Spotify has announced that it has acquired two major podcast companies. It has acquired Gimlet Media Inc and Anchor, the company leading the market for podcast creation, publishing, and income generation services. Financial terms of the transactions were not disclosed.
WOAH!!!!! @Spotify have announced their deal on @Gimletmedia and also decided to buy @anchor!!! They are about to become a juggernaut in all areas of podcast production. https://t.co/xOp6xJQmOG
— Kristofor Lawson (@kristoforlawson) February 6, 2019
With these acquisitions, Spotify is positioned to become both a leading producer of its own podcasts and the leading platform for podcast creators.
Gimlet will bring to Spotify its best-in-class podcast studio with dedicated IP development, production and advertising capabilities. Anchor will bring its platform of tools for podcast creators and its established and rapidly growing creator base.
Daniel Ek, Spotify co-founder and CEO announced the move to the stock market:
“These acquisitions will meaningfully accelerate our path to becoming the world’s leading audio platform, give users around the world access to the best podcast content, and improve the quality of our listening experience as well as enhance the Spotify brand”.
In his blog post discussing the acquisitions Ek stated that his motivation for the acquisitions:
“With the world focused on trying to reduce screen time, it opens up a massive audio opportunity … [which] starts with the next phase of growth in audio – podcasting.
There are endless ways to tell stories that serve to entertain, to educate, to challenge, to inspire, or to bring us together and break down cultural barriers.
The format is really evolving and while podcasting is still a relatively small business today, I see incredible growth potential for the space and for Spotify in particular.”
One interesting aspect of these acquisitions is whether the podcasts will become Spotify exclusives, or whether they’ll be able to be distributed elsewhere too.
What do you think of the Spotify podcast listening experience? If you already listen to Gimlet Media podcasts will you continue doing so? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
I find Spotifys podcast player to be the worst compared to Pocketcasts and others, to the point where i don’t bother with ‘Spotify Exclusives’ so if Gimlet shows are no longer available on other podcasts apps ill be very disappointed, they have great some great shows.
Pocket Casts certainly does a great job, the Ausdroid team are big fans