Uncovering and explaining how our digital world is changing — and changing us.

This story is part of a group of stories called

Spotify is getting closer to an IPO.

The streaming music subscription service has hired its first head of investor relations, a move you don’t make unless you plan on ... relating to investors when you’re a public company.

Spotify has hired Paul Vogel, a Wall Street veteran who most recently ran the internet and media research group at Barclays. Vogel started his analyst career in 1995 at Morgan Stanley. He reports to Barry McCarthy, the former Netflix CFO who became Spotify’s CFO last summer.

Spotify confirmed’s Vogel’s hire but didn’t offer any other comment. But we can supply our own: The move is another indication that the company is marching toward a public offering.

Spotify has been headed that way for a while. But the company essentially started a countdown clock this spring when it raised a billion dollar debt round with terms that push it toward an IPO in the next 12 months.

The company has also been improving the story it can tell investors if it does go public.

Last year, Spotify lost more money than ever, but its revenue grew much faster than its losses. The company has said it has 30 million paid subscribers, much more than any other digital music service.

Spotify’s last equity funding round, in 2015, valued the company at $8.5 billion.