Time.news – “The Essential”, the podcast of journalist Mia Ceran debuted on Spotify last week, opening up yet another potential road, also in Italy, as regards the contents, which is gathering incredible numbers in the United States to become an integral part of the cultural and popular fabric.
“After transforming the music industry by leading the streaming revolution – Eduardo Alonso, Head of Studios, Spotify’s South East Europe tells Time.news – we are now helping to drive the exponential growth of podcasting, not only in the United States but throughout. the world. Our goal is to be the number one destination for access to the best audio content, we want to excite and engage listeners with high quality content. Spotify’s opportunities in the audio field – he continues – are limitless and the next phase begins with podcasts, which are in many ways like music: audio content that connects you with culture in a profound and personal way “.
But what are they the potential of a podcast in the information system and entertainment of today’s society? “Over the last year – explains Alonso – users interested in podcasts have grown considerably in Italy and in the world: on Spotify, today over 25% of users also listen to podcasts, compared to 16% a year ago. Audio is increasingly central to consumers’ lives, who spend roughly the same amount of time listening to audio content as watching video. We have the potential to double the size of our industry, and we also believe that in the near future more than 20% of the content on Spotify will be non-musical ”.
It is a world that, perhaps still silently, is changing, indeed, it is ready to change our daily habits, to take a prominent place among TV, radio, newspapers and social networks. Spotify itself, for example, has already started a partnership between Anchor, a free platform for beginners for creating podcasts, and WordPress, an open source content management system platform, through which bloggers can publish their written content. in the form of a podcast with just a few clicks by accessing a whole new audience through audio.
Spotify videos are coming soon, therefore what is born as audio will have an interesting visual declination; we are talking about a total revolution in the field of entertainment, similar, if not greater, to that offered by platforms such as YouTube, Twitch or Netflix. Spotify, a company that has managed to model on itself, and in some ways even literally save, the world record market, aims to be a pioneer of this new world, with a catalog that includes 2.6 million podcasts.
“The contents that have had considerable success are many – Alonso continues – I think of those with big names in politics, entertainment or even the media. Obama / Higher Ground, Joe Rogan Experince, DC Comics, Kim Kardashian West, Jordan Peele, are some of the figures and brands protagonists of the most popular and recognizable contents to the world with millions of passionate and engaged fans. In Italy we have recently launched the first original podcasts, high quality content, which are having great success with the public. A format like that of the podcast “The Jackal: all Sanremo but lasts less” – he continues – has proven to work really well, combining the comedy and versatility of one of the most loved comic collectives with one of the most popular musical events in Italy. The true crime genre is also beloved by the Italian public, and “Urban Demons”, one of the most recognizable shows of this genre, has recently become a Spotify exclusive, enjoying great success ”.
Today, therefore, is the time for “The Essential”, assuming that even the world of information, like it or not, will soon have to occupy this field, just listen to the numbers that Eduardo Alonso proposes: “If globally the people who have listened to podcasts news in the last year have increased by 29%, in Italy the growth was even 129%”.
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