Gustav Söderström

So yes, we're profitable, but we're actually investing almost all of that back into ourselves. More people, more product, more AI. Now we just have our own investment vehicle instead of having to ask private investors initially or the street for more money. So that's how I think about it. Really, as the R&D department of the music industry, I think we've done a good job.

So yes, we're profitable, but we're actually investing almost all of that back into ourselves. More people, more product, more AI. Now we just have our own investment vehicle instead of having to ask private investors initially or the street for more money. So that's how I think about it. Really, as the R&D department of the music industry, I think we've done a good job.

This year, we paid out over $10 billion. And that's up from $1 billion, I think, almost 10 years ago. It's just steadily increased. The music industry is bigger than it ever was. People still talk about the heyday of music, the CD era. The truth is the music business is bigger than it was back then. So this is the best it's ever been. It is better than ever, more money than ever.

This year, we paid out over $10 billion. And that's up from $1 billion, I think, almost 10 years ago. It's just steadily increased. The music industry is bigger than it ever was. People still talk about the heyday of music, the CD era. The truth is the music business is bigger than it was back then. So this is the best it's ever been. It is better than ever, more money than ever.

The pie is both bigger and higher, but it's also getting sliced up. But that's because more people take a shot. And it feels very wrong for us to say, no, the crater's up until 2020. They were good, but no one should be able to try after 2020. New creators should be able to try to do music. So that's the dynamic.

The pie is both bigger and higher, but it's also getting sliced up. But that's because more people take a shot. And it feels very wrong for us to say, no, the crater's up until 2020. They were good, but no one should be able to try after 2020. New creators should be able to try to do music. So that's the dynamic.

And I think a way to think about this is people talk about the per stream payouts and so forth a lot. And Spotify should share more per stream. There are two things that are happening. When other companies say that they share more per stream, the industry doesn't pay per stream. They pay per subscriber. We have more than twice the engagement of our competitive services.

And I think a way to think about this is people talk about the per stream payouts and so forth a lot. And Spotify should share more per stream. There are two things that are happening. When other companies say that they share more per stream, the industry doesn't pay per stream. They pay per subscriber. We have more than twice the engagement of our competitive services.

So if you take the same $10 and you listen twice as much as Spotify, the per stream is half. So these other companies have higher per stream because they have a worse product. We've learned from the labels that we have twice the engagement and half the churn of competing services.

So if you take the same $10 and you listen twice as much as Spotify, the per stream is half. So these other companies have higher per stream because they have a worse product. We've learned from the labels that we have twice the engagement and half the churn of competing services.

So that's a curse where the per stream model is the better we are as a product, the lower the per stream is going to look. But we're looking at the aggregate number, and we're leading everyone else there. We're the vast majority of these payouts. So I think if you look overall, the model is working. We took a lot of investments, and now the industry is getting a huge return.

So that's a curse where the per stream model is the better we are as a product, the lower the per stream is going to look. But we're looking at the aggregate number, and we're leading everyone else there. We're the vast majority of these payouts. So I think if you look overall, the model is working. We took a lot of investments, and now the industry is getting a huge return.

And Spotify also is profitable now. And the way to grow this pie is now we are closing in on 300 million page subscribers, closing in on 700 million MAUs. There's about 500 million page subscribers, I think, in the world. We're almost 300 of those. But that's half a billion out of the world's population.

And Spotify also is profitable now. And the way to grow this pie is now we are closing in on 300 million page subscribers, closing in on 700 million MAUs. There's about 500 million page subscribers, I think, in the world. We're almost 300 of those. But that's half a billion out of the world's population.

If you look at markets like Sweden, on average, you can just look at the public numbers, we convert about 40%. But if you look at the mature markets, it won't give you the exact number, but it is much higher. And if you look at the emerging, it's lower. So the average is 40. That's not the average across the world. That's a blend of low and high converting. And so far throughout our history...

If you look at markets like Sweden, on average, you can just look at the public numbers, we convert about 40%. But if you look at the mature markets, it won't give you the exact number, but it is much higher. And if you look at the emerging, it's lower. So the average is 40. That's not the average across the world. That's a blend of low and high converting. And so far throughout our history...

Everything starts to look more and more like Sweden the more time passes. So the solution to this is just to scale it faster. Better free tier that gets more people on, that converts to premium. We think there should be billions of people paying for music. And that's how you make the pie truly bigger. The RevShare is actually a red herring. So let's say that we share 70% today-ish.

Everything starts to look more and more like Sweden the more time passes. So the solution to this is just to scale it faster. Better free tier that gets more people on, that converts to premium. We think there should be billions of people paying for music. And that's how you make the pie truly bigger. The RevShare is actually a red herring. So let's say that we share 70% today-ish.

Let's say two thirds to make it easier. Even if we were a charity and we paid out 100%, that would only be 1.5x what you get today. So if you think expenditure per stream is too little, even if we were a charity, it would be 1.5. The solution is not the rev share or giving away the vast majority. The solution is to quickly scale the amount of people paying for music.

Let's say two thirds to make it easier. Even if we were a charity and we paid out 100%, that would only be 1.5x what you get today. So if you think expenditure per stream is too little, even if we were a charity, it would be 1.5. The solution is not the rev share or giving away the vast majority. The solution is to quickly scale the amount of people paying for music.