Thursday, Mar. 29, 2012
Daniel Ek
Age: 29
Occupation: CEO, Spotify
A serial entrepreneur, Ek co-founded the legal-music-streaming service Spotify, anticipating the music industry's shift from ownership to access. Spotify's cloud-based subscription service now has over 3 million users, and over 20% of its active base pays every month for premium features like ad-free listening. In January, the IFPI, the music industry's international trade organization, announced that subscription services are finally helping to offset declining CD sales. In an industry traditionally ambivalent toward technology, Ek's company is embracing it and leading the way.