Spotify CEO Daniel Ek says the streaming audio giant is going to be “very diligent” in assessing future investments in podcasting as several of the company’s rich talent deals come up for renewal.
Speaking on the company’s first-quarter earnings call, Ek responded to a question from a Wall Street analyst wondering about the plans for potentially pricey renewals this year and next. During the period when Dawn Ostroff was spearheading content, Spotify spent more than $1 billion acquiring podcast assets and locking up exclusive deals with the likes of Joe Rogan and Dax Shepard. Ostroff left the company earlier this year, and her responsibilities have been taken on by Alex Nörstrom, the exec whose specialty has been the free, ad-supported side of the business.
“You’re right in calling out the overpaying and over-investing and I can start off by saying that we’re not going to do that,...
Speaking on the company’s first-quarter earnings call, Ek responded to a question from a Wall Street analyst wondering about the plans for potentially pricey renewals this year and next. During the period when Dawn Ostroff was spearheading content, Spotify spent more than $1 billion acquiring podcast assets and locking up exclusive deals with the likes of Joe Rogan and Dax Shepard. Ostroff left the company earlier this year, and her responsibilities have been taken on by Alex Nörstrom, the exec whose specialty has been the free, ad-supported side of the business.
“You’re right in calling out the overpaying and over-investing and I can start off by saying that we’re not going to do that,...
- 4/25/2023
- by Dade Hayes
- Deadline Film + TV
The TikTokification of Spotify has begun.
The audio giant is refreshing its home page with a vertical feed that is meant to better integrate Spotify’s offerings across music, podcasts, videos and audiobooks. Users will be given video previews of music and podcasts that they can scroll through, with recommendations powered by machine learning, on the home feed, executives said at Spotify’s Stream On event on Wednesday.
“This marks the biggest change Spotify has undergone since we introduced mobile 10 years ago,” Spotify CEO Daniel Ek said. “This evolution is really about bringing Spotify to life.”
The major product updates come as part of Spotify’s goal to reach 1 billion users by 2030, which would be double what Spotify currently has in 184 markets, according to Alex Norström, Spotify’s co-president and chief business officer. The changes to the home feed and user experience are meant to lean into Spotify as a discoverability tool,...
The audio giant is refreshing its home page with a vertical feed that is meant to better integrate Spotify’s offerings across music, podcasts, videos and audiobooks. Users will be given video previews of music and podcasts that they can scroll through, with recommendations powered by machine learning, on the home feed, executives said at Spotify’s Stream On event on Wednesday.
“This marks the biggest change Spotify has undergone since we introduced mobile 10 years ago,” Spotify CEO Daniel Ek said. “This evolution is really about bringing Spotify to life.”
The major product updates come as part of Spotify’s goal to reach 1 billion users by 2030, which would be double what Spotify currently has in 184 markets, according to Alex Norström, Spotify’s co-president and chief business officer. The changes to the home feed and user experience are meant to lean into Spotify as a discoverability tool,...
- 3/8/2023
- by J. Clara Chan and Evan Nicole Brown
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Max Cutler — the executive who oversees Spotify’s exclusive deals with top creators like Joe Rogan, Call Her Daddy‘s Alex Cooper and Emma Chamberlain — will leave the company in May, a Spotify spokesperson confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter.
Cutler’s exit comes shortly after Spotify announced a reorganization on Jan. 23 that led to the departure of Dawn Ostroff, Spotify’s chief content and ad business officer, and the promotions of Alex Norström and Gustav Söderström to the co-president positions.
With Cutler’s pending departure, Julie McNamara will now take over leadership of Spotify’s exclusive licensing deals with creators like Rogan, Cooper and Chamberlain in addition to continuing to lead original content and major studio partnerships. Bryan Thoensen, who joined Spotify late last year from TikTok and initially reported up to Cutler, will oversee content partnerships with third-party creators. And Bill Simmons, who was promoted last May to lead...
Cutler’s exit comes shortly after Spotify announced a reorganization on Jan. 23 that led to the departure of Dawn Ostroff, Spotify’s chief content and ad business officer, and the promotions of Alex Norström and Gustav Söderström to the co-president positions.
With Cutler’s pending departure, Julie McNamara will now take over leadership of Spotify’s exclusive licensing deals with creators like Rogan, Cooper and Chamberlain in addition to continuing to lead original content and major studio partnerships. Bryan Thoensen, who joined Spotify late last year from TikTok and initially reported up to Cutler, will oversee content partnerships with third-party creators. And Bill Simmons, who was promoted last May to lead...
- 2/21/2023
- by J. Clara Chan
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Dawn Ostroff, Spotify’s former chief content and advertising business officer who led the company’s podcast expansion, will be entitled to nine months of her 1 million base salary as part of her exit package with the audio giant, according to documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday.
Ostroff’s departure was first revealed Jan. 23 by Spotify CEO Daniel Ek as part of a major round of layoffs and executive reorganization. Though she is expected to remain with Spotify in an advisory role, Ostroff’s last day in the executive position was Jan. 31, according to the securities filings.
As part of her separation agreement, which includes a non-compete clause, Ostroff will receive her 1 million base salary, Cobra health benefits and vesting of her equity- and cash-based long-term incentive awards through April 17 in lieu of the three-month notice period that was included in her employment agreement. After that period,...
Ostroff’s departure was first revealed Jan. 23 by Spotify CEO Daniel Ek as part of a major round of layoffs and executive reorganization. Though she is expected to remain with Spotify in an advisory role, Ostroff’s last day in the executive position was Jan. 31, according to the securities filings.
As part of her separation agreement, which includes a non-compete clause, Ostroff will receive her 1 million base salary, Cobra health benefits and vesting of her equity- and cash-based long-term incentive awards through April 17 in lieu of the three-month notice period that was included in her employment agreement. After that period,...
- 2/2/2023
- by J. Clara Chan
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
“In hindsight, I got a little carried away and over-invested relative to the uncertainty I saw in the market,” Spotify CEO Daniel Ek said this morning as the company reported a jump in users but wider losses, a week after announcing a reorganization of top management and hundreds of layoffs.
The music streaming giant announced 489 million monthly active users in the fourth quarter of 2022, with 205 premium subscribers (up 14). Both numbers beat forecasts. However, losses widened on investments in podcasting and other costs.
Spotify last week laid off about 600 staffers amid a shuffle at the top that saw Dawn Ostroff exit as chief content officer and advertising business officer. The exec, a former president of entertainment at The CW, and Condé Nast Entertainment had been a key architect of Spotify’s strategy around podcasts, which have grown rapidly to about 5 million on the service, led...
The music streaming giant announced 489 million monthly active users in the fourth quarter of 2022, with 205 premium subscribers (up 14). Both numbers beat forecasts. However, losses widened on investments in podcasting and other costs.
Spotify last week laid off about 600 staffers amid a shuffle at the top that saw Dawn Ostroff exit as chief content officer and advertising business officer. The exec, a former president of entertainment at The CW, and Condé Nast Entertainment had been a key architect of Spotify’s strategy around podcasts, which have grown rapidly to about 5 million on the service, led...
- 1/31/2023
- by Jill Goldsmith
- Deadline Film + TV
On Jan. 23, as Spotify staff learned of plans to lay off 6 percent of the company, or about 600 people, top podcast executives at the audio giant went into damage-control mode. Most notable among the departures was Dawn Ostroff, the chief content and advertising business officer who was hired in 2018 to build out Spotify’s podcasting ambitions and, as one top dealmaker describes it, “represented Hollywood and talent from a creative perspective” for the Sweden-based company. With Ostroff set to exit and hand over leadership of content to Alex Nörstrom, a business executive who oversaw Spotify’s freemium model, the podcast execs quickly scheduled calls with outside partners, agents and managers to reassure them of Spotify’s commitment to existing deals.
Ostroff’s departure was a surprise to some observers, given that the executive was one of Spotify’s most public-facing leaders, spearheading key presentations to investors, participating in media interviews to...
Ostroff’s departure was a surprise to some observers, given that the executive was one of Spotify’s most public-facing leaders, spearheading key presentations to investors, participating in media interviews to...
- 1/27/2023
- by J. Clara Chan
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
The tech layoffs just keep on coming. Spotify has joined tech giants Google, Amazon, and Microsoft by delivering pink slips at the start of 2023.
The audio streamer, which employs about 9,800 people, will let 6 of its workforce go. That means the round of cuts will affect about 600 employees.
Spotify CEO Daniel Ek explained the rationale behind the layoffs in a note published on the company blog. If you’ve been following the tech industry’s slump over the past year, Ek’s words will sound familiar. “Like many other leaders, I hoped to sustain the strong tailwinds from the pandemic and believed that our broad global business and lower risk to the impact of a slowdown in ads would insulate us,” Ek wrote. “In hindsight, I was too ambitious in investing ahead of our revenue growth.”
These cuts will initiate a restructuring effort within Spotify. Ek wrote that the reorganization is intended to “drive more efficiency,...
The audio streamer, which employs about 9,800 people, will let 6 of its workforce go. That means the round of cuts will affect about 600 employees.
Spotify CEO Daniel Ek explained the rationale behind the layoffs in a note published on the company blog. If you’ve been following the tech industry’s slump over the past year, Ek’s words will sound familiar. “Like many other leaders, I hoped to sustain the strong tailwinds from the pandemic and believed that our broad global business and lower risk to the impact of a slowdown in ads would insulate us,” Ek wrote. “In hindsight, I was too ambitious in investing ahead of our revenue growth.”
These cuts will initiate a restructuring effort within Spotify. Ek wrote that the reorganization is intended to “drive more efficiency,...
- 1/24/2023
- by Sam Gutelle
- Tubefilter.com
Spotify’s Dawn Ostroff praised the growth of the audio giant’s podcasting expansion shortly after CEO Daniel Ek revealed a major leadership reorganization Monday morning that will see Ostroff exit the company.
The reorganization, accompanied by a round of layoffs that will impact roughly 600 employees, involves consolidating Spotify’s business operations under co-president Alex Norström, who most recently oversaw the company’s freemium business. Ostroff, who joined Spotify in 2018 from Condé Nast Entertainment, will transition to an adviser role before formally leaving the company, as her divisions now fall under Norström’s purview.
In a note to staff, obtained by The Hollywood Reporter, Ostroff praised Norström and reflected on the growth and impact of Spotify’s podcasting team, writing that the platform’s original and exclusive shows — which includes hits like The Joe Rogan Experience, Call Her Daddy and the original series Caso 63 — account for roughly 20 percent of...
The reorganization, accompanied by a round of layoffs that will impact roughly 600 employees, involves consolidating Spotify’s business operations under co-president Alex Norström, who most recently oversaw the company’s freemium business. Ostroff, who joined Spotify in 2018 from Condé Nast Entertainment, will transition to an adviser role before formally leaving the company, as her divisions now fall under Norström’s purview.
In a note to staff, obtained by The Hollywood Reporter, Ostroff praised Norström and reflected on the growth and impact of Spotify’s podcasting team, writing that the platform’s original and exclusive shows — which includes hits like The Joe Rogan Experience, Call Her Daddy and the original series Caso 63 — account for roughly 20 percent of...
- 1/23/2023
- by J. Clara Chan
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Dawn Ostroff is departing Spotify as the company’s head of content and advertising amid cutbacks affecting 6 of the company’s workforce.
Against a backdrop of austerity in the once-invincible tech sector, Spotify said it is shedding hundreds of jobs. In a memo to employees posted online, CEO Daniel Ek said he had been “too ambitious” in scaling up the company. “To bring our costs more in line, we’ve made the difficult but necessary decision to reduce our number of employees,” he explained. “While I believe this decision is right for Spotify, I understand that with our historic focus on growth, many of you will view this as a shift in our culture. But as we evolve and grow as a business, so must our way of working while still staying true to our core values.”
Ek praised Ostroff for her contributions and said Alex Norström would assume her duties.
Against a backdrop of austerity in the once-invincible tech sector, Spotify said it is shedding hundreds of jobs. In a memo to employees posted online, CEO Daniel Ek said he had been “too ambitious” in scaling up the company. “To bring our costs more in line, we’ve made the difficult but necessary decision to reduce our number of employees,” he explained. “While I believe this decision is right for Spotify, I understand that with our historic focus on growth, many of you will view this as a shift in our culture. But as we evolve and grow as a business, so must our way of working while still staying true to our core values.”
Ek praised Ostroff for her contributions and said Alex Norström would assume her duties.
- 1/23/2023
- by Dade Hayes
- Deadline Film + TV
Audio streaming giant Spotify on Monday said that it would be laying off about 6 percent of its workforce, or about 600 people, as the streaming audio giant becomes the latest company in the technology space to cut back on staff amid a challenging economy.
The company said that it expects to take severance costs of between 38 million and 49 million in connection with the layoffs.
The layoffs, unveiled by CEO Daniel Ek in a blog post, were expected to be more broadly based than a previous round of cuts in October, which hit staff working on canceled shows from in-house podcast studios Gimlet and Parcast.
To that end, one of Spotify’s most high-profile executives, chief content and advertising officer Dawn Ostroff, will depart the company “as part of a broader reorganization,” the company said. Ostroff will become a senior adviser to Spotify to help with the transition.
As part of other executive changes,...
The company said that it expects to take severance costs of between 38 million and 49 million in connection with the layoffs.
The layoffs, unveiled by CEO Daniel Ek in a blog post, were expected to be more broadly based than a previous round of cuts in October, which hit staff working on canceled shows from in-house podcast studios Gimlet and Parcast.
To that end, one of Spotify’s most high-profile executives, chief content and advertising officer Dawn Ostroff, will depart the company “as part of a broader reorganization,” the company said. Ostroff will become a senior adviser to Spotify to help with the transition.
As part of other executive changes,...
- 1/23/2023
- by J. Clara Chan, Alex Weprin and Georg Szalai
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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