Deezer announces its first CEO change since Hans-Holder Albrecth took the lead position in 2015. The new chief executive of the global streaming audio platform is Jeronimo Folgueira. From his home in Spain, Folgueira has been CEO and a board chair of publicly traded Spark Networks, where he reputedly quadrupled the company size and oversaw its IPO on the NYSE. At that time (2017), Folgueira was the youngest CEO of a NYSE-traded company.
“I couldn’t be more excited to join Deezer,” Folgueira said. “I’m passionate about music and podcasts. They hold a unique place in our hearts and Deezer’s team has built a service that is the perfect companion to people’s daily lives. Deezer is a key player and contributor to the fast growth of music streaming around the world. We have a highly competitive platform with unique features that listeners love. That means we’re in a great place to accelerate our growth and capture many new opportunities, which will benefit both artists and music fans. I look forward to getting to know the team and writing the next chapter in the company’s history together.”
Hans-Holger Albrecht noted recent growth metrics for Deezer: “My years as the CEO of Deezer have allowed me to lead a fantastic team on a growth journey. With the support of all shareholders and partners, a passionate team of 600 people have built the 4th largest global audio streaming service in the world. Our revenues have grown over 300% in the last five years and our platform averages more than 600 monthly streams per active user. We have a clear strategy in place to deliver long term, sustainable growth and value for shareholders, artists and users. The recent investment in Dreamstage will also allow us to continue innovating the relationship between artists and fans.”
The transition will be completed in June.