Apple Music's Hip-Hop Programming Head Carl Chery Joins Spotify

Carl Chery, the Hip-Hop programming head of Apple Music, is leaving Apple’s music streaming platform for Spotify. Sources say that Chery might become a curator of Spotify’s popular RapCaviar playlist.

Chery’s move to Spotify from Apple Music was first reported by Variety. Chery joined Apple when the tech giant acquired Beats By Dre and Beats Music in 2014. He is known for curating Apple Music playlists like A-List: hip-Hop and A-List: R&B. He is also credited for securing exclusive releases from Chance The Rapper, including the Grammy Award-winning album, “Coloring Book,” for Apple Music. Chery was also a former music journalist for SOHH.com, XXL and BET.

Sources say that the deal between Chery and Spotify have not been finalized, according to Billboard. If the deal does go through, it’s presumed that Chery may be filling the vacancy left by Tuma Basa, who left Spotify as its global programming head of hip-hop and curator for the RapCaviar playlist, which has already amassed 9 million followers and even spawned live events. Basa left Spotify last month after serving the company for three years. Basa has now joined YouTube, which is believed to be preparing to launch its own music streaming service, called Remix.

With the departure of Chery, Apple Music appears to be continuously shuffling its team. Last week, the tech giant announced that Oliver Schusser was promoted to lead Apple Music worldwide. It’s too early to tell if Chery’s departure will have a huge impact on Apple Music, which currently has more than 40 million paying subscribers and is still on track to overtake Spotify this summer.

Spotify’s potential hiring of Chery signals the company’s efforts to further bolster its curated playlists feature on its music streaming service. The Swedish company is also believed to be planning a revamp of its free music streaming offering, which is said to make it easier and faster for users to access playlists.

Spotify will be holding a press event in New York City on April 24 and it promised to make “a news announcement.” The Verge was able to receive an invite for the said event and it looks like Spotify will be sharing news about upcoming changes to its mobile app. It’s also being rumored that the company may announce its very first hardware product during the same event next week.