Spotify Takes On Apple’s Podcast Dominance With New Initiative

Spotify is making a push into podcast territory, hoping to make the its streaming platform attractive to listeners who still turn to Apple for their podcast content.

Although Spotify leads the way in terms of success in the audio streaming market, Apple, despite being the last of the big companies to arrive in this sector, seems to have some advantage in terms of image, exposure, and quality of service.

In order to compete on a more equal playing field with Apple, reads a new report from Bloomberg, Spotify is planning on going beyond the music by offering new podcast content.

“The potential for Spotify is to introduce this caliber of storytelling to a much larger audience, who are already in a listening mindset,” said Matt Lieber, co-founder and president of Gimlet Media, which produces the “Reply All” podcast. “I see a growing effort to make podcasts more accessible on the platform. And they’re making progress.”

Spotify will fund a new batch of original podcasts in the coming months, according to people familiar with the matter who asked not to be identified discussing the private plans.

At the time of writing, podcasts on Spotify sit within the Browse tab of the iOS app and lack any highlighted featured section on the Home screen. Spotify’s new initiative seeks a way to change that and begin showcasing podcasts for users in the same way that the service curates music.

“Spotify has the potential to do a lot for podcasting,” said Nick Quah, author of the weekly newsletter “Hot Pod.” “They have a large user base, and all it takes is a few tweaks here and there to put podcasting in the foreground for the daily listeners.”

Earlier this year, Spotify commissioned original podcasts focused on music, premiering first on Spotify before expanding to other services.

Back in April, Spotify launched student plans in Canada for 50% off.