Alex Cooper’s $60Million Podcast Deal with Spotify-How Podcasters Make Money?
Alex Cooper crushed it with a $6o million podcast deal with Spotify but her journey was not an easy one. Let's dive in to see how podcasters are making this insane amount of money.
Alex Cooper the name behind one of the most successful women-led podcasts to date.
If the name doesn’t sound familiar you might recognize her as “Father Cooper” ( as per her Instagram handle she boasts 2.3 million followers)most notable for hosting duties on the record-breaking ‘Call Her Daddy’ podcast.
Self-titled the “Founding Fathers” Cooper has taken the podcast in a direction that’s evolved tremendously since its release. Originally synonymous with its sex-heavy topics in what was branded “female locker room talk”, her podcast now puts a modern twist on feminism, in each episode that airs according to marketing materials.
Spotify is one of the leading streaming services in the world with over 465 million monthly users. Spotify has seen consistent quarter-on-quarter growth since 2015.
Alex Cooper battled Barstool Sports for the rights to her raunchy ‘Call Her Daddy’ podcast and won. The victory led to a $60 million Spotify deal and puts her in control of the hit show’s future.
How Podcasters Make Money
Spotify’s new Paid subscription service gives podcasters the tools they need to maximize their monetization.
Podcasters can make money on Spotify with Anchor.fm by Spotify Ambassador Ads, New Automated Ads, and Paid Subscription.
Spotify adverts in the Podcast (Sponsorships)
Spotify and other streaming platforms allow monetizing your podcast with sponsorships/advertising.
Spotify charges for ads during the podcast at a cost per 1000 listeners(RPM) rate, ranging from $18–$100. The more interesting your show is to the advertisers the higher rate you can charge.
Sponsors/Advertisers are charged to promote their brands/products during the show. Three types of advert formats are given to the advertisers. At the start of the podcast (pre-roll) in between the podcast(mid-roll) and at the end of the podcast (post-roll).
Mid-roll adverts are charged the highest as their chances of getting the listener's attention are highest. Suppose your podcast has 1,00,000 streams/downloads and an advertiser is paying $20 RPM. Your income will be :
- 20 x 100 = $2,000 per episode
And if you have two adverts in the same episode, at the same RPM you will earn:
- 2x [20x100] = $4,000
And if you produce 4 podcasts weekly each containing 2 ads for $20 RPM, your weekly ad revenue from adverts will be
- 4 x $4,000 = $16,000
Affiliate sales and Patreon support are other avenues for earning money on podcasts.
Spotify has a podcast paid subscription program where Podcasters can charge listeners a monthly subscription fee to access premium content. The charges range from $7.99, $4.99, and $2.99. If you have a good number of followers not in lacs say 5000, you can earn a good amount of money through this platform.
- 7.99 x 5000 = $ 39,950
- 4.99 x 5000 = $ 24,950
- 2.99 x 5000 = $ 14,950
With 195 million paying subscribers Spotify is the world’s largest streaming service.
Spotify sensed that the podcaster's persona plays a role in pulling the crowd to listen to the podcast. That was the main reason for offering a $60 million deal to Alex Cooper for the show.
Instyle Quotes,” Her personality can go from energizer bunny to consoling best friend to businesswoman in seconds. And in a space dominated by male voices (most of which have a not-so-subtle air of all-knowingness to them), the range is special. It’s raw and it’s real”.
If you enjoyed this article and would like to buy me a small coffee follow this. It will take you to a page outside of Medium.
