Spotify is cancelling eleven of its original shows. Those cancelled represent less than 2% of Spotify’s more than 500 original podcasts; but it’s likely to result in “less than 5% of Spotify’s staff on original podcasts” being laid off.
The Gimlet Union and Parcast Union have tweeted a statement about the 38 layoffs across Spotify. They say that some shows lost as much as three-quarters of their audience when going exclusive; and that employees were given as little as an hour to close out their work and leave.
Todd Cochrane’s Geek News Central Podcast turns 18 years old this week. The first episode of the show was recorded on Oct 9 2004. It was one of the first shows to launch using the word “podcast”, and is up to episode 1,628.