Spotify has hired a new global publisher licensing boss in New York.
Adam Parness makes the jump to Spotify from Pandora, where he was Head of Publisher Licensing and Relations.
Parness joined Pandora little over a year ago from Amazon, where he was Principal Content Acquisition Manager.
At Amazon, he led the company’s global music publishing initiatives playing an instrumental role in the launch of Prime Music.
As Spotify’s new Global Head of Publisher Licensing in NYC, Parness will be tasked with leading Spotify’s relationships with the publishing industry deepening relationships with songwriters.
That dynamic is currently under scrutiny: Spotify faces legal opposition from the likes of Neil Young, Michael McDonald and The Black Keys to a recent settlement offer regarding alleged underpayment of mechanical royalties in the US market.
Prior to joining Amazon, Parness served as of Vice President of Music Licensing at Rhapsody where he played a pivotal role in the acquisition of Napster and global expansion of the company.
A musician, he is a board member of the Digital Media Association.
Parness starts on October 30 and will report to Horacio Gutierrez, Spotify’s General Counsel and Global Head of Content Licensing.Music Business Worldwide
