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On today鈥檚 podcast episode, we discuss what happened to Spotify鈥檚 subscriber growth after it raised prices, how it plans to take on YouTube, and what has led to the audio giant inching closer to profitability. Tune in to the discussion with Senior Director of Podcasts and host Marcus Johnson and Analyst Daniel Konstantinovic.

Spotify and UMG expand their partnership: Companies offer new subscription tiers, premium content bundles, and artist-first royalty reforms.

Spotify said its goal is to boost the number of audiobook authors on its platform and make audiobook narration more cost-effective. AI everywhere: Spotify is incorporating AI throughout its offering. Its 2024 Wrapped campaign featured personalized AI-generated podcasts powered by Google鈥檚 NotebookLM. Some users were put off by it and called out the AI podcast hosts鈥� odd language and robotic tone.

Spotify launches its own ad exchange: The company will offer video inventory before eventually expanding to audio.

Spotify is holding off on launching audiobook ads: Statements from its ad chief reflect a nascent product that it doesn鈥檛 want to dilute with ads鈥攜et.

Amid leadership upheaval and falling stock, it could be an attractive target for Amazon or Spotify, which could benefit from Sonos鈥� hardware expertise.

Podcast listening in the region also trailed every other region at just 38 minutes daily. That鈥檚 12 minutes below the global average. In Russia, it was just 29 minutes鈥攍ikely due to the suspension of services from key podcast streamers (e.g., Spotify and Amazon Music) and the Russian government鈥檚 YouTube streaming restrictions.

Our latest forecast for 14 countries and three regions shows sustained healthy growth for podcast listenership in most markets, even as the boom years are winding down.

While it was designed to streamline information work for students, writers, and researchers, NotebookLM was also used for Spotify鈥檚 viral Spotify Wrapped AI podcasts. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang praised NotebookLM鈥檚 capabilities, saying that he 鈥渦sed the living daylights鈥� out of the AI tool, per ZDNET.

And it created a revenue-sharing program for podcast hosts. Spotify suggested it will soon launch a new 鈥渟uper premium鈥� tier on its Q3 earnings call, which would include higher sound quality and 鈥渁 bunch of other things,鈥� according to CEO David Ek. The company will have to find a way to keep growing revenues this year.

Streaming music, podcasts, and radio apps have changed the complexion of audio listenership in Canada. Over the past decade, digital audio has grown to a level that now rivals the traditionally strong radio listener base.

Spotify also said that using Google NotebookLM helped it quickly produce an AI-generated podcast addition to its Wrapped campaign, which received a mixed reaction from users. Its subscriber count increased 11% YoY to 263 million in Q4, while monthly active users grew 12% YoY to 675 million. Scaling moderation: AI has helped Spotify tackle moderation expenses, which were previously difficult to manage.

On today's podcast episode (part 2), we discuss what the end of cookies means for publishers, what new media business models look like, and who's done the best job of pivoting to digital. "In Other News," we talk about when brands should disclose that they have used AI and whether Spotify's new video learning courses can move the needle. Tune in to the discussion with our director of Briefings Jeremy Goldman and analyst Daniel Konstantinovic.

On today's podcast episode, we discuss how much ad spending will grow this year, whether there are more reasons to be optimistic or pessimistic about consumer spending, and what today's most interesting ad spending trends are by media and company. "In Other News," we talk about a deal to bring video ads to Spotify鈥檚 app on Roku and how Amazon's second year of streaming Thursday Night Football is going. Tune in to the discussion with our analyst Paul Verna.

On today's podcast episode, we discuss whether teens will need permission to access social media, if companies saying goodbye to the CMO role is a good move, Spotify's video plans, the path for ride-hailing firms, better ways to measure progress, and more. Tune in to the discussion with our analysts Ross Benes, Carina Perkins, and Max Willens.

On today's episode, we discuss how social media engagement is changing, whether TikTok is the new Google for young people, if the "deinfluencing" trend is here to stay, whether YouTube Music can compete with Spotify and Apple Music, what the road to electric vehicles looks like, and more. Tune in to the discussion with our director of reports editing Rahul Chadha, director of forecasting Oscar Orozco, and analyst Max Willens.

On today's episode, we discuss how Spotify beat expectations, why a price hike is inbound, and the audio streaming company's relationship with artificial intelligence (AI). "In Other News," we talk about AI-powered ads for Google and whether Peacock can survive the streaming wars. Tune in to the discussion with our analyst Daniel Konstantinovic.

Though marketing budgets are under scrutiny in this tight economy, it might make sense to consider integrating audio advertising into your marketing mix. That鈥檚 because listener growth is picking up for podcasts and audio formats overall. Audio ad formats also have unique features to help marketers.

Spotify and Pandora popular among users. The long tail of digital audio options means that no individual service claims all that much daily time when calculated against the whole population. But among its active adult user base, Spotify will take up a robust 56 minutes per day this year, and Pandora will take 48 minutes.

On today's podcast episode, we discuss which digital behaviors Hispanic Americans over-index on, how they get their news, and what advertisers should consider when trying to reach and market to these folks. "In Other News," we talk about where in the world people use social media the most and how kids use the internet. Tune in to the discussion with our analysts Matteo Ceurvels and Paola Flores-Marquez.

On today's podcast episode, we discuss our changing digital media consumption habits: how much time we spend per day with media, how TV watching is holding up, how much we digitally multitask, and more. Tune in to the discussion with our forecasting writer Ethan Cramer-Flood and director of forecasting Oscar Orozco.