Spotify would be in talks to acquire Gimlet Media podcast company

Streamify music service Spotify is in "advanced" discussions to acquire the Gimlet Media startup podcast network, reports recoding. If an agreement is reached, the streaming service will be strengthened because it diversifies its offerings beyond music.

according to recodingSpotify proposes to pay more than $ 200 million to the company. Gimlet Media, founded by Alex Blumberg (a former producer for This American life) and Matthew Lieber in 2014, was one of the dominant figures in the growing market of podcasting. It produces a wide range of shows, from the business series Start, to the real detective series Crimetown, to narrative dramas like Back home, Sandra, and The horror of Dolores Roach. Recently, Gimlet has expanded its focus from podcasting to film and television, as shown by its recent agreement with Amazon: Back home in a series.

As the world of podcasting began to explode, Spotify was increasingly interested in taking a chance on the market. Hot PodNick Quah said earlier this year that the streaming service was working on developing its podcasting strategy, and said the company has made the market a priority for the coming year. Quah pointed out that Spotify would probably be better at creating its own content, because users who come to the platform would probably stay loyal to its other offers and benefit from ads that could be broadcast on podcasts. Spotify has already made arrangements to present original series, such as that of Amy Schumer 3 girls, 1 Keith, and broadcasts, as the next season of Crimetown, exclusively on his platform.

The acquisition of a specialty studio such as Gimlet would allow Spotify to continue to develop its own lines of original content and intellectual property, leveraging not only additional users and advertising revenues, but also the after-effect anything that could become intellectual property. down the road. In addition, it could keep its users locked on its own platform, instead of allowing them to listen to podcasts on other platforms, such as Apple Podcasts or Stitcher.