Episode Guide
The Vision: We create the future. The Industry: Technology and business. The Law: The law of the land. The Coder: The code breaker. The Partner: The partner who helps make it happen. The Artist: The artist who brings it all together.
The Playlist is a six part drama revolving around the inception of Spotify and its widespread impact on the music industry. Released earlier this year, it has already garnered critical acclaim and is set to air on HBO in 2020. ..
The show cleverly switches perspectives every episode, and although Daniel Ek, the Swedish tech entrepreneur and brainchild behind Spotify’s inception, is the main focal point, every episode switches things up to keep that vibrancy going.
Episode 2 of Season 2 of “The Crown” looks at the business side of things and, in particular, Sony Music through the eyes of Per Sundin. By comparison, episode 4 follows the journey of Andreas, a talented coder who managed to revolutionize the tech needed to make Spotify the behemoth that it is today.
The final couple of episodes of “Spotify: The Story” are quite sombre by comparison, with one looking at a pivotal partner in the whole company and the other looking at the artists themselves. ..
This technology, called “pirate Bay,” allowed people to download music illegally without paying for it. This caused a huge change in the music industry, as pirates were able to get the music they wanted much faster than anyone else. The second half of this series focuses on how Pirate Bay was shut down, and how this has affected the music industry.
Some characters that show up early on in the series are never seen again. Episode 3 is a great example of this, following the legal side of Spotify through the eyes of talented Petra. Her journey is a fascinating one, but after this chapter she’s barely heard from again. ..
The early episodes of “The Crown” give the impression that everything is going to be interwoven together and cleverly bridge the gap between different characters. However, midway through the series, this approach is abandoned and it becomes disappointing. ..
Despite the complaints, The Playlist is a good watch and shares many of the same hallmarks as German series Billion Dollar Code (also streaming on Netflix).
The visual and auditory elements of the show are both impressive. The muted tones that slowly filter in more color over time add a subtle but welcome flair, while the soundtrack is packed with soundbites of different songs. It’s fascinating to see the evolution of music in this manner and it works wonders to add a layer of authenticity to the series. ..
The Playlist is a well written series with good acting and a solid premise. However, streaming music is here to stay and the victims will be the small businesses that don’t have the resources to keep up with the competition. The Playlist will need to be careful about how it handles its content, as it could easily become another victim of streaming music’s dominance.
