It’s the week for big podcasting news. Spotify has made waves with its acquisitions of Gimlet Media and Anchor, but other podcasting firms are also capitalising on current interest in the medium.
US startup Himalaya Media, for example, has raised $100m in funding to push its podcast-listening app and distribution platform. The app launched in spring 2018, and offers a catalogue of more than 20m podcast episodes. Like Spotify, Himalaya is investing in original, exclusive content – for example food and sports podcasts.
Variety also reports that it plans to explore a model for charging for some podcasts, as well as a tips-economy feature for donations to individual podcasters.
Another interesting angle: the main investor in the $100m funding round is Chinese spoken-word audio platform Ximalaya – Variety suggests that while Himalaya is an independent entity, the two are closely linked. The Ximalaya FM services has reportedly done more than 400m app downloads in China alone…
Tools: platforms to help you reach new audiences
Tools :: Wyng
Through Music Ally’s internal marketing campaign tracking, we’ve recently discovered an interesting website by the…