{"id":21429,"date":"2025-10-01T09:04:00","date_gmt":"2025-10-01T09:04:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/?p=21429"},"modified":"2025-10-01T09:04:00","modified_gmt":"2025-10-01T09:04:00","slug":"founder-daniel-ek-to-step-away-from-spotify-long-bets-in-european-defense-health","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/?p=21429","title":{"rendered":"Founder Daniel Ek to step away from Spotify: long bets in European defense, health"},"content":{"rendered":"
When\u00a0Daniel\u00a0Ek\u00a0founded Spotify\u00a0in 2006, a viable music product was a “moon shot.” The global music industry was struggling with years of declining sales, online music piracy was rampant, and services like Apple’s\u00a0iTunes were pricey.<\/p>\n

Ek\u00a0believed if access to music was as easy as turning on a tap – in a way that was legal and fair to artists – users would come. The key was streaming, not downloads, an idea that revolutionized the industry and catapulted Spotify into a $140 billion music powerhouse.<\/p>\n

The serial entrepreneur,\u00a0who announced on Tuesday he will step down as\u00a0Spotify’s CEO next year, has his sights set on building the next Spotify \u2014 albeit not in the music industry.\u00a0Ek\u00a0wants to focus on technology that drives “progress in areas that matter most to society.”<\/p>\n

“I am often asked, ‘How do we build more Spotifys out of Europe?'”\u00a0Ek\u00a0said in a note to Spotify employees on Tuesday. “That\u2019s why several years ago, I announced my intention to help create more of these supercompanies – companies that are developing new technologies to tackle some of the biggest challenges of our time.”<\/p>\n

Ek\u00a0has pledged to invest 1 billion euros ($1.18 billion) of his own wealth through his venture capital firm, Prima Materia, in\u00a0European \u201cmoonshot\u201d projects \u2014 early-stage startups in deep technology, AI, and climate and health tech.<\/p>\n

The billionaire’s\u00a0motto is to\u00a0not just invest, but to build businesses for the long term,\u00a0driven by his\u00a0belief that global champions can be built in Europe.<\/p>\n

“I\u2019ll share more about how I\u2019ll put some of my builder energy there,”\u00a0Ek\u00a0said in the letter, referring to\u00a0his\u00a0outside engagements. “But today is about Spotify.”<\/p>\n

WAR TECH\u00a0SPARK ARTIST BACKLASH<\/p>\n

In 2018,\u00a0Ek\u00a0co-founded Neko\u00a0Health to help\u00a0people stay healthy through preventive measures and early detection. The company has raised\u00a0$325 million\u00a0in total funding.<\/p>\n

Ek\u00a0has also invested in\u00a0Germany’s Helsing, a maker of AI-controlled combat drones that has received\u00a0over a billion dollars\u00a0to become the largest defence startup in Europe, valued at $12 billion. This investment, though, has drawn\u00a0criticism.<\/p>\n

Music groups including Massive Attack, King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard, and Hotline TNT removed their music from Spotify in protest.<\/p>\n

“Music and weapons are not a good mix,” said Simon Dyson, analyst at Omdia. With some high-profile artists pulling their music from the service, “the sounds of protest are starting to become a distraction,” he said.<\/p>\n

The company did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.<\/p>\n

Ek\u00a0has weathered criticism before, from artist\u00a0pay disputes\u00a0to controversies around Spotify\u2019s\u00a0podcast investments. Supporters credit him with creating a legal model that drew listeners away from piracy, but critics note Spotify’s outsized influence on artists, which has often translated to inequity for independent labels.<\/p>\n

FROM CODER TO MUSIC INDUSTRY DISRUPTOR<\/p>\n

As a 23-year-old coder,\u00a0Ek\u00a0started Spotify to challenge online music piracy with a legal alternative, something even big music companies were struggling to address.<\/p>\n

When he steps down from the CEO role next year to become executive\u00a0chair, he will pass the reins of a music giant to his two long-trusted aides, Gustav Soderstrom and Alex Norstrom.<\/p>\n

Ek, now 42, grew up in a Stockholm suburb and worked in several\u00a0startups\u00a0before teaming up with co-founder Martin Lorentzon to start Spotify.<\/p>\n

His proposition – music funded by subscriptions and ads – helped redirect fans from piracy and pulled labels, artists and advertisers into a single marketplace.<\/p>\n

Under\u00a0Ek, Spotify pushed three big levers that reshaped the business: price-disciplined subscriptions, algorithmic playlists that could mint hits overnight, and an ever-widening content range, from podcasts to audiobooks.<\/p>\n

Ek\u2019s legacy is visible in Spotify user habits – a monthly fee that millions treat as a utility, playlists that serve as cultural gatekeepers, and podcasts that have become a daily routine.<\/p>\n

A Netflix miniseries,\u00a0“The Playlist”,\u00a0showcased the birth and rise of Spotify in 2022.<\/p>\n

Although\u00a0Ek\u00a0plans to focus on building other companies, he\u00a0intends\u00a0to stay involved in Spotify.<\/p>\n

“I will be more involved than a typical US\u00a0chairman, so think of it a little bit like moving from a player to a coach,”\u00a0Ek\u00a0told journalists on Tuesday.<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When\u00a0Daniel\u00a0Ek\u00a0founded Spotify\u00a0in 2006, a viable music product was a “moon shot.” The global music industry was struggling with years of declining sales, online music piracy was rampant, and services like Apple’s\u00a0iTunes were pricey. Ek\u00a0believed if access to music was as easy as turning on a tap – in a way that was legal and fair […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21429","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-english-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21429","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=21429"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21429\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=21429"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=21429"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=21429"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}