Despite such reservations, Spotify launched in 2008 and quickly became popular with both users and investors. Ek retorted that Spotify discouraged online music piracy by providing a low-cost alternative and that the service would, over time, generate substantial royalties for the music industry. For $5 or $10 a month in subscription fees, however, consumers could avoid the advertisements.įrom the outset, the music industry expressed little enthusiasm for Ek’s innovation, because Spotify’s license to stream music earned the industry far less revenue per song than it got from a music download service such as Apple Inc.’s iTunes.

Spotify customers could listen to online streaming music for free if they were willing to allow display or audio advertising. Ek’s innovative business model for providing access to music online differed from other services in that it did not involve charging for song downloads. He then established Spotify with Tradedoubler’s cofounder, Martin Lorentzon, and became CEO.

He worked for several Web-based companies before founding Advertigo, an online marketing firm that he sold in 2006 to the Swedish company Tradedoubler. Ek created Web sites for businesses and ran Web hosting services out of his bedroom.

Cofounder of spotify