Carl Chery, Apple Music’s head of artist curation overseeing hip-hop and R&B programming, is leaving the tech giant, Variety has learned. According to sources, Chery is headed for a position at Spotify where the streaming service’s RapCaviar playlist is among its most popular destinations. Last month, RapCaviar curator Tuma Basa left the company after three years for YouTube.
At Apple Music, Chery developed popular playlists as well, namely A-List: Hip-Hop and A-List: R&B. He was also responsible for securing two Apple exclusive releases from Chance The Rapper, including the Grammy Award-winning album, “Coloring Book.” Cherry’s additional credits include playing a key early role in breaking such artists as Cardi B, Bryson Tiller, Post Malone, Khalid, Daniel Caesar, 6LACK and H.E.R.
A former music journalist who has written for SOHH.com, XXL and BET, Cherry joined Apple in 2014 as part of the company’s Beats By Dre/Beats Music acquisition.
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As Variety reported, Apple Music recently named Oliver Schusser as new lead for Apple Music worldwide. The service also recently passed 40 million paid subscribers.
As of January, Spotify claimed 70 million paying subscribers worldwide. The Swedish company went public on April 3 and its market cap is currently valued at $25.5 billion.
