(CelebrityAccess) – Spotify executive Paul Smith has vacated his role as Director, Global Head of International Licensing at Spotify, in order to join Google as Managing Director, YouTube Music as reported by MBW.
The Singapore-based executive brings over 20-years’ worth of industry experience to his new job post. Prior to Spotify, he occupied the VP, Business Affairs & Label Relations position at MixRadio. He’s spent time at Microsoft as Director, Global Head of Major Label Relations, at Nokia where he worked in various senior label relations roles, and stints at Sanctuary Records Group and Universal Music Group.
At Spotify (according to Smith’s LinkedIn profile), he was responsible for driving the company’s global expansion across new market launches through commercial licensing partnerships with both local and global rights holders. The markets include South Korea, India, Vietnam, Thailand, South Africa, Israel and Russia.
In statement, YouTube’s Global Head of Music Lyor Cohen, said: “We are excited to welcome Paul to jump into the YouTube team in this Year of the Tiger. We have experienced massive growth in both our advertising and subscription businesses around the world, including APAC. Paul has joined our team at an exciting moment when innovation is happening across APAC with new monetisation options for creators and new ways of servicing our viewers, and will continue to build upon our relationships in the region.”
