Spotify Appoints Niklas Brantberg as Nordics Managing

Niklas Brantberg began his role as Spotify's Managing Director for the Nordics on September 7. He announced the move in a LinkedIn post published the following day, September 8.

Brantberg joins the streaming giant from Overtone Studios, the Sweden-based label where he served as CEO. Overtone Studios is part of the Epidemic Group, the parent company formerly known as Epidemic Sound Group. In his LinkedIn post, Brantberg described the move as "the end of an incredible 12 years at Epidemic Sound and Overtone Studios."

Career Background

Brantberg's career at Epidemic Sound began in 2014. He initially served as the company's SVP of Global Sales and Streaming Partnerships, a role that involved negotiating deals with streaming services. He was promoted to Chief of Music at the Stockholm-headquartered production music company in 2019. Brantberg later took over as CEO of Overtone Studios, a label acquired by Epidemic Sound in 2022 when it was named A-P Records. The label was rebranded as Overtone Studios in March 2023.

Overtone Studios is known for releasing the music of Swedish composer Johan Röhr. In March 2024, the newspaper Dagens Nyheter reported that Röhr's music had been distributed under hundreds of invented artist names on Spotify. The report stated the music had been released under 50 composer aliases and at least 656 invented artist names, accumulating around 15 billion plays on the platform.

Responding to the newspaper at the time, Brantberg, then Overtone's CEO, issued a written statement. He said many of the artist names were "old and inactive musical projects" and that the label had "significantly reduced the number of artist profiles that actively publish music, even though today we work with many more creators." He also called Röhr a "pioneer in the mood music genre."

Brantberg's Vision for Spotify

In his LinkedIn announcement, Brantberg outlined his goals for the new position. "I want to build stronger, more valuable partnerships with artists, authors, creators, labels and publishers across the Nordics, and help more Nordic talent reach a global audience," he said. He also expressed a desire to ensure user time on Spotify feels worthwhile, helping them discover new music, books, and podcasts.

Brantberg emphasized broader industry responsibilities. "Spotify has spent 20 years changing how we discover and experience music, and helped build one of Sweden’s biggest creative export industries," he wrote. "And with that comes a big responsibility." He added, "I want Spotify to be a constructive voice on the big, complex questions ahead such as AI and platform responsibility."

He concluded by stating his immediate focus is to listen and learn, inviting artists, authors, creators, labels, and publishers to share their thoughts on Spotify's future direction.

Spotify's Regional and User Context

This appointment follows Spotify's hiring of Chris Whiteley as its Managing Director for Northern Europe in March 2025. That London-based role covers the UK and Ireland and involves coordinating marketing, music, and podcast functions across the region.

According to its latest financial results published on August 4, Spotify reported 300 million Premium subscribers and 777 million Monthly Active Users at the close of the second quarter of 2026. Europe accounted for 36% of the company's Premium subscriber base at the end of that quarter. The quarter also featured an in-app experience for Spotify's 20th anniversary, which the company said nearly 100 million users engaged with in its first six days.