Spotify · Strategy · Mid · 45 to 60 minutes

Paid growth is slowing in India and Brazil

Spotify is a music and audio streaming service with free and paid listening plans. Answer this product management case and get it graded line by line against a weighted rubric.

structured thinking
funnel analysis
growth strategy
prioritization
user insight

The situation

You are a Product Manager on Spotify's Premium growth team. The Regional Director for Emerging Markets and the VP of Freemium have asked for a plan before next quarter's operating review. In India and Brazil, free tier listening remains strong, but the growth rate of paid subscriptions has slowed over the last quarter. Leadership is concerned because these markets matter for long term share, yet users there are more price sensitive and may face different payment and plan fit issues than users in mature markets. The teams are split on what to do next. Marketing wants stronger upgrade messaging, local teams want more flexible plans, and finance worries that discounts could hurt revenue quality. You do not yet know whether the main problem is awareness, weak Premium value, checkout friction, or early churn after purchase. Assume you have access to basic funnel and cohort data, user research, and the ability to propose experiments. Recommend how Spotify should diagnose the problem and what actions it should prioritize in the next two quarters.

What to produce

A 1 to 2 page strategy memo.

Your answer must

Define the core problem and decision, including whether you are solving mainly for new paid conversion, early paid retention, or both.
List the most important clarifying questions or hypotheses you would test across users, markets, competition, product value, funnel, and business goals.
Lay out a diagnosis plan using a free to paid funnel for India and Brazil, including the key metrics, segments, and likely break points you would inspect.
Propose 3 to 5 actions or experiments that address different possible causes, such as upgrade visibility, value proposition, pricing or plan fit, payment friction, or churn.
Prioritize your recommendations for the next two quarters with a clear rationale, expected impact, risks, and success metrics.

Constraints

Keep the scope to India and Brazil, not a global Premium strategy.
Work within Spotify's existing freemium streaming business, not a new business line or major replatforming.
Do not rely on a broad permanent price cut as the only answer.
Assume limited capacity, enough for a few quick experiments and at most one medium sized build next quarter.

Format

Use short headings and bullets. A simple prioritization table is welcome.

How Spotify actually played it

A growth case about slowing paid subscriptions in India and Brazil despite strong free-tier engagement. It applies a seven-part clarification, funnel diagnosis and prioritization.

High engagement with low conversion points to the paywall and value gap
Emerging markets need price and plan fit
Diagnose the funnel before ideating

Built from Spotify paid subscriptions slowed down: a product growth case by Sreerag Panat.