Amid 2020 Music Push, Twitch Names Athena Koumis Partnerships Manager

Twitch is pushing further into the music space this year with the hire of a former Spotify executive to serve as its new music partnerships manager. Athena Koumis, who also previously worked for music video streaming service Xite and moonlights as a DJ, will aim to encourage more musicians to stream on the Amazon-owned platform, reports Music Ally.

Koumis spoke at length about her new role on Twitter, writing that, “When I learned Twitch was officially expanding into the music space in 2020, I knew this would be the right place for me to continue my work helping music communities thrive. I’ll still be based in New York City with frequent visits to San Francisco and other cities as needed.

“My duties for now will primarily be in support of two focuses,” she continued. “Music creator acquisition, or in other words getting more music communities involved and engaged on Twitch. And growing the amount of time spent watching music streams on the platform.” Koumis added that rather than focusing on established artists, she will turn her eye on “creators in smaller and mid-sized communities.”

At Spotify, Koumis served as North American editor for music culture, where she led product management and curation for Spotify’s Fresh Finds playlists — spotlighting indie artists and labels — and its Pride hub for LGBTQ+ artists, per Music Ally. She joined Xite in Oct. 2018 and appears to have started at Twitch last month, per her LinkedIn profile.

Twitch is increasingly looking to expand its programming spread beyond its hallmark gaming streams — especially as competing platforms like Mixer, Facebook, and YouTube continue to poach its native gaming talent.