Netflix has announced a new original scripted series about the rise of Spotify and production has already commenced on it.
As per Variety, the six-part limited series will revolve around the Swedish tech wizz Daniel Elk and his key partners who irrevocably altered the music industry with their streaming service.
The series is bound to be watched by us LimeWire era kids with a tinge of sadness. Oh to sit patiently for two hours waiting on ‘Beautiful Girls’ by Sean Kingston to download only for the song to cut out right before the chorus. Those were the days.
The cast has also been announced and it’s full of Scandinavian talent: Edvin Endre from Vikings takes on the lead role as Elk, Ulf Stenberg is playing Per Sundin, and Gizem Erdogan has been cast as Petra Hansson. Behind the camera is director Per-Olav Sørensen (Home for Christmas) and the head screenwriter is Christian Spurrier (Silk).
The show was inspired by the book Spotify Untold, the page-turning story of Spotify’s rocky road to the top written by investigative tech journalists Sven Carlsson and Jonas Leijonhufvud. The pair conducted over a whopping 70 interviews to really delve deep into their subject.
And there certainly was a lot to explore. From the struggle of getting record labels to initially sign up to fighting Steve Jobs who really didn’t want the company to launch in the U.S. to infamous public battles with Taylor Swift and Bob Dylan, it’s been some journey to becoming the capitalistic monolith that rips off burgeoning musicians.
Netflix’s Spotify drama is as yet untitled but is expected to start streaming in 2022. If Daniel Elk gets a Netflix series about him and takes over Arsenal FC in the same year, that’s just not fair.
Love Film & TV?
Get the latest Film & TV news, features, updates and giveaways straight to your inbox Learn more
For more on this topic, follow the Film & TV Observer.
Check out ‘How Spotify Upended The Music Industry’:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEQFRjQJS9o
