Parcast is a digital media firm and podcast network, that specializes in producing both scripted podcasts as well as

audio dramas Radio drama (or audio drama, audio play, radio play, radio theatre, or audio theatre) is a dramatized, purely acoustic performance. With no visual component, radio drama depends on dialogue, music and sound effects to help the listener imagine ...

. It was founded in 2016 by podcaster

Max Cutler Max Cutler (born December 31, 1990) is an American entrepreneur, creator, investor, producer and businessman best known for founding the podcast StudiParcastin 2016. With Cutler at the helm, Parcast has launched some of the most popular and high ...

and his father Ron Cutler in Los Angeles California. In 2019, it was acquired by Sweden-based media firm and streaming service provider

Spotify Spotify (; ) is a proprietary Swedish audio streaming and media services provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. It is one of the largest music streaming service providers, with over 456 million monthly active us ...

. Spotify spent over $56 million to acquire Parcast, however the total compensation has been reported to be over $100 million. This makes the Parcast acquisition one of the largest podcasting platform mergers in US history and largest single acquisition deal of Spotify's $400 million acquisition program.

History

Cutler, a 27-year old graduate of the

University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it was the first university in the Arizona Territory. T ...

, launched Parcast in 2016. He was inspired by the hit podcast '' Serial'', itself a spinoff of ''

This American Life ''This American Life'' (''TAL'') is an American monthly hour-long radio program produced in collaboration with Chicago Public Media and hosted by Ira Glass. It is broadcast on numerous public radio stations in the United States and internatio ...

''. He believed that his network could produce podcasts of comparable quality while saving money on the production of individual episodes. Parcast's original focus was on producing scripted

true crime True crime is a nonfiction literary, podcast, and film genre in which the author examines an actual crime and details the actions of real people associated with and affected by criminal events. The crimes most commonly include murder; about 40 pe ...

series, but their scope expanded into the

mystery Mystery, The Mystery, Mysteries or The Mysteries may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional characters *Mystery, a cat character in ''Emily the Strange'' Films * ''Mystery'' (2012 film), a 2012 Chinese drama film * ''Mystery'' ( ...

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel uni ...

, and

history History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...

genres as well as fictional audiodramas. Parcast currently produces over 40 daily and weekly shows, supported by a team of more than 75 voice actors, producers, and scriptwriters. Unlike competitors such as

Wondery Wondery is an American podcast network and publisher of numerous award-winning podcasts, including Dirty John, Dr. Death, and The Shrink Next Door. Wondery was founded in 2016 by entrepreneur and media executive Hernan Lopez. The company was lau ...

Gimlet Media Gimlet Media LLC is a digital media company and podcast network, focused on producing narrative podcasts and headquartered in Brooklyn, New York. The company was founded in 2014 by Alex Blumberg and Matthew Lieber, who serve as the company's CE ...

, Parcast focuses on producing a higher quantity of podcasts.

Audience

According to due diligence performed by Spotify, over 75% of Parcast's audience is female.

Series produced

Citations used

External links

Parcast website
{{Spotify 2019 mergers and acquisitions Podcasting companies American companies established in 2016 Mass media companies established in 2016 2016 podcast debuts 2016 establishments in California Spotify Companies based in Los Angeles American subsidiaries of foreign companies

History

Audience

Series produced

See also

Citations used

External links