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Just down the street from Roc Nation, SiriusXM and Sony Music, Spotify is joining Hollywood’s Sycamore media district with a brand-new podcast studio facility.
The new, invitation-only space will be the company’s second studio location in Los Angeles and will cater mostly to video podcasts.
When Spotify moved into its campus in the Arts District in 2021, podcasting was primarily an audio experience, and the downtown L.A. studios reflected that. But as the listening format began to evolve into a visual one, Roman Wasenmüller, Spotify’s vice president of podcast and video, said the company needed to revamp and expand its facilities to meet the growing demand.
The Arts District studios will remain open and focus on audio content while the new Hollywood location will provide a “video-first environment.” The nearly 11,000-square-foot space includes five different studio areas that can accommodate a variety of setups, including cozier interview settings and vast recording spaces for big groups. And unlike other rentable studios around L.A., the space will be staffed by Spotify employees, who can help produce the show.
“It was just clear to us that we need more facilities than we had before, but also at the same time, we just need to figure out what the right setup would be so that we can succeed in this new world of podcasting,” said Wasenmüller.
The Hollywood location will partially function as a homebase for the Ringer, an L.A.-based media brand focused on sports and pop culture. The company was founded by sportswriter Bill Simmons and was bought by Spotify in 2020.
Recently, Spotify announced that several of the Ringer’s video podcasts will start streaming on Netflix in early 2026. Shows such as “The Rewatchables,” “Ringer-Verse” and “The Hottest Take” will soon be recorded at the new outpost.
These studios won’t be exclusive to the Ringer. Wasenmüller said the space provides the opportunity for creators of all kinds to host interviews and guests while they are in Los Angeles.
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Sixteen Spotify video podcasts, including ‘The Bill Simmons Podcast,’ ‘The Dave Chang Show’ and the true-crime ‘Serial Killers,’ are coming to Netflix.
Traveling while podcasting has always been a challenge for Chris Williamson, the host of the self-improvement and philosophy podcast “Modern Wisdom.” The 37-year-old recalls struggling alongside his producer to make filming possible in various Airbnbs and warehouses.
“There’s been a number of times where I’m passing through L.A. and I’ve desperately needed a spot to record with someone. This new space would have been perfect. I would have made a lot of use of it,” Williamson said. “It’s just another indication that [Spotify is] putting their money where the priorities are. If I’m in town, I imagine that I’ll be dropping into [the studios] regularly.”
Williamson is a member of the Spotify Partner Program, which is also seeing a sizable expansion, as the platform continues to invest in the podcasting industry. The monetization program was launched last year, and it allows creators to directly monetize their content on the streaming platform with ads and revenue from video podcasts. Spaces such as the new Spotify Sycamore Studios are also available exclusively to members of the Spotify Partner Program. Since its introduction, monthly podcast consumption on the platform has nearly doubled.
As a member of the program since it began, Williamson said he has seen a significant increase in revenue, adding that he was able to make more than seven figures in 2025, with an average of six figures monthly.
“It was like a human centipede where Spotify paid us to put more video on Spotify, which meant that we got bigger on Spotify and that meant they paid us more money,” Williamson said. “It was this sort of self-reinforcing circuit, and it helped.”
Entertainment & Arts
Multi-city podcast tours are all the rage. And they’re bigger spectacles now with special guests, interactive elements, large venues and merch — a.k.a. the Eras tour of podcasting.
Over the last five years, the company estimates that its investments in the podcast industry have generated more than $10 billion in revenue. There are nearly 7 million podcast titles available for streaming, including Amy Poehler’s “Good Hang” and “The Joe Rogan Experience,” among the company’s most popular shows. Though Spotify has continued to invest in podcasts, it has not been immune to volatility in the business. The company’s podcast division has previously undergone restructuring, including layoffs, cutting back shows and dissolving previously purchased production companies such as Gimlet.
Founded in 2006, Spotify has become the world’s most popular audio streaming subscription service with over 713 million users. The streamer, based in Sweden, is available in more than 180 markets and has a library of over 100 million tracks and audiobooks. Spotify shares closed at $569.62 on Wednesday, down 0.32%.
“Podcasts are now absolutely in main culture. When we started in podcasting, it was a very niche medium,” said Wasenmüller. “But now you look at where it is [today] and podcasting is a main medium across all big platforms like Netflix and YouTube. Even the [Golden] Globes are having a podcast category for the first time. There’s something big happening. To a certain extent, it’s the future of entertainment.”
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Cerys Davies is a Business reporter covering the entertainment industry at the Los Angeles Times. She first joined The Times as an intern in the De Los section and was in the 2025 fellowship class. She was born and raised in Monterey Park and graduated from Loyola Marymount University.
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