Spotify is missing out on an estimated $38 million by unknowingly steering listeners towards less cost-effective white-noise podcasts, it’s been reported.

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The podcasts in question feature atmospheric soundscapes such as white noise, bird song, crashing waves, or static. They don’t feature any talking and are usually created to help listeners sleep or provide background noise for studying or working.

According to a report by Bloomberg, white noise podcast creators might be earning up to $18,000 per month through advertising. They account for three million daily consumption hours on Spotify as of January 2023, a number that’s been propelled by the platform’s algorithmic push for ‘talk’ content.

Spotify considered removing white noise podcasts due to their popularity, Spotify told Bloomberg, directing users to more cost-effective programming, which could increase the company’s annual gross profit by $38 million. However, this proposal did not come to fruition, and white noise podcasts continue to be available on the platform.

Now, white noise podcasts are vanishing from accounts, according to one Reddit user, and episodes are going missing.

It’s not the only time Spotify has been in the spotlight for its financial goings-on recently. In July, ​​Spotify’s CEO Daniel Ek sold $100m worth of Spotify shares – 675,000 shares in total. In the same month, the streaming platform increased its Premium subscription price for the first time and introduced a new ‘Supremium’ tier, which offers CD quality and expanded access to its audiobook library.

Read more Spotify news via musictech.com.

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