Yesterday, Spotify announced it is expanding its partnership with Riverside and integrating the popular podcast creation service’s tools into Spotify for Podcasters. At the same time, it will sunset some of its own platform’s features in June, including web and mobile recording as well as Music + Talk. There is a lot to dig into in terms of what this means for podcast creators, and I will have more for you on Tuesday, but I have already heard from a number of music podcasters who say eliminating Music + Talk effectively kills their ability to make their shows.
The feature, which was introduced in 2020, allowed creators to plug licensed, full-length tracks into episodes that ran on Spotify. And of all places you should be able to make a podcast about music with music in it, it’s Spotify. But according to Spotify spokesperson Jordan Smith, Music + Talk did not have much impact outside of the music podcasting niche.
“Music + Talk was a format we had high hopes for, but after 3 years of investment, it has not gained meaningful traction with listeners, and remains non-monetizable for creators,” Smith said in a statement to Hot Pod. “We believe we’ll make the most impact for creators by continuing to focus on tangible ways they can find and grow an audience and build a sustainable living. While we are always exploring unique formats and solutions for podcasters, we have nothing to share at this time.”
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