New Co-CEOs Outline Spotify’s Next Chapter, Refreshed Creative Mandate.

The new year began with a change at the top of Spotify, with Daniel Ek taking on the new post of Executive Chairman as he handed off the CEO role to Gustav Söderström, co-President and Chief Product and Technology Officer, and Alex Norström, co-President and Chief Business Officer. The new co-CEOs are using the start of the year — and the company’s 20th anniversary — to reset the narrative around leadership, creativity, and where the platform goes next.

Norström and Söderström are framing their new titles not as a break from the past, but as a continuation of a journey that stretches back more than 15 years. Both executives joined Spotify in its early days — Norström in 2009 and Söderström in 2011 — and say the company’s core mission has remained consistent even as the industry around it has changed dramatically.

“Music is central to the Spotify experience and foundational to our work,” they write in a blog post, emphasizing that responsibility to podcasters, songwriters, and creative partners continues to guide decision-making across the company. While Spotify has expanded far beyond music into podcasts and audiobooks, the executives stressed that audio’s creative ecosystem remains at the heart of the platform.

Looking ahead to 2026, the co-CEOs outlined four priorities shaping Spotify’s strategy.

First is what they call “no regrets” — a commitment to making time spent on Spotify feel worthwhile. Whether listeners are catching up on a buzzy podcast, discovering new music, or spending hours with an audiobook, they say the goal is that every session leaves users feeling better than when they started. “When you choose to invest that energy, it should feel rewarding,” they wrote.

Second is control, particularly as artificial intelligence becomes more deeply embedded in consumer products. Spotify’s leadership positioned AI not as automation, but as a tool. “We’re in the early days of a new technological era, but at Spotify, AI isn’t about automation or taking your hands off the wheel; it’s about agency,” they write. With nearly three-quarters of a billion personalized versions of Spotify shaped by individual listeners, the company says features like Prompted Playlist, DJ requests, and Mixing are designed to give users more influence over what they hear — without losing the human element of taste and identity.

The third focus is Spotify’s role as a creative catalyst. Norström and Söderström describe the platform as an R&D engine for the creative industries, pointing to more than 50 major platform improvements shipped over the past year, record payouts to the music industry, and new highs in users and subscribers. “Our momentum only matters if it helps artists, authors, and creators succeed, and grows the pie for everyone,” they say.

Finally, the co-CEOs emphasized “one team,” crediting Spotify’s global workforce for driving innovation. They frame culture and collaboration as a competitive advantage as Spotify continues to move quickly in a crowded and evolving media landscape.

“Twenty years in, our business has momentum, our growth is strong, and our purpose is clear,” they write. “We’re here to unlock the world’s creativity.”