Apple is so keen to catch up with Spotify it’s started looking towards its rivals own employees for inspiration. According to Business Insider, Apple has hired form Spotify VP of Content Steve Savoca.
Previously, Savoca was the global head of label relations at Spotify, though left last summer following five years at the Swedish streaming service.
It’s believed that Savoca will largely be tasked with forging label relations with small labels. He’ll be based in New York, home to many indies.
In recent months, as Apple slowly increases its user-base, it’s begun considering how it will catch up with Spotify. Currently, Apple has around 21 million paid subscribers, while Spotify has 40 million on its paid tier. It’s believed Apple will look towards original content to help it get a leg up.
As the article notes, back in December Larry Jackson, Apple Music’s content chief said the goal was to:
“Make something that’s the intersection of all things pop-culture. To make it more than just a utility. I like to think of it as a place where the best creative thinkers in music can congregate and come up with different ideas.”
Courting indie labels might be a smart idea on Apple’s part. Though it’s done a good job of enticing Drake and Taylor Swift into exclusives, the labels themselves will be more concerned with reaching the largest audiences. Independent labels, on the other hand will likely be more susceptible if they can access a larger audience than they might otherwise have been able to.
Elsewhere, Apple has also begun exploring the idea of original TV content, which it could push out to Apple Music subscribers to entice users to the service, rather than their own video streaming service.
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