Spotify is continuing to grow its podcast offerings, this time by letting radio broadcasters turn their audio content into podcasts. This feature, called “broadcast-to-podcast”, is based on the technology acquired in 2021 from an Australia-based podcast tech company Whooshkaa. It’s already being used by Fox Audio Network and other clients.
The streaming audio technology enables broadcasters to reach new audiences, but it may be having an impact on listenership. According to data from an Edison Research report for Q3 2022, the time spent listening to broadcast radio online grew by 50%. The shift to streaming audio may now be impacting the listenership of these stations, but they are still able to provide quality content and services.
Despite the increase in podcast consumption, it’s unclear whether the industry will be able to sustain this growth. There are a few competing factors at play: the increasing popularity of working from home, which could lead listeners to ditch traditional radio for streaming services; the burgeoning audience for podcasts, which may not be lucrative enough for most stations; and pandemic-related anxieties about staying isolated that may have discouraged people from going outside or engaging in other activities.
Spotify offers its users a vast catalog of music that can be browsed by artist, album, or genre. The platform also has a
Spotify’s new product, which allows users to listen to music offline, is seen as a way for the company to target a younger Gen Z audience who now prefer to get their news through digital channels. This is in line with Pew Research data that suggests this group consumes more news via podcasts than any other type of media.
Since podcast listeners continue to be increasingly engaged with shows, broadcasters should consider ways in which they can make their audio more engaging for podcast listeners. One way that broadcasters can do this is by repurposing audio clips into short, interesting episodes that are easier to consume and pay attention to. By doing this, publishers can reach a wider audience that is interested in their content and potentially create new fans who may become loyal podcast listeners over time.
Spotify’s long-term goal is to become a one-stop shop for all audio programming, including broadcast programs. This would be done by gaining access to exclusive programming deals with podcast studios and individual podcasters, as well as monetizing the broadcast audio with ads just like any other podcast.
Spotify believes that its automatic ad identification feature will drastically improve the publishing process for podcasters, making it faster and easier to add sponsored ads within imported audio. By identifying proper ad locations automatically, Spotify claims that podcast publishing teams will be able to complete the process in just minutes per episode. This could potentially save publishing teams time and money, as well as provide increased traffic and viewership for podcasts.
Since a broadcaster publisher deals with hundreds of episodes per day across a larger network, it is not feasible for them to manually process episode files. Instead, they use an EpisodeProcessor application to automate the file processing process. This application quickly scans through each episode file andtags each one with relevant data, such as title, author, and air date. This information is then automatically transferred into the broadcaster’s database so that it can be used for marketing purposes and better schedulings.
Spotify’s clients can now monetize their content with dynamically re-inserted ads. The Megaphone platform identifies automatically the best locations for ads,saving clients time and publishers money. Audience Network helps publishers monetize any unsold inventory.
Spotify, a music-streaming service with over 30 million active users, just announced that it has surpassed 180 billion songs streamed. Spotify
Spotify is excited to announce that it has partnered with Bauer-Griffin to launch a new audio ad format called ‘Audio Spotlight’. Audio Spotlights are 15-minute long blocks of ad content that listeners can toggle through using the in-app controls. Spotify also notes that Audio Spotlight ads will be specially designed for mobile devices, with an emphasis on entertainment and lifestyle content.
The new Broadcast-to-Podcast feature allows radio publishers to connect with their existing audiences throughout the day, but to also reach new, younger audiences. This allows them to communicate with their listeners in a more personal way, which can result in increased loyalty and listening time.
