The news: Spotify CEO Daniel Ek will step down in January 2026 to become executive chairman. In his place, chief product and technology officer Gustav Söderström and chief business officer Alex Norström will serve as co-CEOs, per a press release.
Why it matters: Spotify’s ad business stalled in Q2, missing analyst expectations on revenues and profits. This change could revive shareholder confidence in Spotify’s growth plans and further differentiate itself from competitors.
- Moving from CEO to executive chairman could position Ek to steer Spotify’s long-term direction, rather than day-to-day operations, while letting him focus on more strategic bets, structural changes, and regulations.
- Söderström and Norström’s combined experience—they helped oversee Spotify’s product road map, ad tech investments, and international expansion—could help drive this transition.
Our first take: As executive chairman, Ek will be able to focus on areas crucial for keeping up in the podcast ad race, where Spotify faces pressure from YouTube and Apple.
This leadership change could also help unlock new monetization paths—such as deeper AI-driven ad targeting, expanded creator tools, or new subscription ad models—to hone Spotify’s ad ambitions, provided the transition doesn’t create friction.
This is our immediate perspective. We’re actively developing this story throughout the day with more research and data from the EMARKETER database. Our in-depth analysis will be included in our client-only Briefings. Non-clients can click here to get a demo of our full platform and coverage.
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