Luminary partners with Acast to bring Luminary Original podcasts to wider audience
Selected Luminary Originals to be made available and monetized in open podcasting ecosystem
New York, NYNew York, 7 September — Acast, the world’s largest global podcast company, and Luminary, the premium podcast network, have announced a strategic partnership to broaden the reach of selected Luminary Original podcasts. Six shows—including Under the Skin with Russell Brand, Joking Not Joking with Mo Amer and Azhar Usman and How I Masaba with Masaba Gupta—will be made available to listeners across all listening platforms, via Acast. Acast will also serve as Luminary’s exclusive monetization partner for these podcasts across all platforms including Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Amazon Music.
Under the terms of the partnership, later this month Luminary will also leverage the Acast+ Access capability, which launched earlier this summer, to allow subscribers to access exclusive content on the listening app of their choice. With Acast+ Access, publishers and other companies, like Luminary, have the most powerful, centralized solution for all their podcasting and subscription-based needs—allowing them to manage advertising, distribution, and membership benefits seamlessly in one single, easy-to-use platform.
The partnership will complement Luminary's subscription business model, as it makes use of Acast's advanced distribution and monetization technology to reach an even wider audience. Since launching in 2019, Luminary has established itself as a prominent player in the podcast industry, offering exclusive content accessible through its app or via Apple Podcasts Subscriptions. In that time, Luminary has worked with some of the most renowned voices in podcasting and entertainment– including Guy Raz, Mo Amer, Trevor Noah, Radio Rahim, Lena Dunham, Dave Chapelle, Corinne Fisher, Krystyna Hutchinson, and more–to identify the distribution strategy that best fits each creator’s content and resonates with their unique audience.
Veronika Taylor, SVP Creator Network at Acast, said, "Acast has consistently advocated for an open, barrier-less podcasting environment, and this partnership underscores our dedication to making exceptional audio content easily accessible to all and monetizable everywhere. Podcasting is not a one-size-fits-all environment, and Luminary's decision to leverage Acast's technology and expertise highlights our shared commitment to an innovative strategy which has listeners at its heart.”
Chairman and co-founder of Luminary Matt Sacks said, “Luminary was founded with a vision to produce high-quality shows that move listeners. Our partnership with Acast will allow us to highlight culture-defining content like star-studded interview shows Under the Skin with Russell Brand and Joking Not Joking with Mo Amer and Azhar Usman, while giving these artists —and their excellent work—the wider audience they so deserve.”
About Acast
Since 2014, Acast has been creating the world’s most valuable podcast marketplace, building the technology which connects podcast creators, advertisers and listeners. Its marketplace spans more than 100,000 podcasts, 2,300 advertisers and 400 million monthly listens. Crucially, those listens are monetized wherever they happen - across any podcasting app or other listening platform.
The company operates worldwide and is headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden. Acast is listed on the Nasdaq First North Premier Growth Market (ACAST.ST).
About Luminary
Luminary is the podcast network with an award-winning lineup of original shows you won’t find anywhere else. Subscribers enjoy unlimited access to the full collection of Luminary Original shows, featuring celebrated creators, diverse voices, and important stories told through a new lens from creators like Dave Chappelle, Russell Brand, Guy Raz, Corinne Fisher, Krystyna Hutchinson, yasiin bey, and Talib Kweli. You can find Luminary’s original content via the Luminary app, available on iOS, Android, and the web, and on Apple Podcasts’ Luminary channel. In August 2023, Luminary partnered with Acast, the world’s largest global podcast company to release select originals from its catalog to a wider audience through ad-supported streaming. Driven by a love for podcasts, Matt Sacks founded Luminary in 2018 with a vision to elevate the podcasting experience for both listeners and creators. Key Luminary investors include Dave Chappelle, Richard Plepler, and global venture capital fund NEA. Luminary offers an annual subscription for $34.99, or the equivalent of about $2.99 per month. Luminary also offers a monthly subscription for $4.99. International pricing is similar to US pricing, with annual and monthly plans available in each territory.
For more information about Luminary, visit https://newsroom.luminarypodcasts.com or follow @hearluminary.
