Spotify enables patron-exclusive podcasts via new Patreon integration

Spotify is the most recent company starting to offer content creators financial incentives. The music streaming service announced this week that it has added Patreon integration to allow creators to monetize their content via exclusive podcasts.

Patreon, a membership platform that offers the business tools for content creators to run a subscription service, was in the middle of a controversy early this month when major technical issues led to paused payouts and canceled subscriptions.

Thankfully for the millions of creators using the platform, these issues have been solved (at least for many of them), so the company can now go live with the announcement.

Starting today, connecting Spotify and Patreon accounts to access patron-exclusive podcasts direction from the music streaming service’s app is possible. This is a follow-up of Spotify’s March announcement that it’s teaming up with Patreon to allow creators to publish their subscriber feeds to Spotify via its API.

“Many podcasters use Patreon to connect with their fans, and for the first time ever, they can link their accounts so fans can access and listen to these shows on Spotify. This partnership gives podcasters a new opportunity to reach Spotify’s global audience, over 551M users, to increase their income and grow their show,” said Gustav Söderström, Co-President and Chief Product and Technology Officer at Spotify.

Patreon integration has been in testing for months at Spotify, as select creators have been enrolled in a beta program that helped them promote and gain new members to their Patreon through Spotify.

Thanks to the new feature, Spotify users will be able to listen to all their favorite content in one place, while Patreon podcasters tap into new audiences on Spotify. The new partnership feels like a win-win situation, at least on paper.