Spotify Buys Australian Podcast Platform

Spotify acquires Whooshkaa: a platform that converts radio shows into podcasts. The technology will be merged with Megaphone, acquired last year.

 

Music streaming service Spotify has been working on further diversifying its services for a while. For example, towards audiobooks – see the acquisition of Findaway last month -, but also towards podcasts.

Therefore, a year ago, it took over Megaphone: technology to place lucrative advertisements in podcasts, among other things. Since then, Spotify has continued to expand the possibilities for advertisers.

The now announced acquisition of Whooskaa also fits into that picture. Whooshkaa is an Australian technology platform capable of hosting podcasts. More specifically, the platform allows radio broadcasters to easily convert their existing audio content into on-demand podcasts: ‘broadcast-to-podcast’ in other words.

It is an end-to-end platform: from the actual hosting and distribution to the revenue model and the analysis and follow-up after publication.

Spotify also indicates in the announcement that the technology will soon be integrated into the Megaphone software suite. The company thinks it will attract more publishers and advertisers this way. Or how podcasts should primarily become a new source of advertising revenue for Spotify.