Spotify's 2018 listing letter from Daniel Ek

About this letter

Daniel Ek, Spotify's co-founder, chief executive and chairman, wrote this note for the registration statement on form F-1 that Spotify Technology S.A. filed with the SEC on 28 February 2018. The filing was made in connection with a direct listing of the company's ordinary shares on the NYSE, and the letter, headed 'Our Path', sits just before the business section.

Ek opens with the two passions he has had since the age of four, music and technology, and says he built Spotify because music was too important to let piracy take down the industry. He lists the company's values, states its mission to unlock the potential of human creativity, and describes an old model in which artists needed a label, a recording studio and terrestrial radio, giving way to one in which they produce and release their own music.

What to notice

1. 1

   Ek describes a deliberate order for recommendation: start with human creativity, add expertise and understanding, then apply algorithms, in contrast to companies that rely entirely on data.

“We really do believe that we can improve the world, one song at a time.”