Daniel Ek Stepify.
On September 30, 2025, Spotify announced that Daniel Ek will step down as CEO on January 1, 2026, and transition into the role of Executive Chairman. The company said this move “formalizes how Spotify has successfully operated since 2023.”
Taking his place will be Gustav Söderström and Alex Norström, who will serve as co-CEOs. Söderström handles product and technology; Norström leads business and growth. Both have long worked under Ek’s direction, and both come from tech and business—not from music.
When the change takes effect, Ek will remain in control of Spotify’s broader strategy from a higher seat, still shaping where the company goes next.
For indie artists, that reality doesn’t bring hope. Royalties stay small, and Spotify’s algorithms and playlists still favor major-label artists—the same names recycled across curated lists and discovery feeds. This leadership shuffle? It’s just another headline meant to make people think something’s different.
Spotify started by finding artists first—telling them, “join us, reach the world.” But once the major labels stepped in, the story flipped. The same independent artists who helped build the platform became its ladder—stepped on so the giants could climb higher. The whole “artists first” promise? Just a marketing strategy.
Now Ek’s focus is somewhere else—on Helsing’s CA-1 Europa, the new AI-powered combat aircraft his defense company just revealed. It’s sleek, self-thinking, and it listens better than the artists who made him rich.
He’d rather hear Helsing’s CA-1 than the voices of underpaid artists.
Spotify once promised connection, but it was never about that. It was about conversion—streams to ads, plays to profit. The people making the music get crumbs, while the boardroom keeps getting louder.
Music used to move the world.
Now it’s just another product in the cart.
And this “new leadership”? It’s nothing but PR—meant to lure back those who left and keep fooling those still willing to believe the pitch.
Boycott Spotify. Uninstall Spotify. What’s next—wait for the war?
Listen on Apple Music and YouTube Music
ᴛʸᵖⁱⁿᵍ ᴏᵘᵗ ᵒᶠ ᵗʰᵉ ʙˡᵘᵉ ᵈᵃʳᵉᵐ ᵐᵘˢⁱᶜ ᵇˡᵒᵍ
