Apple Music is preparing to expand its presence in the music industry. It is set to launch a new international division focused on publishing.

Music Publishing Division

Apple Music selected Elena Segal to head the technology company's internal music publishing division. Before she took on this responsibility, Segal served as iTunes International's legal director. As Apple Music's Global Director of Music Publishing, it is expected that she would be overseeing a team made up of several different departments.

The departments that will report directly to Segal include Operations, Publisher Relations, Commercial, and, most importantly, A&R. A&R stands for artists and repertoire, which helps discover and develop performers and songwriters. It is expected that Segal would operate this new division in both the United States and the United Kingdom. She joined Apple in 2006 and worked on expanding the iTunes Store internationally and played a significant role in launching Apple Music worldwide.

Enter Oliver Schusser

Apple Music worldwide leader Oliver Schusser promoted Segal to the new position after he was appointed to the role. An insider told music media outlet Music Business Worldwide that Schusser decided to advance Segal after he realized that a significant amount of artist discovery takes place in the publishing industry. Also, he also understands that publishers need to have an inside connection to streaming services.

"Oliver wants to underline the importance of publishing and songwriters to Apple. That's what this move is all about," said an industry insider.

Apple Music News

News of Segal's hiring comes days after the technology company's CEO Tim Cook appeared on Bloomberg TV. He announced that Apple Music surpassed 50 million subscribers. It was 12 million subscribers increase from the reported 38 million subscribers that the company previously announced in March. The numbers also included Apple Music users who are on the company's three-month trial period.

However, the company is trailing its chief streaming rival, Spotify. In March, the streaming service boasted that it had over 71 million premium subscribers at the end of the year. Spotify also claimed that it has 159 million monthly users.

Earlier this year, Apple announced that it would give artists the opportunity to control their content with Apple Music for Artists.  Musicians will have access to a homepage that will provide them with analytics on their fans' activities from 115 countries. Some of the features included what songs users are playing and which songs or albums they purchased. Apple allowed them to look back at data from June 2015, which was when Apple Music launched.

Tech Times reached out to Apple Music for a comment on this story.