Spotify podcast trends report has revealed listeners aged over 45 had the highest growth in audience demographics.
‘The Sound of Cultural Conversation’ report explored podcast streaming data from the platform’s first-party data collected in H1 2023 across key cultural moments of this year – such as the Eurovision finale, Barbie movie premiere, and NBA Finals – and compared those trends to Google Search and social media activity around the same topics.
Sam Moles, podcast account director of Spotify Australia and New Zealand, said the report saw growth in the 45+ demographic, which has been under-represented in the past when looking at the total podcast listening audience.
According to the report, listeners in Australia aged 55-64 grew 64%, while listeners aged 65+ rose 64%.
“We hope this reflects a fundamental shift in the audience cohort that generally has the highest % of non-podcast listeners, which in turn will increase the opportunity for advertisers looking to reach this highly valuable audience,” he said.
Spotify’s trend report also looks at listener engagement with podcasts, the impact of ad experiences, and how podcasts are a potent channel for advertisers and publishers looking to connect with audiences meaningfully. Spotify claimed that podcast ads on its platform were twice as likely to help consumers become more familiar with – and confident in – a product, brand, or item.
In Spotify’s Sonic Science study, released earlier this year, the platform noted that one major revelation found that 58% of listener’s engagement translated into the ad experience. In the ‘The Sound of Cultural Conversation’ report, Spotify said that this showed podcasts have the power to entertain and be an advertising format important to a brand’s overall media mix.
The report also explored global audience consumption across society and culture, lifestyle and health and educational podcasts.
While the evergreen favourites, Comedy and True Crime, remain at the top in total listening hours globally, the data from the report revealed parenting (88%) and self-improvement (59%) podcasts were on the rise.
Moles noted that it was not surprising to see the report reflect that culture and content are aligned, particularly as the number of podcast creators and listeners has grown exponentially.
“What’s exciting about this alignment for brands is that advertising in podcasts is a way for them to be a part of these conversations in a way that’s authentic to the environment and the listener,” he said.
Moles added: “Being able to show up in these moments in the right way is one thing, but being able to then measure the influence and impact on business outcomes is crucial, and that’s where platforms like Spotify Ad Analytics now can help by measuring events such as website visits, app installs and sales.”