Head of Artist & Label Partnerships, India
Head of Music Sri Lanka & Bangladesh
Padmanabhan (Paddy) heads Artist and Label Partnerships for Spotify in India and is also Head of Music for Spotify BNS (Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka). With over 30 years of experience in the music business, he is currently responsible for the music content led strategy for music labels and artists on Spotify. His role also includes partner education, key release marketing plans, live music and artist engagement. He has been instrumental in onboarding all the major Indian labels and artists on the platform and providing necessary tools and services such as Spotify for Artists.
Early Career & Music
Paddy started his career as a software engineer, and his love for music made him cross over to the music business. He has then worked with various music labels as A&R and Digital Head including Times Music, EMI Music, and Universal Music, and then as National Music Head for Radio City. He is also a 2-time Grammy winning associate producer, and a guitarist and has played with some leading Indian acts like Shankar Ehsaan Loy, and on weekends, you may find him jamming with his Classic Rock covers band One Night Stand, or his Hindi setup called Vox & Baaja.
Strategic Leadership
At Spotify, Paddy is responsible for defining and executing music-led strategies that bridge artists, labels, and audiences in an increasingly digital ecosystem. His leadership focuses on artist development, regional expansion, and leveraging data-driven insights to amplify music discovery. With a rare combination of creative sensibility and business acumen, he has consistently championed independent artists while also strengthening partnerships with major labels.
About Spotify
Since its launch in 2008, Spotify has revolutionised music listening. Our move into podcasting brought innovation and a new generation of listeners to the medium. In 2022, we took the next leap, entering the fast-growing audiobook market—continuing to shape the future of audio.
Today, more listeners than ever can discover, manage and enjoy over 100 million tracks, 7 million podcast titles, and 700,000 audiobooks on Spotify. We are the world’s most popular audio streaming subscription service with 761 million users, including 293 million subscribers, in 184 markets.
Impact & Vision
During his 8-year tenure at Spotify, Paddy has been a driving force behind the nation’s artist-centric ecosystem. He and his team have engaged directly with more than 10,000 creators through various initiatives, including Spotify for Artist Masterclasses, Spotify Rise, Radar, Equal, I-Pop, Echo and Fresh Finds, among other key touchpoints.
