Subsequent to breaking the news that global licensing head Francis Keeling was out at Spotify, MBW has now been told that one of Spotify‘s longest-serving executives, Petra Hansson, has quit the company.
One of the most senior legal figures at Spotify worldwide, Hansson has worked at the business’s Stockholm HQ for a decade.
She was headhunted from leading Swedish law firm Mannheimer Swartling in 2007.
That was a year before Spotify officially launched, when it was operating out of a two-bedroom flat in Stockholm, led by Daniel Ek.
One senior source at a major music company told MBW today: “Spotify has lost one of its standout executives. Negotiating with Petra always meant you were negotiating with a grown-up.”
“Spotify has lost one of its standout executives. Negotiating with Petra always meant you were negotiating with a grown-up.”
Major music company source
Hansson and Keeling are the latest high-profile executives to exit Spotify in a year that – amid strained music business licensing negotiations – has seen a string of senior departures.
They have included Chief Revenue Officer Jeff Levick, content chief Ken Parks, EMEA sales boss Jonathan Forster and label relations head Steve Savoca.
Savoca, another popular figure amongst rights-holders, recently joined Apple Music to head up its New York office in a label relations role.
Following Keeling and Hansson’s exit, ultimate responsibility for licensing is now expected to rest with Horacio Gutierrez, Spotify’s General Counsel in New York.
Since Spotify has been out of long term deals with the major labels (and Merlin), these parties have collectively managed to sign new streaming licensing agreements with SoundCloud, Pandora, iHeartRadio and Amazon.
The Spotify negotiations, however, continue to drag on. The streamer wants the labels to accept a drop from a 55% revenue share to 52% or even 51%.
Last month, Spotify announced that it was creating 1,000 new jobs in New York.
It is understood that these new roles may come at the expense of growth in Sweden, where Daniel Ek has previously noted that running a large-scale business is becoming prohibitively expensive.Music Business Worldwide
