Austin Daboh has started his new role at Apple Music in London as Head of Editorial for the UK & Ireland, MBW is told.
The Apple Music editorial team in the region will now report to Daboh, who himself reports to George Ergatoudis, Head of Music at Apple Music UK.
We understand that Daboh (pictured) will be responsible for Apple Music’s entire UK-based editorial and playlist ecosystem – with a particular remit to help break the next generation of British artists.
Priority areas of his focus will include Apple Music’s AGENDA playlist, which leans towards British hip-hop and R&B and which appears to be a natural rival to Spotify‘s own successful playlist in the field, Who We Be.
Those who know Daboh’s history will know that Who We Be, alongside other standout UK Spotify editorial brands, was his brainchild. Daboh worked for Spotify for three years before he left earlier this year, in June 2019.
Daboh’s role at Apple Music won’t end there, either: he will be working across the service’s top playlists in the UK, in various genres, including Today’s Hits – a key driver of streams for labels looking to climb the Official Singles Chart in the territory. (As of last year, 100 streams of the same song on a paid-for service like Apple Music or Spotify Premium count as one ‘sale’ on the Official Singles Chart; however, on an ad-supported service, like Spotify’s ‘free’ tier, the same ‘sale’ requires 600 streams.)
We hear Daboh is tasked with building the brand equity of AGENDA at Apple Music. Another flagship Apple Music playlist now under Daboh’s purview is the recently-launched New Music Daily – to which new music is added every 24 hours. Daboh will oversee the localization of the playlist in the UK.
Daboh joined Spotify in 2016 as Senior Editor, Shows & Editorial, moving over from the music team at BBC Radio 1Xtra. He was promoted last year to the role of Head of Music Culture & Editorial at Spotify UK.
Daboh’s new position at Apple sees him reunited with George Ergatoudis, who was previous his boss and mentor at both BBC Radio 1 and Spotify.
Ergatoudis himself exited Spotify to join Apple last summer.Music Business Worldwide
