As hot potatoes go, the New York-based role of global head of publisher licensing at Spotify is a scorcher, given that the boss of the US publishers’ association recently said his members were in a “state of war” with the streaming service.
But Spotify has found a potato-catcher with steady hands: Adam Parness, former head of publisher licensing and relations at Pandora. Parness has also held senior roles in licensing at Amazon and Rhapsody.
It’s his time at Pandora that is most relevant here though: remember the darkest days of that streaming service’s relationship with the publishing sector, and then look at the global licensing deals that Pandora managed to strike with publishers in the run-up to its on-demand launch.
Spotify will be hoping that Parness can be part of the solution to its current round of mechanical-licensing fuelled disputes with publishers in the US, even if the Spotify-raised legal question over whether the service is even obliged to pay those royalties is out of his control.
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