Daniel Ek steps down as Spotify CEO: Are artist protests responsible for the leadership shake-up?

Spotify laminitis Daniel Ek has formally ended his tenure arsenic CEO of Spotify, nan progressively arguable streaming elephantine he founded 2 decades ago. 

As of 1 January 2026, Ek will “transition” to nan domiciled of executive president of Spotify, according to nan company. Gustav Söderström, presently co-president and main merchandise and exertion officer, and Alex Norström, co-president and main business officer, will go Spotify’s co-CEOs. 

According to a institution statement, nan executive alteration “formalizes really Spotify has successfully operated since 2023 pinch nan co-presidents mostly starring strategical improvement and operational execution of Spotify.” As executive chairman, Ek’s domiciled “will much intimately bespeak a European president setup,” wherever he will oversee superior allocation and scope retired nan semipermanent early and strategy for Spotify while continuing to supply support and guidance to its elder team.

Ek added that nan move has been made to let him to displacement his attraction towards different businesses.

“A individual statement connected what’s adjacent for me. I americium often asked, ‘How do we build much Spotifys retired of Europe?’ That’s why respective years ago, I announced my volition to thief create much of these supercompanies - companies that are processing caller technologies to tackle immoderate of nan biggest challenges of our time,” he added.

One of nan businesses extracurricular of Spotify that Ek is progressive successful is his finance institution Prima Materia – 1 which has caused headache for Spotify.  

Indeed, complete nan summer, nan marque led a €600million finance into Helsing – a Munich-based institution creating drones and artificial intelligence for subject operations. 

Ek's expanding ties pinch nan arms manufacture have led a number of high-profile artists to pull their euphony from Spotify, including prolific Australian psych-rock group King Gizzard & nan Lizard Wizard and American indie group Deerhoof, who said they don't want their "music sidesplitting people", describing Spotify arsenic a “data-mining scam.” 

Another high-profile sanction recently added itself to nan boycott: celebrated British trip-hop corporate Massive Attack. 

In a connection connected Instagram, nan set wrote: “In ray of nan (reported) important investments by [Spotify’s] CEO successful a institution producing subject munition drones & Al exertion integrated into combatant aircraft, Massive Attack person made a abstracted petition to our explanation that our euphony beryllium removed from nan Spotify streaming work successful each territories.” 

This comes arsenic Massive Attack and much than 400 artists – including Fontaines D.C., Kneecap, Primal Scream, Wednesday, Amyl & The Sniffers, MØ and Björk - joined nan No Music For Genocide taste boycott initiative, which encourages artists and rights-holders to propulsion their euphony from streaming platforms successful Israel.

These protests adhd to a increasing database of controversies and concerns surrounding nan streaming platform.

In 2024, Ek’s comments relating to nan costs of “creating content” sparked backlash from users and musicians.

Ek did merchandise a connection saying that he didn’t mean to usage nan “reductive” explanation of “content”. Still, nan Spotify level has often fixed nan belief of being dismissive of nan struggles faced by artists. Worse, underpaying and exploiting nan immense mostly of musicians.

Unlike beingness income aliases downloads, which salary artists a fixed value per opus aliases medium sold, Spotify pays royalties based connected nan artist’s “market share”. The likes of Radiohead’s Thom Yorke and Taylor Swift have criticised this argumentation and person temporarily withdrawn their euphony from nan work successful nan past.

The backlash was not helped by Spotify making grounds profits of much than €1billion past year, pursuing unit being laid disconnected (17% of its activity unit trim down) and subscription prices rising. And again, each astatine nan disbursal of artists struggling to make immoderate income from streaming – particularly aft 1 April 2024, erstwhile Spotify officially demonetised each songs connected nan level pinch little than 1,000 streams. 

At nan time, Primal Scream bassist Simone Marie Butler said that Ek was “sitting connected his yacht laughing astatine your Spotify apical 5 while he cashes successful connected euphony he had thing to do with, calls it ‘content’ and artists still get £0.04 per stream.” 

While Spotify announced successful its Loud & Clear 2024 report that it paid complete $10 cardinal (€9.2 billion) to nan euphony manufacture successful 2024 alone, critics person based on that astir of those payouts spell to conscionable a mini percent of apical artists and labels, and that nan level still exploits nan immense mostly of musicians.

Artists for illustration Björk, James Blake and Nine Inch Nails’ Trent Reznor person slammed nan streaming platform. The Icelandic vocalist said that Spotify “is astir apt nan worst point that has happened to musicians,” Blake bemoaned really “the brainwashing worked and now group deliberation euphony is free”, while Reznor shared really streaming has “mortally wounded” artists. 

Spotify besides precocious came nether occurrence aft allowing an AI-generated set called Velvet Sundown, which has managed to rack up millions of streams, to look connected its level pinch a “verified artist” badge. 

We described Spotify’s domiciled successful allowing nan AI set connected nan level arsenic "a premier illustration of autocratic tech bros seeking to trim quality creation to algorithms designed to eliminate art." 

While these protests multiply, they whitethorn not beryllium capable to declare they forced nan activity shake-up - moreover if nan timing could beryllium publication arsenic fortuitous and a move to easiness immoderate pressure.

Spotify committee head Woody Marshall claims that nan precocious announced activity changes had been successful mobility for years.

Nevertheless, co-CEOs Gustav Söderström and Alex Norström will person to activity double shifts to claw backmost immoderate goodwill, which seems to beryllium successful short proviso astatine nan moment.  

The 2 lieutenants person been pinch Spotify for much than 15 years and will study to Ek, truthful immoderate hopes of awesome changes pinch regards to nan curen of artists and their “content” isn’t apt to change. 

Morningstar expert Matthew Dolgin wrote successful a investigation note: “Leadership modulation ever brings risk, but succession is inevitable, and this 1 appears to beryllium arsenic orderly arsenic possible.” That said, he added: “Naming co-CEOs and still having Ek overseeing semipermanent strategical guidance tin bring much consequence than having a much singular authority.” 

Spotify shares, which doubled successful nan past year, fell much than 3 per cent successful early greeting trading aft Ek’s announcement. The level still remains nan clear marketplace leader pinch astir 700 cardinal monthly users, acold up of Apple Music's astir 90 cardinal subscribers.