Audio giant Spotify has today introduced a new tool into its enterprise podcast hosting platform Megaphone, allowing broadcast publishers to easily redistribute their radio content as podcasts.
The new capabilities are derived from podcast technology platform Whooshkaa, which Spotify acquired in 2021, and allow radio broadcasters to transform their existing audio content into on-demand podcasts that they can re-distribute and re-monetise to reach a wider audience.
“The way listeners engage with audio is constantly changing and we know that digital audio is increasingly becoming their preferred way to listen, especially Gen Z,” said Spotify global head of advertising business development and partnerships Emma Vaughn. “With this new broadcast–to-podcast feature, we’re empowering radio publishers to reach existing audiences throughout their day, but also to connect with new, younger audiences.
“What’s more, we’re excited to unlock a new revenue stream for broadcast publishers as we make it easy for them to monetise their podcast content themselves or as part of the Spotify Audience Network.”
To use the broadcast-to-podcast tool, publishers will only need to complete a one-time setup process, from which point the platform will continue to automatically convert broadcasted content into new podcast episodes. Ad marker locations are also automatically identified, and publishers have the freedom to replace or remove them, dynamically reinsert new ads, and use Megaphone’s monetisation tools including the Spotify Audience Network.
As of last year, live radio still dominates in terms of popular forms of audio listening, with 88% of UK adults above the age of 15 listening weekly, according to the MIDAS summer 2022 report. Podcasting has, however, grown in popularity being the third most popular audio listening from behind on-demand music, and proved to have a high engagement rate with 70% of consumers saying that they listen to most of a podcast episode that they have downloaded.
Megaphone is currently offered as a standalone platform for publishers, but is expected to be integrated into Spotify for Podcasters, the company’s all-in-one platform for creators, in the future. This follows the audio giant’s announcement that it was integrating Anchor with immediate effect at its annual Stream On event in March 2023. Spotify also announced a number of new Megaphone partnerships at the event including partnerships with Netflix, Australian publisher Schwartz Media, and NPR which joined the Spotify Audience Network.
