Main Highlights:
- Spotify has launched a new tool called Whooshkaa, which uses specialized technology to enable radio stations to turn their existing audio content into on-demand podcast programming.
- Spotify is increasing its podcast commitment with the acquisition of Whooshkaa, an all-in-one platform for hosting, managing, distributing, promoting, monetizing, and measuring podcasts based in Australia.
- Spotify believes that migrating Whooshkaa material will increase the amount of third-party content available on its Spotify Audience Network, enhancing its advertising partners’ reach and effectiveness.
Spotify is continuing its podcast investment with the acquisition of Whooshkaa, an Australia-based all-in-one platform for hosting, managing, distributing, promoting, monetizing, and measuring podcasts. Spotify has already acquired companies in the podcast technology sector, including hosting and advertising startup Megaphone last year and, more recently, podcast discovery platform Podz.
Additionally, the business bought creator-facing tools such as Anchor and Betty Labs’ live talk show platform, now known as Spotify Greenroom, and other podcast studios such as Gimlet, Parcast, and The Ringer.
Spotify has a new tool with Whooshkaa: specialized technology that enables radio stations to convert their existing audio content into on-demand podcast programming effortlessly. This is the element that piqued Spotify’s interest, as it plans to incorporate the broadcast-to-podcast technology directly into Megaphone — the latter of which already provides podcasters with a suite of hosting, distribution, reporting, and monetization options.
Spotify believes that the porting capability of Whooshkaa will enhance the amount of third-party content available on its Spotify Audience Network, hence increasing the reach and effect of its advertising partners. This segment of Spotify’s business has been growing at a rapid pace. Spotify will surpass the €1 billion advertising-income mark in 2021, as it posted its highest-ever advertising revenue quarter in Q3.
According to Spotify, one in every five advertisers on the platform now uses the Spotify Audience Network. At the same time, opted-in Megaphone podcast publishers have witnessed a double-digit rise in fill rates.
According to Whooshkaa CEO Rob Loewenthal, the Australian firm has also pioneered in areas like text-to-speech, speech-to-text, linked home integration, ad technology with dynamic insertion, and enterprise-grade private podcasting capabilities. However, Spotify’s technology enables Whooshkaa to reach a larger audience with approximately 381 million monthly users.
Spotify Acquires Whooshkaa
Spotify’s Chief Content & Advertising Business Officer, Dawn Ostroff, claimed in a statement announcing the arrangement that they believe the worldwide growth potential for digital audio is largely untapped. By releasing these new tools and building an innovative team to support them, the team reaffirms its commitment to aiding creators, publishers, and marketers in realizing the potential of this promise.
They will enhance their capabilities to support audio publishers of all types in growing their podcast companies and assisting advertisers in reaching their target audiences through Whooshkaa. Spotify declined to disclose the specifics of the arrangement and could not comment on how existing Whooshkaa subscribers would be transitioned. Spotify will hire 12 employees as part of this agreement, with all employees stationed in Australia.
About Whooshkaa
Whooshkaa was developed as a platform to provide cost-effective end-to-end hosting, distribution, monetization, and tracking of on-demand audio to independent creators, publishers, broadcasters, and marketers. Whooshkaa was the first global podcast hosting platform to enable users to broadcast both audio and video Alexa flash briefings.
Whooshkaa began operations in 2016. A former CEO of Australia’s Macquarie Radio Network, Robert Loewenthal, founded the platform to provide technology to podcasters and audio creators for managing their on-demand audio.
Audio hosting and, more specifically, podcasting technologies remained stagnant in the early 2000s. Existing options lacked the cost-effectiveness, scalability, and possibilities that producers had grown accustomed to from video technology. Simultaneously, tremendous advancements in technologies such as artificial intelligence presented chances to audio makers.
