Spotify's Podcast Strategy Continues to Pay Off
Spotify (NYSE: SPOT) had said it was prepared to spend up to $500 million in 2019 on acquisitions to boost its podcast ambitions, kicking off the year by buying Gimlet Media, Anchor FM, and Parcast for a total of 358 million euros, which is about $387 million at current exchange rates. The company recently announced the purchase of The Ringer as part of its podcast push. Blomberg put the cost of that acquisition at about $250 million.
Is this money well spent?
When Spotify released its third-quarter 2019 earnings report in late October, the company revealed data showing that its podcast content strategy seemed to be working wonders. In its letter to shareholders, Spotify talked about an "exponential growth" in podcast hours streamed -- up 39% quarter over quarter -- and the company said it was seeing some indication that podcast content was having a positive impact on user engagement and the growth of its premium subscribers.
Source Fool.com
