Spotify brings on Troy Carter to help relations with artists

Carter, best known as Lady Gaga's former manager, will be joining a Global Head of Creator Services

In the age of what is coming very close to being oversaturation in the online streaming market, the best way for a service to stand out is by delivering something that the others can't, namely exclusive content. While that has been a key part of the success of Tidal, for better or worse, and Apple Music, it is an area where Spotify seems to have fallen behind.

Case in point, Taylor Swift, who famously removed all of her music from Spotify a couple of years ago, signed an exclusive deal with Apple for her concert footage in December. Spotify, perhaps more than any of these services, has been blasted repeatedly by artists over what they are paid. 

Perhaps this won't be Spotify's Achilles heel for much longer, now that it has signed talent manager Troy Carter as its new Global Head of Creator Services. The news was first reported by Hits Daily Double on Monday, and Carter has since confirmed his new role in a Facebook Message. 

At Spotify he will be leading the following  teams: Artist Relations, Songwriter Relations, and Label Relations. Carter will be reporting to Chief Content and Chief Strategy Officer Stefan Blom.

Carter is the founder, chairman and CEO of  talent management company Atom Factory. He is best known for being the former manager of Lady Gaga, but his other clients have included Eve, John Legend, Meghan Trainor and Charlie Puth. 

In addition, Carter is also a big-time tech investor. He is the founder of AF Square, an angel fund and technology consultancy with investments in over 40 startups including Warby Parker, Songza, Dropbox, Fab, Uber and, perhaps not coincidentally, Spotify.

In his post, Carter did not elaborate much on what his responsibilities would be at Spotify, but connected it to his role as a talent manager. 

"When Eve asked me to be her manager, I had no clue what that meant. All I knew was that my job was to protect my friend. And that role of protector is one that I would find myself taking on for many artists over the years," he said. 

"In my new role as Global Head of Creator Services, my job is just a natural continuation of what I've always done – protect the voice of artists. Always have and always will."

Going forward, Carter makes it sound as though he will no longer be running Atom Factory, or personally managing artists, though he will continue on as an investor.

"Through Atom Factory, my team will stay in place to run our tech, culture and hustle outlet SMASHD.co as well as launch a brand innovation agency. And through Smashd Labs and Cross Culture VC, I'll still continue investing in great founders that have the ability to deliver next wave disruption to culture," he wrote.

VatorNews reached out to Atom Factory for more information regarding Carter's future role at the company. We will update this story if we learn more.

(Image source: theguardian.com)