O heavy investment Spotify's podcasting push got a boost on Wednesday, with the announcement of a deal with NPR to distribute the company's content globally. Previously restricted to Spotify users in the United States, NPR's podcast catalog (at least part of it) will now have a global reach. The announcement was made a day after close a podcast deal with Prince Harry and his wife Meghan Markle.

The agreement signed between NPR and Spotify for global content distribution starting this Wednesday (16/12) initially covers 26 podcast titles considered successful cases in the catalog: “How I Built This with Guy Raz,” “Louder Than a Riot,” “Radio Ambulante,” “Wow in the World,” “Code Switch,” “Consider This From NPR,” “NPR News Now,” “Planet Money,” “The NPR Politics Podcast,” “Short Wave,” “TED Radio Hour,” “Throughline,” “Up First,” “Wait, Wait… Don't Tell Me!”, “Life Kit,” “Embedded,” “Invisibilia,” “Rough Translation,” “Believed,” “Car Talk,” “White Lies,” “1A,” “Ask Me Another,” “Here and Now,” “No Compromise” and “StoryCorps.

NPR and Spotify exchange compliments, celebrate global distribution deal

O partnership announcement was widely celebrated by the companies, which released an official press release confirming the agreement for global distribution of part of the catalog to 92 markets, initially. For now, countries where the use of the app is restricted will not receive the content: Singapore, Turkey, the Philippines, Vietnam, India, Hong Kong and Taiwan. Despite some restrictions, representatives from Spotify and NPR were satisfied.

“For nearly 50 years, NPR has served as a daily source of wisdom and entertainment for its American listeners. Every day, millions of people tune into NPR and NPR member stations across the country for everything from pop culture podcasts to nightly news. In 2018, we announced that American NPR fans could also stream select NPR shows on Spotify, making NPR’s offerings available in one convenient location. And starting today, select NPR shows will be heard around the world, as Spotify makes NPR podcasts available in most countries.”

NPR also celebrates

A NPR reciprocal The announcement also came in the form of a press release, signed by the company’s chief marketing officer, Meg Goldthwaite. “Our audience numbers show that people are hungry for it and want to access podcasts on as many platforms as possible. Whether it’s walking out the door with Spotify’s Today’s Top Hits or Are & Be playlists, or ending their day with NPR’s TED Radio Hour, listeners can now do it all in one app on Spotify.”

The audience of 26 podcast, which was already a success in the United States, will now be tested – and likely expanded – in the 92 new markets that will have access to NPR content with Spotify's global distribution, as part of the recent agreement. According to the streaming company, there are already more than 320 million Spotify users around the world. And they are eager to hear the new podcasts that are coming.

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Through which channels you reach those people, classic and out of the box. Variety.