Spotify has a new original topping its podcast list, but you’d probably prefer it if you didn’t know.
Last week, Spotify released a new pop culture show, Breaking Bread, on Spotify Live. Breaking Bread’s recordings are now at number 11 on Spotify’s podcast list after taking second place for most of the week, placing it just behind Joe Rogan. The show’s popularity, and the reason the company could be silent about its new success, is due to its two hosts: Jackie Oshry Weinreb and Claudia Oshry (also known as Instagram girlwithnojob), who come with a large integrated audience. While the sisters have delivered their large fan base to the app, they have a controversial story that could be problematic for Spotify at a time when the company is being very cautious.
The sisters had a short program in 2018 on Oath, Verizon’s defunct media brand, which was canceled after The Daily Beast reported that her mother is known conspiracy theorist and anti-Muslim activist Pamela Geller and that the two sisters had previously published. racist and anti-Muslim statements on social media. The sisters apologized, deleted their Twitter accounts and relaunched themselves with The Morning Toast as an independent podcast. Some fans have been uncomfortable with his unwillingness to deny his mother’s activities, but his audience is undeniable. The Oshry sisters have more than 3.5 million Instagram followers among them, their flagship podcast is currently among the top 100 on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, and they maintain what appears to be a solid Patreon base (statistics now are private, but from 2019). , had more than 9,000 subscribers). The Oshry sisters did not respond to a request for comment.
But if the Oshry sisters are controversial, you wouldn’t know it by their show. The Morning Toast is primarily a popular pop culture cuisine, and Breaking Bread is very similar: Kim Kardashian’s Marilyn Monroe dress, Hailey Bieber’s skin care line, Britney Spears ’wedding. The Spotify Live platform also allows fans to participate in the show, asking for advice on light topics such as puppy training and bachelorette issues.
Following the model of other Spotify Live shows like After Hours with Alex Cooper and Dating Harry Jowsey, the original show takes place on the Live app and is released as a podcast on Spotify later. Unlike these programs, Breaking Bread did not receive any Spotify promotions. The company did not issue any press releases about the program and did not promote it on any of its social channels. The only promotion seems to have come from Oshry himself on their social media and podcast.
This may have something to do with the reaction Spotify has received for its nine-figure deal with the controversial Joe Rogan machine. Rogan has the most undisputed podcast in the world, and as Spotify increases its podcast power, the company needs it. But Spotify’s infallible support for Rogan has caused some reputational, if not monetary, damage. Spotify declined to comment on why they chose to partner with the Oshry sisters or whether their past has anything to do with the lack of promotion of the show, but with the way the company has approached Breaking Bread, it seems to go for the Oshry. an important fan base without luggage.
Even if Breaking Bread itself is harmless, it premieres at a time when Spotify takes special care. Last week, the company announced a Security Advisory Board to assist in its content moderation policies (a move Geller called “a government-sponsored internal coup”) and closed a new deal with Integral Ad Science for strengthen your brand security analysis for advertisers.
But the company is also trying to leverage its Spotify Live social audio app (formerly under the Spotify Greenroom brand) at a time when social audio is shaking, and Breaking Bread may be its biggest hit to date. If the Oshry continue to offer numbers, it will be difficult for the company to ignore the show.
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