Stock prices shot up by over 50 percent when Dropbox went public earlier this month Image: picture alliance/AP/R.

Spotify is the third unicorn to go public this year following Dropbox and the cybersecurity provider Zscaler. Spotify offers access to vast libraries of music rather than making users pay for CDs or downloads of individual albums or tracks. Since launching its streaming music service a decade ago, the Stockholm-founded company has overcome heavy initial resistance from big record labels and among some major music artists to transform how the industry makes money. Read more: The most popular music and audio websites 'Nothing ever happens in a straight line - the past 10 years have certainly taught me that,' Ek, the Swedish company's co-founder and CEO, wrote in a blog post on Monday evening. In February, the shares were valued at about $20 billion based on private stock transactions among existing investors. Nonetheless, in trading on Tuesday, pricing for Spotify appeared to be holding up, changing hands at about $165 (€134) a share, Based on the total number of shares outstanding after the listing, Spotify has a market value of about $28.7 billion. In a public letter published ahead of its unorthodox listing, Ek cautioned employees and fans that 'Sometimes we succeed, sometimes we stumble' and 'I have no doubt that there will be ups and downs.' Spotify made its splash despite a warning by Chief Executive Daniel Ek that the stock might be heading for a potentially rough stock market ride on its first day of trading, following Monday’s steep sell-off of technology stocks on Wall Street.

Streaming music leader Spotify'sfirst trade was processed at about 12:45 pm on the New York Stock Exchange Tuesday, in what's been a direct listing that avoided the traditional path to a stock listing, eschewing costly investment bankers. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Spotify makes successful stock market debut

Spotify stock value