[Exclusive] Spotify Is Planning On Becoming A Competitor For Youtube

 

In the audio streaming market, Spotify is one of the top dogs. And like any top dog, the company wants a bigger bone. Sources close to the company told us that the service is gunning to integrate video-streaming features into its platform, with a clear goal in mind: surpassing Youtube! 

Spotify seems to have its sight set on some of the users that frequent Youtube. With more than $375 million spent on podcast companies since the beginning of the year, not to mention the Joe Rogan deal that will move the podcast from Youtube to Spotify until the end of the year, Spotify is hoping to attract more users based on its video offering. 

The numbers speak for themselves, according to our source. The Joe Rogan Experience gets 190 million downloads a month. Along with other podcasts acquired earlier this year like Gimlet, Anchor, or Bill Simmons’ The Ringer, Spotify is going for more curated content. Podcasts are just the first step, according to our source, with more varied content coming soon to the streaming service. With strategic investments made into the development, the Ringer, the new ESPN, and Bill Simmons ability to provide quality reporting and entertainment, the move to video ‘is a calculated step’.

According to our source, Spotify is aiming to provide “curated quality video content that will hopefully attract other creators to the platform”. Podcasting is not just a hobby, advertising in the medium generating in 2021, $1 billion in revenue. Spotify wants to provide video or audio versions of its original podcasts and capitalize on the market before it fractures or one platform monopolizes it. Google’s video streaming service will be the first victim, with modest losses in the beginning. And if more and more creators move to Spotify, to find a more curated platform, with clear rules, the music service might make a dent in the numbers Youtube generates. Right now, Youtube has problems, from the way it handles the community of creators to the general way outsiders see the platform. Spotify on the other hand doesn’t have a problem with their brand image, and if they play their cards right, they might just become the new king of podcast streaming. For starters. 

As our source stated: Both platforms offer similar pricing and offer background play. The only difference is that Spotify has a discount for students.