Steve was recently at Sony Music Entertainment — this interview has been lightly edited for style and readability
Sam Sethi: Steve, you did about five years at Sony. You’ve just left. The industry’s about to go gangbusters in 2026. Why leave Sony right now?
Steve Ackerman: That’s a great question, because you’re right. I think things are about to hit another really fantastic moment. It was a really personal decision, and actually a lot of it really was personal because I was living in the States. I’ve got three adult kids. They’re in London. So that was obviously a big driver.
I had an amazing time at Sony Music. It’s full of amazing people. I’ve not got a bad word to say about them. But equally, I spent 20 years being my own boss, and I felt it was time to get back, probably, to just being a bit more in charge of myself.
SS: What are you doing with yourself at the moment?
SA: I’m acting as a board advisor to a bunch of businesses and a consultant, so I’m working with lots of different folks, both in the US and the UK, but really helping different businesses grow or take on different business challenges.
And, today, it’s now been announced that I’m joining the Board, as in the company Board, of The Podcast Show, that much-loved event, and I’m going to be helping them grow as a business, both within the UK and around the world.
SS: The London Podcast Show is a great show. My big worry is that it will water it down if it does go around the world. Suddenly we’ll have just the Brits in London, the Americans in America, and wherever else you are. I worry that you’re going to take the magic of the London Podcast Show away.
SA: Well, I think that’s a really fair thing to raise. And of course, I think I can speak on behalf of everyone at The Podcast Show when I say that’s the last thing we want to happen to London. It’s the jewel in the crown. It’s the flagship. And so I think having events around the world that can continue the conversation throughout the year and allow different folks to attend, where maybe London is a long way to go or too expensive to go, does throw open the opportunity to look at what else we can do.
SS: Given your background and the way that the podcast industry is moving towards video… where do you see video at the moment as a podcaster? Is that something that you have to do? Is it a nice to do? Where are we?
SA: Well, first of all, I think we need to come at video with just great optimism. I’m a little bit snippy about the folks who get agitated about video and argue about, well, is it a podcast or not? Frankly, who really cares? The point is, it’s allowing podcasters to reach new audiences on other platforms. And certainly all the research I’ve seen shows that video does not cannibalize audio. It’s additive. It finds new folk. And that can only be great for the industry.
Do you have to have video? Not for every show. But I think certainly if I was starting a regular show now, a weekly show and always on show, I think you’d be pretty crazy not to be thinking about video. We’ve obviously got Spotify and YouTube in play. We know Apple’s coming. In fact, the BBC, for those in the UK, have just announced today that they’re extending what they do on the video side. And of course, it’s going to keep on rolling out amongst other folks as well. So video has to be part of the ecosystem now. And it’s a good thing it is. It’s opening up new revenue streams. It’s opening up new creative opportunities.
SS: Do you think Spotify’s video entry has been successful? It’s now been going for over 12 months. What’s your take on it?
SA: I think it’s been successful for those shows that are big enough. to see a good return on revenue. I think the challenge with Spotify has been the mid-range, the lower-range shows. For some of those shows, it doesn’t make sense to put your show on video on Spotify. And I think the other potential challenge for Spotify is every 12 or 18 months has a different strategy. And of course, that reflects the way the world’s changing very quickly as well. I wouldn’t be surprised if on the video front, they have to make some adjustments again. And that’s partly because they were one of the first movers. And so credit to them for that. So has it been a success? Well, I think credit to them for getting in there early and sort of forcing the hand of other folks. But I think it depends who you speak to. Some folks will say it’s been really good for them. And other folks will say it hasn’t been so useful.
SS: Apple have just got into the video game. What do you think Apple will do with this? Will it be a success? Or do you think this is going to be something that they dip their toes in and like Spotify sort of drift along?
SA: I’m sure Apple are the same as most platforms. Of course, you want to look at what’s the audience behavior and how is it impacting on the platform. I’m less bothered about the fact that a few partners are involved, first of all. They’re big partners. They come with a lot of shows. And of course, you have to start somewhere. It’s pretty difficult to roll something out immediately.
I think the Apple announcement is a really exciting one. First of all, the folks at Apple are really thoughtful. We shouldn’t forget they’ve been supporters of the podcast industry for a long time. And they should get some credit for that. And on the video side, I think what they’ve announced is really exciting, especially because they’re going to allow dynamic ad insertion. And I think that’s a really important development. YouTube announced that last year. They haven’t announced when that’s rolling out. But I think that’s a really important development because ultimately, I do think that can be a revenue game changer. At the moment, unless you really have huge amounts of views on YouTube, it’s not a fantastic monetization channel. It’s fantastic for getting views and marketing your show. It’s not a fantastic way to make money if you’re a medium or small size show, which, of course, the majority of the shows are.
I think what Apple are offering, that chance for you to sell your own ads into video and to really maximize that inventory because, of course, you can have different ads in different territories or you can take an ad out and replace it with another one after a few months. I think that’s a really big move. And I’m looking forward to hopefully when YouTube announced the date, when they’ll start doing that as well.
SS: Spotify have a totally different model. They pay a percentage of revenue from the subscription. It’s really interesting when you look at it. So Apple have pushed the owners back on to the hosting companies, Acast, AdWizz, to say, look, you serve the ads, you control that part of it. But then there’s Apple taking a cut of that money. So they’re making it a revenue generator. Whereas Spotify have done it the other way around. They’re saying we’re going to generate revenue from subscriptions and give you a percentage of that revenue. Do you think they will change that whole model now to mimic what Apple are doing and maybe bring other partners into the Spotify video market?
SA: I think it depends on the confidence Spotify feel around their model. And that’s something that’s going to be very private to them internally in the discussions they have. If YouTube do roll out what they said they’re going to do, which is basically the same thing as Apple, I think potentially that does put Spotify a little bit on the back foot. However, we all know by now, don’t bet against Spotify because they’re innovators and experimenters. And there’s loads of things you can point to that sometimes they try and don’t get right. But at the end of the day, there’s plenty of things they have got right. And they’ve also been super important for the growth of podcasts and the podcast ecosystem. I would love to be a fly on the wall inside Spotify and privy to the discussions they have. Because genuinely, I’m not sure you or I can really call it. I think they’re going to know what they’re trying to develop as an ecosystem and how much they feel threatened or not by what Apple and YouTube are doing.
SS: Somebody that always gets left out of this conversation is Amazon. I just never hear anyone on any podcast go, oh, and of course, Amazon are going to be able to do. Never hear it. What’s happening? Why is this sleepy giant not doing anything?
SA: I think Amazon is fascinating. In a way, we might have said the same about Apple until the announcement a few weeks ago. First mover advantage isn’t necessarily an advantage when you’re in this space. Because, of course, Apple and Amazon and the like can throw huge amounts of resource at something as soon as they decide that’s the direction they want to go in. So I would be amazed if Amazon don’t do something in this space in the next, I don’t know, 12 to 24 months. But let’s see. The point is, if they want to move, they can move pretty fast. And therefore, the fact they haven’t done anything yet, I don’t think is a lack of indication of ambition going forward.
SS: The last hot topic that everyone’s talking about currently is AI. Where do you sit on the fence of AI?
SA: Well, I don’t think when you work in a creative industry like ours, you can be a luddite in the sense of putting your hands on your ears and just saying, I’m not going to join in the conversation.
When it comes to creativity, I do think AI has something to offer. I’m fascinated with what that can mean for translation and putting shows into different languages. I’m fascinated for what that can mean in terms of speed and movement around editing. Already a bunch of companies that I know are certainly using AI for the generation of their social media assets, which obviously, again, allows them to be properly multi-platform production companies without necessarily incurring crazy costs. So I think there’s lots of positive ways in which creativity can be applied.
I’m a defender of creativity and I always will be. We’re a creative industry and creativity always has to come first on everything that is done. Ultimately, we’re about serving audiences and I don’t think serving audiences is giving them something to listen to or watch that frankly isn’t very good.
SS: Steve Ackerman, thank you so much. Congratulations on the move into the London Podcast Show. So I think that’s going to be an exciting move for you. Well done.
SA: Thanks, Sam. Appreciate it.