Spotify just hired a Wall Street exec and it's the biggest hint yet that an IPO is coming

Spotify's latest hire is a big hint that an IPO may be in the music streaming company's future.

The company hired Paul Vogel as its first head of investor relations, Recode reported on Thursday. That's the kind of role that companies fill when they float shares to the public and need to communicate with shareholders.

A Wall Street veteran who most recently oversaw internet and media research at Barclays, Vogel will work under Spotify's CFO Barry McCarthy.

McCarthy's own addition to Spotify early last summer was one of the first indications that the streaming music subscription service was inching towards an IPO. Before Spotify, McCarthy was CFO at Netflix where he saw the company go public in 2002.

This spring, Spotify raised a billion dollar debt round with special terms that suggest it could be prepping for an IPO.

In a equity funding round in 2015, Spotify was valued at $8.5 billion. The digital music service also claims to have 30 million paid subscribers, more than any competitor, including the younger, but fast-growing Apple Music.

Spotify was not immediately available for comment.