LISTEN UP

Spotify Slumps 15% as It Admits Costs of Losing Podcasts Like Meghan’s

A nearly $50 million hit from podcasts and real estate has hurt Spotify’s share price.

Looks like getting rid of Harry and Meghan cost Spotify. The music streaming giant said Tuesday, in a keenly awaited quarterly trading update, that dumping various podcast shows was a significant contributory factor in almost $50 million in charges. The streamer’s shares nosedived by up to 15 percent on Tuesday as the market absorbed an unexpectedly pessimistic update that said in part: “Gross Margin was 24.1% in Q2…due to €44 million in net charges primarily related to the shut down of various podcast shows and the impairment of excess real estate.” Meghan’s podcast Archetypes briefly topped the Spotify charts but was widely panned, and the couple were unceremoniously denounced as “fucking grifters” by the company’s own Bill Simmons after they split from Spotify.