It has started promoting podcasts to its 200 million users, and has done one-off deals for exclusive podcasts with celebrities like Amy Schumer. Spotify, which has attempted to break into the video business without success, has been public about its ambitions to move into podcasting in recent months. I’ve asked Gimlet and Spotify for comment. A person familiar with the proposed deal says Spotify will pay more than $200 million in cash for the company. Gimlet last raised money in 2017, via a funding round that valued the company at about $70 million.

The move would be the first time Spotify has bought a content company - and one of the biggest acquisitions in the still-nascent podcasting industry. Gimlet has also been moving into TV production, including a deal that turned Homecoming, which started out as a scripted podcast, into an Amazon TV show starring Julia Roberts. Sources say Spotify is in advanced talks to acquire Gimlet, the Brooklyn-based company which produces a network of popular shows and makes shows for advertisers like Gatorade. Spotify, which has been trying to branch out of the streaming music business, is getting ready to make its first big move into podcasting: It plans to pay more than $200 million to buy Gimlet Media, the startup behind popular shows like Reply All.

Spotify opens on startup