At the end of every year, Spotify Wrapped takes over social media feeds, with users showing off the annual recap of their top music choices. Lately, these reviews have taken on a more international flavor — packed with K-pop and Latino rhythms that mirror the platform’s explosive overseas expansion and increasingly diverse artist catalog.
Launched in 2008, Spotify today has about 761 million users, including 293 million subscribers, in 184 markets. Brazilian funk, K-pop, Afrobeats, and Urban Latino are among its fastest-growing genres, and last year, songs in 16 languages reached its global top 50, Gustav Gyllenhammar, senior vice president of markets and subscriptions, told Rest of World.
Most artists see more than half their royalties coming from streams outside their home country, even as the company grapples with the challenges — and opportunities — of artificial intelligence, he said.
The interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.
Gustav Gyllenhammar, senior vice president of markets and subscriptions at Spotify.
