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This VC firm is playing the long game with sports and fitness—and just added a new teammate

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Codex raises $15.8 million in round led by Dragonfly to build out a blockchain for stablecoins

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Spotify is pitching itself to advertisers as the anti-‘rotting and doom scrolling app’

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Have you ever thought about how much time you spend on Spotify, that is, actually inside the Spotify app? It’s easy to get lost for 30 minutes on TikTok or Instagram, but you probably don’t have the same instinct for the Swedish streaming app. 

Spotify, though, is keen to remind the advertising world just how much time their listeners spend actually navigating the app. 

A music app designed to operate in the background isn’t an obvious target market for advertisers, who would be inclined to regard the app’s users as passive or unengaged.

This could explain why the streaming platform’s ad revenue is so low. Spotify made $1.85 billion from ad-supported revenue in 2024, a fraction of the $13.8 billion it raked in from premium subscribers. 

However, as part of a new drive to boost ad-supported revenue, Spotify is trying to convince advertisers that its listeners are anything but passive.

“It’s more nutritious… rather than these high-caloric, quick things,” Alex Norstrom, Spotify’s co-president and chief business officer, told the New York Times about the Spotify app. 

Norstrom elaborated that this included the “Jam” function, which forces listeners to turn both technical and collaborative to create the ideal group playlist. He also pointed to listeners wanting to discover more about their favorite podcaster or settling in for an extended audiobook session.

“People just feel good when they’re on Spotify,” Lee Brown, Spotify’s global head of advertising, said on Wednesday. “How many apps can say that?”

Spotify aims to grow its advertising revenue by increasing the amount of time its users spend on the app. To that end, the group enhanced its offering of podcasts with a video function, making it functionally comparable to YouTube.  

“The more content users stream, the more advertising inventory we generally have to sell,” the group wrote in its 2024 annual report.

Its strategy to do so, as Brown summarized, was to pitch itself as the alternative to “rotting and doom-scrolling.”

Spotify’s pitch for advertisers comes at a time when brands are thinking more intentionally about where they publicize themselves. Elon Musk went to war with advertisers last year after many pulled funding from his X platform as its content turned more toxic. They began to return in the wake of the election of Donald Trump, who was heavily supported by Muck.

The company has been more deliberate in its message to advertisers in recent months.

What Wednesday’s event sought to highlight was making it easier for advertisers to use the platform, including the use of Gen AI to power scripts and voiceovers in the U.S. and Canada.

In November last year, Spotify said 72% of Gen Z listeners viewed the app as the antidote to doom-scrolling, according to findings in its Culture Next Report. The report, aimed at advertisers, indicated Gen Z listeners favored brands that engaged with Spotify by creating playlists or sponsoring live music events. 

Spotify enjoyed a remarkable 2024 turnaround after rounding out 2023 with its largest-ever round of layoffs. The company enjoyed its first full year of profitability and saw its share price more than double last year.

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com



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Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum deftly guided her country through the worst of Trump’s tariffs

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Good morning! U.S. will host the 2031 Women’s World Cup, David’s Bridal has a new strategy, and Mexico’s president is the winner of tariff week.

– Almost unscathed. T-day hit the global economy like a ton of bricks. President Donald Trump announced the details of his tariffs—a 10% “baseline” tariff on all imports to the U.S. plus additional tariffs ranging between 20% and 54% for countries Trump called the “worst offenders.” The president says tariffs are intended to return manufacturing jobs to the U.S., a declaration of “economic independence.” Yet stocks, in one day, lost $3.1 trillion in market value. Major indexes dropped 6%. Recession odds have reached 35%.

But two countries were spared the brunt of Trump’s retaliation. Canada and Mexico saw no additional tariffs imposed—and Mexico has President Claudia Sheinbaum to thank for that.

Claudia Sheinbaum, President of Mexico, presents Plan Mexico to mitigate Donald Trump’s tariffs at the National Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City, Mexico, on April 3, 2025. (Photo by Gerardo Vieyra/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

The Washington Post anointed Sheinbaum “the world’s leading Trump whisperer” in early March after she negotiated two delays of tariffs on her country. The relationship-driven U.S. president seems to have grown to respect Sheinbaum, even as relationships with other world leaders have fractured. In March, Trump said he decided to delay the tariffs “out of respect for President Sheinbaum.” He has called her a “very wonderful woman.” Mexicans appreciated Sheinbaum’s deft negotiation, with thousands gathering in March to cheer for her; she told them “we cannot cede our sovereignty.” Her domestic approval rating soared to 85%.

Yesterday, Sheinbaum credited her relationship with Trump for Mexico’s emerging, not quite unscathed, from Trump’s new tariff regime. “This has to do with the good relationship we have built between the Mexican and U.S. government, which is based on respect,” she said on Thursday. (Trump negotiated a trade agreement with Canada and Mexico during his first term.) Mexico’s trade minister called the lack of additional tariffs on Mexico a “major achievement.”

Of course, Mexico has trading partners besides the U.S. and will feel the impact of tariffs as part of the global economy. Some companies have already paused production at facilities in Mexico while they reassess global supply chains. Taking a cue from the U.S. playbook, Sheinbaum has debuted “Plan Mexico,” to promote the country’s domestic production. Still, Sheinbaum’s ability to navigate the dangerous waters of Trumpworld has made her stand out—just six months after taking office as Mexico’s first female president.

Emma Hinchliffe
emma.hinchliffe@fortune.com

The Most Powerful Women Daily newsletter is Fortune’s daily briefing for and about the women leading the business world. Today’s edition was curated by Nina Ajemian. Subscribe here.

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com



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