YouTube Music exec leaves to join startup, could impact subscription service

Even though the main focus is on streaming video, YouTube has also made itself a serious player in the digital music world. It has been working on a big push to enter the music streaming space, but a recent opening in the ranks has been raising some eyebrows. Christopher LaRosa, a product manager for YouTube Music, is leaving to join an unnamed startup.

It’s still unclear if and how LaRosa’s exit might impact the ongoing efforts at YouTube to launch a subscription music service. He was certainly involved, but he may not have been an irreplaceable part of the campaign. Google is putting a good face on it at the very least. A rep told Billboard that while LaRosa would be greatly missed, the company still has a strong team going full tilt on the subscription plans.

The project recently got negative press for how its contracts treated independent artists, so even without the added complication of losing a team member, the Google crew is clearly still getting its ducks in a row. We’re still firmly in the watching and waiting stage.

LaRosa spent about seven years at the Google subsidiary and was a key player in expanding the musical content available via YouTube. Some of his projects included getting YouTube data to count toward the Billboard 100 singles chart. He is the second big departure from YouTube’s music department in the past year. Nikhil Chandhok, a director of product, also left last fall to enter the startup universe. He is now cofounder and CEO of Bento Labs.