Spotify makes play for podcasts


Spotify has acquired two podcasting companies Gimlet Media and Anchor. The purchase is a bid to increase its role as a podcasting outlet and close the gap with Apple's iTunes.

Tech Crunch:

What Spotify discovered was what many no doubt already suspected: Many users don’t necessarily need or want additional applications for all of their different audio types. Even more to the point, Spotify has excelled in one key place many other podcasting platforms have failed: discovery. It’s been a key piece in the company’s growth as the leading music streaming service and could serve to help resolve one of podcasting’s biggest pain points for most users.

I'm a fan of Gimlet's Reply All in particular and will be disappointed if it goes behind a subscription paywall. According to Tech Crunch, Gimlet's will continue doing business as normal for now.