The Scoop
Staff at the podcast studio Gimlet staff have been told in recent weeks that Spotify plans to allow some of the company’s shows on other audio platforms.
In a statement, a spokesperson for Spotify confirmed that it would begin changing exclusivity rules for certain Gimlet shows in the coming months.
“Given our position as the leading global podcast platform, we are expanding our windowing strategies to increase the audiences and ad sales potential of our shows,” the spokesperson said. “In this case, we’re pursuing broad distribution for some of our original podcasts like Science Vs. This will be done on a case by case basis and over time.”
Know More
Spotify acquired Gimlet for $230 million in 2019, in the hopes that exclusive access to podcasts like “Reply All” would bring new subscribers to the streaming service.
The shift away from using exclusive podcasts to acquire subscribers marks the end of that experiment — though it’s good news for the fans who can now listen anywhere.
While Gimlet’s podcasts were exclusive to the platform, some other podcasts and companies under the Spotify umbrella are not, including shows from sports and pop culture company The Ringer. As Semafor reported earlier this year, Ringer founder Bill Simmons personally lobbied Spotify CEO Daniel Ek against putting the podcast company’s shows behind a strict exclusivity window. Simmons argued that the Ringer would miss out on the advertising revenue on on other platforms, which was growing in areas such as sports gambling.