Sean Parker, also know as the founder of the digital music service Napster, has left Spotify’s board of directors. According to Tech Crunch, during this time, another four members were hired to Spotify as way to raise corporate profile. These members are Padmasree Warrior, CEO of electric car maker NIO; Disney’s former COO Thomas Staggs; ex-YouTube exec Shishir Mehrotra, and investor Cristina Stenbeck.
Parker brought a lot of progress to Spotify such as helping Spotify negotiate its first deals with different labels to pay for the licensing fees so that listeners have the ability to stream music. Parker also helped Spotify expand by moving it into the U.S. He has also spoken about state of music distribution.
Along with the departure of Sean Parker, Spotify sees the departure of Klause Hommels, who was a early Spotify backer. Both came into the company in 2009 and both are still remained investors and friends to Spotify.
The new additions to the board show the relationships that Spotify wants to build. Padmasree Warrior has a long time executive role from her experiences in Costco while also has been a part of the boards on companies such as Gap and Box. As of now, she is on the board in Microsoft and has roles in NIO. Thomas Staggs had an executive role in Disneyand has a history of negotiating deals for media empires. Shishir Mehrotra spent his years in executive roles in YouTube such as engineering, and product monetization. Cristina Stenbeck is the Stockholm based chairman and the main owner of Kinnevik which is a investment company, which can help Spotify increase their investments.
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