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WWW.MY-SUBS.CO

1 Okay, so you've heard about Daniel Ek and his dream.

and you've heard about the struggles of Per Sundin and the music business

and how they saw that Spotify could save them.

But if you really thought it was that simple?

Think again.

Remember, the one thing music execs hate, is change.

And the one thing tech guys hate, is compromise.

Somebody had to figure out what the hell this new universe looks like.

That was me. I was the missing link.

Believe me, it wasn't easy.

but sometimes, the only thing you can do is to write your own chorus.

Heard you won again, everybody's talking about you.

Everybody already knows how these trials will end, it's nothing new.

It's kind of like that movie, what's it called? "Groundhog Day" I think.

Wish my Mondays were that great. The CEO loves you.

You're gonna be partner, I'm sure of it.

You know what you need to do? Let loose and go out. Celebrate.

Shake it up a little. Okay?

Trust me, it'll be too late when you're changing diapers

and picking up your kids from kindergarten.

I'm coming.

I don't get how he can't make it before five.

Hey, promise me you won't go back to the office, okay?

Get out, party. Whatever.

- We'll see. - Ciao!

- Here's the contract you asked me to print - Oh cool, excellent! Would you mind

- putting these files in my office? - Yeah.

- I'll take a look at the contract later. - Don't forget the meeting. He's been

- waiting a while now. - See you in a couple of weeks.

Very good.

Petra?

I'm going to have to reschedule that meeting for later in the week okay?

Okay! Yeah, that's fine.

Ah, Petra. Good.

Congratulations on another success.

- Well played, really well done. - Thanks.

The bosses at Petterson are calling me and begging me for mercy now.

Okay... Who were you talking to just now?

Maxine Silverson.

From the Sony Music office in New York.

They have a modest ten million dollar budget for legal expenses. How about that?

Does that mean we're representing a record company?

Yes, exactly.

That's right.

The record companies finally decided to fight back

and they've asked us to basically sniff out every little internet service

that uses their music illegally.

And who are you going to give the assignment to sir?

It's a very interesting and complex area of law. I'm thinking

it has to be someone who can handle that type of case.

Yes, exactly. But the thing is, they want a senior partner.

Yes, Carl...

Petra.

Petra... Ah...

Do you need anything for the meeting?

What meeting Linda?

Martin Lorentzon. He refuses to leave.

Oh wait, what was that about again?

Spotify. Eh...

- The start-up thing? Is he still there? - Yeah and he's coming over now.

- Okay, you have to cancel it right now. - I can't, he's very persistent...

- Tell him I'll meet him next week. - Petra, hey!

- Yeah, hi. - We have a meeting booked.

Yeah we did, unfortunately, there's been a double booking,

Linda will reschedule for you, so we can meet...

Oh no it won't take long.

I just want to give you a glimpse of our plans.

We're a streaming service as you probably know.

I do, but this law firm doesn't work with companies at risk of being sued.

No, no one will be sued.

We're gonna get the music rights and become the first

fully legal streaming service in the world.

- A fully legal streaming service? - Yep!

Okay I'm sorry, what did you say your name was?

Martin Lorentzon. I founded Tradedoubler and now I'm building Spotify.

We already have a couple of record companies as clients

so I can't represent you without creating a conflict of interest.

No, you don't understand, we don't want you to represent us.

Then what can I do for you?

I want to hire you. As our lawyer. Full time.

You'd be working for us at Spotify,

negotiating and drafting our agreements with the music industry.

Mm. Uh... Okay.

You want me to quit one of Scandinavia's top law firms

to go work at a start-up that nobody has heard of?

- Yes! - Okay.

- Thanks for the laugh, it's been a while. - Of course.

But this is way too crazy for me, okay? No offence.

But crazy is good!

Crazy can be good. Believe me. Here, take my card.

Come by the office and just look at the player. That's all I ask.

Bye!

- Hello! You ready for drinks? - Hi! Yeah, how about you?

Hmm mh.

Hey, listen, I think the boss has some news.

What kind of news?

- You're making partner. - He's going to say that now?

- I think so! - Are you positive?

Do I have anything between my teeth?

Not a bit.

Thank you!

Hello, glad you came Petra.

- Cheers ladies. - Thank you!

Attention everyone!

Well, we've had a good year, yeah?

Many of you have shown that Smith Ardehn is at the forefront,

especially our Corporate Commercial group.

Great job, well done!

- So was that the big news? - Just hold on.

You know they say you shouldn't talk about

decisions that haven't been formally

confirmed at the board meeting, but good news is good news right?

We have a new junior partner.

Petra Hansson, welcome!

- Congrats! This is amazing - Thank you!

Petra, congratulations!

Wow I can't believe it.

How does it feel?

Amazing. Thank you!

- Thanks. - This is great.

- So happy for her. - I'm so proud of you.

- Mm. - You deserve it.

Guys I'll just... Yeah, see you soon.

Yes, absolutely! Of course.

- Congratulations! Great job. - Well, thank you for your trust.

It was actually an easy decision

considering the tremendous performance you've shown us this year. Fantastic!

- Thank you so much! - Welcome aboard.

- Yes, thank you. - Well deserved.

Glad to hear that. Well, I feel ready for the record company.

- For what? - Well...

I knew the minute I saw Maxine Silverson here that

you were going to give me that case.

- Right. - Okay.

And what didn't you understand about the "junior" part of junior partner?

- Partner is partner, right? - And junior is junior.

And just so you know, if there's one thing senior partners don't appreciate, it's

a junior partner who doesn't understand and/or respect hierarchy.

Okay? Cheers, welcome aboard.

Thanks!

Guys? Who wants to go to a soccer game this weekend?

Sorry, did I say guys?

Yes!

Thanks.

Excuse me?

- Can I help you with something? - No, no need. Don't worry.

Are you here to meet someone, or...?

Yes, I was supposed to meet Martin Lorentzon, but I don't think he's here.

Oh yeah, Martin's here. Follow me, I'll take you.

Hmm.

He's right over here.

Uhm yeah. By the way, I'm Sophia.

- Are you Martin's assistant? - No, I'm the global marketing manager.

And who are you?

- Hold that. - Whoa! Uhm...

That's not okay!

No, of course... Sorry, come with me. Sorry about that.

They mean no harm.

- Dope power suit! - Do I have a mark here now?

- Oh, no, I think you're good. - Thanks.

Martin, you have a visitor.

- Petra! - Hi!

- You came! - Yes, I survived the walk to your office.

That's great!

I see you met Sophia. She's brilliant!

She's got everybody talking about Spotify.

She knows all of Stockholm.

So...

In there, we have Daniel Ek, our CEO and my co-founder.

- I didn't know you had a co-founder. - I do, he's a genius.

He just has a hard time compromising with the music industry.

But you know...

Maybe every genius needs a little guidance.

It depends.

That's why we need you here, right?

You're going to meet a real hero. Come on.

Niklas, Petra.

Niklas here has handled the negotiations so far.

- Hi. Niklas. - Petra.

He knows all about you.

Yeah, I think he's a little star struck right now.

It looks like you have a negotiator, so you don't really need me.

We do need you, believe me. Been wrestling with the record companies alone

for far too long. So you are more than needed.

Welcome.

- We're old childhood friends, actually. - Are you going to show me this player?

- Mm. - Of course. Over here.

- Nice meeting you. - Meet Andreas Ehn and Ludvig Strigeus.

The super geniuses behind the beta application we've created.

- Hey! Andreas. - Hi! Petra.

- Ludvig. - I'm Petra, nice to meet you.

So, Sophia is brilliant,

Daniel is a genius, Niklas is a hero,

Andreas and Ludvig are also geniuses.

So do you have anyone who might be...

I don't know, just normal?

Ehm... No.

Why don't you try the player yourself.

Here.

But how... but? Wait a minute... It's playing, how come?

It's supposed to download...

This is unbelievable!

Okay, wow. I'm super impressed.

Want a coffee?

No. I think I'll sit here and listen to music.

But... okay. Wow.

I'm almost a little shocked. This is really...

How did you make it look so pretty too?

But what's the plan if they won't give you the rights?

Because you know

Martin, the record companies will do everything they can to stop this.

- They want to crush the digital market. - Yes, we know.

And that's why you're here, that's why we want to hire you, Petra.

Yes, but how long can you afford that? Six months? A year, if you're lucky.

Martin, negotiating with record companies, it's a bit like getting water-boarded.

Hmm.

You know, the purpose is to like drag it out until you're completely exhausted

and disgusted and you just beg and plead for it to be over.

So, how long do you think it will take before

your investors give it up and I have to crawl back and ask for my old job back?

We have no investors.

I'm the money.

Listen, I'm prepared to put all the money I made in Tradedoubler into this.

Now, look. This probably looks like a start-up to you.

- Please, of course it does, like a lot. - Yes! And it is, absolutely.

But it's not just any start-up.

Because it's the only start-up that has a budget that covers legal costs.

And that's how we'll negotiate with the record companies.

You've worked in organizations that have operated in creative fields, haven't you?

You've represented musicians.

No, not quite, but...

Yeah, you're a genius.

You're amazing. You took...

You graduated top of your class in law school...

Hm? You did a master's, a two-year master's in one year.

- One and a half, to be precise. - Look at that.

It often takes eight years to become a partner, you became a partner in five.

We want to turn the whole industry upside down, Petra.

You have a chance to be part a part of the new chapter in music history.

To create something.

The only thing we need right now,

is someone who's passionate about the cause and knows the law.

We both know that you're the right person in the right place, right now.

How many songs do you have on that server?

All of them.

You cannot have all the songs on it.

Yes. All of them.

Excuse me please guys, do you mind if I try it again.

Yeah. Here you go.

Thank you, very much.

That's my starting salary.

Ow, that hurts!

You can tell the genius in there that from now on, I'm in charge of the legalities.

Okay.

- Thank you very much. - Thanks.

- Bye. Goodbye. - Take care.

Thank you.

Thanks.

Do you really think it's realistic to launch is in four weeks?

- Yeah. - Do you know something I don't know?

Because getting the licenses for the music will take longer than that.

But I had to say something, right?

The coders have been ready for months, We need to keep the buzz going.

- The buzz? - Yes. Does anyone have any money?

Yeah, we have the technology. Everything is in place. Thank you.

We just have to keep everyone believing.

Absolutely. Everything's in place except for one thing

Daniel, the music is owned by the record companies.

Yeah. And now they wanna talk to us.

No, they wanna demand royalties until we collapse

just like they do with all other digital start-ups.

That's the thing, we shouldn't have to pay any royalties. We're a platform.

It's not like Google pays for every page they pull up.

But I feel like you don't understand what I mean.

- Niklas, help me! - I hear what you're saying.

Please help me, you have to help me, please.

I get what you're saying. You're saying they won't budge, but neither will we.

We are the future Petra, we make the rules now.

And if they don't get it, well, they can keep getting fucked by Pirate Bay, right?

- Are you guys done now so we can...? - Yeah! We are totally done.

Maybe I'll put the can away.

- Aven? - Hi, Petra.

- Will you be joining us? - Yeah.

- Hey. - Good to see you!

- Yeah, you too. - Please have a seat.

Hello. Hi.

Hi.

Welcome.

- Thank you. - Thank you!

I am Maxine Silverson,

a senior adviser to the CEO.

And we really love the BETA-version of Spotify.

- That's great to hear. - Yeah.

I really think that there's something special about it.

The first thing to say is that Spotify is a new model.

It's about access...

I cannot believe it.

Sitting right there with Ken Parks.

The attack dog.

He knows every comma, period and semicolon in the law.

He'll smash you in the head with a law book until you beg for mercy.

And you just wish that he was on your side.

I'm sorry?

These are our fees, Daniel.

As I said, we really like your new music client,

and we would love to work with you, but...

If you want to get access to our music, these are our fees.

And for new clients, we usually ask for upfront payment.

Upfront?

Yeah, upfront.

Niklas just explained, we have...

Do you know how many music start-ups I've sat with?

In rooms just like this one.

Hundreds.

You know what I haven't heard?

A single one who has a clue about how they're gonna turn a profit.

- We just explained that. - Talking about your shitty ad revenue?

For a website that has zero users? And which you're not charging for our music?

I know what you're gonna say, "This is a new era.

Google doesn't pay for the sites it displays."

You know what I say to that?

You're building a business on the back of our hard work.

Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Elvis Presley, Michael fucking Jackson...

You want me to rip them off?

Just hand over their music, so you can make a fucking fortune?

I believe in sustainability.

Is this a sustainable business model? I don't think so.

You know what, this is bullshit.

Your music is being shared and stolen every single day.

- Daniel! - No, listen.

Those artists that you claim to protect, you say it's for them.

Do you think they're happy with the situation right now?

You're losing billions every single year,

we come here with a solution, and this is how you treat us?

If this is your attitude, no wonder the music business is dying.

You deserve to go down. Fucking dinosaurs.

I'm sorry.

The world is changing.

but that doesn't mean you get to break the cookie jar and take whatever you want.

But we know what we do, and we know what our music is worth.

But if you want to share, start a nursery.

You want music?

Pay.

1998.

That's the year these were last reviewed.

The same year Britney had her first hit.

And only like four people had heard of the internet...

You think you'll get away with this forever?

You can't use old law for new times.

See you next time.

Daniel, we need to go over our strategy for these meetings.

What? Why?

Because it doesn't work for you to berate everyone that we need on our side.

So, fuck getting them on our side then!

If they don't get it, or just don't want to, well then fuck them.

Want some coffee?

Yes, please.

- Everyone thinks we are about to launch. - Yeah and we will.

We can't launch without licenses, that's stupid.

If they won't give us the music, then we'll just have to take it!

What are they going to do about it? Not a fucking thing. It's simple.

I don't you'll you'll find it so simple afterwards when you have to pay damages

for the rest of your life. Now, listen Daniel.

For these people, there is no music.

There's only ownership and rights. There's publishing, digital rights.

There's rights over masters, mechanical rights...

Mechanical rights?

A special license for those self-playing pianos they had in the Wild West.

I'm not a self-playing piano.

You know what? According to the law, you actually are.

- All good with the accountant? - Yes, we've just run into a few obstacles.

I've been put on temporary trading suspension for at least a year.

- What did you just say? - What?

Wait, hold on a second. Tradedoubler is what keeps this place afloat.

Yes, that's right.

But I had to sell a bit more than I thought and...

Well, I risk being accused of stock dumping.

We can't talk about this here. Let's go to one of the other rooms. Okay?

Okay.

We just need a sponsor

and the launch party is gonna be so fucking great.

Hmm, cool.

Word's already out, I think people are getting excited.

Well done! Good job!

- It's going to be awesome! - That's great!

Thanks!

Okay, and about how long do we have left?

- If we're lucky, four, five... - Months?

No. Weeks.

I know, it's my fault. We have four weeks to launch.

I'll get the money. How did the meeting go?

Ask Daniel, he snapped and told the head lawyer at Sony to go to hell.

- No, I didn't. - You did.

- No, not directly. - Daniel...

Please! I get so fucking tired of these people who think they know everything.

- So what the hell do we do? - We obviously have to compromise.

- No way. - Would you rather

- sacrifice the company instead? - We won't sacrifice, we have a strategy.

And that strategy isn't working, Daniel.

Here's the thing, when you brought me in as a lawyer,

you wanted someone who could get the licenses.

We'll never get the licenses acting like this.

It's crucial to be the adults in the room, and not some whiny kids.

We need to show the industry that we've bring solutions.

I know these people! I've worked with them.

I know how they work. I need to be in charge of conversation when we negotiate.

Whatever you need to get the deal done, Petra, do it.

Well to begin, we want to ignore Sony for now, and focus on other companies.

We have Universal, Warner, EMI.

We just need to get one of these companies over and the others will come themselves.

Then I think we should focus on Warner.

I looked at the results of last year's CPR.

There's no other company that's been hit as hard by piracy as Warner.

If anyone needs this deal, it's clearly them.

Perfect.

Good, Niklas. And one more thing, Niklas and I will take care of that meeting.

Okay.

Hey Aven, I was just about to go out to lunch.

I brought you some.

Wait, you're here now?

Hi.

Okay...

Hi! It's so good to see you.

- Hello! - Hi. Okay, so sorry! Gosh. Sit down.

- Lively... Ouch, what the fuck? - So nice that you came.

- Take the toys outside. - Ah sure. Yes, sure.

So this is the place you left your nice job at Smith for?

Don't take this the wrong way, but the meeting with Sony...

Why didn't they let you run the negotiations? That was embarrassing.

It was, I agree. But now it's sorted. I'm handling negotiations from now on.

Okay. I hope so. He's tough, Ken Parks.

I really wouldn't want to be in your position.

So... Well, it may not seem like it, but...

these guys are doing something really big. It's gonna change the music industry.

I promise you.

Look. Why do you think the boss put me in that meeting?

He's furious you left, he'll do anything to make sure you don't get a deal.

He's already contacted half of Stockholm's record companies.

He's also an idiot.

Petra... you can't win this.

I mean the best you can do is come back before it's too late.

You sure about that?

You know damn well the record companies would never let go of their music.

- I guess we'll see. - Mhm. Okay.

Besides, it's a lot of fun here.

Fun? Are you a lawyer or some kind of daycare worker?

- Petra. Can we talk? - Yeah.

Mm. What is it?

- Warner wants to meet with us. - Okay.

- I'm sorry, but I have to go. - What? We haven't finished lunch...

Yeah, I know.

And I have an appointment that I, that I completely forgot about and...

- Alright. - I'm totally sorry, but...

- I'll clean up. - Hey, thanks a lot for the sushi.

Okay, it was too short this time but see you again soon.

- Don't forget what I told you. I mean it. - I won't.

- Petra. - Yeah?

- Check this out. - What's this?

Something Andreas and I have been working on.

And what is it?

User statistics.

- Can I take this with me? - Hmm mh.

Thank you. See you later.

What the fuck?

Daniel, what are you doing here?

- Thought I'd join the meeting. - Didn't we agree on this?

I won't say a word, I promise. You do the talking.

Okay.

Daniel!

We have an opening with Warner now! We don't have time to wait, Daniel.

A paywall? A fucking paywall?

Well we needed to come up with something new, and they listened, didn't they?

I swear, for as long as I live, not a single song will be behind a paywall.

Come on Daniel!

Daniel, you have to give them something.

You can't just take all the songs and then give nothing back.

Hi.

What happened?

Okay so, what's going on?

Remember that meeting I wasn't supposed to be at,

Petra has told all the record companies that she should have

this fucking paywall service.

She undermines me at these meetings

and so do you!

You're trying to sell a product...

Andreas. Do you have a moment?

- What's up? - Uhm...

Why don't you come with me to Daniel's office.

- Bring your laptop. - Okay.

Why?

I wanted to show them that thing you and Ludvig have been working on.

Which thing?

The user statistics.

Uhm...

These are our user statistics.

On the left, you can see an artist's stats, data from yesterday.

And on the right is the data for today.

You can see live how a song is trending and what songs people prefer,

and how we can help them find what they're looking for.

It's a functionality I thought would take a while to implement, but it was quick.

This gives record companies a whole new insight into their own market.

Do you realize how powerful that is in negotiations?

This feature is for the users.

And the artists.

- Look, Daniel... - Spotify belongs to them.

Well the problem is, it's not the users and the artists who own the music.

I will not give this data to the record companies and I will not accept a paywall!

Paywall? No, that doesn't work.

We won't get a single user from Pirate Bay to our side.

Okay well, how the hell were you planning on paying the musicians?

If people are willing to pay for beer and candy,

they can be willing to pay for music.

I'm absolutely convinced that you'd want to pay for something better than piracy.

If people were as willing to pay for music like beer and candy, they'd do it. Then...

we won't be here. And frankly Petra, I don't

think that you get the point.

We're a tech company, we don't want to be the music industry.

I'm not interested in giving them a fucking thing!

What I want is their product on our platform.

That's it!

You are in the music industry, you have been since you

came up with the whole idea of Spotify. If you can't see that, then I'm sorry to say

I think you're in the wrong fucking industry!

It's not a part of Spotify's vision to work for the record labels, is it?

It's not part of your vision, Daniel.

There are a lot of people working to make this happen.

And they've put an incredible amount of effort into Spotify.

If it takes a little compromise to make this happen,

then that's what we have to do, right?

I will handle all the negotiations from now on.

Okay.

Well then in that case, I guess I don't have much more to add. And, I guess...

I jumped on board because I thought we were building something long-term.

Because I thought it was fun, because I really thought that this,

this was something really good.

That it was smart, that it was intuitive. But if you refuse to listen, then...

Then I don't even know what I'm doing here. Sorry, but I'm done.

No, we are listening. Right, Daniel?

Daniel!

I'll send you the agreements and files I started later.

- Petra, you have a contract... - Come on, please Martin.

You can't even pay my salary.

♪ Save me ♪

♪ Somebody save me ♪

♪ Save me, somebody save me ♪

♪ I promised myself After the last romance ♪

♪ That I won't give it a second chance ♪

♪ They said you seek, you're sure to Find and I know how true that is ♪

♪ Cos the closer I get to you baby ♪

♪ You're driving me clean out of my mind ♪

♪ I say save me ♪

♪ Somebody, save me ♪

♪ Anybody save me ♪

♪ Somebody save me ♪

♪ Those who love always give the most ♪

Carl.

♪ Together from coast to coast ♪

♪ Love makes me cold and hurt inside ♪

Hi, Linda.

♪ These tears of ours are justified Begging ya to save me ♪

- Welcome Petra. - Thank you.

A lot of us here at the office are happy to see you again.

That's nice to hear.

This little excursion you went on

shows in itself that you have initiative and flexibility.

And that... that can be good.

But at the same time, it was good you realized your mistake, Petra.

Those startups, they rarely succeed.

So, having said that, here's the plan I have for you.

You're going to take over the Corporate Commercial group

and Aven and her group are going to work under you.

And, of course, you will also be entitled to

the annual bonus as a full senior partner.

- Senior? - Yeah. You're worth it, Petra.

- Can I think about it? - No.

You may not do that. You're not gonna fuck me over twice.

If you're not here after the board meeting, well...

I really hope you understand the gravity of this.

- I'll see you at the meeting tomorrow. - You will? Good.

- Thanks. - Bye.

Thanks.

- Cheers! - Cheers!

Hmm.

Ew, what the hell is this, Niklas?

This is a very unusual Belgian beer.

That some monks brewed in a monastery with a very secret recipe.

Yeah, okay.

You've only come here to get me drunk and then persuade me to come back.

Admit it. That's what this is.

No. I'm a good enough negotiator to know I can't talk you into coming back.

And I also know that Daniel can be a really stubborn bastard.

But, I know he'll come around.

He just needs some time.

We don't have time.

And he knows that, he does. Jesus, Petra.

He knows exactly what kind of mess we're in. Huh?

That's why we need you.

Or... I need you. I can't do this by myself.

I think it's crazy out there.

But I'm positive that there must be a right way to do this, Niklas.

I mean on the one hand,

there's Daniel with his wild west fantasies

where he'll screw every musician and probably go bankrupt within six months.

And on the other hand, the record companies want to control everything

and stop every new idea regarding music consumption in the future.

The whole world is inevitably going digital.

And pretty soon, all music will end up on these platforms.

That I'm sure of it.

There has to be a way to launch this platform.

It's just so frustrating that I can't think of it.

Thanks.

Hmm... Great.

- Good morning, sorry I'm late. - Would you mind shutting the door?

- Yep. - Yeah, uhm...

Oh gosh, I'm sorry!

Go ahead and sit down. Welcome everyone now to our

ninth board meeting. Specifically special welcome to you, Petra Hansson, who...

Oh fuck! Sorry!

Excuse me... I inherited this from my grandmother and,

well, it's... She's dead, so... I care about it, thank you very much?

Thank you. I'm sorry.

Petra, can we keep going?

Absolutely. I apologize, I'm so sorry. It just...

Okay. As you can see here,

we have a lot to discuss, more than we have time to devote to the meeting,

this morning. So, let's start with point number one...

- Excuse me! - Petra!

Hi! Hey! Niklas. Come with me.

What the hell?

- Hi. Come with me to Daniel's office. - What's up?

Absolutely.

Other companies take some time to make the money...

- Petra? Hi. - Petra?

- Hi. Sorry to interrupt your meeting. - What are you doing here?

I just... I'd like to present something. Here, Daniel, you take this.

What is it?

You will basically just start making your own necklace. Come on, go ahead.

- Petra, seriously? - Yes! Here you go, guys... So, uh...

Please, we don't have time for this, I just...

This here, is an album.

This is also an album.

And every bead is a song or a stream.

But maybe I don't want a monochrome necklace.

I'll just keep one bead from there,

and then maybe I'll take one bead from here,

then maybe I'll take one from here, then I'll take the yellow one there...

Then maybe I'll take...

No, that's depressing, I won't take that.

This one puts me in a good mood. It just makes me feel like this...

Alive now!

- What's the point of all this? - I'm coming to that.

All these beads can be used

as many times as you like for different necklaces.

Oh my God, Sophia! Wow!

Look at this playlist we have right here,

made from great songs that were previously only available in separate albums.

- I don't get this, playlists aren't new. - No, they aren't.

- Unfortunately, I'm going to cut this one. - No! You're not!

Why not?

- Because it's mine. - You want to keep it?

- Yes. - Why though?

Because it's nice, because it's mine, because I made it.

Ah ha! You want to keep it because you made it? Because it's yours?

Because it might even feel a bit unique and special and even personal?

This here is a playlist that a user has spent hours creating.

That user who spent hours on it will pay to keep this one and create new ones.

- Seriously? - Yes.

You came here to say that Spotify should be a paid service, again?

No, Daniel. Spotify is free.

But what we charge for is Spotify Premium.

- Premium? - Yes.

You've been right all along, Spotify should be free.

We should give our users access to the full catalog,

otherwise, we'll lose them to the pirates and we

we don't want that, we want to keep our users, right?

But that doesn't stop us from being able to charge for certain elements.

You should get paid for the fantastic work

You all do here daily. You, and you, and you,

what you're doing here, we're going to charge for that.

The music won't be put behind a paywall, but some parts of the technology will be.

Yeah, that's fucking great.

So we keep a free membership level to attract new users.

Exactly, Niklas! That's exactly how we should be thinking.

You haven't paid for it yet. Let's create a hybrid.

We're give the same freedom as the pirates, so access for all,

but then, we're use Andreas and Ludvig's brilliant technology to sharpen

the benefits of the Premium service,

so that eventually, everyone will want to pay for it.

Our end game will be to get as many people as possible

over to the paying subscription.

I might come back if... we're doing this.

This is taking the business in a fucking dangerous direction.

Oh Jesus, come on!

No, it isn't, Andreas, this gives us a business.

I'd pay for that.

- Yeah, me too. - We don't need to compromise.

To do business, you have to be able to negotiate with your suppliers.

Exactly! And you also need a sustainable business model and here,

here you have one.

The dream was not to take everything that is good

and lock it up and then charge for it.

Daniel, Petra is right. It's now or never.

- You would have paid for this? - Absolutely.

Alright, let's go! Welcome back!

♪ Sometimes it's gonna be days like this ♪

♪ Sometimes it's gonna be rain like this ♪

♪ Sometimes you're Gonna feel pain like this ♪

♪ Sometimes you gotta work hard for it ♪

♪ 'Cause when you feeling low And you can't get no lower ♪

♪ That's when you know you're close Sometimes you gotta work hard for it ♪

Hello, hi.

Oh, hi.

This is our new lawyer, Tom Herluison.

MD for Smith and Ardehn.

- Yeah, we know each other. - Oh you do?

Yeah. What happened to Ken Parks?

He's in New York, he works as a free agent now.

- Okay. - So...

Okay, shall we start?

Yeah, let's start!

It's good to see you all!

And since our last meeting we've started

- or created a new... - The answer is no.

Sorry?

I looked through your paperwork, and your offer is still not good enough.

The answer is no.

Oh...

"No"?

These negotiations have been in the works for over two years, close to an agreement

and then, suddenly, "no"?

What the hell was that about?

Did they simply want to destroy every startup?

If Spotify ever was to see the light of day, I'd have to take a risk.

I needed to find someone on the inside.

who understood the big picture.

An attack dog.

The problem is your guy made Spotify so good and they want a piece of it.

A big one.

They want to own a part of Spotify?

How much?

50%. Or you don't get the rights.

They think you're desperate enough to agree.

Well, Daniel will never give away 50% of his business.

What's the time in Stockholm now?

I don't know, why?

We'll call him.

If Daniel opens the door, maybe they'll do the same.

And... with your help...

If you and I team up.

I think it's six in the morning. And he'll be up for sure.

Go ahead, call him.

- Some more champagne? - Yeah, why not?

- Daniel. - Hi, Daniel. It's Petra.

I'm in New York with Ken and you're on speaker.

Hey Daniel! Everything okay?

Yep, thanks. I'm fine.

Good to know.

They want 50%.

Forget it.

Daniel, listen to me. So, if we have Ken on our side,

we will be able to negotiate and get it down to a ten or fifteen percent.

We'll have completely different conditions.

That's still too much. I can't give them a part of what I built. I can't do that.

You know,

my grandfather was a farmer, in Southern California.

Wheat. Only wheat. He was kinda old school.

He thought he was pretty smart, so

when a couple of Mexican guys came and asked to buy a piece of land...

He charged them a fortune for it, thought he ripped them off real good.

These guys worked hard,

they planted apricots, almonds, oranges...

My grandfather just had fields of wheat.

By harvest time, these Mexicans had enough money

to buy another little parcel of land off him.

And then another. And another.

Now there's a Mexican family living in my grandfather's house.

He died flat on his ass in San Diego.

Last time I checked I wasn't a Mexican or a farmer.

The point is they don't control the tech, we do,

and once they open the door to us they can't close it, and we're in, Daniel.

Even if it costs us 15% of Spotify?

They're making you a part of the system, Daniel.

Once they do that, you can't fail. They won't let you.

It's against their interest.

Max 15%.

Two weeks later, Ken joined Spotify and became a member of our team.

Daniel of course, needed to offer him a piece of the company.

Ken knew every record label boss from LA to Ulan Bator.

He knew their strengths and weaknesses.

Their strategies, their tricks, and even their bank balance.

By the time we launched, every one of them had signed an agreement with Spotify.

They're finally here!

Free drinks for everyone!

Thank you.

Nice work, Petra!

Thank you Niklas, you're here.

- Hey. - I'm gonna say hi to Ken.

You did a great job.

Thank you.

- Hi! - Hi!

I just wanted to say I'm really impressed with everything you've put together.

- Thanks. Thanks a lot. - Yeah.

- Hi, hello. I'll have a gin and tonic. - A gin and tonic.

You ruined it.

I'm sorry, what did you say?

You ruined it. Spotify was supposed to be something new.

Spotify is something new.

Not since you sold it out to the record companies. That wasn't our vision.

If we hadn't secured the licenses, we'd never have been able to launched today.

- You know that. - It was entirely unique,

something beautiful, and you destroyed it.

You think we can talk about this another time?

I'd be happy to have this conversation, but not today.

You don't give a shit, do you? Right?

No, actually I do. I just think that you and I look at things very differently.

We do. The others buy your

"I'm a lawyer, I'm always right" thing, but I don't.

- Here you go. - Thanks!

Ever since I made those deals, I've heard it a thousand times,

"Spotify is bad. Spotify is ripping off the artists.

Spotify doesn't appreciate the value of music."

But I was there. I saw the deals that on the table. So what you really should ask,

is how the hell would things have turned out without me?

I hate that bullshit story Petra just told. Hate it.

And besides, that's not how it happened.

Subtitle translation by: Adefoluke Adebayo