The month of November has seen major announcements from Spotify in the podcasting space.
In mid-November Spotify founder and CEO Daniel Ek spoke at the Spotify campus in Los Angeles about initiatives for uninterrupted video podcasts, audience-driven payments, and the new Spotify for Creators platform.
“We can provide an experience for your audience that is superior to any platform. And by giving you, the creators, another path to monetisation beyond ads, we’re freeing you up to spend more time doing what you love: creating,” said Ek.
Creators are taking notice of the changes. Why? Spotify is one of the largest platforms in the world for creators, with more than 640 million users and more than 250 million subscribers. Video consumption is rapidly growing on Spotify.
To find out a little more about the changes on the platform, Mediaweek spoke with Prithi Dey, podcast lead AUNZ at Spotify.
Dey explained the platform is no stranger to video content. “We’re seeing a lot of engagement with video content on Spotify. We’ve had video podcasts since 2019.”
“For audio-only podcasters, they are being an opportunity to grow via Spotify.” There’s good reason to consider adding video to audio-only content. More than 250 million users have watched a video podcast on Spotify, and nearly two-thirds of podcast listeners say they prefer podcasts with video. There are now more than 300,000 video podcast shows on Spotify
Dey: “Our focus is really trying to give creators from all different backgrounds the opportunity to grow their audience, monetise their content and give them the tools they need to be able to engage with their audiences.”
With no option for audio creators to offer subscriptions to podcasts on Spotify, their monetisation options were restricted. Now with the ability to share Spotify subscription revenue with creators, it provides a new revenue stream.
Better user experience
“The reason we’re doing that is to basically have a creative, better user experience for the audience because they get an uninterrupted experience of being able to view video podcasts on Spotify,” said Dey.
“We’re able to do this because we are going to be paying the video podcast creators the premium revenue from subscribers.
“It will also help video creators, like traditional YouTubers for example, decide if they want to bring their video content to Spotify because they will essentially have three revenue streams that they could leverage from the 2nd of January, 2025.”
Prithi Dey
New audio home: Spotify for creators
“Spotify for Podcasters has been rebranded to Spotify for Creators,” explained Dey.
“It’s an easy-to-use platform and the whole purpose of rebranding is to create a holistic ecosystem that is easy to use. It’s free to use, and those thinking about bringing their content onto Spotify can easily upload content through Spotify for Creators.
“They can easily look at their analytics, they can easily distribute to all other platforms, and our job really is to support them on that process. We’re having multiple with creators and partners from all different places about how they can actually bring their video podcast onto Spotify and how to use Spotify for Creators.
“We try to make it as easy for them as possible. We also have a help section on Spotify for Creators, which is easy to use and comprehensive. I often direct a lot of new creators there and all their questions are usually answered, and it’s a really easy process if they have that content.”
Video podcasting on this rise
Spotify has reacted to what its audience wants, explained Dey. “In 2021, 43% of podcast listeners said they prefer video podcasts. In 2024, just three years later, that number’s grown to 64%. We are seeing increased interest from audiences coming to Spotify to watch video content.
“In Australia, the number of podcast listeners engaging with video podcasts has surged around 25% year over year. This is why we are investing in this space a lot more.”
See also: Every Thursday in Mediaweek’s Podcast Week
Crime rates
When asked about what rates for Spotify users, Dey said: “I don’t think there’ll be any major surprises if I say true crime is always popular. Entertainment in general, sport and comedy, too are the categories that we always see doing well. Given that we’ve got quite a young audience, entertainment skews towards younger demographics and sport is always really popular.
“Long-form content is where we are going and what we’re encouraging creators to upload. When I say long form, we’re thinking 15 to 30 minutes. That’s something the audience can be consuming when commuting or maybe walking.”
There is another initiative aimed at helping grow podcast audiences – podcast clips.
These are basically short-form teasers that can be uploaded by creators. The purpose of the clips is to drive awareness to the long-form content.”
Host read ads
For podcasters who have “baked-in ads”, including host reads, nothing changes.
“That will not be impacted,” advised Dey. “If the podcaster or the video creator has those baked in ads, mayb sponsorships that they set up and manage directly. Those host reads and sponsorships will stay in the podcast or the video podcast.
“Even if you’re a premium user and you don’t get those third party dynamic ads, the host reads will still be there. The creator gets a hundred percent of that revenue.”
What Prithi Dey listens to
While Dey listens and watched a wide range of content for her work, she has a few regulars she doesn’t miss.
“I’m watching more content now than I did previously because it’s actually a really good user experience when I can watch and listen to a podcast. It is easy to toggle between the two.
“I recently started watching a new show called Swag on the Beat. They’re comedians, with a massive social following. They just launched a couple of weeks ago.
“Also Relatables with Jake and Ottie, that’s a video show as well. So those are two local shows. In terms of audio podcasts, I like to listen to a lot of current affairs and I listen to the news.
“I listen to Guardian podcasts and The Daily Aus. I love a good documentary series too.
See also: Spotify’s Now Playing event: Uninterrupted Video Podcasts to roll out first in Australia
Summary: Spotify and video podcasts
Uninterrupted Video Podcasts: Beginning in January, Spotify Premium subscribers in the US, UK, Australia, and Canada can watch their favourite podcasts uninterrupted by dynamic ads.
Spotify Partner Program: Beginning in January, this new program will give eligible creators access to a new monetisation system. The Spotify Partner Program has two components: Premium Video Revenue and Ads.
With new Premium Video Revenue, creators in the US, UK, Canada, and Australia can earn revenue based on video consumption from Spotify Premium subscribers beginning in January.
With Ads, enrolled creators earn a share of revenue every time a dynamic ad monetised by Spotify plays in their episodes both on and off Spotify.
Eligible creators can apply today and learn more at creators.spotify.com
Spotify for Creators: Spotify for Podcasters, Spotify’s free, all-in-one podcast hosting and analytics platform, is evolving to Spotify for Creators to serve the needs of multiformat creators with a more expansive and streamlined platform.
The platform features a new mobile app experience, robust analytics, a suite of new monetisation options, tools to customise shows’ presence on Spotify, creator-fan interactivity features, and turnkey audio and video distribution.
Podcast Clips: Eligible creators will also have the ability to upload short-form, vertical Podcast clips to promote their episodes, and select a custom thumbnail to represent their content on Spotify.
Seamless Streaming: We’re delivering the best viewing experience for audiences by making it easy for fans to stream their favourite video content in the foreground or background without disrupting the experience – whether they are using Spotify Premium or Free. We’re giving fans more content they love and a best-in-class UX so they can easily switch between watching or listening.
Topline Global Stats
• More than 170m users have consumed a podcast on Spotify, up from 10m in 2019.
• There are now more than 300,000 video podcast shows on Spotify.
• More than 250M users have streamed a video podcast on Spotify (based on users who streamed video in background or foreground).
• More than 70% of users consuming video podcasts watch them in the foreground.
• On Spotify, more than 1 in 3 US podcast MAU engage with video, while more than 1 in 4 global podcast MAU engage with video. Video Podcast MAU globally has grown by 60% year on year.
• Premium users listen more than twice as much as Ad-supported users.
• In 2021, 43% of podcast listeners said they preferred video podcasts, and in 2024, that number has grown to more than 64%.
• In 2020, average users were spending 30 hours a month on Spotify. Today it’s closer to 40. And younger subscribers are spending around 60 hours each month on Spotify.
Topline Australian Stats
• The share of podcasts from Australian creators that publish video has grown by more than 60% YoY.
• Video podcast consumption hours in Australia are up 11% YoY.
• Video podcast monthly listeners in Australia are up more than 40% YoY.
• The share of podcast listeners in Australia who watch video podcasts is up almost 25% YoY.
• Australia is the top podcast market in APAC for Spotify (by consumption hours).
• Podcast listeners in Australia are up 13% YoY.
• Podcast consumption hours for local shows in Australia are up 8% YoY.
• Politics & Current Events, Horror, Paranormal & Conspiracy Theories, Business & Technology are the fastest-growing podcast categories on Spotify in Australia.
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