Spotify promotes Joe Hadley to VP

Spotify has promoted Joe Hadley to VP of Global Music Content and Partnerships. The move, announced in July 2026, hands Hadley leadership of Spotify's Music Editorial and Music Partnerships teams.

Charlie Hellman, SVP and Global Head of Music at Spotify, said the new structure preserves Editorial's distinct voice while creating a more connected Music team. "Editorial is a key part of bringing an essential human touch to Spotify," Hellman stated. "Joe's capable leadership will keep artist advocacy at the center of our work and bring even more impact to the programming we do."

Leadership Restructuring

As part of the same reshuffle, J.J. Italiano has been named Head of Editorial. Italiano's role covers Global Curation, North American Editorial, and overall editorial strategy. He reports directly to Joe Hadley.

This marks a change from the previous structure. Sulinna Ong, previously Spotify's Global Head of Editorial & Curation, Music, exited the company around three months prior to join U2's management team. Where Ong's role had reported alongside Hadley's, Italiano's now reports to him.

Recent Music Organization Changes

Hadley's promotion lands inside a Music organization that Spotify has been consolidating since 2024. Global Head of Music Jeremy Erlich exited in October 2024. His direct reports, including Ong and Hadley, moved under David Kaefer, then the platform's VP Music & Audiobook Business.

Charlie Hellman became SVP and Global Head of Music in October 2025, succeeding Kaefer, who left after seven years at the company. Announcing that change in an internal memo obtained by Music Business Worldwide, then co-President Alex Norström wrote that "as we enter our next era of scale, we are centralizing all music functions under his leadership."

Norström became co-CEO alongside Gustav Söderström on January 1, 2026, when founder Daniel Ek moved to Executive Chairman.

Editorial's Public Push

The reshuffle arrives as Spotify pushes its editorial team further into public view. The company launched Playlist Notes and Editor Profiles on August 17, 2026. This lets editors attach written context to tracks on major playlists like Today's Top Hits and RapCaviar, and gives the editors their own pages inside the app.

Backgrounds of the Appointees

Joe Hadley joined Spotify in March 2022 as Global Head of Artist Partnerships & Audience, arriving from talent agency CAA. In his previous Spotify role as Global Head of Music Partnerships & Audience, he ran global and North American partnership functions spanning labels, artists, songwriters, and publishers.

Prior to CAA, Hadley spent five years at The Windish Agency from 2011. He joined CAA in 2016 and became Global Co-Head of Hip-Hop & R&B. His clients at CAA included Beyoncé, A$AP Rocky, Jorja Smith, and Tems.

Spotify closed Q2 2026 with 777 million Monthly Active Users and 300 million Premium subscribers.