Spotify has taken the decision to acquire podcast hosting company Megaphone for a reported $235 million. As reported by The Verge, this move marks another step in Spotify’s expansion into the podcasting industry.
Outside of business moves such as this, Spotify has been hard at work improving their offering for users. They have introduced a number of new features over recent weeks and months. Most of which aimed at its social offering and ease of use.
To that end it is now possible for Spotify users to search for music by lyrics in the app, making it easy to find the music you want. Spotify has also introduced promo cards to help creators and fans share music across social media.
Moves such as the decision for Spotify to acquire podcast hosting services can hardly come as a surprise. The company has done a lot over recent weeks and months to expand its podcasting business such as signing up specific shows to exclusive deals.
Spotify moves to acquire Megaphone for $235 million
This news is yet to be confirmed outside of sources close to the companies involved. However, the reports suggest that this will not affect shows already hosted on Megaphone. However, it will offer those shows access to ad insertion technology.
Better known as Streaming Ad Insertion, the technology works similarly to typical dynamic podcast ads. However, the only difference is that the ads get inserted in real-time. This comes instead of swapping them out prior to a listen.
This allows Spotify to make real-time decisions about specific ads for a listener based on the goals of the various ad deals Spotify is currently running. No other service offers SAI so for shows hosted on Megaphone this move could be quite beneficial.
This means that Podcast now has fully formed podcasting ecosystem in its portfolio. The company now owns a network of exclusive shows, a podcast player, podcast creation software, a hosting company, and its own ad sales team.
Deals prior to this include the acquisition of Gimlet Media for a reported $200 million, Parcast for $56 million, The Ringer for $196 million, Anchor for $140 million. It has also been reported that the company paid $100 million for the exclusive distribution and ad sales for The Joe Rogan Experience.
Spotify, therefore is certainly taking this Podcasting expansion seriously. They have spotted what they see as an opportunity and are grabbing it firmly with both hands.