Spotify has been the number one music streaming service for years, but the company’s dominance was disrupted by Apple Music last year. With other services catching up to Spotify, the company is trying to improve its offering for its customers. The music streaming giant is reported to be in talks with Gimlet Media about an acquisition that may be worth over $200 million. If the deal falls in place, it will be the first ever company acquisition made by Spotify.
Gimlet’s current valuation stands at $70 million as per 2017’s records. The company is highly successful and is known for its quality podcasts that are enjoyed by a global audience. Gimlet caters to various genres including culture and technology and there are limited time runs for the audience as well. Spotify offering podcasts are something that could boost the music streaming company’s repertoire to a great extent.
Reports suggest that Spotify’s deal is already in the later stages, but things have not been confirmed between both parties just yet. If the business deal is successful, it will be Spotify’s biggest venture into podcasts. The company has already been venturing into radio broadcasts which were added last year. The addition of Gimlet's content could see millions of users moving to the streaming platform.
There is still a possibility that the deal falls apart. Competitors in the music streaming industry are also aggressively targeting the market pie with Apple making two acquisitions last year. The Cupertino tech giant acquired music analytics and artist discovery service Asaii and music platform Platoon. Apple is planning on releasing a new service this year that would combine its music, news and video content under one banner which could disrupt Spotify’s hold of the music streaming market.
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