Off Air: First Look Deals!
Check out this article: Spotify and Chernin Entertainment Make Deal
Andrew Morgan, from The NOMCAST - The Netflix Original Movie Podcast joins Michael Field this week as they talk about exclusivity deals and repurposing content.
Mike
So, I view this as just a bigger scale of an example of something we talk about at Forgotten Entertainment all the time. Repurposing content. It makes perfect sense and quite honestly, it’s only the beginning. Stories transcend all forms of content. Podcasts can become movies. TV series can become podcasts. Un-produced scripts become books. Old radio plays sometimes turn into stage plays. The constant is always the story. Do you think this partnership will bring us some quality content?
Andrew
Oh absolutely. Homecoming was a success for Amazon Prime and that was a podcast turned into a multiple season TV show (as mentioned in the article). It is absolutely about established, proven IP for anything in TV & Film right now and podcasts are just one way to tell a story. I absolutely agree with you there. One thing they don’t dive into in the article is Spotify itself and the deals that are being struck for “Spotify Exclusive” podcasts entering into these new deals. Unfortunately, they don’t have the greatest reputation with paying fair compensation to artists and I wonder if they are capitalizing one more time on a sweetheart deal in their favor. This is something that happens all the time in comic books right now with old, bad deals that are in favor of the companies vs the creators; some comic book creators have not seen a penny for IP that has landed on the big screen. If we are looking at this purely from a consumer/audience standpoint though, we could see several quality products come out this.
Mike
As long as there are people creating content, there will be cautionary tales of creators getting shafted by companies and producers. It’s just the nature of the beast. I wonder about Spotify’s tactic of acquiring the exclusive rights for podcasts. Unless you’re a named talent like Michelle Obama or Joe Rogan, signing an exclusivity deal doesn’t make sense. Their brand will bring people to Spotify. (Really not sure how long it will last though, but that’s another conversation)
For creators like us who are not named talent and rely on the content of our episodes to win over new audiences, being exclusive makes zero sense. If our main goal is to build our audience, which it is, placing us on one podcast portal does not help that goal. For Forgotten Cinema, we’re not looking to lock ourselves into one spot. We want to develop strategic partnerships with other brands and companies to expand FC, not hide behind a potential pay wall.
Andrew
I just want it known for the record that I am willing to sell out at ANY time. I am curious about the exclusivity deals through the prism of this new production deal. If you are a podcast that thinks it could be applicable to another, more lucrative medium, does it make sense to consider Spotify the best landing spot for those types of podcasts because of the deal that is in play here? Does Apple, Stitcher, Luminary, or anyone else have a deal like this?
Mike
If they don’t. They will soon. But again, I question the viability of these deals moving forward. I keep thinking about Howard Stern moving to Sirius. Is this the same thing? Would looking at that shape what will happen moving forward? Final Thoughts, Andrew!
Andrew
That’s a good point about Howard, but I don’t think he’s suffering too hard. I don’t know if that is applicable to this situation because the landscape keeps changing, but it does have some similar feelings. My final thoughts is I hope my podcast (The NOMCAST - The Netflix Original Movie Podcast) can parlay into a TV show of some kind, but I wonder if there is a potential streaming giant that would take me in? Hmmmmmm. ARE YOU THERE, PAPA NETFLIX?! It’s ME. Andrew.
Again … Good luck, creators!
Michael Field is a filmmaker and storyteller. You can check out his podcasts here at Forgotten Entertainment, but also check out his personal website as well. Andrew Morgan is a comedian and the host of The NOMCAST - The Netflix Original Movie Podcast.