July 9, 2021
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Spotify has the goal of building the world’s best podcast discovery experience. By acquiring Podz, the streaming platform may indeed revolutionize the way people discover podcasts.
Podz is a startup that solves a relatively simple problem. Unlike music, podcasts are usually 30 minutes or more in length. As a result, it can be difficult to discover new podcasts. In fact, the average podcast listener subscribes to only seven podcasts. To help people discover new content, Podz developed machine learning technology which was trained on more than 100,000 hours of audio. This technology generates high-quality clips of podcast episodes to give listeners a preview of the best moments of certain episodes. By incorporating this technology into its platform, Spotify hopes that its users will be encouraged to discover and listen to new podcasts.
The acquisition of Podz is a signal that Spotify is establishing itself as a key player in the podcasting market. When Apple announced its expansion into paid podcast subscriptions in April 2021, Spotify quickly followed by releasing its own paid subscription model. While Apple will be taking 30% of podcast revenue in the first year and 15% in the second, Spotify will not be taking any cuts of the revenue until 2023, at which point it will begin to take 5%. If Spotify’s recent investment in podcast discovery results in a better user experience, the company may very well become the dominant player in the podcasting medium.
Spotify has over 2.6 million podcasts on its platform. The technological capability offered by Podz’s software will improve the podcast experience for both the listeners and the creators of these podcasts. Listeners will uncover new content and creators will reach a wider audience. Overall, the company hopes that the startup’s technology will accelerate podcast growth across the globe.
Spotify is currently working to integrate Podz’s technology into its software. Users can expect to see new podcast discovery features on the platform by the end of the year.
Author: Jennifer Linde
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