Spotify is reportedly looking to hire a vice president of public policy to help give voice to the company’s interests among lawmakers. This new hire will report to Jonathan Prince, Spotify’s global head of communications and public policy.
This is a timely moment for streaming music services ramp up internal public policy resources. Legal issues surrounding how music is copyrighted and licensed for streaming use abound. Pandora made a comprable move in the recently hired Dave Grimaldi. Pandora and Spotify face different legal issues, inasmuch as Pandora licenses music with government-set royalty rates, and Spotify negotiates rates directly. (The two services exist in different legal categories, non-interactive for Pandora and interactive for Spotify.) But the entire streaming audio industry in the U.S. is touched by public policy issues from net neutrality to media piracy.