Spotify CEO does not fear Apple’s massive cash pile

Spotify is making a push to cement its self as the best audio platform in the world. The company revealed today that it acquired two podcasting companies and that it plans to spend big on original audio content.

Despite growing competition from Apple, Amazon and YouTube, Spotify is inching closer to having 100 million paid subscribers. In an interview on CNBC this morning, Spotify CEO Daniel Elk didn’t sound worried one bit about Apple and Amazon spending tons of cash to beat Spotify.

Spotify was one of the pioneering companies when it comes to audio streaming. Apple bought its way into the market when it acquired Beats and its Beats Music streaming platform for $3 billion. The Beats Music app morphed into Apple Music when it launched in 2015, yet the platform hasn’t been able to catch up to Spotify’s subscriber numbers.

Spotify vs. Apple’s cash

Elk appeared on CNBC’s Squawk on the Street show after the company reported its higher-than-expected earnings. Co-host David Faber asked Elk if Apple could conceivably spend enough money to push Spotify out of its leading market position.

“These are formidable companies. No doubt,” Elk responded. “But what I look at is obviously how our business is doing and we had a phenomenal Q4. The other part that I look at is we’re really just focused on audio…There is a ton of things that these other companies are doing, self-driving cars, whatever other businesses they’re into. And I believe in this day and age that you need to be very, very clear with your brand, what you are for consumers, in order for them to take it up.”

You can watch the full interview over at CNBC. Elk went on to say that the best experience will win. Adding new exclusive content will help too.

Apple is currently sitting on $235 billion in cash. That’s enough money to buy Spotify and Netflix if it really wanted to, but there have been no indications that Apple is interested in either company. While Spotify is focusing solely on audio, Apple is planning to go after video streaming, news subscriptions and gaming to go with Apple Music. The company promised it will launch new services in 2019 as it continues to ramp up revenue from its services business.