How to Get There: Vice President of Spotify Government Relations

As a teen, being an adult and choosing a job feels like a dark looming challenge with many obstacles. But it doesn’t have to be that way. Top people in all fields had to start somewhere, right? The mission of the How to Get There series is to explore the journey and simplify the process, therefore bringing it to the growing-up-21st-century audience. 

It began on a hot July morning at the famed Kennedy Caucus Room at the The Russell Senate Office Building. After introductions were made by students, Tom Manatos took to the stage. After his conversational speech for the Junior State of America, I asked for his contact information for an interview and he gave me his card. And with much excitement, the interview arrived. 

The Position: 

Vice President at Government Relations at Spotify

The Person Behind it: 

Tom Manatos 

The Process:

I grew up in the DC area, right outside of the city in Montgomery county. My family was involved in politics and naturally I became interested in their work. At first I wasn’t sure if I wanted to work in news or politics. But during high school, I participated in the Senate page program during the welfare reform debate in the summer of 1996 and fell in love with politics. I was the nerd turning C-SPAN on after work so I could keep up with the debate.

During college my interest in politics deepened when I volunteered at the 2000 Democratic Convention in Los Angeles and after the convention was offered at job at Vice President Al Gore’s Presidential campaign headquarters which led to also working the recount in Florida. After that incredible experience I was hooked on politics.

After the recount I went back to college to finish. In the summer of 2002, with one semester remaining of college, (because of the one I took off to work for the Gore campaign) I took an internship with recently-elected Democratic Whip Nancy Pelosi. She had just become the first woman to ever serve in Congressional leadership. At the end of my internship I was lucky enough to be given the opportunity to become a full time employee but had to figure out how to finish school remotely. So at the infancy of online courses I finished my degree over a two year period online. 

My career started quickly after that. My first job was as a staff assistant was at the Democratic Whip’s office. I would answer phones and help members of Congress as they came into the Democatic Whip’s office. It was a great opportunity and I am forever grateful to Speaker Pelosi.

I worked in government for 9 years. I worked for Pelosi in the Whip office, Democratic Leader’s office and eventually the Speaker’s office. When we lost the majority in 2010 I went to work on President Obama’s reelection campaign at the DNC. After working on President’s second Inaugural my dream was to work for the Obama administration but the timing did not work out so I jumped to the private sector.

At first I worked for a trade association that was just starting, it was called the Internet Association. It was a tech industry trade association but only made up of internet companies, no hardware or software companies. The membership included Google, Amazon, Twitter, eBay, Uber, etc. This was at a time when many of these companies were just starting DC operations like Pandora and Twitter. So their first entree into DC was our trade association. I worked there for almost 3 years. 

When Spotify was looking for someone to open a DC office I applied and got the job. I knew about the issues they cared about from my time at the Internet Association and I knew how government worked from my 11 years working on Capital Hill.

Things to Keep in Mind: 

I am responsible for communicating the way Spotify works to elected officials in the United States. I explain how certain regulations and laws that they are contemplating would affect the techo or music industry. 

My daily schedule can vary, I have meetings internally to learn about new products that Spotify is creating and strategizing on the rollout of such products and how to inform government officials about them. I also communicate with government officials, industry representatives in DC about ideas for new laws or regulations. 

Unique Experiences:  

The lack of knowledge with government officials can be quite jarring. Even the most knowledgeable members of Congress don’t really understand technology the way those of us that work in the industry, and we need to recognize that and try to fix it. 

The speed at which our industry is growing is amazing. In 2010 there were 7 million people worldwide that were using streaming music services. And now as of 2020 there are 611 million people are paying for streaming. A decade ago piracy was rampant, no one was paying, and now we have hundreds of millions of people paying roughly $10 dollars a month. This is a good thing for everybody involved in the process. 

Another thing I’ve learned is to give back. 18 years ago I started forwarding job announcements on Capitol Hill to people who were looking to get their start in politics. Ten years later I turned that process into a website and today I post almost 600-700 jobs and internships each week to my jobs board in an effort to help people find jobs and internships. Helping poeple find their first job, a job mid-career or their dream job is a true passion of mine. Anyone looking for an internship or job in politics, policy or government should check out www.TomManatosJobs.com.

Advice: 

Your generation has a ton of things at your fingertips that weren’t available 30 years ago. For example, the ability to gain knowledge. When I was in college Google wasn’t around. The ability to experience and learn from other people around the world is incredible. The ability to create and business and earn money off an idea, which can be as creative as you want it to be is unique. 

The tricks to a successful career is hard work and attention to detail. No matter what industry you are working in, if you are working harder than anybody else you’ll stand out. You also have to create a good work product, double and triple check it. That will lead to success. You will learn and grow a lot.