“Spotify has to pander to podcasters more than it does to artists,” said MIDiA Research analyst Mark Mulligan.In that context, exclusive podcasts can be a key differentiator. Amazon Music, Apple Music and YouTube Music all carry more or less the same music catalog as Spotify's, and the music industry has largely given up on exclusive album releases.

“Their users weren’t necessarily demanding access to Spotify, either. “There was really no reason for them to integrate our service,” Ek said in a transcript published by The Verge. Ek’s argument, in a nutshell: Every streaming service carries the same music, making it easy for competitors like Amazon and Google to give their own services preferential treatment on their hardware products. And among Spotify staff, there’s growing discontent, as The Verge reported Thursday.ĭespite all of this, there’s no indication of Spotify changing its tune, with The Verge reporting that Daniel Ek defended the Rogan deal in a company town hall, calling it critical to Spotify’s success. Some subscribers have started to jump ship. A growing number of artists are pulling their music from Spotify to protest its business relationship with Joe Rogan.

Spotify plans for podcast payments