Max Cutler | |
---|---|
Born | Max Cutler Los Angeles, California, US |
Occupation(s) | founder and creator |
Known for | Founding Parcast |
Relatives | Ron Cutler (father) |
Max Cutler is an American entrepreneur, creator, author and businessman best known for founding the podcast studio Parcast in 2016.
Under Cutler’s leadership, Parcast became a powerhouse in the podcasting industry, introducing a range of immensely popular weekly shows across various genres and played a pivotal role in expanding podcasting internationally, overseeing the creation of 140+ adaptations in eight different languages. After three years of exponential growth, Spotify acquired Parcast in 2019. [1]
Cutler most recently served as Spotify's VP, Head of Creator Content & Partnerships, where he headed the global team responsible for identifying, recruiting and overseeing creators on the platform including Joe Rogan (The Joe Rogan Experience), Alex Cooper (Call Her Daddy), Emma Chamberlain (Anything Goes), and Dax Shepard (Armchair Expert).
Max Cutler has been featured on Fortune 40 Under 40, [2] The 40(ish) Most Powerful People in Podcasting, [3] Forbes 30 Under 30, [4] and The Hollywood Reporter's 35 Rising Executives Under 35 lists. [5] Cutler recently stepped down [6] from Spotify to start a new venture yet to be announced.
Cutler was born and raised in Los Angeles, California. [7] He attended Viewpoint School, a nondenominational school in Calabasas, California. He earned a bachelor's degree in finance and entrepreneurship from the University of Arizona in 2013. [8]
Cutler's father, Ron Cutler, is a veteran radio broadcaster, who went by the name Ron Diamond. Ron started Cutler Productions, a radio syndication [9] company in the 1980s. Max has cited his father as having a huge influence on his career and life. [10]
In June 2016, Max Cutler founded the podcasting Studio Parcast [11] without outside investment. While he has cited podcast Serial by Sarah Koenig as an inspiration, [12] [13] his vision was to consistently produce high-quality content across various genres, such as True Crime, pop culture, mystery, science fiction, history and genres fictional audiodramas like Mind's Eye (2018). [12] [13] In the latter half of 2021, Parcast ventured into limited-run investigative series, including popular podcasts Imposters [14] and Revelations [15] (A partnership with Blumhouse Productions) At its peak Parcast achieved over 1 billion downloads, employed a team of 120+ staff and produced 140+ shows weekly in eight different languages. Cutler is known for creating and producing acclaimed podcasts like Conspiracy Theories, [16] Dare to Lead, [17] Supernatural, [18] Horoscope Today [19] and International Infamy [20] to name a few.
On April 1, 2019, Spotify acquired Parcast for an estimated ~$115 million. [21] [22] [23]
Cutler would become Spotify’s VP, Head of Creator Content & Partnerships, [24] where he reported directly into the C-Suite and headed the division responsible for identifying, recruiting and overseeing exclusive deals and partnerships [25] with major audio creators on the platform including Joe Rogan (The Joe Rogan Experience), Dax Shepard (Armchair Expert) and Alex Cooper (Call Her Daddy). He led the effort to make Spotify the leading platform for creators of all walks by expanding the platform’s creator tools for audience growth and interaction, as well as growing Spotify’s video podcasting efforts.
Under Cutler's guidance, Spotify successfully attracted some of the industry's most renowned podcast creators in the world including Ashley Flowers (Crime Junkie), [26] Ash and Alaina (Morbid), [27] Alex Cooper [28] (Call Her Daddy), Emma Chamberlain (Anything Goes), [29] Mark Fischbach (Markiplier) [30] and the Fantasy Footballers [31] to name a few. Cutler also greenlit a number of nontraditional podcast talent such as Kim Kardashian, [32] Brené Brown, [33] Addison Rae, [34] plus many more.
In June 2021, Cutler helped secure a deal with Call Her Daddy [35] to come exclusively to Spotify. [36] In 2022, he also secured deals with Emma Chamberlain and Markiplier in an effort to build video on the platform.
In addition, Cutler was tasked with leading Kids Content and Audiobook Originals [37] as well as developing a content slate [38] for Spotify’s push into live audio with the launch of Live on Spotify. [39] Highlights include reactive, unfiltered content from The Ringer after the biggest moments in sports, pop culture programming from gossip maven Deuxmoi and celebrity guests like Billy Eichner, intimate conversations with artists such as WILLOW and Pusha T on live music shows like Lorem Life and New Joints Live, and exclusive conversations from the artist village at Rolling Loud Miami with Saweetie, Latto, Curren$y and more.
Cutler was included in Forbes 30 under 30 Class of 2019, Hollywood Reporters Next Generation Executive List for 2020, Fortune 40 Under 40 List for 2020, and The 40(ish) Most Powerful People in Podcasting.
Cutler is also the author of Cults: Inside the World's Most Notorious Groups and Understanding the People Who Joined Them , based on the hit Parcast podcast Cults.
Cutler left Spotify in 2023 to launch a new venture [40] . As announced at the end of April 2024, this is Pave Studios, a production company "at the intersection of audio, video, books, and entertainment." [41]
Joseph James Rogan is an American UFC color commentator, podcaster, comedian, actor, and former television host. He hosts The Joe Rogan Experience, a podcast in which he discusses current events, comedy, politics, philosophy, science, martial arts, and hobbies with a variety of guests.
Dawn Ostroff is an American businesswoman. She was the chief content officer and advertising business officer of Spotify, and is the former president of entertainment of The CW and former president of Condé Nast Entertainment.
Spotify is a Swedish audio streaming and media service provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. It is one of the largest music streaming service providers, with over 602 million monthly active users, including 236 million paying subscribers, as of December 2023. Spotify is listed on the New York Stock Exchange in the form of American depositary receipts.
Universal Content Productions (UCP) is an American television production company operating within the Universal Studio Group division of NBCUniversal, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Comcast.
The Joe Rogan Experience is a podcast hosted by American comedian, presenter, and UFC color commentator Joe Rogan. It launched on December 24, 2009, on YouTube by Rogan and comedian Brian Redban, who was its sole co-host and producer until 2012 when Jamie Vernon, who would eventually take over production, was hired to co-produce. By 2015, it was one of the world's most popular podcasts, regularly receiving millions of views per episode, also including a wide array of guests, including business magnate Elon Musk, whistleblower Edward Snowden, Senator Bernie Sanders, and astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson. From December 2020 to February 2024, the podcast was exclusively available on Spotify, with highlights uploaded onto the main Joe Rogan Experience YouTube channel. The podcast was originally recorded at Rogan's home in California, before moving to a private studio in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles. Production was relocated to Austin, Texas after the podcast was exclusively licensed on Spotify in 2020.
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Aaron Saidman is an American creator-developer, documentary filmmaker and television producer known for creating or serving as an executive producer on a number of non-fiction television series and documentary feature films, including Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath, Curse of Von Dutch,Mind Field,Declassified: Untold Stories of American Spies, The Pitch,The Seven Five,Free Meek and Night Stalker: The Hunt For a Serial Killer. Saidman is the President and co-founder of The Intellectual Property Corporation, which he created in 2016 with longtime producing partner Eli Holzman.
Crime Junkie is a true crime podcast hosted by Ashley Flowers and Brit Prawat, based in Indianapolis, Indiana.
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Alexandra Cooper is an American podcaster who is the co-creator and host of the weekly Call Her Daddy comedy and advice podcast on Spotify. In 2021, Time Magazine called her "arguably the most successful woman in podcasting" after she signed a three-year exclusive deal with Spotify worth $60 million. Making $20 million per year made her Spotify's highest earning female podcaster and the second highest paid podcaster, behind only Joe Rogan. The show was also the second most popular podcast globally on Spotify for 2022 behind Rogan.
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Jack Carl Dean, better known by his online alias JaackMaate, is a British YouTuber, podcast host, sports presenter and comedian. He is primarily known for his "opinionated and frank" discussion of YouTube content, and as the host of the comedy podcast series JaackMaate's Happy Hour Podcast, which consistently tops the Spotify most-listened charts. He also gained national media attention when he staged a demonstration in response to Boris Johnson's rule-breaking during the national lockdown.
Jonathan B. Allen, known professionally as MrBallen, is an American internet personality and a former United States Navy SEAL. He is best known for his victim-oriented true crime stories and mysteries on YouTube. He co-founded Ballen Studios, and the exclusive rights to his podcast MrBallen Podcast: Strange, Dark and Mysterious Stories were licensed to Amazon Music in September 2022. However, as of February, 2024, the podcast is freely available across multiple platforms. Allen's work is also distributed through various platforms and media channels, including YouTube, Amazon Music, and TikTok, among others.
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