Spotify Has Paid Out More Than $100 Million to Podcast Creators — and It Isn't Done Giving Away Money Spotify is trying to compete with the podcast industry leader, YouTube.
By Sherin Shibu Edited by Melissa Malamut
Key Takeaways
- Spotify launched a partner program earlier this year that gives creators half of revenue from ads.
- Spotify announced on Monday that it has paid more than $100 million to podcasters since January, in part due to the partner program.
- Spotify has 170 million monthly podcast listeners compared to YouTube’s one billion.
More than one billion people have listened to a podcast on Spotify since it launched podcasts in 2019, Spotify told Entrepreneur on Monday in an email.
The streaming giant also revealed for the first time that the company has paid more than $100 million to podcast publishers and podcasters globally since the start of the year. The payments are partly due to the Spotify Partner Program, which launched on Jan. 2 in the U.S., U.K., Canada, and Australia. The program gives creators a 50% share of revenue from ads.
Related: You Can Now Upload Your Video Podcast to Spotify, Even If You're Hosted on a Competing Platform
The partner program arises as Spotify attempts to bring more video podcast creators to its platform and challenge YouTube's dominance in the podcasting space. According to an Edison Research report from last month, the majority of Americans ages 12 and up have listened to a podcast (70%) or watched a podcast (51%) in their lifetime. The report found that one-third of U.S. weekly listeners turned to YouTube for their podcasts, making YouTube the most popular home for podcast content.
In February, Google reported that more than one billion people watch podcasts every month on YouTube. The New York Times reported that Spotify has 170 million monthly podcast listeners. Spotify says it has a total audience of 675 million.
Spotify's push to bring more creators and listeners to its platform seems to be working — several creators have said that the partner program has increased their views and earnings.
According to a press release from FlightStory, the company behind the popular "The Diary of a CEO" podcast, the show's weekly views increased by over 45% after it joined the Spotify Partner Program.
"Since joining the Spotify Partner Program, we've seen weekly consumption grow by over 45%," said FlightStory's Chief Revenue Officer, Christiana Brenton. "That kind of trajectory is exceptional."
Meanwhile, after receiving a payout from the Spotify Partner Program, David Coles, who hosts the horror podcast "Just Creepy: Scary Stories," told The New York Times that he was reconsidering his "home platform" after his Spotify earnings with partner program payouts were recently higher than his YouTube revenue.
YMH Studios, the company behind the comedy podcast "2 Bears, 1 Cave," told The Times that its quarterly revenue more than tripled after joining the Spotify Partner Program.
YouTube has paid creators, including podcasters, more than $70 billion from 2021 to 2024, per The Times.
How can I qualify for the Spotify Partner Program?
To qualify for the program, creators must host their show on Spotify for Creators, reside within the U.S., U.K., Canada, or Australia, have at least 12 episodes, hit 10,000 hours of views in the past month, and reached at least 2,000 people who have streamed on Spotify in the past 30 days.
Creators have to go to their monetize page in Spotify for Creators to check their eligibility before they apply for the partner program.
