Spotify’s Music Boss Warns Artists Off Top Playlists Too Early

Spotify’s global head of music Nick Holmsten has given a pre-Grammys interview to The Hollywood Reporter. While the headlines are being made by his comments on Spotify’s hateful-conduct controversy last year (“it’s a rabbit hole. Our intentions were good. But when we executed on it, we realised it wasn’t working out…”) but we think his warning to artists hoping to get slots on Spotify’s top playlists are just as interesting. “People believe if they just get their songs on these playlists, they’re done. It’s more complicated than that. Because getting on these playlists can be destroying if they are you aren’t ready for it,” he said. “There is a system, a user perception of what a brand stands for. So if you are getting introduced and don’t have familiarity and not fitting into culture like RapCaviar, [users] can start skipping you, won’t like you, and it’s going to be tough to come out.” Also worth thinking about is Holmsten’s response to a question about Spotify taking labels’ role in breaking artists. Shot: “I definitely think the labels are going to be here forever, and they are going to be even more successful when it comes to earnings.” Chaser: “But they need to shift a little and think what artist development means.”

Source: Music Ally