Spotify goes huge on video podcasts

After spending greater than $1 billion on podcast belongings, difficult investor skepticism, shedding dozens of podcasting staff, and parting methods with its principal podcasting chief, Spotify is establishing its focus for the vertical shifting ahead: extra video, extra consolidation, and extra splashy names.

On the firm’s Stream On occasion in Los Angeles, head of world podcast studios Julie McNamara unveiled new video podcasts that’ll enchantment to youthful listeners. Video episodes of Distractable from Markiplier, the favored gaming YouTuber, are coming solely to the platform. The podcast ranks at quantity 36 on Spotify’s high podcast chart. Moreover, Spotify unique Forbidden Fruits with Julia Fox goes video for its second season, little question impressed by Name Her Daddy’s viral uncuh jams second. 

McNamara touted the streamer’s high place with younger listeners and sees video as an enormous a part of that. “Video podcasting is among the quickest rising areas of podcasting, and we count on that development to proceed,” she mentioned. “Proper now, we’ve got 70,000 video creators on the platform and with much more on the way in which.”

Video podcasts are additionally higher suited to Spotify’s new homepage, which pulls from TikTok’s playbook. Customers will be capable to scroll by way of clips of music, podcasts, and audiobooks. Whereas audio-only podcasts perform on this new feed, video podcasts seem like a greater match. 

Spotify can also be attempting to get extra video podcasts on the platform. Anybody who indicators up for Spotify for Podcasters will quickly be capable to publish video podcasts, a characteristic that was reserved for Anchor customers.

Talking of Anchor, that model seems to be throwing in the towel. Spotify acquired the DIY podcast writer Anchor in 2019, and it stays the highest publishing platform in the marketplace. Regardless of the sturdy model recognition, it seems Anchor is being folded into Spotify for Podcasters. Forward of the occasion, the Anchor app was rebranded as Spotify for Podcasters on Apple and Google’s app shops. The replace features a webpage, assist.anchor.fm, that redirects to Spotify for Podcasters’ assist web page, as effectively. Podcast product head Maya Prohovnik confirmed that integration on the occasion, and mentioned that Megaphone, which is oriented towards skilled podcast publishers, will be part of Spotify for Podcasters sooner or later.

Spotify can also be working to maintain you locked on podcasts. Chief product officer Gustav Söderström mentioned that an autoplay perform is being added to podcasts, which is able to line up one other podcast proper after you might be completed listening to an episode. And it’s bringing extra podcasts into the app, partnering with Patreon to let customers add reveals that Patreon creators make unique to their subscribers.