Carl Chery, Apple Music's head of hip-hop programming, has left Apple to work for Spotify, reports Variety.

As head of hip-hop programming, Chery secured Apple exclusive releases from Chance the Rapper, including Grammy Award-winning album "Coloring Book," and he also helped discover artists like Cardi B, Bryson Tiller, Post Malone, Khalid, Daniel Caesar, 6LACK, and H.E.R.

carlchery

Image via Variety

Chery was behind several popular playlists on Apple Music, including A-List: Hip-Hop and A-List: R&B, and his absence will likely be felt at Apple Music, where hip-hop has become one of the genres the service is known for.

Chery first joined Apple in 2014 when Beats Music was acquired by the company, and prior to that date, he was a music journalist for SOHH.com, XXL, and BET. At Spotify, Chery will likely work with the service's popular RapCaviar playlist, which lost its curator last month.

The news of Chery's hiring comes as Spotify prepares to introduce changes to its mobile app, which will be announced next week. It's not entirely clear what new features are coming to the Spotify app, but the company has been testing voice control and new free subscription options designed to make the streaming service easier to use.

Top Rated Comments

H3LL5P4WN Avatar
71 months ago
Does this mean that Apple Music will finally focus on something, anything, other than rap?
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
jacjustjac Avatar
71 months ago
I’m always rooting for Spotify. Besides loving their service, I’d hate to see it fold under the sheer size of Apple. They’ve built something amazing (and cross platform), whereas it feels like Apple spends more effort marketing Apple Music than improving/curating it.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Wide opeN Avatar
71 months ago
For the first time ever I'm thinking about giving Spotify a shot.

I downloaded it, and was immediately impressed at the algorithm used to tailor music to my taste.

Not to mention the dark theme is easier on the eyes.

We'll see...
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
jasonkratz Avatar
71 months ago
Hip hop is the most popular music in the US so Apple promoting it is not a surprise. Just like rock & roll in its time, some don't get it.

The A list was a good new music playlist (it helped me weed out the trash from the good stuff), I hope they keep it around.
Some don't get it? Or more likely some just don't like it?
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
H3LL5P4WN Avatar
71 months ago
Does he have anything to do with Beats 1? That's mainly where hip hop is overrepresented. The music catalog itself seems about the same as everywhere else.
Catalogue-wise, yes. But any sort of promotion is always rap.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
WestonHarvey1 Avatar
71 months ago
Does this mean that Apple Music will finally focus on something, anything, other than rap?
Does he have anything to do with Beats 1? That's mainly where hip hop is overrepresented. The music catalog itself seems about the same as everywhere else.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

iOS 17

Apple Releases iOS 17.0.1 and iPadOS 17.0.1 With Bug Fixes, Plus iOS 17.0.2 for iPhone 15 Models

Thursday September 21, 2023 10:28 am PDT by
Apple today released iOS 17.0.1 and iPadOS 17.0.1 updates for the iPhone and the iPad, adding bug fixes to the new software. The iOS 17.0.1 and iPadOS 17.0.1 updates come just a few days after Apple launched iOS 17 and iPadOS 17. The software, which is build 21A340, can be downloaded on eligible iPhones and iPads over-the-air by going to Settings > General > Software Update. There is a...
iPhone 15 Pro Lineup Feature

iPhone 15 Models Feature New Setting to Strictly Prevent Charging Beyond 80%

Tuesday September 19, 2023 2:04 pm PDT by
All of the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro models feature a new battery health setting that prevents the devices from charging beyond 80% at all times when enabled, as confirmed by The Verge's Allison Johnson during a Q&A session today. The new setting is separate from the pre-existing Optimized Battery Charging feature on iPhones, which intelligently delays charging past 80% until a more...
emojipedia 15 1 emoji

Emoji Coming to Future iOS 17 Update Include Shaking Head, Brown Mushroom, Lime, Phoenix and More

Tuesday September 19, 2023 12:43 pm PDT by
As Apple was announcing new iPhone models last week, the Unicode Consortium was officially approving new emoji characters that are set to be added to smartphones starting in 2024. Mockup of new emoji from Emojipedia Approved Unicode 15.1 emoji include phoenix, lime, an edible mushroom, shaking head vertically (as in a "yes" nod), shaking head horizontally (a "no" head shake), and broken...
iPhone 15 Pro Max 5x Optical Zoom Limit Feature 1

Apple Explains Why iPhone 15 Pro Max is Limited to 5x Optical Zoom

Wednesday September 20, 2023 9:52 am PDT by
In an interview with Numerama's Nicolas Lellouche, Apple's VP of camera software engineering Jon McCormack explained why the iPhone 15 Pro Max's tetraprism lens system is limited to 5x optical zoom, instead of 10x like on Samsung's Galaxy S23 Ultra. The interview is in French, so quotes below are computer translated. Apple says the Telephoto lens on the iPhone 15 Pro Max features the...