Spotify's video and podcasting boss has left

Tom Calderone

Remember that Spotify does video?

Its global head of content partnerships, Tom Calderone, has left as the company rethinks its strategy ahead of an IPO — and as the competition closes in.

We first saw the news on Bloomberg. Spotify confirmed Calderone's departure and said it would focus on video for its most popular streaming playlists, like "Rap Caviar" and "Rock This."

Most people still associate Spotify with pure-play music streaming, but the company hired Calderone from VH1 last year to change that.

According to Bloomberg, he had focused on bringing in original content from producers like actor Tim Robbins and Def Jam cofounder Russell Simmons. Now, it seems, Spotify wants video to be closely tied to its core music strategy.

Business Insider spoke to ad and entertainment industry executives last year who suggested Spotify's efforts in video seemed confused. Some production firms complained that they almost had series commissioned for Spotify, only for the company to pull the plug. And advertisers said they simply didn't know what Spotify's plans in video were.

Calderone himself said at the time that the company was being picky about video content, and described Spotify's strategy as "surgical."

His exit comes as Spotify reportedly prepares to go public, and as its biggest rival in music, Apple, plans to spend a cool $1 billion (£773 million) on original content.

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