Spotify Announces Acquisition of Kinzen
6th October 2022
Spotify has announced the acquisition of Irish company Kinzen, a global leader in protecting online communities from harmful content.
Kinzen’s advanced technology and deep expertise will help Spotify more effectively deliver a safe experience on its platform around the world.
Kinzen was founded by Aíne Kerr and Mark Little five years ago and it is understood that staff at the company’s base in Dublin will remain engaged.
Spotify’s current partnership with Kinzen, which began in 2020, has been critical to enhancing its approach to platform safety. The company’s unique technology is particularly suited for podcasting and audio formats, making its value to Spotify clear and unmatched. The technology the Kinzen team brings to Spotify combines machine learning and human expertise — backed by analysis from leading local academics and journalists — to analyse potential harmful content and hate speech in multiple languages and countries.
“We’ve long had an impactful and collaborative partnership with Kinzen and its exceptional team. Now, working together as one, we’ll be able to even further improve our ability to detect and address harmful content, and importantly, in a way that better considers local context,” said Dustee Jenkins, Spotify’s Global Head of Public Affairs. “This investment expands Spotify’s approach to platform safety, and underscores how seriously we take our commitment to creating a safe and enjoyable experience for creators and users.”
Given the complexity of analysing audio content in hundreds of languages and dialects, and the challenges in effectively evaluating the nuance and intent of that content, the acquisition of Kinzen will help Spotify better understand the abuse landscape and identify emerging threats on the platform.
“The combination of tools and expert insights is Kinzen’s unique strength that we see as essential to identifying emerging abuse trends in markets and moderating potentially dangerous content at scale,” said Sarah Hoyle, Spotify’s Head of Trust and Safety. “This expansion of our team, combined with the launch of our Safety Advisory Council, demonstrates the proactive approach we’re taking in this important space.”
