In the world of big businesses with a long history of income, it first appears weird for a newcomer like Spotify to establish themselves in the stock exchange. But with a current value of over $13 billion, Spotify desires to be different. Even more importantly, the reason for Spotify's rise as an IPO is not due to investment, but due to a desire for employees and investors to buy into Spotify's stock shares immediately. Following a new path that differs from other streaming services, Spotify's decision is not only astonishing, but game-changing as well.
Spotify, a music streaming service, first began in the capital city Stockholm, Sweden in 2006. Led by the current Founder and CEO Daniel Elk, the application soon found users worldwide through the creation of free and paid accounts in October 2008. Soon afterwards, Spotify extended its experiment on free and paid accounts with the establishment of Spotify Premium and Spotify Open, which allowed users to have unlimited access to music and have up to 20 hours per month of listening, respectively. While Spotify Open ceases to exist today, Spotify followed up with other technological additions such as the web player, a 'Follow' tab, 'Discover' option and the ability to hear new music through music recommendations tailored to your listening history. All these additions quickly distinguished Spotify as a viable player for the music streaming business, allowing Spotify to expand their American headquarters with the addition of about 1,000 jobs across the span of three different areas in New York.
Spotify's recent decision to enter the world of the stock market exchange is one that is different on multiple fronts. Primarily, Spotify has already seen strong results from a past in convertible debt financing, or borrowing money from investors to later be converted into shares. In the last year alone, Spotify managed to make $1 billion through convertible debt financing, allowing holders to exchange them for stock once Spotify becomes an IPO. In addition, convertible debt financing allows these holders to not only exchange stock in the future, but avoid a decrease in stock value when that time so comes.
Spotify's push to become an IPO is also reinforced by their stroke of luck with investment groups and partnerships with larger music establishments. Since it's beginning, Spotify has been supported by investment groups such as Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS), Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) and Allen & Company, which have also played a role in how Spotify will climb to the top as an IPO in the upcoming days. Moreover, Spotify's recent deal with the record company Universal Music Group, one of the biggest record companies, will allow Spotify to already have public relations with established companies in the music realm. Similarly, a deal with the independent indie music label Merlin, a label in charge of 20,000 smaller labels, further allows Spotify to become established as a public force to be reckoned with.
It's apparent that Spotify will not operate like the music streaming service Pandora (NYSE: P), who is currently taking a $150 million investment in order to save its operations. Instead, Spotify establishes itself through its convertible debt financing and the investments it has already gained over time. More importantly, unlike other streaming services Spotify plans to take the immediate leap to establish a direct listing. This 'direct listing' stock price will not be influenced by investment banks, but simply established in one decision, which may cause price instability for the young company itself.
While other streaming services face hardship, Spotify seems to come out on top. With an establishment as an IPO, Spotify is looking towards a better more reliable future that public investors are already waiting for.