Spotify Cuts 15 Podcast Staff as Video Push Continues

Spotify has made another round of cuts to its podcast division, trimming 15 staffers this week across The Ringer and Spotify Studios, Variety reports.

The layoffs, made internally on Tuesday, represent about 5% of headcount across both units. Roles are being reallocated to support the streamer’s growing push into video podcasts, according to a source familiar with the company. No existing shows are being cancelled.

As of Thursday afternoon, staff at The Ringer had yet to receive a company-wide update or meeting on the changes, say insiders.

Spotify declined to discuss the cuts. “Spotify does not comment on staffing changes,” a company rep told Variety.

The latest move is modest compared with the company’s sweeping 2023 restructure, which saw about 200 podcast staff laid off in what Spotify described as a “strategic realignment.” Over a broader timeline, Spotify cut around 1,500 roles—roughly 17% of its global workforce—starting in late 2023 and into early 2024.

Spotify acquired The Ringer in 2020 for around US$250 million, part of a podcast spending spree that also included exclusive deals with major talent and investments in tech infrastructure.

Among those let go this week were senior staff writer Claire McNear and audio producer Jonathan Kermah, both of whom shared the news online.

“[T]ime for an unfortunate media rite of passage: after 9 years at The Ringer, I was laid off this week,” McNear wrote Thursday on X. “I’m gutted to leave, but grateful for my time there, the many wonderful folks I worked with over the years, and all the stories I got to tell.”

Kermah, known to fans as “Kerm,” posted Wednesday: “It hurts me to say that yesterday I was laid off from the Ringer after five years with the company. At 21 years old I was blessed with the opportunity to be an intern at my favorite website in the world doing work that I love. Who knew that it would turn into a five year journey.”

On Spotify’s Q1 earnings call back in April, CEO Daniel Ek addressed the company’s video strategy. It’s not, he said, “a pivot to video,” but a response to demand from creators and a way to increase engagement. Still, he didn’t rule out the possibility of expanding into other forms of video in future.