Spotify‘s head of African music Tunde Ogundipe and Senior Editor Himanshu Suri, an Indian music expert, have left the music streaming company.
Ogundipe (Spotify’s Global Lead of African Music and Culture and also in charge of Jamaican music) and Suri were part of the team that worked on Spotify’s Global Cultures initiative launched in September 2018.
The news of the execs’ departure was first reported by Rolling Stone earlier today (October 4).
The aim of the Global Cultures initiative was to curate and promote playlists that combine globally recognised artists with artists that are popular within specific cultural communities.
That original team ‘was disbanded’ according to Rolling Stone, citing three sources ‘with knowledge of the change’.
Spotify’s former head of Latin music Rocío Guerrero left the streaming company to join Warner Music Group a month after the initiative was announced.
A Spotify spokesperson told Rolling Stone that the company will now be employing “larger, region-specific editorial team of experts” to work on the Global Cultures initiative rather than using a core team based in New York.
“We have launched numerous high-profile playlists and programs in the recent past, but Global Cultures is poised to become one of the most important things we are doing as a leader in the field of streaming audio,” said Guerrero, speaking September.
“We’re investing in growing our global cultures initiative by expanding from a small team working out of New York to a larger, region-specific editorial team of experts.”
Spotify spokesperson, speaking to Rolling Stone
Said a Spotify spokesperson, speaking to Rolling Stone: “We’re investing in growing our global cultures initiative by expanding from a small team working out of New York to a larger, region-specific editorial team of experts.
“Having numerous people on the ground across many markets will ensure that Spotify is fully immersed in the local music and cultures represented on our platform.”
Prior to working at Spotify Tunde held roles at the likes of Apple, WME/IMG (Endeavor), McCann, Sony, Atlantic and Universal Music Group.Music Business Worldwide
