White noise podcasts, such as birdsong, forest, rain, waves or the hum of vacuum cleaners and fans, generate 3 million listening hours a day on the Spotify platform, thanks to an algorithm that has promoted such content as part of efforts to make the service the #1 choice for podcasts. White Noise podcast creators have been making up to $18,000 a month but will be banned from the Ambassador Ads monetization program starting October 1.
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While the company no longer intends to spend its marketing budget supporting White Noise podcasters, it will still be able to monetize the platform through paid subscribers, hearing assistance, and third-party advertising.
The Ambassador Ads program pays content creators based on listening stats, and some podcasters have made impressive amounts from it. Spotify says it could increase its annual revenue by $38 million by removing white noise podcasts and redirecting listeners to other types of content, but so far “The proposal on this subject has not been implemented”.
As part of the Ambassador Ads program update, Spotify has increased the required audience threshold for podcasters to participate in the program from 100 to 1,000 unique Spotify listeners in the last 60 days. The company also plans to invite more podcast hosts to its automated advertising program, where members can expect to earn 50% of sales.
Not surprisingly, Spotify is looking for ways to increase profits. The streaming giant has had mixed success in recent years. The latest earnings report shows that the service has 220 million paying subscribers, up 27% year-on-year. But at the same time, the company saw about 6% less revenue per subscriber and cut 200 jobs in June.
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