Tom Calderone exits Spotify

Tom Calderone exits Spotify

Spotify’s global head of content partnerships Tom Calderone is leaving the company as the streaming service looks set to shift its video contents towards music playlists. He joined Spotify 18 months ago.

The former VH1 president, who was heading up Spotify’s video offering, is exiting the company after its first batch of original shows and third-party content failed to win over users. As well as a show called Traffic Jams, featuring musicians writing songs while stuck in traffic, Spotify’s video channel included content from ESPN, Comedy Central, MTV, BBC and Vice News.

Spotify launched a podcast series in the UK this week as it tries to broaden its range of content, lessen its reliance on labels’ repertoire and reduce the proportion of its sales revenue going to the record industry. But the biz will likely be happy to see Spotify re-positioning its video content around music playlists.

The company has been trying out videos and documentaries within popular playlists. In a statement, Spotify said: “We are focusing our expanding video offerings on RapCaviar, Rock This and other popular Spotify-owned and operated playlists. Building out our video and podcast content remains a priority for Spotify and we will have more information to share on our future plans soon.”

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