Spotify founder Ek to step down as CEO to focus on long-term strategy

In this photo taken march 16, 2010, Spotify CEO Daniel Ek is interviewed by Wired's Eliot Van Buskirk, unseen, at the Austin Convention Center during the last interactive keynote of SXSW. (AP Photo/Austin American-Statesman, Kelly West )

Spotify founder-CEO Daniel Ek will step down to become executive chairman in January, the Swedish streaming company said on Tuesday as it adopts a new co-CEO structure in its strategy to fend off rivals and shore up its profit margin.

Billionaire Ek, who built Spotify into a rare global consumer technology leader from the region, will step back from day-to-day business as the company charts out its plan to keep ahead of music offering from YouTube, Apple and Amazon.

“Ek leaves the CEO role on a high note, with big boots to fill for the incoming CEOs,” said PP Foresight analyst Paolo Pescatore. The U.S. shares of Spotify were down about five per cent after gaining 63 per cent this year.

Ek, a prominent tech entrepreneur of Europe, will focus on capital allocation and long-term strategy as executive chairman in what the company called a European-style role.

“I will be more involved than a typical US chairman. So think of it a little bit like moving from a player to a coach,” said Ek, who has been on the company’s board since 2008.

Spotify remains the clear market leader with nearly 700 million monthly users and more than 100 million tracks, far ahead of Apple Music’s roughly 90 million subscribers.

But it faces competition from YouTube Music’s vast video-integrated catalog and Amazon Music’s Prime-linked offerings, which give rivals distinct advantages in certain markets.

Despite Spotify’s dominance, pressure on profit margins have persisted as artists push for higher payouts and the ad-supported tier expands.

Global revenue from recorded music rose 4.8 per cent to US$29.6 billion in 2024. Streaming exceeded $20 billion for the first time and subscription streaming accounted for more than half of it, according to IFPI’s Global Music Report.

From startup to giant

Founded in 2006, Stockholm-based Spotify helped transform a music industry that had been shrinking for years due to piracy and falling CD sales. Its U.S. debut in 2011 came as industry revenue had slumped.

Still, the company reported its first annual profit only in 2024, after a slew of price increases and cost-cutting efforts.

Billionaire Ek is often cited as a champion of Europe’s ability to produce companies that can compete with U.S. and Asian tech giants.

Gustav Soderstrom, currently chief product and technology officer, oversees global tech strategy and product development, while Alex Norstrom, as chief business officer, manages subscriber and advertising businesses along with music, podcast and audiobook operations.

They will report to Ek who also serves on the board. The three executives have worked together for a decade and a half.

“Norstrom is deeply interested in knowledge about product, and I’m very interested in business,” Soderstrom said. “So we run this as a single team. Several high-profile firms such as Oracle and Netflix have adopted a co-CEO model to better manage their operations as they become more complex and globally diversified.

The co-CEO model, which has become popular, has also drawn skepticism for creating blurred lines of authority.

“The big unknown is why Spotify needs an executive chairman and two chief executives as that conjures up the idea that too many cooks spoil the broth,” said Dan Coatsworth, investment analyst at AJ Bell.

By Jaspreet Singh and Supantha Mukherjee

(Reporting by Supantha Mukherjee in Stockholm and Jaspreet Singh and Akash Sriram in Bengaluru; Editing by Arun Koyyur)