Daniel Ek’s story is similar to that of many successful CEOs. He started with a passion from a very young age, he experimented with some businesses and school was not one of his priorities. In addition to being surrounded by various scandals and now even with a biographical series account.
Daniel Ek grew up in Ragsved, Sweden. His grandmother was an opera singer and his grandfather a jazz pianist. He realized at a very young age what his passions were. “Since I was 4 years old, my life has revolved around music and technology,” the CEO wrote.
In his spare time from school, he programmed computers, sang and played the guitar. From a young age he realized his talent with technology, so at the age of 13 he was already designing websites in his room and charging between 100 and 200 dollars for them. A year later, he was already paid 500 and at 18 he already had five people working for him.
Google’s rejection
However, before founding his own company, he received a huge rejection. Ek told his story in an interview in 2012. When he didn’t get an offer from Google and he pondered whether to start a company that would compete against the giant or not. After all, Daniel already had a business that he had been running since he was 13 years old, which generated 50 thousand dollars a month.
“I’ll make my own search engine, it can’t be that hard. It turns out that it is very, very difficult, ”she confessed in the interview.
University was not for the technological genius
After two months of entering the Engineering career at the KTH Royal Institute of Technology, dropped out of school. His real motivation was to have his own business.
He worked in several firms, until he entered an online advertising agency tradedoubler. At 23, she already had financial independence, a Ferrari and VIP cards to enter the most exclusive clubs and parties. But she didn’t last long. He decided to sell everything and go live on the outskirts of Stockholm.
According to the BBC, those who know him describe him as a computer prodigy, a lover of music, soccer and video games. A peaceful man, who is very difficult to upset.
The story of Daniel Ek and Spotify
After walking away, he contacted Martin Lorentzon, whom he had met at work, to develop the idea that would one day become Spotify.
Daniel Ek and Martin Lorenzton founded the music company in 2006, but it was not until 2008 that they launched Spotify in Europe. In 2011, they brought their idea to the United States with the support of several investors. But not everyone thought it would be a good idea to have free music catalogues.
There is no doubt that Spotify revolutionized the music industry and the way we listen to it. Millions of free songs and on the same platform.
Spotify’s problems with musicians
Although melody was included in his blood, he is not a professional composer or musician. This bothers many singers, as they claim that Ek is unaware of the process and work behind a song.
The controversy has also reached him. In an interview to MusicAlly, Ek said, “You can’t record music once every three or four years and think that will be enough. It’s about having an ongoing commitment to your fans. It’s about working, telling stories around the album and maintaining a continuous dialogue with fans,” said the CEO. Which brought him several reproaches.
“Free” music has a cost, which in theory the musicians assume, or that is what Daniel Ek is told. However, he claims that the idea that Spotify doesn’t pay artists enough to live is a “narrative fallacy.”
However, there are also artists who continue to support the idea, for example Bruno Mars, who sang at Ek’s wedding with Sofia Lavander in 2016 or Ed Sheeran, who has called him a “technological pioneer”.
The story of Daniel Ek on the small screen of Netflix
After several series or movies told us the stories of big companies like “The social network”with the birth of Facebook, “jobs” that portrays the journey to create Apple or “We Crashed”, the series that shows the rise and fall of one of the most valuable startups in the world. Now it’s turn “The Playlist”, a six-episode Netflix miniseries in which he narrates, from different points of view, how Spotify was born and grew. This comes from Daniel Ek’s country of origin, Sweden and is now available on the platform of streaming.
Mariel Otero Journalist passionate about fashion, the world of beauty and the source of lifestyle. Lover of stories worth telling, series, movies and sagas. Corny and closet geek.