Spotify has signed an ad sales partnership with Alex Cooper’s Unwell Podcast Network, nearly two months after it launched, the audio giant announced.
Cooper is the host of hit Spotify-exclusive podcast Call Her Daddy, which was the fourth most popular podcast on the platform in 2022, according to the company’s annual end of year Wrapped round-up. The podcaster’s creator network Unwell launched in August as a subsidiary of her media venture Trending.
Since launching, the network has produced a weekly podcast with viral TikTok star Alix Earle which quickly rose to the top of the charts soon after it premiered, now in the top 50 top podcasts in the US, according to Chartable. The network also launched another podcast with TikTok creator Madeline Argy in September, who currently has six million followers on the app, and the podcast also quickly became a hit.
With this partnership, Spotify will help monetise the podcasts through direct sales and its audio-first advertising marketplace, the Spotify Audience Network, with opportunities for brands to buy targeted programmatic spot ads on the podcasts.The podcasts are also now hosted and distributed through Megaphone by Spotify.
The partnership currently only includes the two podcasts under the Unwell Podcast Network - Hot Mess with Alix Earle and Pretty Lonesome with Madeline Argy - although, according to Spotify, this partnership may extend to future series developed under the network. Cooper’s media venture aims to create scripted and unscripted content targeted at Gen Z audiences.
“I have an uncommon and amazing relationship with my audience. We have this connection and bond built upon trust that’s allowed us to cover all sorts of topics in a way that isn’t exclusive or intrusive,” Cooper told Deadline at the time of the network’s launch. “We live in a world where we are inundated with content, but The Unwell Network will be the source everyone can go to for unique perspectives exploring what’s top of mind today for this generation.”
Cooper’s Unwell Podcast Network is headed by Moorea Mongelli, former Studio71 senior director of podcast operations, who serves as president of the network, working with Argy, Earle and other talents to create long-form content in both audio and video formats.
