Spotify's video push stumbles as former VH1 head Tom Calderone is out

Shawn Knight

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Spotify is reining in its video ambitions a bit as Tom Calderone, former content partnerships chief, departs the company.

A spokesperson for Spotify confirmed the departure and said Calderone had been transitioning out of the role for about a month now.

Spotify last year expanded its offering with the creation of a dozen new original video series.

At the time, Calderone said music was always going to be their key focus but noted that they needed to figure out a second act. Video has been picking up momentum like gangbusters in recent years thanks to the proliferation of smartphones and younger viewers that prefer to communicate visually.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t appear as if any of the shows really caught on with Spotify users.

The Spotify spokesperson said they are focusing their expanding video offerings on RapCaviar, Rock This and other popular Spotify owned and operated playlists. Building out video and podcast content remains a priority for Spotify, the person said, adding that they will have more information to share on future plans soon.

Variety points out that Spotify’s decision to refocus its video efforts mirrors YouTube’s early forays into original content. In 2012, for example, the site dedicated $100 million to the creation of original content from outside media partners, only to find that viewers preferred “organic” content developed by people that were already actively using the platform.

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