Stefan Blom is ending his long tenure as chief content officer at Spotify as the music streaming service moves towards an IPO.

Stefan Blom is departing from Spotify after 3 years as CCO, as things for the service look to suddenly boom. Blom was responsible for arranging Spotify’s new deals with the major labels that changed the terms to make it more appealing for labels whilst also allowing Spotify to make more profit.

A rep for Spotify said following the announcement: “We are grateful for Stefan’s many contributions to the company over the years and we wish the very best. Looking ahead, the content team is well positioned to execute on our strategy.”

Whilst all the press is saying that the departure was decided amicably others within the industry reckon the decision wasn’t decided by Stefan all that much. Santosh Rao, head of research at Manhattan Venture Partners, said: “If I had to guess, I think he was pushed out.”

Rao mentions that the failure of Spotify’s video content could have played a part in Spotify’s potential dismissal. He also says: “It’s also possible he didn’t want the company to go public yet and wanted to develop more and then go out.”

Spotify have been pushing towards an IPO for years now however have been waiting for the right position. With a monumental number of subscribers signing up every month and fresh new deals with labels the time seems to be right.