Obama visiting Sweden in 2013. Was Spotify on the itinerary?
Obama does have one of Spotify’s most popular playlists. So what happens after January 20th? “I’m still waiting for my job at Spotify,” the exiting President just joked.
Updated: We originally wrote that Ambassador Mark Brzezinski served from 2011-2014. Per Brzezinski, the correct dates are 2011-2015.
If you’re a Spotify user, you’ve probably listened one of Obama’s many musical picks. But the exiting President not only has one of the most popular playlists on the service, he’s also a fan.
Now, he’s even joking about working at the Swedish streaming service after his Presidency ends this month. Or, we think he’s joking. “I’m still waiting for my job at Spotify,” Barack recently remarked to former Swedish ambassador Mark Brzezinzki.
So, the President of the United States is not only aware of Spotify, he seems like a user. And he knows it’s a Swedish company. Pretty good for a company that barely existed when Obama was first sworn in.
Tonight President Obama invited all of the Ambassadors he personally chose to an intimate reception at the White House. I finally got the chance to thank him for the life-changing appointment to Sweden. He said word for word: “I loved visiting you in Stockholm, it was my favorite trip. I plan to go back there really soon.” I told him I have the perfect opportunity for him to come visit and he told me “to send him the details on Brilliant Minds.” He also declared– “I’m still waiting for my job at Spotify… Cuz’ I know y’all loved my playlist.” I am still swooning. ????? @barackobama @whitehouse ❤️. @symposiumsthlm So proud of Mark for serving this historic President with all his heart!! ????
‘Word for word…’
The conversation happened at a recent diplomatic dinner at the White House. Brzezinski served as Swedish ambassador from 2011 to 2014 2015, and came to meet his former boss. Recording the action was Natalia Brzezinski, blogger and podcaster who was of course taking notes. “He said word for word: ‘I loved visiting you in Stockholm, it was my favorite trip. I plan to go back there really soon’,” Natalia wrote.
Barack Obama last visited Sweden in 2013, and seemed fond of the place. Separately, former Swedish prime minister Fredrik Reinfeldt said that the Obamas took a liking to the Scandinavian country. “I said I hoped they would find time to return after his presidency,” Reinfeldt told the Aftonbladet tabloid in September.
In the meantime, Obama says he’s planning to sleep for a few weeks after January 20th. Then, let’s see: maybe his musical side will come out a little more.
And hey: if Donald Trump can be President, Obama could become a Spotify executive. Anything’s game at this point.
It is a brilliant idea for clueless ex-POTUS to join clueless joint!
Spotify is the leader of the band KILLING $200B of music obvious to everyone but SUICIDE team at UMG.
Sir Lucian, you and your boys endorsed SPOOFY – time to wake up and change music game board – have some HONOR or quit!
For a man who never lifted a finger to help artists and slipped Carla Hayden in under the radar the very thought makes me want to puke.
As much as most of the world loves Obama, and rightfully so, you’re unfortunately correct.
He didn’t do a thing.
Obama does have one of Spotify’s most popular playlists
does he? does DMN know anyhting about the market it loves to comment on?
Barak Obama’s Spotify profile has 6 playlists on it. the biggest of which as 62k followers. which is not a lot. certainly not one of the biggest.
speaking of ‘biggest’, we evaluate playlist on consumption, not follower count. that’s just a vanity metric. a playlist could have 200k followers, but if they don’t actively use the playlist, it’s as good as useless.
so maybe Obama’s 62k followers are highly engaged? but how would DMN know that? do you have access to the Spotify API? Do you know how to calculate DAUs and track whether a listen is a ‘discovery’ listen, if a listener subsequently saves the track to their library from Obama’s playlist and then consumes voraciously?
you either know a lot more than you are letting on, or you know fuck all.
for those who are still reading, playlists with 62k followers in general deliver low consumption. there are niche playlists, within a scene or genre, that have lower follower counts and higher than average DAU to followers ratio. I highly doubt Obama’s playlists fall into that bucket though.
Why do you waist time to analyze loser activity on music killing platform?
Invest your time in pleasant issues!
Agreed. Spend more time on spelling and grammar.
Funny how this music killing platform as you call it, is revitalizing the music industry as we speak. You are an idiot.
Show your real identity before you make any comments!
Spoofy is what it is: ONE OF THE MAIN SHRINKERS = KILLERS of $200B music business obvious to a dork to $25B of subs and ads sometimes in 2025!
Very VITAL 1999 after just inflation adjustment with “ZERO” growth would be $60B today!
WE ARE at $16B (27% of 1999) – thanks to UMG mega brains!
Internet is made for music and allows for totally automated, computer driven platform bigger than digital ads.
$200B or $300B music business is a no brainer.
Everything you speak is gobblygook. Stop talking please. You annoy everybody with your dumb rantings. PLEASE STOP.
Yeah, Obama totally wasn’t joking. Going from ex-POTUS to “whatever” at Spotify makes total sense! I mean, Obama MUST have a hard-on for Spotify because he’s aware of it, and aware of where the company is based. Like, nobody else is really privy to that kind of highly-guarded stuff!
I know you’re trying to get web traffic, DMN, but every time you post these kinds of bs click-bait headlines and report on these kinds of non-stories it makes me (and other readers, I’m sure) never want to come back to this site.