- Obamas announce partnership with Spotify
- Their production house – Higher Ground – will begin making podcasts for the streaming service
- Announcement comes at a time when many streaming serves are looking to create original content
The Obamas are getting into the podcast came.
“We’re excited… because podcasts offer an extraordinary opportunity to foster productive dialogue, make people smile and make people think, and, hopefully, bring us all a little closer together,” said the former US president in a joint-statement between Spotify and the Obama’s production company Higher Ground.
The former first lady also said she was “thrilled to have the opportunity to amplify voices that are too often ignored or silenced altogether.”
For the past 12-months, Spotify – which is better known for its streaming music services – has been getting into podcasting. In Februrary, it paid US$230-million for US-based podcast production house Gimlet Media.
Major players in the current streaming industry are seeking to shift to podcast production in a means of diversifying their userbase. The move also allows streaming platforms to start creating – and own – original content.
Both Luminary and French service Majelan have invested heavily in podcast content, and now charge monthly subscription fees.
The Obamas production company was created in 208, and has already signed an exclusive deal to produce feature films, a television series and documentaries.
