Spotify在2023 Q3财报转正之后，出人意料地选择在年底进行一次较大的裁员，直接砍掉17%的员工。在目前高息，注重市场确定性，利润率这些指标的大背景下，Spotify也是要为过去两年的招人付出代价的。之前也聊过，过去两年很多科技企业都招人过度，是因为疫情期间的需求暴涨，以及疫情期间看不清未来到底会持续多久的lockdown所致。那个时候，错判需求的暴增比误判需求持续时间可能还要安全一点。毕竟错判了，我裁员就好了，如果是真的持续很久的需求点出现没跟上，也许面临的是被淘汰。
以下是Daniel Ek的Memo全文：
Team, Over the last two years, we’ve put significant emphasis on building Spotify into a truly great and sustainable business – one designed to achieve our goal of being the world’s leading audio company and one that will consistently drive profitability and growth into the future. While we’ve made worthy strides, as I’ve shared many times, we still have work to do. **Economic growth has slowed dramatically and capital has become more expensive. Spotify is not an exception to these realities**.
This brings me to a decision that will mean a significant step change for our company. To align Spotify with our future goals and ensure we are right-sized for the challenges ahead, I have made the difficult decision to reduce our total headcount by approximately 17% across the company. I recognize this will impact a number of individuals who have made valuable contributions. To be blunt, many smart, talented and hard-working people will be departing us.
For those leaving, we’re a better company because of your dedication and hard work. Thank you for sharing your talents with us. I hope you know that your contributions have impacted more than half a billion people and millions of artists, creators, and authors around the world in profound ways.
I realize that for many, a reduction of this size will feel surprisingly large given the recent positive earnings report and our performance. We debated making smaller reductions throughout 2024 and 2025. Yet, considering the gap between our financial goal state and our current operational costs, I decided that a substantial action to rightsize our costs was the best option to accomplish our objectives.
While I am convinced this is the right action for our company, I also understand it will be incredibly painful for our team.To understand this decision, I think it is important to assess Spotify with a clear, objective lens. In 2020 and 2021, we took advantage of the opportunity presented by lower-cost capital and invested significantly in team expansion, content enhancement, marketing, and new verticals. These investments generally worked, contributing to Spotify’s increased output and the platform’s robust growth this past year. **However, we now find ourselves in a very different environment. And despite our efforts to reduce costs this past year, our cost structure for where we need to be is still too big.**
When we look back on 2022 and 2023, it has truly been impressive what we have accomplished. But, at the same time, the reality is much of this output was linked to having more resources. By most metrics, we were more productive but less efficient. We need to be both. While we have done some work to mitigate this challenge and become more efficient in 2023, we still have a ways to go before we are both productive and efficient. Today, we still have too many people dedicated to supporting work and even doing work around the work rather than contributing to opportunities with real impact. More people need to be focused on delivering for our key stakeholders – creators and consumers. In two words, we have to become relentlessly resourceful.
I know you will all be anxious to hear the next steps about how this process will work. If you are an impacted employee, you will receive a calendar invite within the next two hours from HR for a one-on-one conversation.
These meetings will take place before the end of the day on Tuesday, and while Katarina will provide more detail on all of the specifics, please know the following will apply to all of these bandmates:
Severance pay: We will start with a baseline for all employees, with the average employee receiving approximately five months of severance. This will be calculated based on local notice period requirements and employee tenure.
PTO: All accrued and unused vacation will be paid out to any departing employee.
Healthcare: We will continue to cover healthcare for employees during their severance period.
Immigration support: For employees whose immigration status is connected with their employment, HRBPs are working with each impacted individual in concert with our mobility team.
Career Support: All employees will be eligible for outplacement services for two months.
For the team that will remain at Spotify, I know this decision will be difficult for many. Please know we are focused on treating our impacted colleagues with the respect and compassion they deserve.
Looking Ahead
The decision to reduce our team size is a hard but crucial step towards forging a stronger, more efficient Spotify for the future. But it also highlights that we need to change how we work. In Spotify’s early days, our success was hard won. We had limited resources and had to make the most of every asset. Our ingenuity and creativity were what set us apart. As we’ve grown, we’ve moved too far away from this core principle of resourcefulness.
The Spotify of tomorrow must be defined by being relentlessly resourceful in the ways we operate, innovate, and tackle problems. This kind of resourcefulness transcends the basic definition – it’s about preparing for our next phase, where being lean is not just an option but a necessity.
Embracing this leaner structure will also allow us to invest our profits more strategically back into the business. With a more targeted approach, every investment and initiative becomes more impactful, offering greater opportunities for success. **This is not a step back; it’s a strategic reorientation. We’re still committed to investing and making bold bets, but now, with a more focused approach, ensuring Spotify’s continued profitability and ability to innovate. Lean doesn’t mean small ambitions; it means smarter, more impactful paths to achieve them.**
Today is a difficult but important day for the company. To be very clear, my commitment to our mission and belief in our ability to achieve it has never been stronger. I hope you will join me on Wednesday for Unplugged to discuss how we move forward together. A reduction of this size will make it necessary to change the way we work, and we will share much more about what this will mean in the days and weeks ahead. Just as 2023 marked a new chapter for us, so will 2024 as we build an even stronger Spotify.
– Daniel
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Spotify在疫情之后其实是经历了一波需求下滑的，因为使用场景被缩小了，人们在家里使用Spotify是不多的（毕竟看Netflix都占了那么多时间）。疫情之后需求开始反弹，Spotify在全球的Churn变化不大（有兴趣可以去查第三方数据），整体Churn甚至比Netflix都优秀。转化免费用户到付费用户的大趋势一直跑，而且付费用户增长稳定，只不过多年来没有涨价。今年涨了一次，提了一块钱的价格，对整体的盈利贡献还是明显的。毕竟多了2个多亿的税前收入。提价并不会影响churn，这一点对于Spotify来说是和Netflix一样的，可以不断地提价的企业。节约掉人员开支后，我们可以预期看到Spotify的投资会变得更加集中一些，利润率也基本会更好看。大家都在做开源节流的事情，尤其是马斯克砍了那么多员工之后，可能很多公司都发现，员工确实有比较明显的劳动力冗余现象。对于今年砍掉的部分，是我之前有些疑惑，但认为可以边走边看的部分，就是Spotify花了不少钱去收购，投资到Podcast的内容上。一部分是花钱收购，另一方面是提供更多的基础设置支持，比如把Anchor整合进了Spotify Podcast等等。
因为Spotify的定位是一个平台型企业，所以它自己做Podcast内容，实际上是为了带动整个Podcast的发展，尤其是在Spotify平台上的发展。但是我们最近也看到很多文章和资料会提到Podcast越来越展现出在多平台，尤其是视频平台化的发展。后面Spotify也增加了Podcast上传视频的功能。Youtube的分成，相对Spotify目前的分成来说，可能就会更有吸引力了。
而Spotify的用户在Spotify上看长视频的这个行为感觉不太对头，不像是一个符合用户逻辑的动作，所以还需要更长时间来观察。但无论如何，Podcast带动的广告收入增长是确定的，这个市场也随着一些头部的Podcast出现，变得越来越有意思。在老早以前，很多人对Spotify的业务是有偏见的，尤其是音乐版权那块儿的支出。但我自己也曾经算过一笔账，音乐版权类的支出也是有几个值得持续观察的点：1. 支出并非是非线性的 2. 和音乐版权公司形成了共生关系 3. 独立音乐版权正在逐渐增多 4. 技术发展，比如AI和自然语言技术以及分发技术的发展，使得声音类的资源正在发生有意思的变化。
这其中最有意思的就是之前聊过的AI歌手的现象以及Podcast的AI自动语言转化功能
。这里就不展开聊了，这些都属于附加分。
Spotify一直以来让我不满意的地方依然是它的内容发现机制依然还不行，AI推荐系统不够好，导致很多内容实际上是得不到足够曝光的。可能确实语言是一个阻挡Spotify的Podcast作为一个大宗真正流通的因素，不知道之后如果语言都可以自动切换以后，Podcast还会不会提供更多的贡献？作为一家拥有大几个亿用户的企业，churn这么低，Spotify还有很大的空间。
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