Spotify canceled 11 original podcasts and is now redirecting its resources to big new hits like Meghan Markle’s Archetypes and Kim Kardashian’s The System.
According to the Hollywood Reporter, the streaming giant’s original shows will wrap up next month while another one will cease production next year.
The move will impact less than five percent of the company’s staff as some employees will be transferred to other podcasts.
Spotify currently has over 500 exclusive and original shows to get more subscribers. But the podcasts getting axed are produced by in-house production studios, Gimlet and Parcast.
Winding down starting next month will be Parcast’s Crimes of Passion, Haunted Places and Urban Legends, Medical Murders, Dictator, Female Criminals, and Mythology, while Horoscope Today will cease production next year.
Also wrapping up next month will be Gimlet’s Every Little Thing, Crime Show and How To Save A Planet.
The audio streamer confirmed to The Verge that the cutbacks would not impact podcasts other subsidiary studios, Spotify Studios and The Ringer.
This comes only days after Kim Kardashian’s new Spotify podcast The System was released on the same day she agreed to a $1 million fine to settle federal charges that she touted a cryptocurrency to her followers on Instagram without explaining that she was paid to do so.
Spotify has also released Meghan Markle’s Archetypes, which aims to ‘investigate, dissect, and subvert the labels that try to hold women back.’
Spotify has also invested to making popular shows exclusive to the platform, including Alex Cooper’s Call Her Daddy and Joe Rogan’s show.
Spotify’s podcast charts are currently topped by Call Her Daddy, The Joe Rogan Experience, The System, and Archetypes.
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