Netflix Producing New Series About The Launch Of Spotify: What You Need To Know

Netflix Inc NFLX is producing a six-part dramatic series on how Swedish entrepreneur Daniel Ek launched Spotify Technology SA SPOT.

What Happened: According to a Variety report, the series is based on the book “Spotify Untold” by business journalists Sven Carlsson and Jonas Leijonhufvud and will follow how Ek and his business partners launched their service in the face of a skeptical music industry.

The series, which has yet to receive a title, is being produced by Yellow Bird U.K., a Banijay Group company, and will be directed by Per-Olav Sørensen, whose previous series “Quicksand” and “Home for Christmas” were streamed on Netflix. Edvin Endre (“Vikings”) will play Ek.

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What Is Unclear: It is not certain if the new series will dramatize the efforts by Apple Inc.’s AAPL Steve Jobs to prevent Spotify from entering the U.S. market and no actor has been identified in the production promotion as being cast as Jobs.

In a July 2019 interview with Variety, Carlsson and Leijonhufvud noted that Apple commanded approximately 80% of the U.S. digital music distribution sector when Spotify attempted to enter that market in 2010.

“Because Spotify was hindered by Steve Jobs, it forced the company to sweeten its deals with the record companies,” said Leijonhufvud. “That finally allowed Ek to enter the U.S.”
“I think we both felt a rush of adrenaline when we unraveled the details about the conflict between Apple and Spotify,” added Carlsson. “After several months of research, we could finally account for how Jobs actively worked to oppose Spotify’s establishment in the U.S., and what he may have been thinking.”

(Photo of David Ek by Kmeron / Flickr Creative Commons.)