White Noise Podcasters Allegedly Excluded from Spotify Advertising Program

According to Bloomberg, Spotify’s relationship with white noise podcast creators has been difficult, and the company appears to be intensifying its actions against them. Starting from October 1, white noise podcasters will no longer qualify for Spotify’s Ambassador Ads program.

As part of the program, Spotify pays podcasters to read ads for the company’s own products. Its goal is to get more people to make presentations on the platform.

Bloomberg previously reported that some white noise podcasters were making as much as $18,000 a month, largely due to Spotify itself paying them for ad placements. Recently, it was revealed that the company was considering removing these types of podcasts from its platform entirely because they were making a $38 million dent in its annual gross profit.

According to the report, Ambassador ads haven’t been very effective on white podcasts because their listeners tend not to be as engaged as a conversational or narrative podcast. They’re said to be more passive listeners who play these shows because of the background noise, so Spotify didn’t see much benefit from these ads, according to the report.

White noise podcast creators can still make money through direct support from listeners, paid memberships, and automated ads. But this measure cuts off a key source of income. On the other hand, it could be useful for listeners who just want to hear birdsong or a thunderstorm without someone promoting Spotify’s podcasting tools.

In addition, Spotify has raised the threshold for Ambassador Ads eligibility. Podcasts must now have 1,000 unique listeners in a 60-day period (up from 100) to be eligible for the program.

The company also plans to ask more podcasts to join the automated advertising program. Spotify said it will share half of the revenue from these ads with podcast operators and abandon its previous practice of paying a fixed price based on impressions.