Speaking on the state of the streaming music industry several months ago, Jimmy Iovine, head of Apple Music, admitted that his company couldn’t profit from just streaming music.  In a direct swipe at Spotify, Iovine toldBillboard last November,

“The streaming services have a bad situation.  There’s no margins and they’re not making any money.  Amazon sells Prime.  Apple sells telephones and iPads.  Spotify, they’re going to have to figure out a way to get that audience to buy something else.”

Now, following the much-hyped release of Apple’s HomePod, how does the Swedish streaming music platform expect to remain on top?  Maybe by mimicking what its closest competitors have done.

Say hello to the smart speaker — and a bunch of other hardware — by Spotify.

Spotify hasn’t had a great 2018.  Right before the start of the New Year, the service got hit with a $1.6 billion lawsuit.  Then, in February, the Wall Street Journal forecasted that Apple Music would surpass the Swedish music platform’s total US subscriber tally this summer.

To gain subscribers ahead of its direct listing on Wall Street, Spotify offered 2 months of its Premium service.  Some called that smart, others said it was desperate.