(Bloomberg) -- Spotify Technology SA wants to turn its podcasts into Hollywood franchises.
The Swedish audio-streaming giant signed a deal giving Chernin Entertainment, producer of “The Greatest Showman” and “Ford v Ferrari,” the rights to mine its library of original shows for potential film and TV projects, the companies said Thursday. Chernin and Spotify will identify potential projects from Spotify's portfolio of more than 250 original series.
Spotify has invested hundreds of millions of dollars acquiring podcast studios such as Gimlet Media and the Ringer, hoping to attract new users and advertisers to what has been a music app. It's also seeking to diversify its revenue sources because songs carry heavy royalty costs.
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With the Chernin deal, the company is looking to turn its library into valuable new stories for Hollywood, much like comic books have for Walt Disney Co. and Warner Bros. Before being acquired by Spotify, Gimlet Media had already seen a couple of its podcasts become TV shows, including “Homecoming,” an Amazon.com Inc. TV series starring Julia Roberts.
Chernin Entertainment, led by Hollywood mogul Peter Chernin, has a strong track record making films that please both critics and audiences. “Hidden Figures,” “Ford v Ferrari” and “The Greatest Showman” were all commercial hits that received Oscar nominations. The company signed a deal to make films for Netflix earlier this year.
“Audio is by far the fastest-growing medium in the entertainment business, and with over 250 originals and thousands of hours of content, Spotify has one of the largest libraries of unattached IP that exists in the world today,” Chernin said in a statement.
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