The Digital Executive Podcast

Episode 1175: Ola Sars on Building the Global Music Platform for Business

Release Date: December 23, 2025
Host: Brian (Coruzant Technologies)
Guest: Ola Sars (Founder & CEO, Soundtrack Technologies)

Overview

In this focused 10-minute episode, Stockholm-based music tech entrepreneur Ola Sars joins host Brian to discuss the evolution of the music industry, the rise of B2B music streaming, the economics of streaming for artists and platforms, and the impact of AI and personalization on music in business environments. Ola, a serial founder behind Beats Music (now Apple Music) and Soundtrack Technologies, shares hard-earned insights into the challenges and opportunities that have shaped his career in transforming how businesses use music.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

The Foundational Thesis: Digital Transformation of Music

[01:47–02:39]

• Ola’s observation: 20 years ago, digitization swept through the music industry simultaneously in production, distribution, and consumption.
  • “20 years ago I kind of observed as a music lover... everything was changing at the same time. Digitization was occurring... a massive tectonic shift in the industry which obviously provided some opportunities.” – Ola Sars [01:52]
• Career pivot: Motivated Ola to move from his former profession into building tech companies that would shape the future of music.

Building Soundtrack Technologies: B2B Music Streaming

[03:14–04:59]

• Consumer streaming led the way: Consumer streaming (Spotify, Apple Music, etc.) is now ubiquitous, but business streaming (for cafes, retailers, hospitality) lagged by a decade or more.
  • “The business to business market... is, I would say, less developed and 10, 15 years behind what's going on in the consumer market.” – Ola Sars [03:42]
• Unique needs for businesses: Unlike consumer platforms, businesses need tailored, compliant solutions to manage atmosphere and customer experience.
  • “What does a business or a brand need in order to deliver the right music at the right place at the right time to add commercial value? And that was a completely different use case or product requirement than what we're using in our phones.” – Ola Sars [04:04]
• Execution and growth: Led Soundtrack Technologies to become a global leader, serving 80,000+ businesses across 74 countries with over 100 million licensed tracks.

Economics of Music Streaming: Artist, Platform, & Industry Impact

[05:47–07:48]

• Industry growth: The paid music consumer base is now double what it was pre-streaming.
  • “The music industry actually... has never been bigger it's actually twice as big as it was before the streaming revolution.” – Ola Sars [05:50]
• Revenue split: Streaming services commonly redistribute about 70% of revenues to music creators (artists, publishers, labels).
  • “Let’s just take an example... Like we redistribute around 70% or more of the revenues we take from consumers on a subscription basis...” – Ola Sars [06:19]
• The middlemen problem: Revenue passes through many layers (labels, publishers) before reaching artists, which can dilute fairness.
• More artists, shared pie: The digital era means exponentially more creators publish music, which spreads income thinner than the old CD era.

The Future: AI, Personalization, and Licensing in Business Music

[08:36–10:56]

• AI’s dual role:
  1. Music creation (AI-generated tracks): Not as critical for businesses, given vast existing licensed catalogs.
     • “There's so much beautiful music out there, there's really no need for more music or the actual user.” – Ola Sars [09:32]
  2. Music curation and personalization: Sophisticated AI is used to generate context-specific playlists for businesses, enhancing atmosphere and commercial outcomes.
     • “How can we help these businesses to curate, meaning, create the perfect playlist for that hotel in Kansas City today for breakfast so that they can sell more smoothies?” – Ola Sars [10:20]
• Soundtrack Technologies and AI: Ola’s team has leaned on AI for playlisting and recommendation since the early days, focusing on matching music to commercial contexts more than on new AI music creation.

Memorable Quotes

• “Digitization was occurring in the music industry, production of music was going digital, distribution of music was going digital, and consumption of music was going digital all at the same time.”
  – Ola Sars [01:54]

• “That was a completely different use case or product requirement than what we're using in our phones... we've now rolled out soundtrack worldwide and we're... leading the category... Music for business.”
  – Ola Sars [04:04]

• “The music industry actually... has never been bigger, it's actually twice as big as it was before the streaming revolution.”
  – Ola Sars [05:50]

• “We redistribute around 70% or more of the revenues we take from consumers on a subscription basis... But the path towards the music creators goes through... a lot of middlemen... that's usually where most of those revenues either go.”
  – Ola Sars [06:19]

• “In the music industry... we already have... more than enough supply... There's so much beautiful music out there, there's really no need for more music or the actual user.”
  – Ola Sars [09:27]

• “How can we help these businesses to curate, meaning, create the perfect playlist for that hotel in Kansas City today for breakfast so that they can sell more smoothies?”
  – Ola Sars [10:20]

Timestamps for Key Segments

• [01:47] – Digital transformation of the music industry: thesis behind Ola’s career
• [03:14] – Market gap for B2B music streaming, distinct from consumer services
• [05:47] – Economics of streaming, fairness for artists, and revenue flow
• [08:36] – AI in music: creation vs. context-specific curation for businesses

Tone & Style

Ola Sars’ tone throughout is candid, insightful, and grounded in real industry figures. The conversation maintains an energetic, exploratory vibe, with Brian expressing excitement and admiration for Ola's work and perspective.

This episode delivers a concise, expert look at the intersection of technology and music for business, with practical takeaways for entrepreneurs, technologists, and anyone curious about how music shapes physical spaces and how AI continues to transform the industry.