The Spotify Play: How Daniel Ek Beat Apple, Google, and Amazon in the Race for Audio Dominance

I stopped reading after a couple of chapters. I was expecting more details about the business obstacles they overcame. Some things are a little hard to believe. Example: numerous references to meeting with music industry executives. Really? How did an unknown tech guy get those meetings set up? Discussion about group of nerdy tech guys doing programming etc. Where did the money come from to pay them? There are a zillion legal, operational, tax, and other details with such an organization but little discussion of those details. But hey, the bottom line is this: they did it and became rich. I would have liked to know more about how they did it.

It's a readable book. Unfortunately, it is a more of a person-driven narrative, as opposed to a deep dive into business strategy. After reading the book, one is unlikely to figure out why exactly is it that Spotify did come to dominate the music streaming, whether the labels are going to lose their sway over time, and whether Spotify's competitive position is sustainable. I did come away thinking that a bunch of hanger-ons made themselves quite rich without actually doing much in practice.

A great first take history on a company that forced the music industry to adapt. Told in a fast paced story, largely focusing on Daniel Elk but not in an over grandising manner with warts and all.Well written, concise and approachable, able to lay out the complexities involved in the key negotiations with the labels, the issues streaming raises with respect to artist royalties, etc.Highly recommended for anyone interested in the business of music, what it takes to make an idea into a $20 billion company or someone who wants a great story.

This book is not a 'puff' piece as noted by another reviewer.This book is a very detailed account, from an outside perspective that offers many inside out stories.This book has it highs and lows, but let me be clear there are a lot more high than low.This book is not only interesting it is deep.Lastly, this book is about grit, determination, following your dreams and effort and that is why I gave it a review.peace,t

A comprehensive look at how Spotify's model managed to achieve a music platform that up to that point had seemed rather impossible-- and beat out huge competitors like Apple (not to mention Spotify's play in podcasting that came next). The authors clearly did their homework, had really impressive access to history and sources, and report from an honest and objective angle. I hope they continue to follow Spotify's strategy and that they're able to update/bring fresh info to future editions. Recommended reading!

I read the Swedish version 1st, but the translated one is great! I highly suggest grabbing this and read how the music industry got turned upside down.

The Spotify Play is the unofficial history of Spotify and its founder Daniel Elk. Written by two Swedish business journalists this book relies on their own interviews with the founder and others from his company to reconstruct how this Swedish firm became a tech powerhouse and redefined the music industry. It addresses many of the issues Spotify has today with its relations to those who produce music and how it fought with its rival iTunes to eventually become one of the dominant platforms out there. If you are into contentious rounds of VC funding, pins and needles tech development and how corrupt the music industry is then this book is for you. The authors keep the book moving and although endless rounds of VC funding can become dull it is the way of life for companies like this and they kept it interesting. Overall if you have an interest in company profiles for business book this will satisfy that craving. This book also provides an interesting counterpoint to the often labeled criticism of artist treatment from Spotify.

I remember with joy when Spotify first came onto the scene in the early 2010s. I loved the listening platform and seriously thought it was the best thing to happen to music, perhaps ever. I eagerly shared emails from Spotify to try to get some of my family members to get registered on it, and I included messages to them about how awesome and expansive the platform was. They poked fun of my enthusiasm at the time, but eventually they too discovered how great Spotify was and have used it for years, just like me.My feelings about Spotify haven’t changed. I probably use it nearly every day, and it has expanded my musical tastes and horizons in ways I never would have imagined. To this day, I think the launching of Spotify was a historic time for music, and I’ve never once been disappointed with any aspect of the platform or how it has been run.I therefore was pretty excited to read “The Spotify Play,” which focuses on one of the company’s co-founders, Daniel Ek, as well as about the company’s history. The book is well researched and the two authors put together a cohesive, readable book that probably many folks will enjoy. I liked hearing about how the company started and how it struggled at first, and it’s always inspiring to see people who are passionate about something strive until they get what they want. Some of the stories related in “The Spotify Play” may have been better fleshed out if it was an “official” account, but its “unofficial” status doesn’t bring it down that much.There’s a lot of greed on display in the book, at least the parts I read up until the middle portion. The authors highlight how certain entrenched individuals in the music industry can’t see beyond next month in terms of where music is going (streaming … duh!). Even Steve Jobs comes off as a bit of a backward-thinking titan in the book, though he probably realized deep down that Spotify was going to eventually take over the world. Daniel Ek and his hardworking cohorts simply had a superior product and they knew it, and they didn’t let anyone stop them from bringing it to the world.As the book went on, I found myself getting bored with all the descriptions of the meetings, fly-by-night tech companies, the movers and shakers of these companies, and the cliched endeavors of numerous up-and-coming tech entrepreneurs. I will say it was refreshing to read about the buzzing tech world in Stockholm instead of the played-out scene in Silicon Valley for once.After a while, Daniel Ek and his cohorts started to come off as no different to me than cutthroat, ultra-competitive people like Steve Jobs, Sean Parker, and Mark Zuckerberg. Nothing against these folks and what they’ve accomplished—I know they’ve done a lot of good, philanthropic things for individuals worldwide—but I’m just tired of reading about them after all these years. To be honest, I’m kind of tired of all the massive tech companies in general, at least in terms of their practices and in many instances how they portray themselves.So, all that said, by page 158 I found myself skimming the paragraphs of this book and becoming uninterested in the finer details of what got Spotify off the ground. I do credit authors Sven Carlsson and Jonas Leijonhufvud for digging up all this dirt in such a painstaking way, but the story just kind of petered out for me after a while. Still, I’m obviously glad it all worked out so that we have Spotify today. I’ll always be a fan of the platform.