Netflix Turns to Spotify for New Income Stream

 Spotify has officially launched its Netflix hub, showcasing both soundtracks and exclusive content (including podcasts and interviews) related to Netflix properties. In a crowded streaming market, it’s clear they hope to both increase hype and extend the reach of their IPs in one novel new market. Brandon Blake, entertainment attorney and industry expert at Blake & Wang P.A, takes a look.

                                                                   Brandon Blake

Dedicated Hub

The hub will be available through Spotify services in U.S, Canada, Ireland, India, New Zealand, Australia, and the UK, for both free and premium users. Netflix currently sits with about 214M subscribers, many of whom do already have a Spotify presence. 

 

The hub is billed as a ‘joint promotional initiative’, and no money has changed hands around the deal. It’s not the first Netflix-Spotify collaboration we’ve seen, either. 

 

Press releases from both companies make it clear that the initiative is intended to give audiences access to further ways to enjoy the IP of Netflix projects they love. This is a trend we’ve seen grow from the first ‘nostalgia releases’ of the comic book on-screen boom. Few modern studios and production companies are investing in single-shot projects over IPs that can be mined and re-mined for new ‘takes’ on comfortable spaces for the viewers. 

Following trends

It also builds on a trend already noticed by Spotify- fan playlists. Stats show that within the first 2 weeks of release there were over 22,500 Squid Games -themed playlists on the service. If the market is there, after all, why not use it?

It’s a refreshing way to extend IP consumption by fans, offering something of a break from the sequel/prequel/extended universe/reboot cycle. It also comes as online music vendors like Apple and Spotify back off the attempt to keep music rights exclusive to their platforms, too. Podcasts have become a key sector of the auditory entertainment market, and are fast becoming a battleground, too- one in which Spotify is keen to compete. 

The initial Netflix offerings only partially rely on exclusive fare, but it’s an interesting space to watch, with plenty more content promised.  It’s also the first move into the auditory market we’ve seen from a streamer, despite the mutterings of some smaller services. HBO Max, in particular, has been talking about offering united video/audio programming. Netflix, however, is the first to make the move. Where to from here? It will be interesting to see future developments in similar markets.

 

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