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Spotify and the iPhone were independently launched around the same time.

Spotify back then was developed as the answer against illegal alternatives.

The App Store didn't come out until nearly 2 1/2 years after Spotify, though.

Not true, iOS App Store came out Jul 2008.

Spotify came out 2010 in UK and 2011 in USA.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/App_Store_(Apple)

In Sweden it was launched 2008, first iphone was announced 2007, so yeah certainly wasn't world leading before the first iphone announcement.

Spotify was late to the market, though? I was running a paid streaming catalog for all the major labels in late 1999/early 2000, and Apple was following us into every meeting with the labels.

No, Spotify was released 2010 in UK and 2011 in US, iPhone was 2007.

Yeah but App Store wasn't a thing for years after iPhone launched.

Jul 2008, iOS App Store launched with iPhone 3G, the second iPhone (one year after the first iPhone).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/App_Store_(Apple)