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Spotify

Spotify is a leading global audio streaming service that was founded in Sweden and incorporated in Luxembourg in 2006. In 2019, Spotify had a presence in 79 markets, with 271 million monthly users.

Summary

Spotify performs best in the innovation measurement area due to its detailed disclosure on gender diversity in research and development (R&D) and its willingness to share data sets. However, the company lags its peers in digital inclusion, due largely to a lack of evidence in the areas covered by the benchmark. Under skills, the Sound Up training programme (described below) is an example of leading practice, but little evidence could be found about Spotify’s work in supporting other dimensions of digital skills development. In access and use, there was limited evidence of best practices. The company references certain international reporting standards – for example, in disclosing data breaches. However, it is opaque in other areas, such as by not disclosing its economic value distribution. Spotify publishes an annual environmental, social and governance report and could consider widening the scope by including digital inclusion in its materiality assessment.

Ranking position: #65 /100
Total score: 0.43 /2

Measurement area	Score (0-2)	Rank (0-100)
Access	0.23 /2	#73
Skills	0.31 /2	#60
Use	0.44 /2	#72
Innovation	0.75 /2	#58

Access: The company has several initiatives aimed at increasing women’s representation in the digital sound industry. It also partners with others on accessibility issues for people with disabilities.
Skills: Spotify’s Sound Up programme is an example of a company using its expertise for digital skills training. The programme provides training and support to enable women of colour and other under-represented groups in Australia, Brazil, Germany, Ireland, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States to develop podcasts.
Use: Spotify’s privacy policy provides users with a tool to download their personal information, which was used by almost half a million people in 2019. The company also has a dedicated children’s privacy policy, and it reports the number of data breaches that occur.
Innovation: Spotify supports open source and provides developers with tools to use its code. It also makes podcasting big data sets available for research. The company demonstrates practices relating to diverse and ethical innovation. For instance, Spotify is one of few companies to report on the number of women employees engaged in R&D, and it develops tools to minimise algorithmic bias in its research.

Access: While Spotify provides free ad-sponsored access to its music streaming service, there is no evidence of the company more widely supporting digital access. Information about accessibility initiatives for users with disabilities and the employment of people with disabilities is lacking. The company should report on how its economic value is distributed among its stakeholders. Considering its influence on the music ecosystem, it should also calculate its indirect impacts.
Skills: Spotify has an opportunity to more widely support digital skills development among vulnerable and under-represented groups.
Use: Spotify does not disclose information on its senior-level oversight and accountability for cybersecurity. In addition, it is less transparent than other digital companies about how it monitors and remedies cybersecurity incidents and how it helps to mitigate digital risks and harms for children.
Innovation: Relative to other leading digital companies, Spotify demonstrates little evidence of supporting the tech start-up ecosystem.

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2021
2023

More about the company

Headquarters: Stockholm, Sweden
Ownership structure: Publicly listed
Fiscal year: Ends 31 December
Group revenue: US$7,572 million (FY2019)
Group employees: 4,405 (FY2019)
Website: https://www.spotify.com

Spotify

Leading practices

Access

Skills

Use

Innovation

Risks and opportunities