Spotify’s former VP of Design Dan Sormaz joins Fubo

Internet pay-TV provider Fubo named Dan Sormaz, a 10-year Spotify veteran, to lead its product design operations as senior VP.

Sormaz joins Fubo this week, based out of the company’s New York headquarters, reporting to chief product officer Mike Berkley (who is also a Spotify alum).

Sormaz brings to Fubo 20 years of experience as a user-experience design exec at companies including Spotify, Sorare, Boxee (acquired by Samsung), News Corp and AOL. At Fubo, he’s tasked with leading the design organization, which is responsible for how customers interact with and experience its live TV streaming products.

Prior to joining Fubo, Sormaz led design at Sorare, a Web3 startup in the digital collectibles/fantasy sports space whose partners include the NBA, MLB and Premier League. Before that, he joined Spotify in 2012 and ultimately rose to the VP of design position. During his 10 years at Spotify, Sormaz built and led multiple design organizations and launched consumer products. Most recently, he led design for Spotify’s recommendations org, responsible for innovative new features such as its Home Feed, AI DJ and personalized playlists.

“Dan is not only the best design leader in media that I know, he is also a great product strategist,” Berkely said in a statement. “I partnered closely with Dan at Spotify for several years and am so thrilled for him to lead our design team at Fubo.”

Sormaz commented, “Fubo really hits the sweet spot for me — I am so passionate about streaming, having spent more than a decade in that world across music, podcasts and video/TV, and I am a huge sports fan. User experiences for streaming services reflect the ever-changing world around them. With an evolving content landscape, shifting consumer behaviors and emerging new technology, I believe we’re entering an exciting new era for TV streaming UX. I am looking forward to reuniting with Mike and working with the fantastic Fubo team to build what’s next for TV.”

In the U.S., Fubo bills itself as a “sports-first cable TV replacement” that aggregates more than 175 live sports, news and entertainment networks. Sormaz joins the company as it is developing its product experience using proprietary AI and computer-vision technology, acquired through the 2021 purchase of Edisn.ai.

As of the end of the first quarter of 2023, Fubo reported 1.285 million subscribers in North America — down 160,000 from the prior quarter but up from 1.056 million a year earlier. The company’s posted Q1 revenue of $324.4 million (up 34% year over year) and a net loss from continuing operations of $83.4 million (an improvement over a net loss of $128.4 million in the year-prior period). Variety