“Spotify’s Joe Rogan deal could change the podcast business forever”
May 21, 2020
“When Spotify CEO Daniel Ek announced the $340 million acquisition of podcast companies Gimlet and Anchor in February 2019, he declared that Spotify’s mission was to become to the world’s leading audio—not just music—platform. In a blog post titled “Audio-First,” …
A year later, it’s still modest. The global podcasting market in 2020 is expected to grow 30%, surpassing $1 billion for the first time, according to Deloitte. Recorded music, to contrast, is projected to reach $21 billion; radio comes in at $42 billion. But Spotify won’t be bothered. Despite the minimal returns, podcasts offer the Swedish company something it could never have with music: original content. By acquiring content-creating companies like Gimlet—and later Parcast and Bill Simmons’ The Ringer—Spotify could leverage podcasts to increase subscribers and advertising sales. That strategy culminated this week with an exclusive multi-year deal, reportedly worth $100 million, with the world’s biggest podcast star: Joe Rogan…”
https://fortune.com/2020/05/21/spotify-joe-rogan-deal-podcast-business/
The world’s biggest podcast is going to be exclusive to Spotify. This company is making some major plays. It’ll be interesting to see what happens in the future.