The Future of Entertainment — Podcasting
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Given our interest in understanding the Future of Entertainment, we thought we would jot down some short lunchtime thoughts, links and information surrounding the growing and exciting opportunity in podcasting/audio entertainment.
The increasing distribution of audio devices has led to a boom in audio software funding, and the opportunity is only really beginning (in our opinion). There are countless applications to come, and incumbents are increasingly understanding this focus.
Facebook announced a new audio-first product, CatchUp, which is focusing on the spontaneous, synchronous voice communication between friends. It is eerily similar to the Silicon Valley darling app Clubhouse, which raised $10m at a $100m valuation, and saw Benchmark and Andreesen Horowitz lock horns over the deal(despite it only being only a few months old).
It seems investors and incumbents alike are betting on the audio-first category, and that there is a wave of disruption to come.
In 2019 alone, there was close to $200m raised by 5 startups across the Audio sector.
And for the content itself?
As many of you will have seen, this week the New York Times broke the news that Joe Rogan had signed a contract that will move him and his content exclusively to Spotify, preventing other podcasting aggregators/platforms from distributing his content. The deal is rumoured to be in excess of $100m for Rogan.
Here are some numbers:
- 100 million: Dollars Spotify paid for Rogan’s back catalogue and exclusivity.
- 190 million: Monthly downloads of the Joe Rogan Experience.
- 370: Days the podcast has been in the top 10 North American podcasts (currently lodged at #2).
- 8.4 million: The number of Rogan subscribers on YouTube.
- 8.9 million: The number of YouTube views he’s had in the last week.
- 8%: The rise in Spotify’s share price after the news broke.
Spotify is clearly making moves, and gearing up to become the dominant player within the Podcasting ecosystem. They have been relatively aggressive on the M&A front, with the likes of Anchor, Gimlet and Parcast, and the Rogan ‘acquisition’ shows no signs of them wavering.
Today it was announced that Amazon are now also bullish on podcasts, and will be exploring some short-form audio content designed for Alexa devices. Whatever the outcome, this will not be a dull affair — and the winners will win big.
RLC Ventures portfolio company, Labworks.io, are designing the first suite of games for the Voice category, and have been enjoying success on the Alexa and Google platforms alike.
Other links to check out:
- An interesting perspective on how Rogan might struggle to ‘own’ his audience on Spotify, should he choose to leave the platform — courtesy of A Media Operator.
- A16Z wrote a great overview titled ‘Investing in Podcasting’.
- Spotify stock falls as rumours circulate that Amazon look to focus on localised, short-form podcasts.
