Spotify Podcast received another hit, as its Head of Creator Content and Partnership Max Cutler is leaving the company to start a new venture. His departure will be followed by a further reorganizing of the company's operations.
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NASHVILLE, TN - NOVEMBER 02: General atmosphere view at Spotify presents An Intimate Evening With Shane McAnally at the Rosewall on November 2, 2014 in Nashville, Tennessee.
Leaving Spotify
Max Cutler, Spotify's Head of Creator Content and Partnership, is set to leave the company on May 1st. Based on a report from Variety, his departure comes after Dawn Ostroff's resignation, who oversaw content and advertising, and reorganization of the podcast team.
Cutler is known as one of the pioneers in podcasting. Before handling the company's deals and partnerships with major creators like Joe Rogan, Emma Chamberlain, Alex Cooper, and more, he founded the horror and true crime podcast studio Parcast in 2016. This was later acquired by Spotify.
Since then, he managed Parcast for Spotify and moved to the higher ranks as the New Content Initiatives Head. Cutler was promoted last year to Vice President for Creator Content and Partnerships.
According to his memo, he shares his excitement to take on this new venture, especially with the traditional media industry ripe for disruption. He added, "I am deeply grateful to Daniel, Alex, and Sahar for their unwavering support of my decision to return to my entrepreneurial roots as I embark on this next chapter."
Reorganizing Operations
In just weeks, two executives announced their departure from the company. In Ostroff's case, Sahar Elhabashi will be taking her place and will not directly with Spotify Chief Executive Officer Daniel Ek since Chief Business Officer Alex Norstrom is now seeing the whole podcasting business.
Ostroff spends hundreds of millions of dollars on several Spotify exclusives and originals for the business, including The Joe Rogan Experience and Batman Unburied. The Verge reported that once Cutler leaves the company, his responsibilities will be distributed to different heads.
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Spotify spokesperson Rosa Oh stated that Head of Talk Studios Julie McNamara will be handling licensed exclusives, while Bill Simons will now report with Elhabashi, and develop podcast monetization across the board with Global Ads Business and Platform Lee Brown.
Meanwhile, Senior Director and Head of Content and Partnerships and Community Bryan Thoensen will continue to handle content partnerships for third-party creators. He previously reported to Cutler. The spokesperson added that the reorganization will not be associated with any upcoming layoffs.
Ostroff and Cutler's departure comes after the setbacks that have been experiencing in Spotify's podcasting division. Bloomberg reported that this sector of the company has been cutting costs, canceling shows, and eliminating jobs.
However, the CEO noted during the quarterly earnings call that the $1 billion spent on podcast efforts was the right move, but believes that he might get a little carried away and over-invested in how podcasting became a hit in the market despite the uncertainty of the economy. Spotify now focuses on efficiency in an effort to move forward.
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