With podcasts, Spotify could be more in charge of its own destiny, and could pocket more of the advertising and subscription fees it relies on.
(Earlier this month, he was named CEO of Peloton.) Ted Sarandos, co-CEO of Netflix, is also on the board. Barry McCarthy, a former top executive at Netflix, was Spotify’s chief financial officer until early 2020 and is now on its board. The strategy had seemed to be working for Netflix, which produced its first original show in 2012 as a way to differentiate itself from other streaming services. “The overarching issue is how do you make your customer proposition distinct.” “All music streaming services are offering the same plain vanilla ice cream at the same price,” said Will Page, Spotify’s former top economist, who was not involved in the Rogan deal but is a frequent commentator on the digital media business. With Spotify Originals, the company would also create buzzy new programs in partnership with creators such as DuVernay’s Array and Higher Ground, the production company of former President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama.ĭeveloping a portfolio of podcasts unique to Spotify - as Netflix had built a walled garden for video - was a key aim, according to several employees involved in the strategy discussions. Spotify would buy audio studios, such as Gimlet, and acquire exclusive rights to existing shows.
To make Spotify a player in podcasting, Ek and his deputies, including Dawn Ostroff, a former television and magazine publishing executive, and Courtney Holt, formerly of Maker Studios, an online video network, set out on a multipart strategy. By 2018, the year Spotify listed its shares on the New York Stock Exchange, it was forming plans to pursue Rogan, hoping to supercharge its market position in nonmusic audio and to chip away at the dominance of Apple and Google’s YouTube.
The company dipped its toe into video around 2015, but little came of it. For Spotify, the move into podcasting is the culmination of years of strategy to find a business that is more profitable than hosting music, for which it must pay about two-thirds of every dollar to rights holders.
0 kommentar(er)
