The world’s largest paid music streaming service, Spotify, has announced the launch of another product – SPOTLIGHT. This new service offers news and political coverage to lure listeners away from radio and podcasts from long time rival Apple Inc.
Eight companies, including BuzzFeed and Refinery29, have agreed to produce programming for Spotlight. One of the first shows will be a four- to seven-minute daily newscast featuring reporting from BuzzFeed journalists across the globe.
Spotlight will help Spotify capture some of the $18 billion spent on radio advertising each year and boost profitability as it gears up for an IPO this year. Segments on news, pop culture, sports and politics also add a new dimension to Spotify, which has a user base of over 70 million users.
“We are excited to launch Spotlight, a new format that merges great storytelling, news, information and opinion with visual elements all delivered in playlist form across a number of content categories,” Courtney Holt, VP and head of Spotify Studios and Video said in a statement.
“It feels like a generation ago that MTV News delivered the latest to a whole generation of music fans, but it’s not hard to imagine BuzzFeed News and Spotify doing the same in 2018. We’re incredibly excited to bring together our award-winning audio team, world-class journalism, and Spotify’s massive, dynamic platform to get listeners up to speed every morning. I can’t wait to see this project get off the ground next week and grow along with the future of news,” said Ben Smith, Editor-in-Chief, BuzzFeed News.
“We’re excited to see partners like Spotify investing in podcasting to enhance the audience’s experience of our storytelling.” “Everything at Gimlet begins with audio, and with Spotlight, through new visual expressions of shows, we hope to reach new listeners in fresh and original ways,” said Matt Lieber, co-founder and president, Gimlet Media
“Uninterrupted is creating new and innovative ways for athletes to connect with their fans through authentic, insightful, and entertaining content they can’t get anywhere else. How we watch, enjoy and engage with the content created by great athletes on and off the floor is rapidly changing. Spotify is an incredible partner for Uninterrupted. Their Spotlight platform becomes an entirely new and creative way for Uninterrupted to help tell the best stories in sports,” said Maverick Carter, CEO, Uninterrupted
