The Playlist

As Episode 1 of "The Playlist" (2022 release from Sweden; 6 episodes of 45-55 min each) opens, we are in "Ragsved, 2004" (a suburb of Stockholm) and we get to know Daniel Ek, a 22 yo who had hoped to land a job at Google, but alas, he was rejected. He starts his own company, Advertigo, providing digital discount coupons. It's not long before that this new venture attracts the attention of others... At this point we are 10 minutes into Episode 1.

Couple of comments: this mini-series is (mostly) adapted from the book "Spotify Untold", written by 2 Swedish journalists. It brings the story of Spotify from a number of perspectives. Episode 1 "The Vision" focuses on how Spotify came about in the first place; Episode 2 "The Industry" looks at how the music industry dealt with this massive market disruption; etc. The best is saved for last, as Episode 6 "The Artist" (which episode is NOT based on book) looks forward on how all of this might unfold, with the last 15 minutes taking place in "Washington DC 2025"... I admit that none of the cast or the production crew were familiar to me, but all I can say is that I binge-watched this mini-series in less than 24 hrs.

"The Playlist" started streaming on Netflix last month, and I just now got around to it. Better late than never. If you are curious how Spotify came about, or how it has affected both the record labels and the artists, I'd readily suggest you check this out, whether you are for or against Spotify, and draw your own conclusion.

The series is pretty good overall, especially if you're interested in how a startup works or the music industry. The last episode simply shows that it's not all paradise and underlines the problems of the platform. I think that everyone who said in their reviews that the last episode is terrible just got too attached to Daniel Ek and his Spotify dream - maybe some people would've preferred for the series to end with a big happy party, but I personally appreciated that the creators chose to also explore the nastier sides of the business rather than sugarcoat Spotify's influence and effects. Dismissing the last episode just because it's not some satisfying fantasy kind of proves the whole point that the ep. Is trying to make and reinforces Ek's own disillusionment.

I had no idea about it and went in blind. This surprised me. The acting, the cinematography and the flow of the story is authentic and genuine. I do not know if this is completely true to the reality story, but it is very hooking for sure. Episode 2 was epic, the acting and the conflict between cultures, portrayed genuinely. "Heisenberg" looking guy won me over!

2 episodes in and I am getting 2 perspectives of the story with it moving forward, I can only assume it is going to get better. The only thing I hate about series/shows these days is they are either too 'teenage-ish' or too unrealistic.

I would definitely rate this a solid 9/10 for the 2 episodes I have seen. Let's see how it goes!

To be honest, I was sceptical when I started watching. 'How can they make a 6 part series about Spotify interesting?' I thought. Then I ended up binge-watching the whole thing!

The story takes us on a journey following Spotify from the idea to the most popular music streaming site in the world, and it does this with an exciting format. Each episode dedicates itself to one of the people who were essential to the companys success and the compromises they have on the course of the project. While part fiction it still feels like large parts of the story is based on real events.

The acting was quite good overall except for some cringy parts and I was really impressed by Christian Hillborgs performance of the co-founder Martin Lorentzon, giving me real "Wolf of Wallstreet" vibes!

Being a Swedish production and without a Hollywood budget they had to get clever with the set design. There is an often recurring hallway which transports the characters in between sets which I really like, kind of like a fast travel sequence in a video game. Some of the scenes were re-used 2 or even 3 times in different episodes, each time following a different character. It did feel a bit a bit cheap sometimes but didn't stop each episode from feeling unique.

Finally, a show well worth a watch and is very self-aware. I was impressed how they were bold enough to even outright criticize Spotify in the last episode.

Pleasantly surprised by the show, binged the whole show in a day, though I wish I forgot the last episode. The last episode literally added to value to the this mini series in my opinion, it felt like a bit of and afterthought.

Interesting to see it shot from the different perspectives of different characters.

I was engaged right from the offset.

The acting was very good and believable. The sound track was obviously obviously inspired by The Social Network score, but not ad good.

Would definitely say it's worth a watch, but I'm a little biased as I generally enjoy Movies/show about tech start ups.