Spotify’s top content executive is leaving, just ahead of the streaming music company’s planned public offering.

Stefan Blom, Spotify’s chief content officer, announced his departure via an internal memo today. The company hasn’t named a successor to Blom, who reported to CEO Daniel Ek.

Blom’s departure comes after Spotify has filed confidential plans to go public via a unique “direct” IPO; the company has been targeting a spring date for the listing.

The timing of Blom’s exit may raise questions for investors as they look at Spotify.

Last year, the executive helped Spotify secure critical licenses with the big music labels that paved the way for the company’s IPO. But he has also been in charge of the company’s attempted push into video, which has stopped and started a few times without gaining traction.

Yesterday, Spotify announced it has 70 million paying subscribers.

—By Peter Kafka, Recode.net.

CNBC’s parent NBCUniversal is an investor in Recode’s parent Vox, and the companies have a content-sharing arrangement.

Source: Tech CNBC
Spotify’s chief content officer is leaving ahead of its IPO