Calderone Exits Spotify

Tom Calderone has exited as Global Head of Content Partnerships at Spotify after 18 months. Bloomberg was the first to report Calderone’s departure, citing an email sent by Spotify last Thursday. Calderone, the former President of VH1, joined Spotify in March 2016. As Bloomberg reports, “With the move, Spotify is narrowing its video ambitions. Calderone had commissioned a dozen series from producers including Tim Robbins and Russell Simmons. He also oversaw podcasts, an area of growing importance at the world’s largest paid music service. Now the company is making clearer that it wants videos on the service to stay closer to the music industry.”

Calderone notably worked at WDRE/Long Island and Jacobs Media before making the jump to MTV Networks in 1998, rising through the ranks to EVP/GM of VH1 and later, ascending to President, where he reigned from 2008 until his departure in July of 2015.

In a statement, a Spotify spokesperson told Variety, “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.”