Spotify Expands Podcast Reach With Original Content and Ad Sales
Spotify leverages its 200 million user base to push heavily into podcasts through better recommendations, exclusive deals, and its own ad sales network.
Spotify shifts its focus toward podcasts by utilizing its personalization technology to offer better recommendations and updating its app interface for easier access. The streaming giant plans to broker more exclusive deals with creators and expand its library of original audio programming to keep listeners engaged.
The company enters the podcast advertising business to generate revenue from this growing medium. Spotify already sells its own advertisements within original shows like "The Joe Budden Podcast" and "Dissect," a practice that began in mid-2018 and continues to expand alongside its upcoming exclusive content.
Spotify takes a distinctly different approach with podcasters than it does with musicians by aiming to bring voices in-house or secure exclusive licensing agreements. Head of Spotify Studios Courtney Holt emphasizes that the company invests heavily in authentic voices to build a strong podcast universe and encourage user habits within the platform.