Spotify loosens its grip on exclusive podcasts

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Hello Hotpod! We’re kicking off the week with a big announcement.

This should come as no surprise to those who attended the Hot Pod Summit in February, but I very Pregnant. I’m pregnant like my baby keeps kicking my laptop in my lap.this is my last week The Barge before i go on vacation. My plan for the next five months is mostly diaper use and no sleep, so I’ll likely be back in September to catch up on the audio business more often. So if you see a frizzy, confused new mom pushing a sage green UPPAbaby around Ditmus Park this summer, feel free to say hi! , you may be one of dozens (hundreds?) of people in your neighborhood.

Luckily, a good reporter is on board to write hot pod While I’m gone I would like to introduce Amrita Khalid. Amrita Khalid is a highly knowledgeable technical journalist who has contributed to publications such as: Ltd., quartzand daily dotAmrita has some great ideas for what to do with the newsletter while I’m away. You can expect the same thorough delivery of news and analysis each week ( insider If you want to say hello or start sending us news, you can reach out to Amrita at Amrita.Khalid@theverge.com or @askhalid on Twitter.

A brief greeting from Amrita.

Hey, guys!I’m so excited to take over the reins at hot pod for the next few months. Nothing can replace the incomparable Ariel, but I hope you enjoy (or at least amuse yourself) with my West Coast perspective on the podcast industry. I currently live in Los Angeles, which of course has a vibrant podcast and audio production scene. I am very happy to be on board. I look forward to getting to know you better as the year progresses.

Okay, let’s continue with the news. Today, Gimlet is boosting distribution, Spotify is looking for new audiobooks his chief, and Pew is getting into the consumption habits of her listeners with podcasts.

Gimlet will extend distribution of some shows beyond Spotify. science vs

Gimlet staff have been told in recent weeks that parts of the show will be streamed on other audio platforms. traffic light reported on Sunday.The first such move is to make the current season science vs Works with other apps like Apple Podcasts and Google Podcasts. For a studio frustrated with Spotify’s exclusive model, this is a big change.

“Given our position as the world’s leading podcast platform, we are expanding our windowing strategy to increase our show’s audience and ad sales potential,” said Spotify spokesperson Emily Yeomans. Stated. hot pod“In this case, we are trying to distribute some of the original podcasts widely. science vsThis will be done on a case-by-case basis and over time. ”

science vswas first launched in 2016, and since Spotify acquired Gimlet in 2019, the latest batch of episodes has been available across platforms. For the past few years, only the latest four episodes of him have been available at any given point in time. The entire new season, which launched in March, and his four episodes from the previous season will be widely available.

science vs was one of the network’s biggest shows and part of the original slate of Gimlet podcasts that made the studio a hot commodity from the start. When Spotify acquired the studio, it had some of the most popular indie shows on the market. heavyweight And — its biggest hit — reply allThe combination of critically acclaimed (and high-performing) podcasts earned Gimlet a price tag of over $190 million, followed by a whopping $45 million in employee payouts over four years.

Since then, however, Gimlet’s situation has become more precarious. reply all Imploding under a racism scandal, the studio has been unable to produce new hits on the same scale. case 63 and wall street journal collaboration, journal, Very well done. But the kind of shows the studio was known for—highly produced, offbeat non-fiction podcasts—failed to grab attention. three such programs, how to save the planet, climb showand Every Little Thingwas canceled last fall.

After the cancellation and resulting layoffs, members of the Gimlet union blamed Spotify’s monopoly strategy for the disappointing numbers. While the show wasn’t behind a paywall (even Spotify’s free subscribers were able to access it), it didn’t enjoy the wide distribution that the show had before its acquisition. Not without a big platform. Spotify ranks alongside YouTube as the most-used podcasting platform, according to research by Cumulus and Signal Hill. Still, we only have about a fifth of the market.

Spotify’s decision to expand distribution science vs, and potentially other Gimlet shows may be construed as an acknowledgment of exclusive model restrictions.There’s no argument that it worked so well on established celebrity shows like Joe Rogan Experience and call her daddyBut these podcasts were able to build followers across platforms before they integrated their audiences into Spotify.If science vs Ultimately setting a precedent for other Gimlet shows, the studio’s distribution strategy is more focused on acquiring listeners (and advertising dollars) than bringing them to a particular platform. We will be working more closely with outlets such as SiriusXM and Wondery.

And this broader strategy has worked for Spotify before. Sports and pop culture podcast studio The Ringer is a bright spot in Spotify’s podcast portfolio. Also, the show has been widely distributed since it was acquired in 2020. This is reportedly thanks to Ringer founder Bill Simmons’ continued lobbying for Ek.and gimlet hit journal? Also available on platforms such as Apple Podcasts and Google Podcasts.

Spotify’s head of audiobooks to retire this fall

Yesterday, we reported that Nir Zicherman, the head of Spotify’s audiobooks division, plans to leave the company in October. His retirement comes nearly a year after he launched an audiobook on the platform.

Zicherman joined Spotify in 2019 as one of the co-founders of Anchor, which Spotify acquired for $150 million. Zicherman has been working on ways companies can monetize audiobooks beyond their established methods. Spotify now has an a la carte buying model, similar to Apple Books. When he spoke with Zicherman in February, he said Spotify was looking into ad-supported titles and Netflix-style unlimited subscriptions.

“I think applying a holistic approach to all content, all creators, like podcasting, is really hurting the industry,” Zicherman said at the Hot Pod Summit. “So the future I see with Spotify is different business models supporting all the different types of podcast content that exists and all the different types of audiobook content that exist.”

Mr. Zicherman plans to continue the transition with his next audiobook lead, and has begun a search for external candidates for the position. Zicherman spearheads her Spotify audiobook strategy, but there is some continuity in leadership. According to Spotify spokesperson Rosa Oh, he is working closely with the company’s vice president of operations, David Kaefer. Kaefer will also support the transition and continue to work with his reader on the company’s new audiobook.

Spotify’s entry into the audiobook industry is the biggest change the familiar market has seen in years, but the effort is still far from being realized. Thanks to Apple’s strict (and arbitrary) in-app purchase rules, the à la carte purchase model hits several roadblocks, leaving users with no path to purchase titles from the Spotify app. Whatever new model Spotify launches, whether it’s under Zicherman or his successor, is going to have to get around these rules to be a game changer. In a pitch to investors last year, Ek said the market believed he was potentially worth $70 billion globally.

Additionally, Zicherman was one of the last batch of founders and executives to come to Spotify to build a (now massive) podcasting business. His co-founder, Michael Mignano, who ran Spotify’s podcasting tech stack, retired last June. Over the past year, Spotify has partnered with top podcast dealmaker Courtney Holt, Gimlet co-founder Alex Blumberg, Gimlet general manager Lydia Polgreen, the company’s chief content and advertising officer Dawn Ostroff, and We also witnessed the departure of the founder of Parcast and head of talk creators. Content and partnerships with his Max Cutler.

Now let’s get back to Amrita for the latest on the Pew podcasting survey.

Pew: The vast majority of listeners believe the news they hear on podcasts

Americans seem to TRUE People trust podcasts as a form of news and as a force for lifestyle change, according to a Pew poll released Tuesday. A whopping 87% of respondents said they expect the news they hear on podcasts to be mostly accurate.

The news isn’t the first draw, though. “[stay] Up to date on current affairs” – Entertainment was the bigger motivator, chosen by 87% as the reason. It seems that there are few people actively They look to podcasts as a source of news, not entertainment, and take factual information they hear very seriously.

It also speaks to why podcasts have been so effective in influencing listener behavior: According to a Pew poll, 60% of people buy books, watch movies and listen to podcasts. He reports that he listens to music for More than one-third of hers have made lifestyle changes, such as trying a new diet or keeping a journal thanks to podcasts.

In fact, 88% of those surveyed say they listen to podcasts. to learn. Yes, learn. Even if the learning probably includes summaries of the most recent episodes, Inheritance Or intermittent fasting, not the latest on the war with Ukraine.

This insight comes at a time when trust in traditional broadcast and print news media appears to be at historically low levels. And despite a high degree of confidence in the accuracy of podcast news, a significant portion of those surveyed have not heard what the actual news outlet produces.Listeners almost say he’s 3/he’s 2, but the podcasts I’m listening to are no Connected to old news organizations.

That’s all for now! For all of you, this year has been an eventful year for him. It’s going to be another tumultuous year (personally, as a first-time parent, I can’t speak to what the audio industry is going to be like). Amrita will be back next week with the latest news and analysis.