Podnews Daily - podcast industry news: Spotify’s first full year of profitability on Steno.fm

Spotify released its Q4/24 financial figures. 2024 was the company’s first full year of profitability (posting net profit of €1.14bn (US $1.18bn). Revenue grew 16% year-on-year to €4.2bn ($4.3bn).

There are now more than 330,000 video podcasts, and 270 million people have streamed one, says the company.
Chris Petersen has also taken a look at the numbers.

A claim we reported on yesterday from the Australian Podcast Report “requires additional context and clarification”, says CRA, the Australian commercial radio industry body, following queries by Podnews. We carry statements from CRA and Triton Digital; and give our own take: not least, CRA gave us quite a different response the first time we asked.

“Music publishers are asking Spotify to remove thousands of unlicensed songs from podcasts on its platform”, reports the Wall Street Journal, claiming the number is around 2,500. The story adds: “Spotify said it reached out to NMPA ... and asked for details, but didn’t receive any response.”

Spotify has always removed shows with whole music tracks, irrespective of licensing. But here’s how you can use commercial music in your show.