Daniel Ek

And I think video is just a way to express that, whether or not they're watching the full four hours, or whether they're diving in and out over a particular type of segment. I think just giving the consumer the choice is sort of one of the big things. And that's kind of what we're leaning into as well, is just allowing the creator and the consumer to more directly interact in more novel ways.

And I think video is just a way to express that, whether or not they're watching the full four hours, or whether they're diving in and out over a particular type of segment. I think just giving the consumer the choice is sort of one of the big things. And that's kind of what we're leaning into as well, is just allowing the creator and the consumer to more directly interact in more novel ways.

Yeah, I mean, I think it starts like so many other things. I think Mark and I, we just struck this sort of friendship and we started talking about, you know, the little told story is, if I remember this correctly, I think Mark even pre-Facebook was trying to do a music startup. And then he was like, yeah, this feels like a difficult thing. Wirehug? Yeah, exactly.

Yeah, I mean, I think it starts like so many other things. I think Mark and I, we just struck this sort of friendship and we started talking about, you know, the little told story is, if I remember this correctly, I think Mark even pre-Facebook was trying to do a music startup. And then he was like, yeah, this feels like a difficult thing. Wirehug? Yeah, exactly.

And so I think he's like, I think pretty much every great entrepreneur in the Valley tried to do a music startup. And so he was definitely passionate about it. And then his idea obviously was a social music product. And, you know, we started talking about it. In the beginning, it started like he wanted mostly Spotify to be more social.

And so I think he's like, I think pretty much every great entrepreneur in the Valley tried to do a music startup. And so he was definitely passionate about it. And then his idea obviously was a social music product. And, you know, we started talking about it. In the beginning, it started like he wanted mostly Spotify to be more social.

And I kind of said, well, I don't know that that's... Do you remember how you got introduced?

And I kind of said, well, I don't know that that's... Do you remember how you got introduced?

Yeah, well, I got introduced to Mark through Sean Parker. And so Sean kind of said to Suck, like, hey, you got to meet this entrepreneur from Sweden. And I remember Suck at the time was living in a very small house and we went for a barbecue at his house. This is probably... I don't know, 2008 or 9, like one of those things.

Yeah, well, I got introduced to Mark through Sean Parker. And so Sean kind of said to Suck, like, hey, you got to meet this entrepreneur from Sweden. And I remember Suck at the time was living in a very small house and we went for a barbecue at his house. This is probably... I don't know, 2008 or 9, like one of those things.

And then we kind of struck a friendship and we started jamming on various ideas around how to make music more social. And you weren't even live in the US yet, I don't think. We definitely weren't live. So the sort of secret of Spotify was we sort of seeded one account at a time to get a bunch of influencers to kind of like it. And I think Sean in particular, he kind of used it as a social currency.

And then we kind of struck a friendship and we started jamming on various ideas around how to make music more social. And you weren't even live in the US yet, I don't think. We definitely weren't live. So the sort of secret of Spotify was we sort of seeded one account at a time to get a bunch of influencers to kind of like it. And I think Sean in particular, he kind of used it as a social currency.

So everyone came to him to kind of try to get. Oh, the invites.

So everyone came to him to kind of try to get. Oh, the invites.

Yeah, it was a big, big thing for quite a few years before we launched where it was kind of the secret thing if you were in the club or if you weren't. Anyway, he got Mark on it, and I think Mark kind of wrote this status update, like, Spotify is so good. And then, you know, everyone's like, how did you get this? This was kind of the main thing. When can I get it? How can I do it?

Yeah, it was a big, big thing for quite a few years before we launched where it was kind of the secret thing if you were in the club or if you weren't. Anyway, he got Mark on it, and I think Mark kind of wrote this status update, like, Spotify is so good. And then, you know, everyone's like, how did you get this? This was kind of the main thing. When can I get it? How can I do it?

And, yeah, then we started jamming around, like, what a social music product ought to be. And we had this sort of idea, wouldn't it be cool, sort of like with... You know, ICQ at the time where you had these status updates, like, wouldn't it be cool to be able to check out what your friends were listening to?

And, yeah, then we started jamming around, like, what a social music product ought to be. And we had this sort of idea, wouldn't it be cool, sort of like with... You know, ICQ at the time where you had these status updates, like, wouldn't it be cool to be able to check out what your friends were listening to?

And we kind of got to work together, built that product, and coincided it with the Spotify US launch.

And we kind of got to work together, built that product, and coincided it with the Spotify US launch.