Parcast was a digital media firm and podcast network, that specialized in producing scripted

podcasts A podcast is a program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. Typically, a podcast is an episodic series of digital audio files that users can download to a personal device or stream to listen to at a time of their ...

and

audio dramas Radio drama (or audio drama, audio play, radio play, radio theatre, or audio theatre) is a dramatised, purely acoustic performance. With no visual component, radio drama depends on dialogue, music and sound effects to help the listener imagine ...

. It was founded in 2016 by podcaster Max Cutler and his father Ron Cutler in Los Angeles California. In 2019, it was acquired by

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

-based media firm and streaming service provider

Spotify Spotify (; ) is a List of companies of Sweden, Swedish Music streaming service, audio streaming and media service provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. , it is one of the largest providers of music streaming services ...

. Spotify spent over $56 million to acquire Parcast; however, the total compensation has been reported to be over $100 million. This makes the Parcast acquisition one of the largest podcasting platform mergers in US history and largest single acquisition deal of Spotify's $400 million acquisition program. In September 2020, employees went public with their union drive at Parcast. A month later, Spotify voluntarily recognized the union. 15 months later, 56 workers of the bargaining unit ratified their first

collective agreement A collective agreement, collective labour agreement (CLA) or collective bargaining agreement (CBA) is a written contract negotiated through collective bargaining for employees by one or more trade unions with the management of a company (or with a ...

, which included a minimum salary of $70,000, annual increases and

affirmative action Affirmative action (also sometimes called reservations, alternative access, positive discrimination or positive action in various countries' laws and policies) refers to a set of policies and practices within a government or organization seeking ...

when hiring. On June 5, 2023, Spotify sent a memo to staff announcing that Parcast would be merged with

Gimlet Media Gimlet Media LLC was a digital media company and podcast network, focused on producing narrative podcasts and headquartered in Brooklyn, New York. The company was founded in 2014 by Alex Blumberg and Matthew Lieber, who served as the company's ...

into a single Spotify Studios division, as part of a restructuring that also included the elimination of 200 jobs.

History

Cutler, a 27-year old graduate of the

University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it ...

, launched Parcast in 2016. He was inspired by the hit podcast '' Serial'', itself a spinoff of ''

This American Life ''This American Life'' is a weekly hour-long American radio program produced in collaboration with Chicago Public Media and hosted by Ira Glass. It is broadcast on numerous public radio stations in the United States and internationally, and is ...

''. He believed that his network could produce podcasts of comparable quality while saving money on the production of individual episodes. Parcast's original focus was on producing scripted

true crime True crime is a genre of non-fiction work in which an author examines a crime, including detailing the actions of people associated with and affected by the crime, and investigating the perpetrator's Motive (law), motives. True crime works often ...

series, but their scope expanded into the

mystery Mystery, The Mystery, Mysteries or The Mysteries may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional characters *Mystery, a cat character in ''Emily the Strange'' *Mystery, a seahorse that SpongeBob SquarePants adopts in the episode " My Pre ...

science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

, and

history History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some t ...

genres as well as fictional

. Parcast produced over 40 daily and weekly shows, supported by a team of more than 75 voice actors, producers, and scriptwriters. Following a decline in demand for the shows and the anticipated merger of

and Parcast into a single Spotify Studios subsidiary, the firm is expected to be disbanded sometime in 2023.

Audience

According to due diligence performed by Spotify, over 75% of Parcast's audience is female.

Series produced

Citations used

External links

Parcast
{{Spotify 2019 mergers and acquisitions Podcasting companies American companies established in 2016 Mass media companies established in 2016 2016 podcast debuts 2016 establishments in California Spotify acquisitions Companies based in Los Angeles American subsidiaries of foreign companies

History

Audience

Series produced

See also

Citations used

External links