Spotify Buys Podcast Tech Firms for the Benefit of Podcasters

There's good news for the podcasters, In a move to bolster its podcasting capabilities, Spotify has announced the acquisition of two podcast technology firms - Podsights and Chartable. With these purchases, Spotify gains access to new tools that will help it better understand and cater to the needs of podcasters and podcast listeners, aside from these two tech firms we listed other companies that Spotify acquired that are really helpful for podcasters

The Sweden-based company has been making investments to boost its podcasting business, and with these purchases, they will be able to provide more tools for publishers as well advertisers.

Here are the company bought by Spotify that will be beneficial for creators, especially for Podcasters

Podsights

Podsights provides transparent impression reporting in real-time across hosting providers so advertisers can understand how their campaigns are pacing and the number of households they are reaching.

• Podsights connects podcast downloads to on-site activity, giving advertisers and publishers unprecedented insights into the effectiveness of their podcast advertising campaigns.
• Through Advisor, Podsights gear advertisers with brand-curated podcast audience insights down to the show level. These insights help brand marketers discover and pinpoint the podcasts they should consider for their next podcast advertising campaign.
• Use Podsights to plan your next podcast advertising campaign. We provide the tools you need to create a podcast media plan from start to finish.

Chartable

is a podcast analytics platform that helps publishers with their podcast audiences through promotional attribution and audience insight tools like SmartLinks and SmartPromos. Chartable's podcast analytics and attribution tools help publishers grow and help brands & agencies understand their spending.

Spotify said the acquisition of Chartable will also strengthen the offerings of its podcast advertisement platform Megaphone, which it purchased in late 2020 for $235 million. Last December, the company also bought an Australia-based podcast technology platform Whooshkaa, as part of its efforts to modernize digital audio advertising.

The Swedish firm intends to capture a large slice of the U.S. digital audio advertising revenue, which according to eMarketer, is expected to rise to nearly $8 billion by 2025, and of that, $2.7 billion is for podcast advertising alone.

Spotify will invest $100 million in the licensing, development, and marketing of music and audio content from historically underrepresented creators, its CEO Daniel Ek said recently.

The Swedish music streaming company also reported its fourth-quarter (Q4) results for 2021, taking its paid subscribers to 180 million globally.

Monthly active users on the platform grew by 18 percent (on-year) to reach 406 million.

Advertising represented 15 percent of Spotify's revenue in the fourth quarter (October-December period) 2021.

With this new ad platform, Spotify plans to offer audio and video ads in addition to display advertisements. The company hopes the expanded measurement capabilities will help it identify which songs or videos are most popular among listeners who haven't yet decided on an artist - giving artists more opportunities for success!

Whooshkaa

Spotify has acquired Whooshkaa, an Australia-based podcast technology platform whose core capability lets radio broadcasters convert their existing audio content into on-demand podcasts.

Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. Spotify said it plans to integrate Whooshkaa’s broadcast-to-podcast technology into Megaphone, the enterprise podcast and ad platform it bought last year for $235 million. Spotify expects to let it more quickly add more third-party content into the Spotify Audience Network marketplace.

Whooshkaa launched in 2016, founded by Robert Loewenthal (pictured above), former CEO of Australia’s Macquarie Radio Network. The company describes itself as providing a full end-to-end platform for hosting, distributing, monetizing, and tracking on-demand audio.

Spotify believes the growth potential for digital audio is still largely untapped, according to Dawn Ostroff, the company’s chief content and advertising business officer.

“Through the addition of these new tools as well as the innovative team behind them, we are reinforcing our commitment to helping creators, publishers and advertisers realize the value of this opportunity,” Ostroff said in a statement. “With Whooshkaa, we will strengthen our efforts to help audio publishers of all kinds grow their podcast business and scale our ability to help advertisers reach their audiences.”

Loewenthal commented, “We are proud to support both podcast-first and broadcast businesses, offering publishers a best-in-breed audio platform across their podcast and radio content. We are looking forward to being part of Spotify’s bullish vision of the future of audio.”

Megaphone

Megaphone offers technology for podcast publishers and advertisers seeking targeted slots on podcasts. It offers podcast hosting, distribution and ad-insertion tools for podcast publishers like ESPN and The Wall Street Journal, and advertisers can use the company’s technology to find audiences across the podcast content of those publishers.

Spotify has been on a podcast acquisition tear in the past couple years, striking deals for shows from Joe Rogan, Kim Kardashian, Michelle Obama and others, and buying companies like The Ringer and Gimlet Media. Now, it’s taking steps further to monetize all that content with the help of a new acquisition. 

Megaphone, previously called Panoply Media, rebranded in 2019 after laying off its podcast production team to focus on the technology platform side of its business. The company has been owned by Virginia-based Graham Holdings Co. 

The deal should give advertisers more scale in terms of whom they can reach on Spotify and let podcast publishers opt-in to have their shows monetized.

Audiobook platform "Findaway"

“It’s Spotify’s ambition to be the destination for all things audio both for listeners and creators. The acquisition of Findaway will accelerate Spotify’s presence in the audiobook space and will help us more quickly meet that ambition,” said Gustav Söderström, Spotify’s Chief Research & Development Officer. “We’re excited to combine Findaway’s team, best-in-class technology platform, and robust audiobook catalog with Spotify’s expertise to revolutionize the audiobook space as we did with music and podcasts.”

Findaway works across the entire audiobook ecosystem with a platform and offerings that serve authors, publishers, and consumers of this rapidly growing industry, which is expected to grow from $3.3 billion to $15 billion by 2027. In addition to offering the largest catalog of distributed titles, Findaway has actively worked to democratize audiobooks through leading technology tools available for independent authors to create and bring their stories to life. We plan to build on Findaway’s significant innovation in the space, and we’re going to supercharge its growth, bringing everything Spotify knows around personalization and discovery while also innovating on format, delivery, creator tools, and more.

Together, Spotify and Findaway will accelerate Spotify’s entry into the audiobook space and continue to innovate the industry, working to remove current limitations and unlock better economic tools for creators. Findaway’s technology infrastructure will enable Spotify to quickly scale its audiobook catalog and innovate on the experience for consumers, simultaneously providing new avenues for publishers and authors to reach audiences around the globe.

Wrap Up

With this recent acquisition by Spotify, it's now easier than ever to make your podcast heard. All you need is some creativity and engaging content for people who will be listeners who want their favorite podcasts on the go!