Podcast is the New Platform for Attention

Spotify, the huge music app is putting in all the efforts to dominate the podcast industry which has been booming in recent years. Spotify was late to enter the podcast scenario but now is diligently working to make up for the opportunities lost in past. In the wake of all the efforts come the acquisition of The Ringer, a media company known both for its culture website and massive podcast operation headlined by The Bill Simmons Podcast. Now, Simmons’ show might instead anchor Spotify’s expanding podcast empire. Last year, Spotify acquired Gimlet a podcast network with shows like Reply All and Startup, and Anchor, a podcast creation app. Later in the year, it bought Parcast, a network that specializes in true crime and horror. With all the purchase made, Spotify is really serious about the podcast industry.

But why podcast? The margins on music distribution for Spotify are really narrow and despite having 270 million subscribers, the platform still reports loss. It lost about US$85 million in the last quarter. On the brighter side, a major chunk of Spotify users is tuning into podcasts and the grand plan of company is taking shape. Once Spotify has a large catalogue of podcasts and established a pseudo Monopoly over the podcast platform, it can turn huge profits through exclusives, ad streams and various other ways. Spotify thinks helping people find their new favorite podcast could be the key to its success. One of the podcasting business’s biggest hurdles is discovery. Helping a listener find a new show that they’re guaranteed to like is difficult, and no company has made a recommendation algorithm as successful for podcasts as Netflix has made for movies and TV. Spotify is already successful in creating playlists that cater to the musical taste of their users to retain them.

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