Spotify announced on Tuesday plans to acquire the podcast studio Parcast, its third major acquisition in the podcast space this year.
Three-year-old Parcast has launched 18 premium podcast series, including “Serial Killers,” “Unsolved Murders,”” Cults and Conspiracy Theories” and the studio’s first fiction series, “Mind’s Eye.” With an expertise in genres touching mystery, crime, science fiction, and history, Parcast has more than 20 new shows slated to launch later this year.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but the acquisition is expected to close in the second quarter of 2019.
The Parcast deal comes after the Swedish-based audio streaming platform last month paid roughly $330 million to acquire two other podcast companies, Gimlet Media and Anchor FM Inc. It has pledged a total of $500 million for acquisition in the podcast space.
“The addition of Parcast to our growing roster of podcast content will advance our goal of becoming the world’s leading audio platform,” Dawn Ostroff, Spotify chief content officer, said in a statement. “Crime and mystery podcasts are a top genre for our users and Parcast has had significant success creating hit series while building a loyal and growing fan base. We’re excited to welcome the Parcast team to Spotify and we look forward to supercharging their growth.”
“In three years, we have created a production house that has grown exponentially and hit a chord with mystery and true-crime fans, especially women, across all 50 states and around the world. We are proud to join the world’s most popular audio subscription streaming service and gain access to one of the largest audiences around the world,” Parcast founder and president Max Cutler said. “Alongside Spotify, our ability to scale, grow and amplify the unique and tailored brand of content we create is full of fantastic possibilities.”