The monetization of podcasts could be imposed surreptitiously. The world number one in music streaming, Spotify, has been testing this hypothesis for two months in the United States, only for the podcasts it broadcasts, and not for those it has produced. These remain accessible free of charge. A similar pattern will happen in France “By the end of the year or at the very beginning of 2022”, announced Claire Hazan, studio director of Spotify in France and Benelux, Tuesday, September 21, during the presentation of the back-to-school programs.
The creators of the podcasts broadcast so far for free on Spotify will thus be able to change their economic model. They can either offer a paid subscription of 1 to 5 euros per month – which will therefore be added, for the consumer, to the Spotify subscription (usually 9.99 euros per month) – or resort to advertisements broadcast before the programs. “It’s a financial solution for independent podcast creators”, explains Spotify, where it is expected … up to 50 million creators of audio content (music and podcasts) on the platform by 2025. These revenues will come back to them in full until 2023. Then, Spotify made a commitment not to recover a commission of more than 5%.
“The podcasts that we produce in France remain free”, says Claire Hazan. This concerns more than twenty original creations. “We want to create a use”, she adds, ensuring that it is ” too early “ today to charge for this type of content, but “That at one point we will actually look at how to monetize them”. Without giving a date.
More interactive features for listeners
Spotify also announced on Tuesday new more interactive features for listeners as well as fourteen new podcasts as diverse in their themes as historical narrative, well-being and investigative journalism. They include the sixth season of “La Poudre”, a new show from basketball star Tony Parker, or an offbeat program from Guillaume Meurice on the 2022 presidential election. In addition, Spotify France is launching its first video podcast with the influencers Bilal Hassani, Sulivan Gwed, Sundy Jules, SparkDise and Wesley Krid.
The Swedish company listed in New York had, at the end of July worldwide, 365 million active users and 165 million subscribers
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