This post was originally published on this site
The Stockholm-based company is counting on podcasts becoming a moneymaker, in large part through advertising, to help it become less reliant on music — and profitable.
Lionel Bonaventure/AFP via Getty Images
Having transformed the music and podcasting businesses, Spotify Technology SA SPOT, -2.71% now has its sights on film and TV.
The audiostreaming giant and Chernin Entertainment are teaming up to create television, movies and digital-video programming based on Spotify’s hundreds of original series. The nonexclusive partnership offers another way for Spotify to capitalize on the podcast business it has been rapidly expanding over the past two years. Chernin, which has been behind numerous major movies and TV shows, reached a deal earlier this year to produce programming for Netflix Inc. NFLX, +0.64%
“Together, we can usher in a new era for podcasts as source material,” said Dawn Ostroff, Spotify’s chief content and advertising business officer.
Spotify has made itself the most influential player in podcasting in recent years, sparking an arms race for production companies and talent. The Stockholm-based company has spent hundreds of millions of dollars on deals for Gimlet Media, Anchor FM, Parcast Studios and Bill Simmons’s the Ringer. It’s counting on podcasts becoming a moneymaker, in large part through advertising, to help it become less reliant on music — and profitable.
An expanded version of this story appears on WSJ.com
Popular stories from WSJ
Two Louisville Officers Are Shot After Grand Jury Decision in Breonna Taylor Case Sparks Protests
California to Ban Sales of New Gas-Powered Cars Starting in 2035
Five Women Trump Is Considering for Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s Supreme Court Seat
