High-profile Googler appointed to Spotify's board
Spotify is not for sale and the company is clearly eyeing up an IPO at some point either this year or in early 2015, but that is not stopping Google execs from gaining influence at the music service.
Re/Code reports that Omid Kordestany, the temporary replacement of Nikesh Arora as Google’s Chief Business Officer, is joining Spotify’s board. But that’s not all as Shishir Mehrotra, one of Google’s former executives, is said to become a special adviser to Spotify CEO Daniel Ek.
Google’s upcoming launch of a YouTube Music service is probably the biggest threat to Spotify yet so it’s interesting to see an executive at the company take a seat at the board, but it is by no means unusual in the corporate world, nor should it lead to speculations that Google may be interested in an acquisition.
Given Google’s investment in its Play Music Unlimited product and its (controversial) efforts to close licensing deals for the on-demand YouTube Music streaming service, acquiring Spotify would just add fuel to the flame of an already confusing situation for consumers.
In addition, in light of recent complaints around YouTube’s abuse of a dominant position an acquisition would likely be subject to heavy regulatory scrutiny.
If anything, the fact that Spotify was able to attract two executives of this calibre is a positive step towards its IPO as it shows investors that the company is now seen as a heavyweight in the technology space.