Spotify's Podcast Consumption Doubles, Meet the Team Behind the Growth

In Spotify’s quarterly earnings report, the company revealed that users are returning to the music streaming platform and that many of those listeners are embracing podcasts. In fact, the consumption of podcasts via the streaming service more than doubled last quarter and 21% of Spotify listeners now use the platform for podcasts.

These numbers signal a rebound for Spotify, which saw a slump in daily active users and overall listening through the first few months of the coronavirus pandemic. For instance, in-car listening at the end of Q2 2020 was less than 10% below pre-coronavirus levels, recovering from a 50% decline at its lowest point in April.

The coronavirus has caused countless businesses to adapt their product offerings to succeed in the new normal and it's clear that podcasts will be a large part of Spotify’s coronavirus recovery strategy and ongoing business model. Let's meet the members of Spotify’s team who are leading the company’s recovery and growth.

Meet Spotify's leadership team

Given the growing popularity of Spotify’s podcast offerings, Spotify’s Head of Studios and Video, Courtney Holt, is an increasingly central character in the company’s success. Holt joined the streaming service from Disney and leads the company's efforts around video and podcast programming. Under Holt’s lead Spotify has forged several key podcast content acquisitions, including Bill Simmons‘ sports-focused news site/podcast network, The Ringer, and Joe Rogan's popular podcast, The Joe Rogan Experience. Last year, Spotify also solidified its podcast play with the aquisition of production company Gimlet and editing tool Anchor.

Niklas Lundberg is the head of New Markets at Spotify and leads the company’s expansion into new territories. Currently, the streaming service is available in 92 markets around the world, but the company has a lot of ground to still cover. As the company expands to the over 100 remaining untapped global markets, Lundberg will be in a key position to shape the geographic growth of Spotify.

Alex Norström is the streaming giant’s Chief Freemium Business Officer. He is responsible for overseeing the company’s global consumer growth strategy for both its Free and Premium offerings, including direct-to-consumer subscriptions revenue, global marketing, local market teams, international expansion, partnerships, payments, CS and Freemium R&D teams. As Spotify regains daily active users, Norström will be responsible for overseeing the team that will lay the groundwork to convince free tier users to join the company’s 138 million global premium subscribers.

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