The Playlist follows the journey of the music streaming platform Spotify which changed the music industry forever.
Who wouldn’t be curious to witness the journey of the world’s largest music-streaming platform? Add to that curiosity, the commendable performances by Edvin Endre, Ulf Stenberg, Gizem Erdogan, Joel Lutzow, Christian Hillborg, and Janice Kavander, a gripping drama is ready to be served. The Playlist has all ingredients added in almost the right quantity making it an almost perfect recipe for a successful drama that keeps one hooked.
The Story
Daniel Ek is a young coder with a vision of creating a legal and free music streaming service. He meets Martin and Andreas who make major contributions to Spotify’s success.
In the 2000s, an illegal music website causes monetary losses to record companies. Therefore record companies attempt to strike a deal with Spotify. Daniel is forced to compromise in the negotiations to ensure Spotify is a profitable business model.
A few years later, Spotify owns a large part of the music industry resulting in conflict with the musicians. One of the musicians, Bobby T who is also Daniel’s childhood friend takes a step that puts the future of Spotify in jeopardy.
Daniel finds out that creating something revolutionary requires more than just a great idea.
Reasons To Stream
The beginning and the end of this series both are impressive. Everything in between is weaved together delicately and with precision.
This drama is told from different perspectives of the people integral to Spotify’s journey. This makes it an interesting watch as every episode plays an important role in connecting the dots to the whole picture. The performances by the actors playing the lead roles genuinely keep the audience glued to the screens piquing their interest in knowing what happens next.
Breaking the fourth wall also works in favor as the actors ask questions to the audience as well as explain technical concepts that help with the clarity required to watch the series further.
Though it is based on the true story of Daniel Ek’s vision, The Playlist is a fictional account of Spotify’s origin and provides ample scope for experimentation and exploration. The open-ended climax passes the buck to the audience to decide.
Reasons To Skip
Though the fictional element makes the series intriguing to watch, it doesn’t deliver a storyline that is grounded enough. Mixing reality and fiction along with different perspectives doesn’t work sometimes, making some scenes feel too stretched out.
The ending is mind-numbingly weird leaving more questions than answers and more problems than solutions. It ends up hinting at a grim ending for the artists.
The series will not meet the expectations of a viewer rooting for the artist. Nonetheless, it does succeed in raising important thought-provoking questions which help shed light on the possibility of a different future if different choices are made by people who are a part of the music industry.
The Verdict
The Playlist is an inspiring story of how a vision turned into a massively successful business. It delivers what it promises – an interesting drama. The Playlist leaves the audience impressed with the unique storyline and its approach to the endings in each episode.
The drama undoubtedly raises many reflective questions about the current music industry and its future. It does a decent job of combining reality with fiction. Though the ending is bizarre, the whole story is backed up by an inspiring vision. This contributes to making The Playlist binge-worthy.
Rating: 4/5
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