Spotify’s Recent Podcast Acquisitions Signals Its Diversification Plans

The first is podcast producer Gimlet, which, according to tech site Recode, Spotify has paid US$230m for. A figure over three times the value the company was thought to be worth in mid-2017. Gimlet was founded in 2014 by US radio and podcast host Alex Blumberg and its first show was StartUp, in which Blumberg recounted his personal narrative of setting up shop. It has since launched the likes of internet culture show Reply All, true crime show Crimetown and scripted radio dramas Homecoming and Sandra. The latter two have been adapted for the small screen. The company’s branded content division has also created shows for the likes of eBay and Tinder.

Spotify’s other acquisition, Anchor, is a platform that allows people to easily record and distribute their own podcasts. Following the announcement, Spotify founder and chief executive Daniel Ek wrote: “In just shy of two years, we have become the second-biggest podcasting platform. And, more importantly, users love having podcasts as a part of their Spotify experience. Our podcast users spend almost twice the time on the platform and spend even more time listening to music. We have also seen that, by having unique programming, people who previously thought Spotify was not right for them will give it a try.”

“Based on radio industry data, we believe it is a safe assumption that, over time, more than 20% of all Spotify listening will be non-music content. This means the potential to grow much faster with more original programming, and to differentiate Spotify by playing to what makes us unique—all with the goal of becoming the world’s number one audio platform.”