Spotify recognised podcasting’s true monetisation potential with its acquisition of Megaphone

In 2016, Panoply Media made its newly acquired dynamic ad-insertion technology (formerly Audiometric) available under the name Megaphone. Through Megaphone, Panoply expanded from podcast publishing into podcast hosting, analytics, and advertising. With its largely self-serve technology geared toward podcast creators, Megaphone could become more than an ad network; it could become a podcast monetisation superpower. Or at least that is the bet Spotify made.

In 2020, Spotify acquired Megaphone for $235 million, pulling the all-in-one podcast toolkit into the fold and cutting middlemen out of the advertising equation. Podcasters can now use Megaphone’s tools to publish and monetise their podcasts on Spotify while advertisers can use the Spotify Audience Network to buy ads for spots on those podcasts. Spotify has created an end-to-end podcast creation and monetisation ecosystem that allows the company to capture a bigger portion of the podcast advertising pie.

YouTube has long had its own end-to-end creation and monetisation ecosystem, but as far as “true” audio platforms go, Spotify is the first mover in this regard. While Amazon developed a programmatic podcast ad buying platform in 2023, there is still a lot of opportunity for podcast platforms to grow the revenue generated from podcasts, and that means vertically integrating the podcast advertising supply chain from creation to advertising monetisation.

Roles

This report is relevant to the following roles:

Audience Insight