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  • March 2022 (Revised April 2022)
  • Teaching Note
  • HBS Case Collection

Spotify's Audio-First Strategy: Leading the Podcasting Market

By: Hong Luo and Carol Lin
  • Format:Print
  • | Language:English
  • | Pages:11
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Abstract

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 721-439. Within 15 years, CEO Daniel Ek had led Spotify from an ambitious startup to a multi-billion dollar company that had transformed the music industry. As part of Spotify’s next phase of growth, the platform would invest heavily in the burgeoning podcast industry. The strategic shift to focus on audio broadly, as opposed to solely on music, presented new challenges. Several monetization models have emerged in this nascent industry, including ad-supported, platform-wide subscription and podcast-specific subscription models. Which monetization model should Spotify adopt to make its podcast business profitable, and how would that choice impact the content it could offer? In light of the tense political climate at the time, Spotify’s approach to content regulation, including its response to hate speech and misinformation, would be scrutinized heavily. Having invested hundreds of millions of dollars to grow Spotify’s podcast arm already, Ek’s decisions would have consequences not only for Spotify but also for the podcasting industry at large.

Keywords

Business Startups; Growth and Development Strategy; Business Divisions; Customer Relationship Management; Revenue; Music Industry

Citation

Luo, Hong, and Carol Lin. "Spotify's Audio-First Strategy: Leading the Podcasting Market." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 722-443, March 2022. (Revised April 2022.)
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About The Author

Hong Luo

Strategy
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Related Work

    • March 2022 (Revised April 2022)
    • Faculty Research

    Spotify's Audio-First Strategy: Leading the Podcasting Market

    By: Hong Luo and Carol Lin
Related Work
  • Spotify's Audio-First Strategy: Leading the Podcasting Market By: Hong Luo and Carol Lin
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