Apple Music nabbed a former Spotify executive

Apple Music and Spotify are bitter rivals for streaming music subscribers, and apparently, behind-the-scenes music industry talent.

Apple hired former Spotify VP of Content Steve Savoca in January, an Apple spokesperson confirmed to Business Insider.

At Spotify, he served as the global head of label relations, according to a Billboard report from last summer when he left the Swedish streaming giant after five years.

He'll be doing the same thing for Apple that he did for Spotify - heading up label relations based out of New York, focusing on relationships with smaller, independent labels, especially internationally, Business Insider has learned.

He was reportedly one of Spotify's first US employees. Before that, he held roles at Domino Records and other labels. Spotify's current head of label relations is Rob Harvey.

Apple Music's leadership, including Jimmy Iovine, have said in recent weeks that its service needs to do more than have the same catalog of songs as Spotify. Apple Music's content chief, Larry Jackson, outlined his goal for the product in December:

"Make something that's the intersection of all things pop-culture. To make it more than just a utility. I like to think of it as a place where the best creative thinkers in music can congregate and come up with different ideas."

Apple said in December that its streaming music service has over 20 million paid subscribers. Spotify said in October that it had 40 million subscribers.