SPEAKER_1: Spotify's strategy explained the latest from podnews.net with Magellan AI.
SPEAKER_2: We think it's a lot larger of a medium that most people give it credit for.
SPEAKER_1: Spotify released its quarter four 23 results.
SPEAKER_1: Total revenue grew 16% year on year to $3.9 billion.
SPEAKER_1: All the company's figures met or exceeded expectations, with the company now having 602 million monthly users.
SPEAKER_1: The company lost $81 million in the quarter, a better figure that was flagged in December.
SPEAKER_1: Spotify's podcasting business was close to breaking even.
SPEAKER_1: In quarter four, Daniel Ek said in an earnings call, he also outlined the change of strategy away from exclusivity.
SPEAKER_2: While some of these exclusivity deals worked, generally, it wasn't aligned with what the creator wanted.
SPEAKER_2: The creator wants to have a broader audience, and I feel like with these new deals that we've been making for most of 2023, we are in a position where we're actually better aligned with the creator.
SPEAKER_2: We can both deliver the growth rate, and we are equally incentivized to drive audience growth and, of course, then also drive revenue growth because we both share in that upside.
SPEAKER_2: Today, Spotify is in many cases the number one podcasting player already, so exclusivity makes sense when you're the smaller playing trying to gain scale.
SPEAKER_2: When you're the bigger player, the additional value of the exclusivity is far smaller than it is about being aligned, and it feels also that from a values point of view, this is better aligned with who we are at Spotify too.
SPEAKER_1: As Spotify appears to have newly discovered, the open RSS feed is, says entrepreneur Anil Dash in a blog post, the kind of technology that's supposed to be impossible, open, empowering tech that's not owned by any one company and that allows people to have ownership over their work and their relationship with their audience.
SPEAKER_1: It's a good read, we link to that today from our show notes and our newsletter at podnews.net, while Ernie Smith at TDM suggests there's something to be learnt from RSS podcast success by the rest of the media too.
SPEAKER_1: Apple has released a new developer beta of iOS 17.4, which will bring transcripts to podcast listeners.
SPEAKER_1: John Spurlock mentions that he still hasn't seen a single transcript utilised from the podcast's transcript tag, even for shows that have them.
SPEAKER_1: Another fundraise by another audio AI company, AudioStack has raised £2.5 million, that's $3.2 million USD.
SPEAKER_1: The company makes AI-voiced audio ads.
SPEAKER_1: The majority of top-ranked podcasts have guests, says New Research into podcasts from Pew Research.
SPEAKER_1: The organisation found more than 11,000 guest appearances in the top 430 or so podcasts, though True Crime shows buck the trend with almost none of those shows having regular guests.
SPEAKER_1: Joe Rogan's guests are most likely to also appear elsewhere.
SPEAKER_1: What works and what doesn't in podcast marketing?
SPEAKER_1: The Podcast Marketing Academy wants to hear from you and has more than $9,000 in prizes to entice you to take part.
SPEAKER_1: Podcast hosting company OSHA has launched its Podcast Search Optimisation Control Panel.
SPEAKER_1: The tool is aimed to ensure its podcasts reach the number one slot in Apple Podcast and Spotify search results.
SPEAKER_1: Podcast Growth Agency Bumper has publicly launched an internal research tool called Podcast X-Ray.
SPEAKER_1: It shows details like publishing trends and hosting data.
SPEAKER_1: We link to the Podnews Weekly Review where you can very clearly see a switch from publishing on Thursday to publishing on Friday as one example.
SPEAKER_1: We'll also link from our own podcast pages in due course.
SPEAKER_1: And the Publisher Podcast Awards are now open for entries.
SPEAKER_1: And in podcast news, two blokes talking electric cars.
SPEAKER_1: The EV Podcast is brand new today.
SPEAKER_1: From Australia's most trusted tech commentators, Steven Fennec and Trevor Long, their combined expertise will deliver insightful discussions, in-depth reviews and candid commentary, they say.
SPEAKER_1: And when director, actor, critic and historian Peter Bogdanovich passed away in 2022, he was working on One Hand Shake Away, a podcast interviewing some of the biggest film directors working today.
SPEAKER_1: His ex-wife Louise Stratton stepped in to serve as narrator and co-host, with three-time Academy Award-winning director Guillermo del Toro filling in as host for the final three episodes.
SPEAKER_1: It's new today from Odyssey and Stack.
SPEAKER_1: Trailers for selected shows are in our podcast called New Podcast Trailers, and we're sponsored by Magellan AI.
SPEAKER_1: Increase your return on ad spend with Magellan AI's audio campaign optimization tools.
SPEAKER_1: You can learn more, find the link at podnews.net/latest.
SPEAKER_1: And that's the latest from our newsletter.
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