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Welcome to a truly head-spinning time for the podcast business, one far removed from its so-called boom period.
1 Audio Platform and a meaningful creative studio.
They will now report to Alex Norstrom, Spotifys chief freemium business officer (a.k.a.
That realignment should be telling.
Ostroffs departure has sparked a wave of public rethinking about the state of the Swedish platform.
Call it a pivot, call it a withdrawal, call it something in between.
What to make of the Ostroff era?
As several insiders noted when asked, Spotify has certainly accomplished its mission under her watch.
Outside of the United States, Spotify is often synonymous with the category.
Its a content model that looks remarkably similar to competitor SiriusXM, the satellite-radio company.
Everything else has been far less solid.
Few other Spotify originals feelpresentin any meaningful way.
There are some exceptions, of course.Archetypescertainly drove a conversation, but does anybody believe thats replicable?
And is it weird to think The Ringer is now somewhat underrated in the Spotify context?
had existed prior to the division being acquired in 2020.
Its hard to make out what Spotify is going to look like in the post-Ostroff era.
This seems to be true even within the company itself.
They dont have an actual strategy for their podcasts yet, an employee affected by the cutstoldHot Podlast week.
), audiobooks (never mind Audible), and nowadays, video (never mind YouTube).
On one hand, its innovation.
On the other, it suggests a lack of focus.
It should be noted that everything happening with Spotify isnt taking place in a vacuum.
(After those competitors finish with their own layoffs, of course.)
Yeah, were just rolling in dough here.
Got a real chuckle out of that one.
It features a classic hosting construction that pairs an attorney, Greg Glod, with the comedian Clayton English.
Also debuting last week: the second season of Rococo PunchsThe Turning.
A good companion piece to NPRsLouder Than a Riot, which I think is coming back soon as well.
Also on my radar …Unreformed,hosted by the criminal-justice reporter Josie Duffy Rice.
(Good timing, too.
I hadjustfinished watching a documentary she led for Al JazeerasFault Lines, 51 Years.)
This story picks up in 1968 when five Black girls escaped the institution.
One of them, Mary Stephens, would finally get the word out.
Chip Brantley and Andrew Beck Grace return as hosts.
Alana Casanova-Burgess returns as host.
