Spotify bets on India for next phase of growth amid leadership change

India is one of Spotify’s top five markets by user base, with the streaming service recently crossing 700 million users worldwide.

Spotify’s top executives see strong growth potential for the audio streaming service in populous countries such as India, which are also home to large digital user base.

"Today, at Spotify, we see 3 percent of the world's population paying us on a recurring basis for a product that they're loving... It's not unimaginable that we'll be at 10 percent or 15 percent, just because of the geographical opportunity that we see out there with countries like India," co-president Alex Norström told analysts in a conference call on September 30.

During the call, Norström said Spotify's services are witnessing 'lots of growth' in India without sharing any specific information. India is one of Spotify’s top five markets by users, with the streaming service recently crossing 700 million users worldwide.

Earlier this year, Spotify CEO Daniel Ek had expressed confidence that India and other emerging markets will become substantial businesses for the audio streaming service over the longer term.

'From player to coach'

Norström’s comments come as Spotify gears up for its next chapter, with founder Ek set to transition from CEO to executive chairman on January 1, 2026. Norström and his fellow co-president, Gustav Söderström, have been named co-CEOs.

During the call, Ek described his own evolution as moving from "being more of a player to a coach" and he will work with Söderström and Norström on the "big strategic decisions that we face in the long arc of the company."

Ek also said he will be more involved than a typical US chairman, and will continue retaining an office, working alongside Norström and Söderström.

"Most investors may come at it from a US perspective, where it's mostly a ceremonial role. In Europe, it isn't. In fact, a chairman is someone who's quite active in the business, sometimes even representing the business externally to different stakeholders, like governments or key partners. We wanted to make it clear that this role is more in line with the European one than the American one," he said.

Spotify’s biggest opportunities

Founded in 2006, Spotify has transformed the music industry with its freemium model, which has grown into the world’s largest music streaming service and expanded into podcasts, videos, and audiobooks.

Ek however believes that Spotify is still early in its journey, with significant opportunities ahead, one of them being the next generation of consumers coming online on a large scale.

"We have a huge part of the world that isn't accustomed to streaming as much as we take it for granted today, spanning regions from Asia to Africa, which are also incredibly populous regions with young demographics. And then, of course, there are new technological advancements, new form factors, and artificial intelligence (AI)," he said.

Spotify has announced a goal of $100 billion in annual revenue over the next decade, compared to $16.1 billion in revenue during 2024. That year also marked Spotify’s first full year of profitability since its launch.

Leveraging Generative AI 

Another top priority is to capitalize and make generative AI a tailwind to accelerate the growth, Söderström said. "We're in the middle of a macro wind called AI. There are better recommendations, more personalisation, but we also think it's going to eventually end up in new form factors," he said.

Söderström drew parallels with the previous big shift when Spotify transitioned to mobile. "All macro shifts are scary, but as a product person and technologist, it was the most exciting time I’ve ever had, until AI, because now everything is about to change again," he said.

Spotify’s efforts in generative AI reflect in features such as AI DJ and AI Playlist, currently available to premium subscribers in several markets. AI DJ recommends music alongside commentary around the tracks and artists in a human-like AI voice. The feature recently introduced voice requests, allowing users to talk directly to the DJ and ask for music based on mood, genre, artist, or activity. The AI Playlist lets people generate personalised playlists by typing natural language prompts into a chat window. One can use prompts that reference places, animals, activities, movie characters, colors, or emojis.

Read More: How Spotify is rewiring for AI era to supercharge personalisation? Top executive explains

Spotify leadership and day-to-day operations

Norström will continue overseeing Spotify's content, business and markets, while Söderström will focus on the product and technology, while both continuing to report to Ek.

"The way Alex and I work is a little different. We work very closely together. Alex is deeply interested and knowledgeable about products, and I'm very interested in business, so we run this as a single team. So in practice, not that much will change in how we run the company, but these are the core responsibilities that we have,” Söderström said.

Norström said the three of them have worked together for over a decade-and-a-half, and even sit in the same room.

"This has been a gradual change, where Ek has progressively pushed more responsibility and accountability over to us, and we have taken on more of strategy and operations," he said.

Norström added, "Just as Daniel has tried to build a strong team, so have we. We feel very confident in the team under us. Several of these people will take on more responsibility to free up time for us to focus on these new responsibilities."

The "outside-in" perspective

Ek is hoping to bring in an "outside-in" perspective to Spotify in his new role.

"One of my new superpowers is that I get to sit on the inside of some of the other businesses I’m helping build and see what it’s truly like to start a new startup in 2025. What are some of the tools and decisions you can make and how can that impact Spotify in a positive way," he said.

In 2021, Ek co-founded an investment holding company Prima Materia with early Spotify investor Shakil Khan, aiming to support long-term, science and technology-driven European companies tackling foundational challenges.

This initiative is part of the Spotify founder's plan to invest €1 billion ($1.2 billion) of his personal fortune into deeptech "moonshots" across the continent over the next decade.

In June, Prima Materia led a €600 million (about $700 million) funding round in Helsing, a German defense startup that is developing artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled precision mass and autonomous systems.

The firm has also backed Neko Health, a Swedish preventive healthcare technology startup started by Ek and Hjalmar Nilsonne in 2018. The company uses advanced sensors and AI to perform comprehensive, non-invasive full-body scans for the early detection of potential health issues.