Slapping the audio equivalent of parental advisory on such content is unlikely to enhance its appeal to listeners. Besides spending hundreds of millions scooping up Megaphone and pop-culture podcasting outfit The Ringer in 2020, it is paying Rogan $100 million for exclusive rights to his shows. That explains Spotify’s multi-billion-dollar shopping spree over the last few years. After the up-front costs, that means fatter long-term margins.Īs a medium, podcasts are also a clever way to differentiate Spotify from rivals and Apple that offer broadly the same library of songs. But, unlike with music, which incurs royalty payments with every download, Spotify owns the podcast content outright. Compared to music subscriptions, that’s still small. podcast audience is expected to overtake Apple’s (AAPL.O), growing from about 28 million last year to 44 million in 2025, according to market research firm eMarketer. But he needs to tread carefully given the centrality of podcasts to his ambitions. Importantly, the patch-up also avoids Ek being labelled an out-and-out enemy of free speech, one of Zuckerberg’s big fears. A far more powerful artist, say, Taylor Swift, taking up the cause could have caused serious damage. With music subscriptions accounting for more than 85% of Spotify’s $9.6 billion of revenue last year, according to Refinitiv estimates, that’s important. First and foremost, Ek gets to neutralise the outrage of Young and others, thereby keeping Spotify’s subscriber base intact. Rogan’s apology on Sunday and promise to balance out controversial content is the sensible compromise. In response, high-profile musicians such as Neil Young pulled their songs from the platform, wiping more than $2 billion off Spotify’s market value. podcast host, courted controversy by giving airtime to his own and others’ anti-vaccine views. The $39 billion group’s misinformation mishap is akin to one confronting Meta Platforms (FB.O) boss Mark Zuckerberg's social networks.
But blunting the edgy appeal of his podcasts could crimp their growth.
By sticking warning labels on podcasts about Covid-19 and encouraging hosts to balance out medical views, the Spotify Technology (SPOT.N) boss has probably prevented an exodus among his 170 million music-streaming subscribers. LONDON, Jan 31 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Daniel Ek is having his first Facebook moment.
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