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Spotify will expand its podcast subscription service with payment infrastructure from Stripe.
Stripe has partnered with Spotify to help podcasters monetise their content.
Spotify recently launched Podcast Subscriptions, a service that allows podcasters on its platform to offer paid monthly content. The streaming platform will use Stripe Connect – which helps facilitate purchases between third-party buyers and sellers – to streamline payments and identity verification for podcasters using its platform.
This will enable Spotify to expand its podcast subscription service to support dozens of currencies for thousands of creators across more than 30 countries.
“Spotify Podcast Subscriptions make it easy for creators to establish and manage an important new revenue stream and for listeners to seamlessly subscribe to content that they enjoy,” Spotify’s global head of talk verticals, Michael Mignano, said.
“Stripe shared our passion for this feature; their technology and ability to collaborate at speed helped enable the launch of Podcast Subscriptions in 2021, connecting creators and listeners across the world.”
Stripe said the music platform has joined hundreds of companies that are using its infrastructure to power payment services and boost the creator economy. An analysis by the company last October showed that creators on 50 Stripe-powered platforms had earned nearly $10bn in revenue.
The company has worked with creator platforms such as Patreon and Substack on payments tech, and recently helped TikTok launch a new feature for tipping creators.
Spotify podcasters will now be able to accept payments in their preferred currency from around the world. For example, a podcaster in Paris can receive a payment in euros even if fans are paying monthly subscriptions in dollars from Hong Kong.
As part of the partnership, Spotify is also using other products such as Stripe Billing to bill customers with subscriptions and Stripe Radar, which uses machine learning to detect fraud.
“Platforms like Spotify are making it easier for creators to quickly generate recurring revenue from the thing they love doing the most: sharing their stories,” Stripe CRO Mike Clayville said. “We’re thrilled to help Spotify accelerate the growth of the creator economy and personally, I’m excited to subscribe to some new podcasts.”
An analysis from EMarketer last September showed Spotify is expanding its podcast listenership in the US, while competitor Apple Podcasts is beginning to stagnate in listener growth.
Earlier this month, Stripe made a deal to be the premier payment service provider for Ford Motor Company and its dealers across North America and Europe.
The company, founded by Irish brothers Patrick and John Collison, has also been rolling out more services that go beyond the payments processing it was originally built on.
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