Spotify Buys Podcast Analytics Firms Podsights and Chartable

variety.com:

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorSpotify, aiming to juice sales of its podcasting ad biz, has acquired two companies in the space: Podsights, a podcast advertising measurement service, and Chartable, a podcast analytics platform for publishers.Financial terms of the deals were not disclosed.

The addition of Podsights and Chartable will help make the audio-streaming giant a more attractive partner for advertisers and publishers to do business with, according to Dawn Ostroff, Spotify’s chief content and advertising business officer.“We believe we’re still in the early chapters of digital audio and the opportunity for advertising in this space remains significant,” Ostroff said in a statement. “Our acquisitions of podcast technology players Podsights and Chartable are important steps in our pursuit of taking digital audio to the next level, underscoring the powerful impact it delivers for advertisers and publishers, respectively.” The deals continue Spotify’s aggressive investments in podcasting, as it pursues the goal to become the No.

1 platform for podcasts globally. The strategy has included acquiring exclusive content, including Spotify’s reported $100 million deal for “The Joe Rogan Experience” — a hugely popular show, but one that has created headaches for Spotify given a recent backlash among some artists and users over Rogan’s use of racial slurs (which prompted the company to pull 70 episodes of “JRE”) and the show’s spread of COVID misinformation.As part of Spotify, Podsights will be able to use Spotify’s technology and intelligence to bring more accurate measurement and actionable insights to podcast advertisers, according to the company.