Spotify Newsletter #131

Your Weekly Dose of Spotify News

Oct 14, 2022

Hello! Welcome to a new edition of the Spotify Newsletter!

The Playlist, Netflix’s new show about Spotify, is out now. And early reviews look promising.

Inspired by the book Spotify Untold, the fictionalized, Swedish, six-part series tells the story of how Daniel Ek (played Edvin Endre) and his partners tried to “challenge the status quo by evolving the way we can all listen to music,” according to Netflix.

Our friends at TechRadar rolled out a 5-star rating:

Sitting down to watch a six-part story about the creation of a music streaming service, one without a larger-than-life Elon Musk-esque central character, did not instinctively feel like event television. My instincts were wrong. The Playlist is 2022's best drama. The scripts are sharp, pacy, funny and cleverly structured to provide each key player in the story with a voice. The performances are great without straying into bluster or scenery chewing, and there's a constant motion in the narrative that keeps you utterly captivated. Do not skip this one.

The Financial Times also posted a review - noting that part of what stands out in the show is that it ‘resists indulging Ek (Edvin Endre) as a singular visionary.’

After the first episode — in which we see the twentysomething create and sell one company (a targeted advertising service) while sitting in his underwear, before laying the foundations for Spotify with his partner Martin Lorentzon (Christian Hillborg) — he stops being the central figure. Instead, each of the remaining five chapters is told from the perspective of other key individuals.

The Guardian writes that viewers should ‘stick with it for the brain-breakingly weird ending.’

No word from Neil Young just yet.

It might be time to dial it up this weekend! Thanks for reading and have a nice Friday / weekend!!

★In the SPOTlight★

🔥 Music Streaming Hits Major Milestone as 100,000 Songs are Uploaded Daily to Spotify and Other DSPs

The number cited by Universal and Warner chiefs represents a huge leap, since the figure for songs being added on a daily basis was reported to be 70,000 just 18 months ago.

🔥 Netflix's drama about the making of Spotify has no right to be this good: The Playlist review

For goodness sake, don't skip it...

🔥 When is Spotify Wrapped 2022?

Spotify Wrapped is a ‘deep dive’ into the artists, songs and albums that you listened to the most in 2022 - here’s when Spotify Wrapped will be released this year.

🔥 Spotify to hold a Masterclass for Artists during ADE 2022 as Official Music Sponsor

Spotify and Amsterdam Dance Event announced they are set to join forces to celebrate dance culture this Fall as Spotify becomes the official music partner of ADE 2022. The festival and conference last for five days and are held in Amsterdam from October 19 to 23.