Spotify’s ongoing battles with recording artists and competitors over streaming rights and royalties paid didn’t stop Bruno Mars from performing at company CEO Daniel Ek’s wedding over the weekend.
The scenic views of northern Italy’s Lake Como served as the backdrop for the Uptown Funk singer on Saturday as he entertained guests like Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and BrewPR founder Brooke Hammerling during Ek’s wedding to Sofia Levander, Business Insider reports.
Ek and other attendees posted pics of the ceremony on Twitter (TWTR), Facebook (FB), and Instagram.
Posted by Daniel Ek on Saturday, August 27, 2016
Ek’s friend Hammerling posted pics of Mars performing his set during the day. “When the wedding singer is Bruno Mars. #comochic #what,” she wrote on Instagram.
Zuckerberg posted pics of his own on Facebook page. “Many people know Daniel as one of the great European entrepreneurs,” he posted. “I know him as a great friend and dedicated father.”
We're at Lake Como in northern Italy to celebrate the wedding of our good friends, Sofia and Daniel Ek.Many people…
Posted by Mark Zuckerberg on Sunday, August 28, 2016
Spotify has faced increasing competition from Apple Music (AAPL) since the latter’s summer 2015 launch, largely due to Apple paying record labels and artists like Frank Ocean for exclusive rights to stream their albums upon release.
Spotify faced criticism last week for allegedly making music by artists like Ocean whose labels offer exclusives to Apple Music and Tidal harder to search for on Spotify, according to Bloomberg and the New York Times, but Spotify later denied those allegations, telling Recode the charge was “unequivocally false.”
Founded by Ek in 2006, Spotify has plans to go public next year, according to Bloomberg. While the Swedish company’s revenues rose substantially last year, its ongoing struggles to turn a profit continued through the second quarter of this year due to the ever-rising royalties and distribution fees all streaming services pay recording artists like Mars and Taylor Swift.
Swift’s longstanding royalties beef with Spotify reached a climax in 2014 when she pulled all her music off the streaming service.
Singer Adele followed suit last November when she declined to release her latest album 25 on Spotify before later adding it to the company’s catalog.
