I cover creators at Like & Subscribe, a standalone Ankler Media newsletter that’s being sampled today for paid subscribers to The Ankler. I reported on NYC’s creator scene and NYT Cooking’s big growth, wrote about why some creators might not hit Cannes Lions this year, covered Alex Cooper’s unpopular Unwell deals and spoke to two Chernin Group partners about betting on creator empires. I’m natalie@theankler.com
Today, I’m bringing you two stories about what happens when creator businesses start behaving like mature media companies — and when the biggest platforms decide they can no longer treat podcasts, YouTube franchises and fan-driven IP as side businesses.
The big story: I sat down with Spotify’s global head of podcasts, Roman Wasenmüller, after the audio giant’s May 21 Investor Day to unpack how podcasts went from a money-losing investor headache to a profitable growth engine — and why Spotify now sees video, AI discovery and creator memberships as the next phase of the business.
As competition from YouTube, Netflix and all other grabbers of human attention heats up, podcasting is “really big for us and important for us,” Wasenmüller tells me as he reveals the strategic imperatives to keep it growing.
But first, I’ve got the scoop on the creator couple behind YouTube’s Spy Ninjas, who, after over a decade of making videos, are investing $25 million to expand and professionalize their operation as dollars increasingly flow to creator-first studios.
Keep reading to learn more about what Wasenmüller shared with me, and my Spy Ninjas scoop, including:
- Why Spotify walked away from podcast exclusivity — and what that unlocked
- The three signals convincing Spotify that video podcasts are working
- How AI could finally help solve podcast discovery
- Why memberships are Spotify’s next creator economy play
- SCOOP: Inside Spy Ninjas’ strategic $25 million push to become a bigger YouTube franchise
- The former Jubilee exec helping turn Spy Ninjas into a professionalized studio
Scaling Spy Ninjas ‘Storytelling and World-Building’
On YouTube, married couple Chad Wild Clay and Vy Qwaint spend their days fighting secret hacker groups and helping their friends out of trouble as the leaders of a fictional superhero group called the Spy Ninjas. The overwrought storytelling leans into the zaniness of YouTube with a big payoff: millions of views for one of the longest-running scripted shows on the platforms.
In real life, the two have taken on an even bigger mission: scaling their operation by investing $25 million to expand and professionalize their production capabilities.
As part of the investment, I can exclusively report, Clay, 42, and Qwaint, 40, rebranded their company Spy Ninjas Entertainment and plan to more than double their headcount this year. They’re doing this with the help of former Jubilee Media COO Shelly Soriano, who joined the company as president of Spy Ninjas Studios last June.
“The magic of Spy Ninjas is a really intentional blend of storytelling and world building, mixed with YouTube format,” says Soriano, who previously spent three years at Jubilee Media during the rise of its debate-style content on YouTube. “The opportunity to take an IP with franchise-like behavior already and help scale that is really unique.”
Don’t stop here
Unlock the full story — and the no-spin reporting Hollywood trusts
Already a subscriber?
