MBW reported in May that Spotify was recruiting for a New York-based Head of Spotify for Artists to “develop a suite of free and paid offerings” for the Spotify for Artists platform.
The Spotify For Artists app launched in 2017 and allows artists and their managers to add a canvas, update bios, artist picks and playlists and enables them to track the performance of new releases.
The news of the new hire followed SPOT’s announcement that it would be rolling its user-base for Spotify Analytics (the data dashboard for record labels and distributors) into Spotify For Artists.
(Labels previously didn’t have access to what managers and artists can see in Spotify for Artists until that roll out.)
In the job ad for the New York-based Head of Spotify for Artists position, the company stated that it wanted the successful candidate to “own the P&L of the Spotify for Artists businesses” and to, “Lead our strategy and execution for our core applications and services for artists, labels, publishers and writers”.
We noted at the time that the existing paid-for parts of Spotify For Artists included music production talent marketplace SoundBetter (which Spotify acquired in September 2019), but the ad clearly suggested that the new Head of Spotify for Artists would be required to lead the development of more paid offerings.
We now know who got the job.
As spotted by Music Ally, Patreon exec Camille Hearst announced via a series of tweets that she has been appointed Head of Spotify for Artists.
Hearst was previously Head of Product, Creator / GM Merch for San Francisco-based crowdfunding/membership platform Patreon.
She joined the company as GM / Head of Product, Merch in 2018 after Kit – a startup she co-founded and described as “a platform where creators and experts recommend the best products to buy” – was acquired by Patreon.
“Exciting news! I’m joining Spotify as the Head of Spotify for Artists. In this new role, I’ll lead a big cross-functional team of product, tech, design, user research, and more.”
Camille Hearst
“Exciting news! I’m joining Spotify as the Head of Spotify for Artists. In this new role, I’ll lead a big cross-functional team of product, tech, design, user research, and more,” said Hearst on Twitter.
“Not to mention I’ll get to work closely with the [Sound Better] team…what a cool platform.
“I’ve spent almost the entirety of my career working on helping artists and creators make a living from their craft…
“And now I get to continue that work at one of the companies best-positioned to make a serious dent in this space. What a dream!”Music Business Worldwide
