Spotify wants to become a podcast company. Correction: Spotify wants to become the podcast company.
This past weekend, news broke that Spotify was in talks to buy podcasting network Gimlet Media for over $200M. Today, it was confirmed that Spotify not only acquired Gimlet but also bought DIY podcasting platform Anchor. AND Spotify isn't done with its shopping spree — the company reportedly intends to spend up to $500M on acquisitions this year.
Your move, Apple.
Apple is the current market leader in podcasts and the second-most-popular paid streaming music service — after Spotify. But Spotify's latest acquisitions point to a marked attempt to level up against its competition.
Why Gimlet: First and foremost, Gimlet is a content producer, and it helps Spotify to have high-quality, proprietary shows on its platform. They launched their first podcast StartUp – a brutally honest behind-the-scenes look into starting a startup – over four years ago. On Product Hunt, co-founder Matt Lieber shared:
“We really are building this company in real-time, and documenting it as we go.”
Why Anchor: Anchor's set of tools make it super easy for anyone to create their own podcast (for free). The technology will help Spotify produce more high-end content in-house — as well as give podcasters better tools to create externally. The company launched ~3 years ago on Product Hunt with a different direction — bite-sized podcast production.
“So, we built Anchor to solve these problems and enable anyone with a smartphone to easily record and publish 2-minute audio clips, sort of like bite-sized podcasts. Best of all, audio in Anchor is interactive -- so anyone can respond with their actual voice, like a real conversation.” - Anchor co-founder Mike Mignano
In any case, would love a new season of StartUp on this. 😉
What will Spotify acquire next? Here are a few popular podcast products from the rabbit hole:
Breaker lets you follow what your friends are listening to 🎙
Lyrebird is a voice imitation platform 🎙
Koo! is a social network for short-form audio 🎙
Medium, from Odeo co-founder Ev, has been experimenting with audio 🎙
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