Ex-VH1 boss leaves Spotify video chief post

Spotify’s head of video content, Tom Calderone, has reportedly left the company in an apparent winding down of its video content efforts.

Bloomberg, which first reported news of the departure, said Spotify will “narrow its video ambitions” and instead focus on expanding video offerings on popular Spotify playlists like Rap Caviar and Rock This.

Digital and tech companies are diverging on their original content approaches, with the likes of Google, Facebook and Apple choosing to lay down big sums on slates of originals. Others such as Spotify and Verizon dipped their toes into commissioning before pulling back.

Calderone, who also headed up podcasts at Spotify and was formerly president of TV network VH1, oversaw the launch last year of 12 original programmes at the music streaming service.

The shows all focused on music and pop culture and included: Ultimate/Ultimate, a mockumentary series about a fictional EDM reality TV competition, starring Tim Robbins; and Rush Hour, a competition series in which two rappers, are picked up in a van and made to come up with a new song en-route to the office of Def Jam founder Russell Simmons’ new label, All-Def Digital.

According to Bloomberg, the shows “failed to catch on with audiences”.

Calderone left Viacom’s US cable channel VH1 in 2015, with Chris McCarthy replacing him at that point.