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Spotify moves away from exclusive distribution for certain podcasts

Kerry Flynn
Aug 15, 2023
Data: Axios research; Note: Higher Ground has continued to work with Spotify on a number of new series. "Armchair Expert" deal is ongoing but the episodes are no longer exclusively on Spotify. "Anything Goes with Emma Chamberlain" deal is ongoing but audio episodes are now available wide with video episodes exclusively on Spotify; Table: Axios Visuals

Spotify has continued to move away from exclusive distribution deals for podcasts as it aims to cut costs.

Driving the news: "Armchair Expert," the podcast hosted by Dax Shepard and Monica Padman, announced Monday it is no longer exclusive to Spotify and is now available on all platforms.

Why it matters: Spotify is not profitable and has previously admitted to over-investing in its podcast strategy.

Catch up quick: Other exclusive deals have ended as shown in the above chart, which is not all-inclusive. Archewell Audio, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's production company, announced in June they were parting ways.

  • When Spotify shared later that month that it will launch a new weekly podcast with comedian Trevor Noah, it notably mentioned that the series will be available on "numerous platforms."
  • Emma Chamberlain's "Anything Goes" podcast became exclusive to Spotify in February, but it switched in June to only have video versions of its episodes be exclusive and audio versions be available on all platforms.

Editor's note: This story was updated to clarify how Spotify's deal with "Armchair Expert" has changed. It still has an exclusive licensing deal but is now no longer exclusively distributed on the platform.

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