Netflix Commissions Drama About The Birth Of Spotify
In a headline which sounds like it could have been ripped from the script from a recent ‘Rick and Morty’ episode, Netflix has announced that they have commissioned a new drama following the birth of Swedish music start-up Spotify…
The untitled limited series is inspired by the book ‘Spotify Untold’ by authors Sven Carlsson and Jonas Leijonhufvud – both business reporters at Swedish Dagens Industri – and will be produced by Yellow Bird UK, a Banijay Group company and the production company behind the upcoming Netflix series ‘Young Wallander’. Acclaimed Per-Olav Sørensen (‘Quicksand’, ‘Home for Christmas’) will be directing and Berna Levin (‘Young Wallander’, ‘The Girl in the Spider’s Web’) will serve as executive producer.
“The founding tale of Spotify is a great example of how a local story can have a global impact,” commented Tesha Crawford, Director of International Originals Northern Europe at Netflix. “We are really excited about bringing this success story to life and we look forward to continuing our great collaboration with director Per-Olav Sørensen and the team at Yellow Bird UK.”
At the height of piracy, established heavy-hitters were fighting against where the turbulent music industry was heading. The series centres around young Swedish tech entrepreneur, Daniel Ek, and his partner Martin Lorentzon, who revolutionised a whole industry by offering free and legal streamed music around the world. It is a story about how hard convictions, unrelenting will, access and big dreams can help small players challenge the status quo by evolving the way we can all listen to music.
“I’m thrilled to be making this timely and entertaining series for Netflix,” adds Berna Levin, Executive Producer, Yellow Bird. “The story of how a small band of Swedish tech industry insiders transformed music – how we listen to it and how it’s made – is truly a tale for our time. Not only is this a story about the way all our lives have changed in the last decade, it’s about the battle for cultural and financial influence in a globalised, digitised world.”
The Swedish and English language series will be developed and produced by Yellow Bird UK, with Berna Levin serving as executive producer and Luke Franklin as producer.
No news on when the Spotify drama will land on Netflix, but we’ll let you know when we hear more.
