Spotify is revamping its internal podcast structure with the creation of new divisions led by Bill Simmons and Max Cutler, the company said on Thursday.
Simmons will become Spotify’s head of global sports content and is tasked with growing and leading the audio giant’s sports content and strategy outside of the US Simmons will continue to serve as the managing director of TheRingerwhich was acquired by Spotify in 2020, and report up to Julie McNamara, Spotify’s head of talk studios.
Spotify is also growing its teams responsible for overseeing partnerships with individual audio creators on the platform, such as Dax Shepard and Alex Cooper — both of whom have exclusive deals with Spotify for their shows. Armchair Expert and Call Her Daddy, respectively — with the creation of a new “creator content” operation. To oversee that division, Spotify has promoted Cutler, most recently the head of new content initiatives and the managing director of Parcast, to head of talk creator content and partnerships. Cutler will report up to Dawn Ostroff, Spotify’s chief content and advertising business officer.
On the other side of Spotify’s podcast structure, McNamara will continue to oversee all of Spotify’s original content — which includes oversight of The Ringer, Parcast, and Gimlet — and the company’s major partnerships with external studios like Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s Archewell Audio and DC /Warner Bros. for the recent hit series Batman Unburied.
Later this summer, Spotify is expected to announce the hire of a new executive who will oversee the company’s podcast and other non-music audio content (which the company refers to as “talk content”) in global markets. Content under their purview would include adaptations of original series into other languages in markets outside of the US
The company will also announce replacements for Lydia Polgreen, who exited Gimlet to join the New York Timesand for Cutler, who will no longer lead Parcast following his promotion, at a later date.
The expected internal restructuring of the company’s podcast teams comes after the departure of Courtney Holt, Spotify’s former head of talk partnerships, editorial and global markets, who recently transitioned to an adviser role after Spotify began revamping its podcast structure.