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Spotify isn't kidding around with its first comedy app

The streaming service highlights its library of bits from stand-up comics with an app that curates them into themed playlists, in the latest example of comedy's audience finding options online.

Joan E. Solsman Former Senior Reporter
Joan E. Solsman was CNET's senior media reporter, covering the intersection of entertainment and technology. She's reported from locations spanning from Disneyland to Serbian refugee camps, and she previously wrote for Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal. She bikes to get almost everywhere and has been doored only once.
Expertise Streaming video, film, television and music; virtual, augmented and mixed reality; deep fakes and synthetic media; content moderation and misinformation online Credentials
  • Three Folio Eddie award wins: 2018 science & technology writing (Cartoon bunnies are hacking your brain), 2021 analysis (Deepfakes' election threat isn't what you'd think) and 2022 culture article (Apple's CODA Takes You Into an Inner World of Sign)
Joan E. Solsman
Spotify launched its first comedy app with Bedrocket's Official Comedy division. Screenshot by Joan E. Solsman/CNET

Music is Spotify's bread and butter, but starting Monday, its library of stand-up comedy content can't complain that it don't get no respect.

Working with Bedrocket Media Ventures, which runs the Official Comedy channel on YouTube, Spotify rolled out a new app to draw attention to its comedy audio library.

Stand-up material is finding growing traction online. Earlier this month, Viacom's Comedy Central network launched a site selling unlimited streams and downloads of uncut, uncensored stand-up specials for $5 each. The mega media conglomerate is following in the footsteps of Louis C.K., who produced his "Live at the Beacon Theater" special himself and distributed it online.

Pandora, the Internet's biggest radio service, started letting its users create comedy stations in 2011 in the same way they could create music channels.

The Spotify Official Comedy app collects stand-up performances and other comedic content available on the platform and curates them into playlists based on themes like "We All Have Some Family Members We'd Like To Hide." The one getting top billing at the moment is an attention-grabbing "Who Doesn't Love a Good Sex Scandal?"

The app includes performances from current comics like Jerry Seinfeld, Aziz Ansari, and Louis C.K., as well as classic material from the likes of Bill Cosby and Steve Martin.