Spotify is playing down the threat to its business from the worlds most valuable company, Apple. The founder of the service says the industry is big enough for several players and his firm doesn’t have to be number one.
Spotify – OK to be in the top three…
“To me it is enough to be among the top three”, Daniel Ek told Swedish business newspaper Dagens Industri in an interview on Thursday, his first since Apple announced its forthcoming Apple Music streaming service in an industry packed that has intense competition at the moment.
“But right now we have an advantage of being the number one in music”, explained Ek, Spotify’s chief executive, saying that his ambition was to keep that position.
The Swedish company is currently unlisted, and managed to grow its revenues by 45% to $1.22 billion, while posting an operating loss of 165 million Euros.
US competitor Pandora has expanded at a similar rate and reports revenues of around $921 million.

But in its response to the launch of the Apple Music service, Spotify posted a thank you note to clients on its blog on Wednesday, saying that it now has more than 20 million subscribers and over 75 million active users, which is more than double the numbers from the same time last year.
Spotify has also just managed to get another $526 million in funding, according to the Wall Street Journal, and Swedish telecoms company TeliaSonera said it has also purchased a 1.4% stake in the company, valuing Spotify at around $8.2 billion.
SOURCE: Business Insider.
Larry Banks is a keen follower of technology and finance. He has worked for a variety of online publications, writing about a diverse range of topics including mobile networks, patents, and Internet video delivery technologies.