Audio streaming giant Spotify has announced the layoff of around 200 employees as part of a shake-up of its podcast division. The redundancies will include workers from the podcast studios Gimlet Media and Parcast. Spotify purchased Gimlet for $230m in 2019, indicating a shift in the company’s strategic priorities away from music streaming, while media firms bought into the podcast boom back then with significant investments. While the streaming platform will continue to make new shows and produce podcasts, Gimlet and Parcast will be absorbed into Spotify Studios and form part of the restructuring. The company claims it is committed to providing more options for podcast creators in the wake of the cuts.
The podcast ecosystem has grown to more than five million shows on Spotify, up from 200,000 since early 2019, according to a memo sent by Head of Podcasts Sahar Elhabashi. Triton Digital, which measures audio audiences, has reported a 20% YoY increase in podcast downloads for 2022. However, investment in the industry is slowing, with media companies including Amazon, SiriusXM and NPR cutting podcast budgets. Other podcast publishers such as Vox Media and Pushkin Industries have also announced layoffs this year.
