1. What are the main elements of the Spotify’s competitive advantage? Do you think that Spotify has real core competences that are more powerful than competitors’ competences? Spotify (the brand name is a combination of ‘Spot’ and

‘Identify’) is a digital music-streaming service that was launched in Sweden in 2008. Spotify was founded by Swedish Daniel Ek and Martin Lorenzen.

The company provides on-demand streaming of millions of songs which can be accessed on a range of devise.

Users can listen to unlimited music on their desktop or laptop with no ads. Premium users can listen without advertisements or limits on all supported devices, including smartphones, tablets, and TVs. Around 70 per cent of Spotify’s total revenues (including those from advertising and subscription fees) go to rights holders, including artists, labels, and publishers. Despite Spotify’s success, the service faces competition from a host of other streaming services; for example, Apple, Pandora, Amazon and Deezer.

Spotify (www.spotify.com) principally operates under the so-called ‘Freemium’ model: basic services are free and more advanced, or additional, features are offered at a premium. This is augmented by income from music purchases within the player. As of 2017, Spotify offered a US$10 per month unlimited subscription package on all platforms (desktop, tablet and smartphone).