Spotify Acquires Podz

Spotify, the streaming provider of music and other audio content, has acquired podcast startup Podz. Podz is a podcast company. The purchase price was not disclosed. Spotify also just introduced Greenroom, a live interactive audio offering.
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Podz boasts that its service is powered by state-of-the-art machine learning technology. Podz generates “high-quality clips that give users the opportunity to preview key moments from podcast episodes, encouraging them to discover and listen to new podcasts.” This capability, says the company, combined with Spotify’s 2.6 million podcasts on the platform, learnings from their work in music discovery, and current investments in podcast recommendation, will “take podcast discovery to the next level—making it easier for listeners to find the content they want to listen to, and for creators to be discovered and build a fan base.”

“At Spotify, we are investing to build and scale the world’s best (and most personalized) podcast discovery experience,” explained the company in a blog post. “And we’ve acquired Podz, a small, talented team of entrepreneurs, engineers, and designers, to help make that experience even better.”

Diversification is the life blood of business, any business. If you want your business to grow then you must diversify. This is how a startup transforms into a major corporation and survives after its initial product or service is no longer in need.
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Please watch your step, you’re now entering the world of H.E.R. #BackofMyMind is here https://t.co/26hzw4oM8D pic.twitter.com/Ft3k73Wcwc

— Spotify (@Spotify) June 18, 2021

This is why Facebook acquired Instagram and WhatsApp, to expand its services and acquire the other companies’ tech. This is why Facebook went into the high tech hardware business with its Oculus Rift VR system. This is how Amazon grew from just an online book seller, to a marketplace for everything, to a developer of its own hardware devices like the Kindle eBook reader.

Even Microsoft saw the need to expand beyond just providing software and computer services. It failed at first with its own MP3 player, smart phone and tablet. But now Microsoft has been successful with its Surface Pro tablet/notebook computer.

So for these very reasons, and more, Spotify has a made a number of such moves in recent months. In April the company officially moved into the gadget/hardware business with the releases of its first device called “Car Thing.” Spotify’s Car Thing is a voice activated smart player for your car. And in May it was revealed that Spotify had teamed with Google, offering its 356 million users the ability to download their playlists to Google Android based watches Wear OS. 

As for Spotify’s new service Greenroom, it was developed after the company acquired Betty Labs, the creators of Locker Room. Spotify sates that this acquisition marked the addition of live audio as part of the Spotify ecosystem. “This move provides yet another opportunity for creators of all types to connect with their fans more deeply and meaningfully,” said Spotify.

Spotify Greenroom is available for the first time in its new form, on iOS and Android in over 135 markets around the world. Thes ervice “optimizes interactivity and deep connections between participants in live rooms.” The new app includes: The ability for any user to host or participate in live rooms; A way to join Greenroom using your Spotify log-in info; A new onboarding experience that puts users’ interests front and center; Recording capabilities so you can complement your on-demand content with live conversations; Chat controls to “ensure the best possible experience.”

“Since bringing the Locker Room app into the fold, we’ve been working to expand its capabilities, with the goal of creating a live audio experience that will delight creators and listeners everywhere,” Spotify said in a blog post. “And we wanted to do it with a Spotify twist that operated as an extension of the app already loved by 356 million listeners. That’s why we renamed it ‘Spotify Greenroom.’”