Spotify Announces Acquisitions of Podcast Technology Companies: Podsights and Chartable
Spotify Technology, the world’s most popular audio streaming subscription service, has announced the acquisitions of Podsights, a leading podcast advertising measurement service that helps advertisers better measure and scales their podcast advertising and Chartable, a podcast analytics platform that enables publishers to know and grow their podcast audiences through promotional attribution and audience insights tools. The terms of the transactions were not disclosed.
Annual U.S. digital audio advertising revenue is poised to grow to nearly $8 billion – $2.7 billion for podcast advertising alone – by 2025 according to eMarketer. Measuring the impact of digital audio for advertisers and delivering actionable audience insights for podcast publishers will be critical to unlocking this next wave of growth. Spotify’s acquisitions of podcast technology players Podsights and Chartable will aid in Spotify’s pursuit of levelling digital audio measurement and insights across the industry for advertisers and podcast publishers, respectively.
According to a recent Advertiser Perceptions survey, measurement and attribution remain the two biggest unsolved challenges for podcast advertisers. Spotify plans to solve this pain point through the acquisition of Podsights. As part of Spotify, Podsights will be able to utilize Spotify's technology and intelligence to bring more accurate measurement and actionable insights to podcast advertisers around the world.
In short, with the acquisition of Podsights, Spotify will be able to help advertisers understand how podcasts ads drive actions that matter to their businesses. Over time, we plan to extend these measurement capabilities beyond podcasts to the full scope of the Spotify platform, including audio ads within music, video ads, and display ads.
The acquisition of Chartable reinforces Spotify’s commitment to helping podcast publishers grow their businesses through Megaphone, the leading enterprise podcast publishing platform. Over the past year, Spotify has been strengthening Megaphone’s already robust offering – most recently with the acquisition of Whooshkaa and its broadcast-to-podcast technology – to ensure it’s the best place for podcast publishers to create, monetize and measure their podcast business. Now with Chartable, Spotify is enhancing Megaphone’s suite of tools with the integration of Chartable’s audience insights and cutting-edge promotional tools, SmartLinks and SmartPromos. These tools will make it easier for publishers to turn insights into action and expand their listenership while ultimately growing their businesses.
“We believe we’re still in the early chapters of digital audio and the opportunity for advertising in this space remains significant,” said Dawn Ostroff, Chief Content & Advertising Business Officer at Spotify. “Our acquisitions of podcast technology players Podsights and Chartable are important steps in our pursuit of taking digital audio to the next level, underscoring the powerful impact it delivers for advertisers and publishers, respectively.”
"Podsights is thrilled to join forces with Spotify to build a more robust platform for brands to measure and scale their audio advertising across our network,” said Sean Creeley, Founder & CEO, Podsights. “Spotify's leadership in audio through its investments in its user experience, content, and technology will accelerate Podsights’ roadmap and expand our reach to a global audience
“We are thrilled to join the band at Spotify and the Megaphone team as we continue Chartable’s mission to help publishers understand and grow their audiences,” said Dave Zohrob, Co-Founder & CEO, Chartable. “Spotify’s technology and intelligence will allow us to keep innovating, while delivering greater insights for publishers and more opportunities to help them build their audience and business.”
The announcement follows a year of growth for Spotify’s advertising business:
Surpassed €1 Billion in annual ad revenue in 2021
Achieved a record 15% of total revenues in Q4’21
Q3’21 was our highest YoY revenue growth in a quarter (75% YoY) followed by Q4’21 as the highest ad revenue in a single quarter
Grew the # of publishers globally in the Spotify Audience Network by over +50% since its launch in April 2021
Continued efforts to strengthen Megaphone’s product offering with the acquisition of Australia-based podcast company Whooshkaa and its broadcast-to-podcast technology
About Spotify Technology S.A.: Spotify transformed music listening forever when it launched in 2008. Discover, manage and share over 70 million tracks, including more than 3.2 million podcast titles, for free, or upgrade to Spotify Premium to access exclusive features for music including improved sound quality and an on-demand, offline, and ad-free music listening experience. For more information, images, or to contact the press team, head over to https://newsroom.spotify.com/.
About Podsights: Podsights is a leader in podcast advertising attribution, allowing advertisers and podcasters a better way to measure campaign performance. From campaign planning to performance measurement, Podsights makes tools that enable brands to leverage the podcasting medium.
About Chartable: Founded in 2018, Chartable builds world-class podcast measurement tools for publishers, agencies, and brands. Chartable is trusted by publishers to measure more than a billion downloads per month. Chartable marketing suite helps both indie creators and major media publishers grow their podcasts.