Some of the world's top creators joined Spotify at our L.A. campus today for Now Playing, where we unveiled a series of new offerings aimed at helping them better monetize their video podcasts on Spotify and grow their audiences. This marks our biggest update to podcasts on Spotify, including an exciting evolution of the name and brand of our accompanying platform to Spotify for Creators-all to better serve the multiformat needs of our community.
Guests mingled with Spotify leaders and employees, explored our cutting-edge production facilities, and attended panels to hear more about their business opportunities on Spotify. Among these creators was David Rosenthal, who cohosts Acquired with Ben Gilbert.
David Rosenthal, Colin Rosenblum, Samir Chaudry and Austin Lamon (Photo by Presley Ann/Getty Images for Spotify)
Acquired delves deep into the world's most fascinating companies, delivering one multihour, meticulously researched episode every six weeks or so. Since debuting in 2015, the show has become a podcast sensation. It has racked up more than 5.2 million listening hours on Spotify since 2019, with consumption hours tripling in the last year alone. And in September, Acquired packed San Francisco's Chase Center with 6,000 fans for a live show, which included a conversation with Spotify founder and CEO Daniel Ek.
With so much buzz about the future of podcasting, For the Record caught up with David to learn about Acquired's origins, the creative process behind the show, and the impact Spotify has had on its journey.
What inspired you to start your show? We were just friends with a common esoteric interest in company histories and wanted an excuse to scratch that itch and spend more time together. We had no idea or expectations that it would ever amount to anything more than a hobby, let alone change our lives so totally and completely!
How do you select the topics you cover? We just follow our interests! While we do have a long list of potential future companies to cover, after each episode Ben and I generally just ask ourselves, What are we most excited about doing right now? and go with that. Sometimes that's already on the list and sometimes it's not.
How has working with Spotify helped strengthen your connection with your fans? We can't overstate enough how much Spotify has done to make podcasts mainstream and grow the ecosystem over the past several years. There's no way we'd be able to reach an audience that's now in the millions without the platform Spotify has built!
What advice do you have for emerging creators? One, only do this if you love it. Not because there's no money in it-there is plenty. But the marketplace for content is so incredibly vast today that unless you're truly the most obsessed person in the world about your particular niche, someone else will do it better than you. (And they are only one click away, for your audience.) And I think the only way to be the most obsessed person in the world about something is to deeply love it.
Two, quality over quantity-always, always, always. One truly great episode per month is worth infinitely more than four or 10 mediocre ones.
Are there any Spotify features or tools that are especially helpful for you? We don't do video often, but when we do for something special (like our recent Chase Center show), being able to have it seamlessly integrate and sync with the audio version on Spotify is tremendously awesome.
Who are some of your favorite creators to follow? Resonant Arc (deep retro video game analysis). It's like Acquired for the old-school video games I grew up with.
What are you currently listening to? Ben Thompson's [Stratechery episode] on Meta's AI advantage.
Check out more coverage from Spotify's Now Playing event.
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
01/06/2026
January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026
Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...
02/05/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
01/05/2026
January 5 2026, 18:30 (PST) NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to ...
01/04/2026
January 4 2026, 18:00 (PST) DOLBY AND DOUYIN EMPOWER THE NEXT GENERATON OF CREATORS WITH DOLBY VISION
Douyin Users Can Now Create And Share Videos With Stun...
02/03/2026
NBC Sports selected Imaginary Forces to create the main title sequence for the M...
02/03/2026
The NFL announces the launch of the NFL Draft Innovation Challenge, a new crowds...
02/03/2026
The World Teleport Association (WTA) has named Skyline Communications' DataMiner SatOps solution as a finalist for the 2026 Teleport Technology of the Year ...
02/03/2026
Ventum Tech announces a strategic partnership with Pixotope, a real-time graphic...
02/03/2026
Victory , a free, ad-supported sports streaming service, announces the launch of...
02/03/2026
Global powerhouse Delta Goodrem to represent Australia at this year's Eurovi...
02/03/2026
SBS brings together prominent voices to discuss rising social division and seek ...
02/03/2026
NITV Unveils Wednesday Night Sport Night
Media releases
A Midweek Hub for Blak Sport
Flagship NRL program Over The Black Dot moves to Wednesdays at 9:30pm
...
02/03/2026
Rohde & Schwarz demonstrates FR1-FR3 carrier aggregation, advancing 6G readiness Rohde & Schwarz and Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. have reached another pivotal ...
02/03/2026
MELBOURNE, Fla., March 2, 2026 - L3Harris Technologies (NYSE: LHX) today announc...
02/03/2026
Harvey Norman tops New Zealand's biggest ad spenders as retail leads and telcos and beverages sure Auckland March 3, 2026 - Nielsen's New Zealand'...
02/03/2026
aconnic AG (ISIN: DE000A0LBKW6), Munich, and Arqit Quantum Inc. (Nasdaq: ARQQ, A...
02/03/2026
Advanced Systems Group, LLC (ASG), a technology and services provider for media creatives and content owners, has appointed Jody Boatwright as Chief Strategy Of...
02/03/2026
Lightware, an industry leader in signal management, is reinforcing its commitment to simplifying complex AV environments with the continued evolution of its TPN...
02/03/2026
ZEISS Cinema opens its doors to an exclusive screening, filmmakers Q&A and hands-on showcase of the new ZEISS Aatma lens family on Tuesday, March 10, 6:00-9:00 ...
02/03/2026
To expand the creative potential of the compact Astera QuikBeam, DoPchoice introduces the SNAPBAG Round. The new light-shaping accessory transforms the powerfu...
02/03/2026
Douglas Dubler
On a rooftop in New York City, veteran photographer Douglas Dubler watched the sun's angle shift across the urban landscape, his internal cl...
02/03/2026
ZEISS is expanding its Otus ML lens family with the introduction of the new ZEISS Otus ML 1.4/35. This manual-focus lens is designed for photographers who live ...
02/03/2026
Matthews Studio Equipment now offers the new Dinkum Systems White FlexiMount and Phone Mount Kit, a compact, highly adaptable setup for mobile content creation...
02/03/2026
Luxembourg, February 26, 2026 - SES and Africa Mobile Network (AMN) have expande...
02/03/2026
02 03 2026 - Media release Ausfilm and Screen Australia launch joint UK market initiative
Ausfilm and Screen Australia have announced Partner with Australia (...
02/03/2026
Monday 2 March 2026
Saturday Night Live UK announces writing team
L-R: Jonno Johnson; Charlie Skelton; Celya AB; Omar Badawy; Gr inne Maguire; Laura Claxton; ...
02/03/2026
Back to All News
Netflix Unveils the Trailer for 53 Sundays, the New Film by Cesc Gay
Entertainment
02 March 2026
GlobalSpain
Link copied to clipboard
Dis...
28/02/2026
With two features seen in Formula 1 coverage, the broadcaster aims to bring view...
28/02/2026
Secretary of War Pete Hegseth addresses a crowd of approximately 1,500 L3Harris employees in Camden, Arkansas, as part of his Arsenal of Freedom tour....
28/02/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
28/02/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
28/02/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
28/02/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
28/02/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
28/02/2026
Berklee Presents Mambo Mania: Eguie Castrillo and the Berklee All-Stars Big Band...
28/02/2026
Berklee Announces Two New Summer Programs in Los Angeles The Berklee Music Business Program and Electronic Music Production and Sound Design Workshop bring imme...
28/02/2026
AI-RAN is moving from lab to field, showing that a software-defined approach is ...
28/02/2026
Autonomous networks - intelligent, self-managing telecommunications operations -...
28/02/2026
Back to All News
Final Trailer for BEASTARS Final Season Part 2' Roars Tow...
28/02/2026
New way to intentionally discover molecular glues could expand drug discovery Scripps Research scientists and colleagues show how drugs that eliminate certain d...
27/02/2026
The E.W. Scripps Company names Oliver Gray as Vice President, Network Sports and...
27/02/2026
The Gotham Sports App, the exclusive direct-to-consumer streaming home of MSG Networks and the YES Network, is now available for purchase through Prime Video fo...
27/02/2026
ESPN and the Horizon League announce a new multi-year, multi-platform media rights agreement, continuing a 38-year collaboration that began with the 1988 Midwes...
27/02/2026
At the 2026 NAB Show in Las Vegas, NETGEAR will highlight its new switch models and major updates to its Engage Controller software. The company's network d...
27/02/2026
Riedel Communications announces that Fondazione Teatro alla Scala has deployed a...
27/02/2026
Lyuno specializes in media localization, including translation, dubbing, subtitling, and voice-over services for a wide array of entertainment content. The comp...
27/02/2026
Chyron Weather 2.3, the latest edition of Chyron's weather visualization suite for broadcasters and meteorologists, recently launched.
The release includes...
27/02/2026
Telestream, which concentrates in media workflow technologies, announces expanded practical AI enhancements across its Vantage, Vantage Cloud, EDC, Stanza, and ...
Some of the world's top creators joined Spotify at our L.A. campus today for Now Playing, where we unveiled a series of new offerings aimed at helping them better monetize their video podcasts on Spotify and grow their audiences. This marks our biggest update to podcasts on Spotify, including an exciting evolution of the name and brand of our accompanying platform to Spotify for Creators-all to better serve the multiformat needs of our community.
