Bad Robot, the film/TV firm founded and run by J.J. Abrams, whose franchises include Star Trek and Cloverfield movies, has jumped into audio with the creation of a podcast unit. Abrams pulled Christina Choi away from Audible to head the venture. The whole thing is tied up with Spotify. Continue Reading
On the same day that Edison Research and NPR released The Spoken Word Audio Report for 2021 (RAIN coverage HERE), Spotify announced its acquisition of Findaway, the audiobook facilitator and distributor. Finances of the deal are undisclosed, and might not represent the potential long-term impact of the acquisition to Spotify and to spoken word listening. Continue Reading
In yesterday’s initial coverage of Spotify’s Q3 earnings report, we noted that the word “podcast” was used 17 times in the company’s official release, while the word “music” was used 10 times. In the hour-long earnings call, the emphasis was even more on podcasting, which was mentioned 48 times, while “music” was spoken a mere eight times. Hence the emphasis on podcasting as a business priority in the global leading streaming audio platform. Click a lot of info and quotes. Continue Reading
Spotify is expanding its podcast feature set while reinforcing its walled-garden experiments in podcasting. The latest: Video podcasting. “Soon, Spotify users will see a lot more video podcasts on the platform,” the company says as it rolls out the capability.… Continue Reading
Podcast hosting, analytics, and monetization platform Megaphone (a division of Spotify) has launched its service in France, Germany, Italy and Spain. This expansion broadens the compay’s monetization while offering podcast creators in those regions access to Megaphone’s tech stack. Also “white-glove service.” Click for details. Continue Reading
Spotify will reach 41.5-million ad-supported listeners in the U.S., on its way to 50-million in 2024. This according to eMarketer, based on an internal study (methodology specifics not disclosed). Click through for the chart, and related Spotify user metrics as of Q2. Continue Reading
Spotify Car Thing is for sale … almost. In April of this year spotify announced Car Thing, a dashboard device for streaming Spotify through the car’s audio system. Spotify Premium subscribers who joined the waitlist for a free unit, but didn’t get lucky, can now join a second waitlist for purchasing one. Click for details. Continue Reading
This week we reported on Spotify’s new brand marketing campaign and name change of its advertising division. Today the company informs us that a neurological study — a kind of “your brain on Spotify –accompanied that effort. Click through for details and graphics. Continue Reading
Spotify wants to broaden the listening repertoire of its Premium subscribers who build playlists. In today’s news, the company introduces Enhance, a song suggestion feature added to “Add song” and “Recommended,” tools which are already bolted onto playlists. Click for details. Continue Reading
Bringing an end to a testing period begun in April, Spotify now allows any U.S. podcaster to offer a subscription feed to listeners. It’s the latest benchmark in a growing trend of pay-to-listen in podcasting, where consumers can buy into a monthly fee for membership benefits that include ad-free listening, bonus exclusive episodes, and other attractions. Click for details. Continue Reading
Three of Spotify’s top five podcasts of the summer are exclusives to the platform. The other two are also top entries in Apple’s chart and Edison Research’s consumer survey. Continue Reading
Spotify has posted a baffling explanation of why it makes some of its podcasts exclusive to the platform, even though exclusive distribution is a standard business maneuver for customer acquisition and retention. We don’t know why this was necessary, or how it managed to be so confusing. Continue Reading