NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Spotify Technology S.A. (NYSE:SPOT) (the “company”), the world’s most
popular music streaming service, today announced that it has entered
into definitive agreements to acquire Gimlet Media Inc. (“Gimlet”), the
renowned independent producer of podcast content, and Anchor (“Anchor”),
the company leading the market for podcast creation, publishing, and
monetization services. Terms of the transactions were not disclosed.
With these acquisitions, Spotify is positioned to become both the
premier producer of podcasts and the leading platform for podcast
creators. Gimlet will bring to Spotify its best-in-class podcast studio
with dedicated IP development, production and advertising capabilities.
Anchor will bring its platform of tools for podcast creators and its
established and rapidly growing creator base.
“These acquisitions will meaningfully accelerate our path to becoming
the world’s leading audio platform, give users around the world access
to the best podcast content, and improve the quality of our listening
experience as well as enhance the Spotify brand,” said Daniel Ek,
Spotify co-founder and CEO. “We are proud to welcome Gimlet and Anchor
to the Spotify team, and we look forward to what we will accomplish
together.”
For more information on Spotify’s audio-first strategy and the
acquisitions, read Daniel
Ek’s blog post on Spotify’s For the Record newsroom.
“Spotify is poised to become the largest audio platform in the world and
we are excited for Gimlet’s award-winning podcasts to connect with new
audiences around the world,” said Alex Blumberg and Matt Lieber,
co-founders of Gimlet Media. “The medium of audio is uniquely great at
creating human connection and understanding. We are thrilled that Gimlet
is joining Spotify to do that at a global scale, on the platform and
beyond.”
“We are incredibly excited to introduce Anchor’s industry-best
podcasting tools to Spotify’s massive user base as we continue our
journey, now with even greater resources,” said Michael Mignano, CEO of
Anchor. “We look forward to continuing to empower creators all over the
world to build an audience, generate revenue, and most importantly, have
their voices heard.”
The transactions are expected to close in the first quarter of 2019 and
subject to customary closing conditions.
About Spotify Technology S.A.
Spotify transformed music listening forever when we launched in 2008.
Our mission is to unlock the potential of human creativity by giving a
million creative artists the opportunity to live off their art and
billions of fans the opportunity to enjoy and be inspired by these
creators. Everything we do is driven by our love for music.
Discover, manage, and share over 40 million tracks for free, or upgrade
to Spotify Premium to access exclusive features including offline mode,
improved sound quality, Spotify Connect and ad-free listening.
Today, we are the world’s largest music streaming subscription service
with a community of more than 200 million users, including over 96
million Spotify Premium subscribers, across 78 markets.
For more information, images, or to contact the press team, head over to
our press page at https://newsroom.spotify.com/.
About Anchor
Anchor is the company democratizing audio by enabling anyone to easily
create, distribute, and monetize a podcast. Our platform is built in
pursuit of the mission to empower creators to have their voices heard
and expand on audio as a creative medium.
Anchor’s end-to-end podcasting platform, available for free on iOS,
Android, and web, provides easy-to-use creative tools, unlimited free
content hosting, distribution everywhere podcasts are heard, and
monetization options built for beginners and pros alike.
The company was founded in 2015 in New York City and today powers more
than 40 percent of the world’s new podcasts. For more information, visit
anchor.fm.
About Gimlet Media
Gimlet Media is the award-winning media company where everything begins
in audio. Gimlet was founded in 2014 and is behind hit series like
StartUp, Reply All, Homecoming, Mogul and more. Gimlet Creative, the
company’s in-house advertising agency, helps brands find their voice in
audio and produces official podcasts for brands like eBay, Tinder,
Gatorade and Mastercard. Gimlet Pictures, the company’s film and
television development and production arm, was formalized in 2018 and
focuses on bringing Gimlet franchises to the small and big screens.
Based in Brooklyn, New York, Gimlet podcasts are listened to in nearly
190 countries worldwide. Follow us @GimletMedia.
FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
We would like to caution you certain of the above statements represent
“forward-looking statements” as defined in Section 27A of the United
States Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the United
States Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. The words “may,”
“might,” “will,” “could,” “would,” “should,” “expect,” “plan,”
“anticipate,” “intend,” “seek,” “believe,” “estimate,” “predict,”
“potential,” “continue,” “contemplate,” “possible,” and similar words
are intended to identify estimates and forward-looking statements. We
intend such forward-looking statements to be covered by the safe harbor
provisions for forward-looking statements contained in the Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and include this statement for
purposes of complying with the safe harbor provisions. Such
forward-looking statements involve significant risks, uncertainties and
assumptions that could cause actual results to differ materially from
our historical experience and our present expectations or projections,
including but not limited to the following known material factors: our
ability to attract prospective users and to retain existing users; our
dependence upon third-party licenses for sound recordings and musical
compositions; our lack of control over the providers of our content and
their effect on our access to music and other content; our ability to
generate sufficient revenue to be profitable or to generate positive
cash flow on a sustained basis; our ability to comply with the many
complex license agreements to which we are a party; our ability to
accurately estimate the amounts payable under our license agreements;
the limitations on our operating flexibility due to the minimum
guarantees required under certain of our license agreements; our ability
to obtain accurate and comprehensive information about music
compositions in order to obtain necessary licenses or perform
obligations under our existing license agreements; potential breaches of
our security systems; assertions by third parties of infringement or
other violations by us of their intellectual property rights;
competition for users and user listening time; our ability to accurately
estimate our user metrics and other estimates; risks associated with
manipulation of stream counts and user accounts and unauthorized access
to our services; changes in legislation or governmental regulations
affecting us; ability to hire and retain key personnel; our ability to
maintain, protect, and enhance our brand; risks associated with our
international expansion, including difficulties obtaining rights to
stream music on favorable terms; risks relating to the acquisition,
investment, and disposition of companies or technologies; dilution
resulting from additional share issuances; tax-related risks; the
concentration of voting power among our founders who have and will
continue to have substantial control over our business; risks related to
our status as a foreign private issuer; international, national or local
economic, social or political conditions; risks associated with
accounting estimates, currency fluctuations and foreign exchange
controls; and such other risks as set forth in our filings with the
United States Securities and Exchange Commission.
Contacts
Investor Relations:
Paul Vogel
ir@spotify.com
Or
Public
Relations:
Dustee Jenkins
press@spotify.com