When the Spotify acquisition was first announced, there were many different opinions about how it would affect the music industry. While there are some who believe it will be a good thing, there are others who aren’t so sure. Regardless of your position, it’s always important to keep an open mind.
Apple and Sony Music have discussed a deal with Wondery
If you’ve been paying attention to the news, you may have heard that Apple and Sony Music Entertainment are in talks to acquire podcast publisher Wondery. That deal would mark the most important investment in podcasting in several years.
The deal is expected to be close in the coming months. It would make Sony Music Entertainment a major player in podcasting, and provide Apple with a library of original content.
Wondery is the world’s largest independent podcast publisher. It has over 100 shows, and hosts an audience of more than 8 million. In addition to producing its own shows, Wondery is developing more than a dozen TV shows based on its podcasts.
The company’s top-ranked shows include “The Joe Rogan Experience,” “The Business Wars,” and “American History Tellers.” All of the shows are free to download and listen to, but a monthly subscription to the company’s “Wondery+” service offers ad-free listening.
Apple has been building its podcasting business in recent years. Its Mac app has a strong selection of audio programs, and it recently acquired a popular podcast app called Scout FM. This move marks a shift in the company’s focus to creating more original content.
Wondery is a podcasting company that has been around since 2004. The company’s shows have won millions of downloads, and its network is one of the biggest in the country. Its monthly audience of more than eight million is impressive, and the company is working to develop more original shows.
Wondery has also won over a few notable listeners, including former Fox International Channels chief Hernan Lopez. Lopez is currently defending his position in the federal courts against charges of bribery.
Apple and Sony Music have discussed a deal with Megaphone
Spotify, the audio streaming service, has entered into a deal with podcast hosting service Megaphone. This transaction is expected to be worth at least $235 million.
With this acquisition, Spotify will be able to increase its “Streaming Ad Insertion” (SAI) inventory. SAI is a technology that allows advertisers to target and measure ad reach. The technology is also customizable to user preferences and podcast listening history.
In January, Spotify announced its SAI initiative. It’s an effort to improve the way advertisers target their ads. Aside from targeting individual users, the SAI technology also allows for ad optimization.
As a result, Spotify’s ad revenue rose to a record high in the third quarter of this year. The Swedish platform has also signed deals with celebrities like Kim Kardashian and former First Lady Michelle Obama.
Spotify has been acquiring podcasting networks in recent years. Among its notable deals is its acquisition of the popular program The Ringer. Earlier this year, the company acquired another podcasting network, Parcast.
Now, it looks as though the audio streaming service is set to complete the podcasting ecosystem with its acquisition of Megaphone. However, it’s not guaranteed that this deal will go through. Apple and Sony Music have also held talks with Wondery. They are said to be interested in buying it for $300 to $400 million.
The megaphone company’s Targeted Marketplace product will allow advertisers to target audiences more effectively. It’s a product designed to solve long-standing problems in the podcast advertising space.
It is a proprietary technology that allows for ad optimization. During the Q3 earnings call, Spotify’s CEO Daniel Ek commented on the future of monetization for podcasts. He explained that the platform will be able to make a decision in real time about an ad.
Kinzen
Kinzen, a content moderation technology startup based in Dublin, Ireland, has been acquired by Spotify. The acquisition will help the company better detect and respond to emerging abuse trends.
Kinzen, which started out as a news curation service, is known for identifying harmful content in podcasts and spoken-word formats. It uses machine learning to identify dangerous misinformation. These reports are then passed on to human moderators.
Kinzen is particularly suited to podcasting because of its unique technology. According to its website, the company’s suite of tools includes early warnings of changing narratives and problematic trends, as well as actionable insights on policy violations.
Kinzen first partnered with Spotify in 2020 to help address misinformation. In that year, the company analyzed the content of over 4 million podcasts for potential harmful content. As a result, they were able to flag some podcast content for review ahead of the 2020 presidential election.
Spotify has worked with Kinzen since then, partnering with them to identify and remove potentially harmful and offensive content. Their technology helps identify and report harmful content in multiple languages, and can also be used to monitor hate speech.
Earlier this year, the company announced that it would be more transparent about its approach to content moderation. This included announcing rules that define acceptable and unacceptable content. But some critics argued that the changes did not have a substantial impact.
While Spotify has not released any financials, it is likely to have made a large number of investments. The press release on the announcement states that Kinzen’s team will join the company, and that it will help expand Spotify’s efforts to protect online communities from harmful content.
Heardle
Heardle, an online music trivia game, was recently acquired by Spotify. The company claims that millions of users use the game. It will stay free for players, and its look and feel will be kept intact.
Heardle is a daily music trivia game that asks players to guess the name of a song by listening to its opening notes. The game offers six guesses to get the right answer. After each wrong guess, a new snippet of the song is shown. If the player guesses the correct song, he or she will be able to listen to the full version of the song on Spotify.
According to the company, Heardle is not just a game, but also a tool for discovering new songs. For example, it might prompt a player to remember a favorite old song, or it might bring him or her back to an older one that has been on the back burner for a while.
Currently, the game is available in the U.S., the UK, Ireland, and Australia. However, the company plans to expand it to more countries in the future. Until then, it will be available on a stand-alone website.
The company says it wants to make the game more interactive, but it isn’t clear exactly how it will accomplish this. In the meantime, players will have access to all the features of the app, but they won’t have to sign up for a Spotify account.
When Heardle was first launched, the company used SoundCloud as a back-end audio provider. But as the game has grown, the company has decided to launch its own music database. Eventually, it hopes to expand to other languages, as well.
Anchor Sponsorships
The Spotify acquisition of podcast-creation platform Anchor and podcast network Gimlet brings a slew of podcast tools and capabilities to the music streaming giant. Plus, it gives Spotify a stable of experienced podcast creatives. In turn, it helps build a loyal audience for the service. And it enables the company to expand its distribution strategies for podcasts.
Anchor launched a sponsorships tool late last year that helps podcasters find sponsors. Advertisers can contact podcasters directly, providing a proposed price per listen. It’s a low-risk way to generate revenue. However, it doesn’t guarantee that a show will be monetized.
Megaphone, a podcast advertising company, also offers a similar feature. The company, which was acquired by Spotify in November 2020, enables advertisers to bid on ad slots in exchange for a monthly fee. Unlike Anchor, however, advertisers only pay for shows with a significant listening audience.
For podcasters, it means that they will have more control over their ad inventory. Additionally, advertisers will be able to target specific audiences and reach them in various ways. This is similar to how Facebook works. But unlike Facebook, the service only provides ad placements to select podcasters, rather than offering ads to everyone.
Spotify is also investing in nonmusic content, including podcasts, to make its platform more appealing. As a result, the platform has more than doubled its paid subscribers compared to Apple Music. Moreover, it sees nonmusic content making up 20% of its user base in the future.
Anchor’s sponsor-read ad solution will be available to some shows on the Spotify Audience Network. Sponsor-read ads are a lower-cost form of advertising, enabling advertisers to get their message into the right place at the right time.