Daniel Ek On The Future of Music and Podcasts With Generative AI

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The democratization of music and podcasts through technology allows millions of people to create and express themselves musically. However, this does not commoditize the industry, as quality still rises to the top. The same occurred in photography, where even with the rise of Instagram, the price of fine art photography increased. The future of music and podcasts will see increased participation from a wider range of creators, but the top-tier quality will also increase in value. This technology also provides the opportunity to express every cultural idea, fostering a better understanding of other cultures and promoting greater empathy. Similar to podcasting, the availability of generative AI allows for the translation and adaptation of shows to different languages and regions, reaching global audiences. While currently limited to English language content due to training and cost constraints, it is possible to extend this capability to other languages. The success of Spanish language channels on platforms like Mr. Beast demonstrates the importance of catering to different linguistic audiences. The next step is to create podcast episodes in multiple languages or adapt existing episodes to specific languages to further enhance accessibility and reach.

We sit down with Spotify CEO Daniel Ek live in Stockholm at Spotify’s amazing HQ studio (check out the video version of this episode — which plays natively on Spotify!). This was an incredibly special and timely conversation: for those who haven’t been paying attention over the past few years, after revolutionizing music Spotify has now ALSO completely transformed our own industry in podcasting. Starting from way behind with ~zero market share in 2018, Spotify has now aggregated the listener market and amazingly surpassed Apple as the world’s largest podcast platform — including close to home with the Acquired audience, where it has 60%+ market share among you all!

We discuss the origins of this “second act” strategy with Daniel, the vision to move from a music company to an audio company, and what’s coming next with Spotify’s entry into Audiobooks. And of course we relive some key moments from the Acquired canon that Daniel was involved in, including his pivotal conversations with Taylor Swift and her team convincing her to come back to streaming following the release of 1984. Tune in!

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