The Playlist

Any story about the origin of a tech start-up is always fascinating with all the struggles and challenges it faces to become what it is. This is one such film.

The viewer gets to have a front seat as Spotify's story unfolds from the points of view of the major actors that made it the biggest thing in music streaming service: Daniel Ek, Martin Lorentzon, Petra Hansson, Andreas Ehn and Bobbi T.

Undoubtedly, it's an engaging story that introduces the viewer to key moments that pushed the start-up forward and upward. All the episodes are enlightening. And one particular episode is fun to watch. The idea of Petra Hansson in episode 3 flitting to different locations by opening different doors is brilliantly playful. Episode 4 is the heart of the series as it reveals how Andreas Ehn's creative coders solve the technical problem of buffering to come up with a unique network protocol. Andreas enthuses that the result "is the best designed, most user-friendly, most complete music player ever."

Episode 6 brings to the fore the consequent, if unintended, problems that Spotify's business model is wreaking upon the musicians themselves. This brings the company to a critical juncture. The essential question is will Daniel Ek compromise and address the plight of the average musician?

The talented cast succeeds in telling the story of this business giant. Kudos to Gizem Erdogan, Ulf Stenberg, Edvin Endre, and Janice Kavander for their solid performance. Bobbi T is a fictional character.)

There's just one scene though that's puzzling; this is the last scene. Check it out.

As is true in life, the multibillion-dollar company has to grapple with the need to change with the times. Only time will tell whether it will sustain its progressive trajectory.

This film is spot on.

As Episode 1 of "The Playlist" (2022 release from Sweden; 6 episodes of 45-55 min each) opens, we are in "Ragsved, 2004" (a suburb of Stockholm) and we get to know Daniel Ek, a 22 yo who had hoped to land a job at Google, but alas, he was rejected. He starts his own company, Advertigo, providing digital discount coupons. It's not long before that this new venture attracts the attention of others... At this point we are 10 minutes into Episode 1.

Couple of comments: this mini-series is (mostly) adapted from the book "Spotify Untold", written by 2 Swedish journalists. It brings the story of Spotify from a number of perspectives. Episode 1 "The Vision" focuses on how Spotify came about in the first place; Episode 2 "The Industry" looks at how the music industry dealt with this massive market disruption; etc. The best is saved for last, as Episode 6 "The Artist" (which episode is NOT based on book) looks forward on how all of this might unfold, with the last 15 minutes taking place in "Washington DC 2025"... I admit that none of the cast or the production crew were familiar to me, but all I can say is that I binge-watched this mini-series in less than 24 hrs.

"The Playlist" started streaming on Netflix last month, and I just now got around to it. Better late than never. If you are curious how Spotify came about, or how it has affected both the record labels and the artists, I'd readily suggest you check this out, whether you are for or against Spotify, and draw your own conclusion.

I like how this series takes multiple perspectives to show us the rise and controversy of Spotify, and what issues were plaguing the record industry at the time. It's certainly worth the watch, especially if you like stories about start-ups.

However, if you do watch it, you lose the quality of the acting if you watch the dubbed version.

I did find the overall story to be quite interesting as it evolved, from the founder's vision and relentless pursuit, to the major issues faced when trying to realise that vision, and the compromises and realities faced as time went by. And ultimately, the main losers in the whole story were the very ones Spotify claimed to be serving.

The series is pretty good overall, especially if you're interested in how a startup works or the music industry. The last episode simply shows that it's not all paradise and underlines the problems of the platform. I think that everyone who said in their reviews that the last episode is terrible just got too attached to Daniel Ek and his Spotify dream - maybe some people would've preferred for the series to end with a big happy party, but I personally appreciated that the creators chose to also explore the nastier sides of the business rather than sugarcoat Spotify's influence and effects. Dismissing the last episode just because it's not some satisfying fantasy kind of proves the whole point that the ep. Is trying to make and reinforces Ek's own disillusionment.

The 6 episode mini series, based on the story of the rising of streaming platform Spotify, deals with contradictory and complex matters as value of music and musicians' labor, debates on the copyrigt, and people's right of free access to the streamed music.

The playlist, unlike the majority of other examples of the similar kind of screen productions, doesn't focus on aggrandising its main object; it is pretty far away from a praising story on Spotify.

Interestingly, one of the episodes contains a story set in 2024 and 2025. Swedish directors, via this episode, reveal their predictions on the near future of Spotify, music industry and related struggles for rights.