Spotify this week confirmed Dawn Ostroff is joining the music streaming service. Ostroff will assume the role of Chief Content Officer, and according to the announcement will “lead all aspects of Spotify’s content partnerships across music, audio and video.” Ostroff will be operating out of the company’s New York office, will directly report to the Spotify’s Chief Executive Officer and co-founder, Daniel Ek, and fills a position left vacant when Stefan Blom left in January of this year.
While this may seem like a fairly straightforward executive hiring, the difference here is Ostroff does not come with a primary background in music, as one might expect considering music is the staple feature on offer with Spotify. Instead, Ostroff is better-known on the video side of things and makes this move to Spotify directly from the position of President of Entertainment for Condé Nast. At Condé Nast, it is understood Ostroff was directly tasked with helping translate the company’s brands to video – essentially, establishing the backbone of what is now Condé Nast Entertainment. Prior to the move to Condé Nast, Ostroff operated as President of Entertainment for The CW Television Network.
Although the current announcement does not go into specifics as to why Ostroff in particular was hired, there is the clear suggestion it is this background in television and video-based content that appeals to Spotify the most. As while this is a company that has made its name in the world of music, for some time there has been indications Spotify has grander ambitions and intends to diversify its products and services beyond the music-based solutions it currently offers. In particular, Spotify would like to focus more on video and has already tried to make the move on more than one occasion in the past. While there is no firm acknowledgement from Spotify that Ostroff has been primarily hired to focus on realizing the company’s video ambitions, the company certainly has now brought on someone with a track record in converting the primary format of a company to that which specializes in video. Arguably, an exact move Spotify is understood to be pursuing.