Amid increasing debate over AI's role in the creative arts, especially music, Ek remained optimistic. “I’m mostly excited because we’re just in the beginning of understanding this future of creativity,” he said, addressing journalists and industry observers.
Recent controversies have cast a shadow over Spotify’s stance on AI, including reports by Swedish outlet Dagens Nyheter and the book Mood Machine, which alleged that Spotify had commissioned producers to create thousands of tracks under fictitious AI artist names. These tracks, allegedly promoted on official playlists, were said to have displaced real artists and reduced royalty payouts. Spotify has denied any wrongdoing.
Ek, however, used the event to frame the conversation differently — focusing less on industry politics and more on the evolving nature of creativity. “We want real humans to make it as artists and creators,” he said, while also posing deeper questions about how we define creativity and music in an AI-augmented world.
He likened the skepticism around AI-generated music to earlier cultural shifts, such as the rise of electronic dance music, DJing, and hip hop — all of which were once dismissed as less-than-authentic forms of music. “Now, any one of us can probably create a beat in five or 10 minutes. The tools that we now have at our availability are just staggering,” he noted.
For Ek, the democratization of music-making is one of AI’s most powerful potentials. “The barriers for creation are becoming lower and lower. More and more people will create,” he said, emphasizing that AI could help unleash a new generation of artists who might not have had access to traditional music education or expensive studio equipment.
While acknowledging that AI carries risks, Ek was careful to distinguish between dangerous applications and the vast opportunities available to musicians and creators. “There are very scary potential applications for AI,” he said, “but the more interesting thing for me is the amount of creativity that creative people will have at their fingertips.”
Rather than viewing AI as a revolution that will displace human talent, Ek sees it as an evolution — a natural extension of the tools artists have always used to experiment and innovate.
Spotify, which reached 678 million active users and 268 million paying subscribers by March 2025, recorded its first annual profit in 2024. The platform now has 100 million paying users in Europe alone. Ek is confident that the company’s global growth trajectory remains strong: “I don’t think there’s any doubt in my mind that the potential for Spotify at some point is to eventually get to over a billion paying subscribers.”
As AI continues to transform industries across the board, Spotify’s CEO is betting that it will unlock, not undercut, human creativity — a future where more people, not fewer, find their voice in music.