Spotify hires former Condé Nast exec Dawn Ostroff as chief content officer
Dawn Ostroff helped create some of the most iconic youth-oriented TV shows ever. Now, she's moving to Spotify.
The world's top music streaming service named Ostroff its chief content officer on Tuesday, signaling how serious Spotify is about competing not just in audio but in video too.
Ostroff previously ran the CW television network and before that UPN, overseeing cultural hits such as "Gossip Girl," and "Vampire Diaries." She joined Condé Nast in 2011 to turn magazine stories and ideas into full blown TV and film projects under Condé Nast Entertainment. The project also generated traffic to videos at each magazine's online destinations.
Spotify's move into original video production has stalled at several turns. The company had tried to create a video initiative around playlists such as "Rap Caviar" under content chief Tom Calderone, who joined from VH1 and exited the company in August 2017. Ostroff replaces Stefan Blom who departed the music company earlier this year after Spotify's video strategy failed to gain traction.
The role will see Ostroff take on responsibilities for negotiating with music labels for video and audio programming. YouTube owns the music video landscape online while Apple Music has been investing in creating original video for its service.
Ostroff's departure comes amid a downsizing at the magazine house that publishes Vanity Fair, Vogue and the New Yorker. Ostroff's unit had turned a profit and helped transform the print company into a digital video player. Here's an interview she conducted with the Hollywood Reporter about some of the myriad film and TV projects that were underway.