Home Industry News As Dawn Ostroff Exits, Spotify Rethinks Rich Talent Deals
On Jan. 23, as Spotify staff learned of plans to lay off 6 percent of the company, or about 600 people, top podcast executives at the audio giant went into damage-control mode. Most notable among the departures was Dawn Ostroff, the chief content and advertising business officer who was hired in 2018 to build out Spotify’s podcasting ambitions and, as one top dealmaker describes it, “represented Hollywood and talent from a creative perspective” for the Sweden-based company. With Ostroff set to exit and hand over leadership of content to Alex Nörstrom, a business executive who oversaw Spotify’s freemium model, the podcast execs quickly scheduled calls with outside partners, agents and managers to reassure them of Spotify’s commitment to existing deals.