Gustav Söderström

If you think about, let's say, five years from now and you dream as big as you can possibly dream for where Spotify might go from where it is today to where it will be in five years, paint us that picture.

If you think about, let's say, five years from now and you dream as big as you can possibly dream for where Spotify might go from where it is today to where it will be in five years, paint us that picture.

Certainly, I hope we've cracked the billion user line, but as a subscription, I hope we're becoming one of the biggest media subscriptions in the world and we add more and more value to that. So hopefully, music is bigger than any of us. I'm hoping that audiobooks is a mainstream phenomenon, as it is in Scandinavia, where it's almost as many people who listen to music listen to audiobooks.

Certainly, I hope we've cracked the billion user line, but as a subscription, I hope we're becoming one of the biggest media subscriptions in the world and we add more and more value to that. So hopefully, music is bigger than any of us. I'm hoping that audiobooks is a mainstream phenomenon, as it is in Scandinavia, where it's almost as many people who listen to music listen to audiobooks.

I think that would be a net good for the world. But I also hope we've added a few more of these verticals. I can't say what they are. The subscription model, the bundling model that we didn't talk so much about, we can differentiate on product or on content. But largely, we tend to license commodity content. We don't work with exclusivities, at least not anymore. We tried in podcasts for a while.

I think that would be a net good for the world. But I also hope we've added a few more of these verticals. I can't say what they are. The subscription model, the bundling model that we didn't talk so much about, we can differentiate on product or on content. But largely, we tend to license commodity content. We don't work with exclusivities, at least not anymore. We tried in podcasts for a while.

So you can differentiate on the product and consumption of the commodity content, but you can also differentiate it on the offering. So, for example, if you look at Spotify now versus other offerings, some other offerings have the same music, some other offerings have some of the same podcasts. You can not really find the combination of music, podcasts and audiobooks. That's a unique thing.

So you can differentiate on the product and consumption of the commodity content, but you can also differentiate it on the offering. So, for example, if you look at Spotify now versus other offerings, some other offerings have the same music, some other offerings have some of the same podcasts. You can not really find the combination of music, podcasts and audiobooks. That's a unique thing.

So to use bundling theory to create more and more of a differentiated, unique thing that is Spotify, I think is very exciting. And I think you will see more innovation on the bundling business model in addition to the product. I'm the product guy, but I'm very interested in business models. I've been a CEO myself, so I think you will see a lot of innovation there.

So to use bundling theory to create more and more of a differentiated, unique thing that is Spotify, I think is very exciting. And I think you will see more innovation on the bundling business model in addition to the product. I'm the product guy, but I'm very interested in business models. I've been a CEO myself, so I think you will see a lot of innovation there.

What's the key to a good bundle? And I'm also curious, you said you experimented with exclusive content that was only available on platform and less of that now. What drives a decision like that? And how do you think about other people that might want to create a bundle somewhere else?

What's the key to a good bundle? And I'm also curious, you said you experimented with exclusive content that was only available on platform and less of that now. What drives a decision like that? And how do you think about other people that might want to create a bundle somewhere else?

When we looked at podcasts, you look at something like Netflix and this beautiful business model and insanely good execution as well on top of that. And it looked to us like that could be interesting. I think when you're a product company that works with commodity content, you always have this envy of what if we could differentiate through content? Then life is going to be super easy.

When we looked at podcasts, you look at something like Netflix and this beautiful business model and insanely good execution as well on top of that. And it looked to us like that could be interesting. I think when you're a product company that works with commodity content, you always have this envy of what if we could differentiate through content? Then life is going to be super easy.

You always think the other thing that someone else is doing is easy and your thing is hard. And it's usually very hard to do the other thing. So... We tried exclusivity in podcasts as a way to differentiate the service, but I think it was ultimately a bad bet because the macro trend for the whole thing with podcasts was that the production cost was so low.

You always think the other thing that someone else is doing is easy and your thing is hard. And it's usually very hard to do the other thing. So... We tried exclusivity in podcasts as a way to differentiate the service, but I think it was ultimately a bad bet because the macro trend for the whole thing with podcasts was that the production cost was so low.

Joe Rogan was initially sitting in his trailer. The production cost was low. And then go in and do exclusivities on top of that. It's kind of counter-purpose in a way. The whole point is more like YouTube in that this is very cheap content, so you can get a lot of it. You don't have to be right. As soon as you go into an exclusivity game, you've got to be right. You've got to be a content picker.

Joe Rogan was initially sitting in his trailer. The production cost was low. And then go in and do exclusivities on top of that. It's kind of counter-purpose in a way. The whole point is more like YouTube in that this is very cheap content, so you can get a lot of it. You don't have to be right. As soon as you go into an exclusivity game, you've got to be right. You've got to be a content picker.

And that's a very hard skill that Netflix does extremely well. But we had this opportunity. We didn't have to pick content. We could just get all of it and use machine learning to serve you what you wanted and me what I wanted. And there wasn't this capital intensive need there that there is in producing costume dramas. It's a bad strategic decision. that we did.

And that's a very hard skill that Netflix does extremely well. But we had this opportunity. We didn't have to pick content. We could just get all of it and use machine learning to serve you what you wanted and me what I wanted. And there wasn't this capital intensive need there that there is in producing costume dramas. It's a bad strategic decision. that we did.