- White noise podcasters have been a thorn in Spotify’s side for a while now and it has seemingly found a solution to its problem.
- White noise podcasters will no longer be eligible to participate in the Ambassador Ads program.
- Spotify looks to be cutting back on its expenses and white noise podcasts have proved to be a rather large expense.
White noise podcasts that feature literal white noise such as a vacuum cleaners, fans, or television static are rather popular on Spotify. Many folks use the audio to fall asleep or to help them concentrate, but as you might imagine, they’re not good for advertising given folks aren’t concentrating on the content.
This style of podcast has been a bit of a bugbear for Spotify for a while because, while it’s useful for listeners, it’s hard for Spotify to sell advertising on this content. What’s more is that according to Bloomberg’s Ashley Carman, white noise podcasters could make at least $18 000 per month through advertising.
Worse still for the platform, three million hours a day were spent listening to white noise podcasts. The platform has spent the better part of the year considering how to tackle this problem and it seemingly has a solution.
Spotify has reportedly decided that white noise podcasters will no longer be eligible to participate in the Ambassador Ads program where podcasters read out adverts promoting content on Spotify. The rule change comes into effect on 1st October according to a report from Bloomberg via The Verge citing an email sent to creators.
Podcasters producing this content will still be able to monetise their content in other ways they just won’t be paid by Spotify to read ads for the platform on their shows.
The platform is also changing its Ambassador Ads eligibility requirements with podcasts now needing 1 000 unique listeners over 60 days, up from 100 unique listeners.
This isn’t great news for white noise podcasts but it sure beats some of the alternatives that Spotify considered such as removing the content from the platform altogether. It likely is good news for listeners though who won’t have their bird sounds interrupted by an advert for the latest TikTok song.
Why is Spotify doing this at all? Well, the company needs to cut costs and removing one, rather large segment from the pool of creators it needs to pay is surely going to help that cause. While the firm’s member base keeps growing, the average revenue Spotify makes from each user is down from €4.54 in 2022 to €4.27 this year.
This decrease was attributed to “changes in product and market mix” and “unfavourable movements in foreign exchange rates”.
That’s not especially great for the platform, especially with others in the market offering the same, or more for less in some instances.
However, if the company is able to free up that cash to improve other parts of its app – we’re looking squarely at the AI DJ mess that is currently available – perhaps it’s a good thing.
White noise podcasters are going to have lean on other revenue streams though.
