Nordic-Light-Jun2014-Aug2014

Cover Story
Spotify
debuts in Brazil
By Camilo Rocha
At the end of May, one of Sweden’s most talkedabout
companies in recent years finally opened
shop in Brazil. Spotify is the world leader for
music streaming, and has been popular among
musicians, music fans and record labels alike
as one of the best solutions to the decade-long
issue of illegal downloading.
Photos by Renato Rebizzi/Studio Rebizzi
(From left) Guilherme Assumpção, Mauricio Rossini, Channtal Fleischfresser, Carol
Baracat, Victor Fernandes, Camila Bileski and Fabio Brunelli, all from Spotify, at the
launch on May 28.
Our main competitor is piracy,” stated Brazilian-born
Gustavo Diament, Managing Director for Spotify in Latin
America, at the launch at the Mani Manioca restaurant
in São Paulo on May 28. He was joined on stage by
local musicians Gaby Amarantos, Marcelo Jeneci and
Fernanda Takai, as well as an on-screen endorsement by
none other than Gilberto Gil (who also played to a packed audience in
the evening at the opening party at Audio Club SP).
Since its debut in Sweden in 2006, Spotify has spread through more
than 50 countries worldwide. The company started to operate in Latin
America as of last year and is now available in Chile, Colombia, Mexico
and Uruguay, among many other countries.
Gustavo Diament, Managing Director
for Spotify in Latin America.
The arrival in Brazil had been rumored since mid
last year. Speaking to Swedcham’s NordicLight
magazine, Mia Nygren, Head of Spotify’s Strategic
Alliances in Latin America, said there has been a
lot of anticipation here for the service. “We had a
waiting list of over 400,000 people, who sent emails
to enroll.” Globally, Spotify is said to have 40 million
users, including 10 million subscribers.
Diament is optimistic about the adoption of Spotify
in the Brazilian market, even though it involves a
certain amount of “education” on what a streaming
platform represents. “The size of the market, and
the willingness to adopt new technologies” are factors
which should help the product make inroads in
the country, the executive believes.
“The growth in smartphone sales [in Brazil]
makes us optimistic,” added Nygren. “We have a
free tier for mobile phones which we will bring over
here, where these devices are the first alternative to
connect to the internet for many people.”
However, there are other challenges besides getting
people used to the idea of streaming, says Nygren.
“The quality of connection is very different from what
we are used to in Europe, which is why our offline
listening option is an advantage”, she declared.
In Sweden, the platform is responsible for 70%
of music revenue, including digital and physical
formats, according to its executives. In many
countries, music streaming is turning out to be an
increasingly viable alternative for the business. It
also makes more sense to stream than to download
in an increasingly mobile world.
Spotify helped organize music streaming into a
4 JUNE - AUGUST 2014