Spotify today announced its latest acquisition, this one related to a podcast company called Parcast (via Reuters). This marks Spotify's third podcast-related acquisition in two months, and represents the company's ongoing plan to boost the music streaming platform as a hub for podcasts that can compete with Apple Podcasts.

spotify podcasts
Last month, Spotify purchased Gimlet Media for $300 million, acquiring the company's big-name podcasts like "Homecoming" and "Reply All." Around the same time, Spotify also purchased Anchor, a company that is more behind-the-scenes of the podcast world and lets its users record and create their own shows that can easily be shared online.

Parcast will be added to that list, and Spotify will now have ownership of its specialization in crime and mystery-themed podcast content, genres that are hugely successful in the market. Parcast is home to a big list of popular genres and podcasts, covering topics like cults, serial killers, haunted places, unexplained mysteries, extraterrestrials, and more.

These purchased shows will also join new and original podcasts created by Spotify, all of which will be curated by the team that built Spotify's Discover Weekly playlist algorithm. Eventually, the music streaming company hopes to become the Netflix of podcasts, able to provide recommendations on what to watch and house both third-party and exclusive first-party content.

Spotify first began its efforts to enter the podcast field around two years ago, when it said it was "coming after" Apple with a strong push into podcasts. The last few years have been marked as a so-called golden age for podcasts, causing many companies to look into entering the field.

Apple and Spotify have been in another dispute this year as well, after Spotify filed a complaint against Apple with the European Commission. In the complaint, Spotify accused Apple of enforcing App Store rules that "purposely limit choice and stifle innovation at the expense of the user experience" and said that Apple acts "as both a player and referee to deliberately disadvantage other app developers."

Spotify CEO Daniel Ek particularly called out Apple's policy of charging a 30 percent "tax" on ‌App Store‌ purchases. This results in Spotify charging existing subscribers $12.99 per month for its Premium plan via the ‌App Store‌ just to collect nearly the $9.99 per month it charges normally. The spat continued with Apple claiming that Spotify provided "misleading rhetoric," and with Spotify stating that "every monopolist will suggest they have done nothing wrong."

For the podcast initiative, it's unclear when Spotify plans to launch the new part of its service.

Tag: Spotify

Top Rated Comments

Remy149 Avatar
85 months ago
Apple podcasts are free and only have ads that are placed by content creators
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
oneMadRssn Avatar
85 months ago
Apple added support for RSS-based audio distribution, Podcasts, in 2005. While Apple did not invent it per se, their support and proliferation of Podcasts revolutionized modern spoken-word storytelling and episodic audio content.

If it were done today, Apple would have called it :apple:Radio+ and charged $10/month.

Just a thought I had.
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Voodoodisco Avatar
85 months ago
They just keep spending money they don't have. I can't wait for them to go belly up. Maybe Apple will buy them cheap...
Dumb thing to say. I’m all in with my Apple ecosystem minus Apple Music. I have Spotify Premium instead. So much better than Apple Music.
You can enjoy Apple Music but wishing Spotify away is childish.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
nutmac Avatar
85 months ago
I fixed the title for you:

Spotify Continues Push Against Open Podcast Standard With Third Podcast Acquisition
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
69Mustang Avatar
85 months ago
They just keep spending money they don't have. I can't wait for them to go belly up. Maybe Apple will buy them cheap...
I certainly hope not and I don't even use Spotify. Limited consumer choice is not an ideal to strive for imo.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Plutonius Avatar
85 months ago
Dumb thing to say. I’m all in with my Apple ecosystem minus Apple Music. I have Spotify Premium instead. So much better than Apple Music.
You can enjoy Apple Music but wishing Spotify away is childish.
The comment that "Spotify is spending money they don't have" seems true.

I hope they don't go under.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)

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