Spotify has just announced that it is acquiring two podcast-related companies, Chartable and Podsights. The company has disclosed financial details related to the acquisition, but it marks the first major acquisition this year in an audio-related business.
A Podsights team of about 40 employees will join spotify and the company says it has no plans to customize the team at this time. On the other hand, Chartable will be added to Megaphone Spotify.
Reporting from Gizmochina, the two companies (Chartable and Podsights) operate in the arena of podcast marketing and ad attribution. They allow podcasters and networks to include tags in shows to track details like who listened to the track, if they heard the ad or if they took any action after hearing the ad, etc.
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Talking further about the acquisition of Podsight, Spotify said that they will use the technology beyond podcasting and bring it to “the full scope of the Spotify platform, including audio ads within music, video ads, and display ads.”
As for Chartable, Spotify plans to focus more on podcasters than advertisers. It will integrate its audience insights and promotional tools, SmartLinks and SmartPromos with Megaphone so that podcasters can grow their business.
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The development comes at a time when Spotify is facing strong backlash over a Joe Rogan podcast that critics say is spreading misinformation about Covid-19. This has also led to several artists leaving the platform in protest.
