Spotify is taking action to boost its annual profits by discontinuing select advertising privileges for white noise podcasts.
White noise podcasts are not podcasts by white people but relaxing sounds playing in a loop. Such include the sound of rain.
-Removal of White podcasts-
As Bloomberg reported, Spotify communicated changes to its Ambassador Ads program.
Starting October 1st, white noise podcasters will no longer qualify for this program.
According to Bloomberg’s report, Spotify has decided to cease allocating its marketing budget to support white noise podcasters.
However, these creators can still generate revenue on the platform through paid subscribers.
Ironically, listener can support such playlists and automated ads will insert third-party ads into their shows, similar to YouTube advertising.
-What influenced the change?-
The decision to withdraw support for white noise podcasts was influenced by a financial calculation.
Admittedly, this tabulation highlighted that the money spent on them wasn’t yielding significant returns.
This was because these playlists often serve as background noise rather than engaging active listeners.
The Ambassador Ads program compensates creators based on impressions.
-White podcast earnings-
A recent Bloomberg report highlighted that some podcasters can earn up to $18,000 per month through this program.
Leaked documents of the report from January, revealed that white noise and ambient podcasts inadvertently gained prominence.
These podcasts gained notoriety when Spotify was trying to promote talk-based content over music. Thats podcasting.
Nevertheless, these types of podcasts accounted for approximately 3 million hours of daily listening on the platform.
-How much does Spotify save?-
However, Spotify estimated that it could increase its annual gross profit by $38 million by removing white noise podcasts from its talk feed.
Consequently, listeners would be redirected to other content. However, this plan was never implemented.
As part of the update to the Ambassador Ads program, Spotify has raised the audience threshold for conventional podcasters.
The company also expressed its intention to invite more podcast hosts to its Automated Ads program.
In addition, the podcast hosts are expected to receive a 50 per cent share of the revenue.
