The Playlist

I had no idea about it and went in blind. This surprised me. The acting, the cinematography and the flow of the story is authentic and genuine. I do not know if this is completely true to the reality story, but it is very hooking for sure. Episode 2 was epic, the acting and the conflict between cultures, portrayed genuinely. "Heisenberg" looking guy won me over!

2 episodes in and I am getting 2 perspectives of the story with it moving forward, I can only assume it is going to get better. The only thing I hate about series/shows these days is they are either too 'teenage-ish' or too unrealistic.

I would definitely rate this a solid 9/10 for the 2 episodes I have seen. Let's see how it goes!

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.

A nice take on the origins of streaming site Spotify. Tight script, wonderful execution, well balanced approach and perfect star cast. It doesn't exactly say how much is truth and how much is fictionalized to spice it up or bland it down, but give n take, this is a well done limited series in recent past.

The Vision, The Industry, The Law, The Coder, The Partner and finally The Artist... Ooh it just gets better than the previous. There is a lot that goes behind an entrepreneurship is not unknown but what definitely is unknown is the how's n when's n what's to most and it's easy to get swayed away but The Playlist keeps it tight and just.

After having watched magnificent slow burn Dahmer, this was a welcome spot-on refreshing watch.

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 theme of the series is the music industry's fight for survival and the rise of the streaming platform Spotify. To keep the series exciting, each episode is told from the perspective of a different participant. In this way, a really complex topic is not reduced to a simple scheme of good and evil. Otherwise, the transformation of an 'IT nerd' into a 'tech billionaire' might not have been a storyline for six episodes and 4,5 hours screentime. But now this mini series is really brilliant and a really outstanding implementation of a current topic, namely how the digital revolution is changing all of our lives. Excellent!