crednews is the original content division of cred.ai

the original content division of cred.ai

Spotify to Close In-House Podcast Studio

Spotify to Close In-House Podcast Studio

Spotify is shutting down its in-house podcast division, Studio 4, and either laying off or reassigning between 10 and 15 staff members, according to Deadline.

The last day for those laid off will be January 21. Others have been offered new roles with Spotify’s three acquired networks Gimlet, Parcast, or The Ringer.

“When you have Studio 4, it’s like, ‘Well, if all of these boxes are already checked by all of these other studios, then where does that really leave us,’ and so it felt to me like there was no clear mandate of what Studio 4 was supposed to do,” an impacted employee said.

Julie McNamara, head of Spotify’s U.S. studios and video, notified staff of the upcoming changes via a memo. She said that as a result of the Studio 4 shutdown, the company will “move faster and make more significant progress and facilitate more effective collaboration across our organization.”

Studio 4 was Spotify’s first foray into podcasting. The studio’s original group of employees – all of whom had prior podcasting experience – “helped prove” the podcast business model early on through the success of shows like “Amy Schumer Presents: 3 Girls 1 Keith.”

A former staff member told The Verge that Studio 4 had become a sort of “junk drawer” for projects that did not fit in at Spotify’s other three networks.

“I have never once heard anybody mentioned Studio 4 by name or point to any of the work or the shows that we’ve done as something to be celebrated,” the affected employee says. “We’re being intentionally disregarded in explanations about metrics, and growth, and listenership.”

In addition to spending millions of dollars on the acquisition of external networks and studios, Spotify also made high profile agreements with big names in podcasting, including Joe Rogan, Dax Shepard, and Alex Cooper of “Call Her Daddy.”

share this story

© crednews a division of cred.ai

cred.ai originals

latest posts

Egg prices are cracking under pressure as a new wave of avian influenza, commonly known as bird flu, sweeps through U.S. poultry farms. The highly pathogenic H5N1 virus has…
For years, renters have been at the mercy of an unforgiving market—sky-high prices, bidding wars for basic apartments, and landlords dictating the terms. But in 2025, the tide is…
In the age-old battle to protect Italy’s culinary crown jewels, parmesan producers have unleashed a new, high-tech weapon: microchips. Tiny transponders, no bigger than a grain of salt, are…

view the code through your phone’s camera
app and click the link that appears.
click the  X  or “esc” to close.