Spotify signs Trevor Noah, parting ways with the royal family overhauling its podcast division

Spotify (spot) announce On Tuesday, she signed a weekly podcast deal with comedian Trevor Noah, days after the company announced it had split from Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.

According to a press release, the unnamed podcast, which is set to launch later this year, “will feature in-depth, free-form conversations between Trevor and some of the most interesting and influential people around the world.”

The news comes after Spotify revealed late last week that it would not be renewing its podcast deal with the production company founded by Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. Archewell Audioless than a year after Markle’s first podcast, Archetypes, debuted.

“Spotify and Archewell Audio have mutually agreed to part ways and are proud of the series we’ve made together,” Spotify and Archewell Audio announced in a joint statement Thursday. No reason was given for the split.

The audio giant has been streamlining its podcast division after spending $1 billion Getting into the podcast market over the past four years with Spray list deals and earning more than $400 million for the studio.

This expenditure took Great bite of gross margins and significantly heavier on profitability. As a result, investors have punished the company, as the stock is down 70% in 2022.

The partnership with Noah joins other high-profile Spotify deals from creators including Alex CooperAnd Emma ChamberlainAnd Dax Shepard.

Noah said in a letter statement.

The company added, “Partnering with Trevor Noah, one of the world’s most unique and unique voices, will deliver captivating storytelling that delights more than 100 million podcast listeners around the world.”

Spotify stock fell about 2% in early afternoon trading after the announcement.

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New Subscription Class

Spotify, which previously told Yahoo Finance it would look to improve its profitability rates starting in 2023 on the basis of gross margin and operating income, rated 2022 as a peak investment year.

So far, it appears to be delivering on that promise, moving away from the growth-at-all-costs strategy and reorganizing its podcasting division.

Earlier this month, the audio giant announced that it would cut 200 jobs, or 2% of its workforce, within its broadcast podcast division. Quote Strategic reorganization. Part of the reorganization included merging previously purchased Parcast and Gimlet Studios to join the wider range Spotify Studios in producing original content.

company Cut 6% of its workforce, or about 600 employees, earlier this year. At the time, it announced a business restructuring that led to the departure of its chief content officer and ad business officer, Dawn Ostroff, who led the bulk of Spotify’s stellar podcast deals.

As Spotify looks to further improve margins, bloomberg reported the audio giant’s plans to roll out a more expensive premium subscription tier that would feature improved audio capabilities and greater access to audiobooks. This comes as investors pushed the company to raise prices across its various plans.

The reported tier, dubbed “Supremium” internally, will launch internationally before debuting in the US market by October, Bloomberg said.

The company did not immediately respond to Yahoo Finance’s request for comment.

Alexandra Channel He is a senior correspondent at Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Twitter @employeeAnd linkedin, and email it to [email protected]

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