In a blog post on the Sonos website, company founder and CEO John McFarlane has announced he is stepping aside as CEO after 15 years.
Patrick Spence will take over the leadership of the multiroom wireless audio company. McFarlane will remain with the company focusing on the company's commitment to STEM education and engaged in helping develop new start-up technology companies.
“As the founder and CEO of Sonos, I am always trying to find leaders who are capable of taking Sonos to the next level. Part of that means assessing my own role,” says McFarlane. “With Sonos now poised for a new phase of growth, I am excited to pass the role of Chief Executive Officer to a well-prepared Patrick Spence. Patrick demonstrated his leadership most recently with Sonos’ success during the holiday period, but more importantly, there isn’t a person who better embodies Sonos’ values and culture.”
McFarlane says it is a “magical moment” for the company.
“Music has made the transition to streaming. It took longer than we expected but it’s fully here now, leading with a handful of paid subscription services: Spotify, Pandora, Apple Music, Google Play Music, QQ Music, Amazon Music, SoundCloud, Tidal, etc. There will be many more options for music lovers as the music labels learn to make a start-up friendly ecosystem and the paid subscription services build platforms. Today, a Sonos owner can play almost everything ever made, and tomorrow we will certainly be able to do that with all manner of preferences, niches, themes, and mixes. Music is a wonderfully unique and developing thing, making our mission the most motivational in the world. It’s never been a better time for connecting music lovers in their homes to music creators,” he says.
McFarlane continues, “There are no typical transitions of leadership, especially for founder-led companies where the strength lies in a central interpretation of the culture that is essential for the formation and development of a new company in a complex and rapidly changing environment. However, the culture must move beyond the founder, and that’s a unique path for every company. That moment has come for Sonos. I trust Patrick and the team with this growth.”
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