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Simply down the road from Roc Nation, SiriusXM and Sony Music, Spotify is becoming a member of Hollywood’s Sycamore media district with a brand-new podcast studio facility.
The brand new, invitation-only house would be the firm’s second studio location in Los Angeles and can cater largely to video podcasts.
When Spotify moved into its campus within the Arts District in 2021, podcasting was primarily an audio expertise, and the DTLA studios mirrored that. However because the listening format started to evolve into a visible one, Roman Wasenmüller, Spotify’s vice chairman of podcast and video, mentioned the corporate wanted to revamp and broaden its amenities to fulfill the rising demand.
The Arts District studios will stay open and deal with audio content material whereas the brand new Hollywood location will present a “video-first atmosphere.” The almost 11,000-square-foot house contains 5 totally different studio areas that may accommodate quite a lot of setups, together with cozier interview settings and huge recording areas for large teams. And in contrast to different rentable studios round L.A., the house will likely be staffed by Spotify workers, who might help produce the present.
“It was simply clear to us that we’d like extra amenities than we had earlier than, but in addition on the identical time, we simply want to determine what the precise setup could be in order that we will succeed on this new world of podcasting,” mentioned Wasenmüller.
The Hollywood location will partially operate as a homebase for the Ringer, an L.A.-based media model targeted on sports activities and popular culture. The corporate was based by sportswriter Invoice Simmons and was purchased by Spotify in 2020.
Just lately, Spotify introduced that a number of of the Ringer’s video podcasts will begin streaming on Netflix in early 2026. Exhibits like “The Rewatchables,” “Ringer-Verse” and “The Hottest Take” will quickly be recorded on the new outpost.
These studios received’t be unique to the Ringer. Wasenmüller mentioned the house gives the chance for creators of all types to host interviews and company whereas they’re in Los Angeles.
Touring whereas podcasting has all the time been a problem for Chris Williamson, the host of the self-improvement and philosophy podcast “Fashionable Knowledge.” The 37-year-old remembers struggling alongside his producer to make filming doable in varied Airbnbs and warehouses.
“There’s been plenty of occasions the place I’m passing by way of L.A. and I’ve desperately wanted a spot to document with somebody. This new house would have been excellent. I’d have made plenty of use of it,” mentioned Williamson. “It’s simply one other indication that [Spotify is] placing their cash the place the priorities are. If I’m on the town, I think about that I’ll be dropping into [the studios] frequently.”
Williamson is a member of the Spotify Associate Program, which can also be seeing a large growth, as the platform continues to put money into the podcasting business. The monetization program was launched final yr, and it permits creators to instantly monetize their content material on the streaming platform with advertisements and income from video podcasts. Areas like the brand new Spotify Sycamore Studios are additionally out there solely to members of the Spotify Associate Program. Since its introduction, month-to-month podcast consumption on the platform has almost doubled.
As a member of this system because it started, Williamson mentioned he’s seen a big enhance in income, including that he was capable of make greater than seven figures in 2025, with a median of six figures month-to-month.
“It was like a human centipede the place Spotify paid us to place extra video on Spotify, which meant that we received greater on Spotify and that meant they paid us more cash,” mentioned Williamson. “It was this type of self-reinforcing circuit, and it helped.”
Over the past 5 years, the corporate estimates that its investments within the podcast business have generated greater than $10 billion in income. There are almost 7 million podcast titles out there for streaming, with among the firm’s hottest exhibits together with Amy Poehler’s “Good Dangle” and “The Joe Rogan Expertise.” Although Spotify has continued to put money into podcasts, it has not been resistant to volatility within the enterprise. The corporate’s podcast division has beforehand undergone restructuring, together with layoffs, chopping again exhibits and dissolving beforehand bought manufacturing firms like Gimlet.
Based in 2006, Spotify has change into the world’s hottest audio streaming subscription service with over 713 million customers. The streamer, based mostly in Sweden, is accessible in additional than 180 markets and has a library of over 100 million tracks and 350,000 audiobooks. Spotify shares closed at $571 on Tuesday, down 3.7%.
“Podcasts are actually completely in primary tradition. After we began in podcasting, it was a really area of interest medium,” mentioned Wasenmüller. “However now you take a look at the place it’s [today] and podcasting is a primary medium throughout all massive platforms like Netflix and YouTube. Even the [Golden] Globes are having a podcast class for the primary time. There’s one thing massive taking place. To a sure extent, it’s the way forward for leisure.”
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