He believed that if he offered music free with advertising on users’ desktops, many would pay for the convenience of having it ad-free on their iPhones. Ek was a big Apple supporter but Steve Jobs, the iPhone’s creator, had mocked the idea of music subscriptions and the Swede’s business model was a bet on Apple’s guru being wrong. “Jobs was a brilliant guy ... but he was also very famous for saying constantly that something was wrong and then six months later doing it himself,” says Ek.
Pointing to forecasts that another billion people will come online in the next three years, he adds: “We’re just at the beginning of this journey ... This is the time to invest.” Indeed, while Spotify’s sales shot from €190m to €435m in 2012, its net losses grew from €45.4m to €58.7m as Ek poured money into new features and opening in more countries.
With launches in four markets this week, including Argentina and Turkey, Spotify is now in 32 countries, and he sees opening up emerging markets as the best chance of restoring the music industry to its former size. Though Ek’s home market of Sweden is also capturing the industry’s attention. In the first half of 2013, streaming services accounted for three-quarters of the country’s recorded music revenues, driving growth of 12 per cent in an industry accustomed to double-digit declines.
