, citing “misleading and false claims” made on Rogan's podcast.

Spotify (/ˈspɒtɪfaɪ/; Swedish: [ˈspɔ̂tːɪfaj]) is a Swedish audio streaming and media service provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon.

In 2006, in Stockholm, Daniel and Martin created Spotify.

The name condenses the words “Spotlight” and “Identify.” It is not illogical when you consider that Spotify is, first and foremost, a tool for finding songs identified in advance by its users.

Those odd strings of words are titles of “daylists,” a newish offering from the music-streaming giant Spotify. The feature provides users three new algorithmically generated playlists a day, each with an ultra-specific title that practically begs to be screencapped and posted.

Subsequent to breaking the news that global licensing head Francis Keeling was out at Spotify, MBW has now been told that one of Spotify's longest-serving executives, Petra Hansson, has quit the company.

The existence of fake artists on the platform is now a well-known fact: Music released by musicians under pseudonyms, who have no real online presence other than their Spotify accounts and plays, and whose music can be found on many of Spotify's key playlists dedicated to 'mood music'.