Tag: podcasting insights

Celebrating the Creators and Fans of 2023 With Wrapped for Podcasters

November 29, 2023

Wrapped for Podcasters

Today we kicked off 2023 Spotify Wrapped, our annual campaign that brings creators and fans together to share their love of all things audio. And as Wrapped for Podcasters celebrates its fifth year, we’re thrilled to bring the love, excitement, and data stories to more creators than ever. 

2023 Wrapped for Podcasters is our way to recognize the achievements across our podcast creator ecosystem and offer a unique deep dive into user behavior, Spotify stats, listening trends, and more from the past year. 

Wrapped for Podcasters Sample

“Wrapped is Spotify’s biggest campaign of the year and has become its own moment around the world,” Anna Sian, Head of Marketing at Spotify for Podcasters, tells For the Record. “And from a creator’s audience growth to other milestones they’ve unlocked throughout the year, it’s a trove of really valuable information on their trends from the past year. It’s as personalized as a campaign can possibly get.”

A Really Good Year.

There’s a lot to celebrate this year with podcasts. In 2023, more than 300 million listeners discovered their new favorite podcasts, and they were engaged, responding to more than 14 million creator polls. Of the shows receiving a podcaster Wrapped this year, over one-third were created in 2023, with more than 760 million minutes recorded overall. 

At Spotify, we’ve also been busy: doubling down on giving creators more data and better tools. We’ve increased our focus on creator education throughout the year so more podcasters understand ways to grow their show and be successful. “With Spotify for Podcasters programs like Masterclass and the release of our recent Fan Study report,” explains Anna, “our goal is to help creators learn from their peers and develop strong bonds within the podcasting community.” 

All About Growth

“It may come as no surprise that podcast creators are obsessed with their shows’ growth,” Anna says. “They work hard to perfect every episode, so they want to know their show is resonating with fans and finding new listeners. Their unwavering dedication to understanding listener data is the driving inspiration behind Wrapped for Podcasters.”

Like previous years, the core experience is rooted in a microsite that delivers a personalized experience to each podcaster, with listener data and creator trends framed in the context of the past year. Top episodes, most-shared episodes, average podcast rating, global listener stats, and year-over-year growth are all there for creators to dig into.

This year we’re adding even more tools and insights to Wrapped for Podcasters, including the top music genre streamed by a show’s podcast listeners and a new data story featuring fan engagement insights that includes a quiz around your most-talked-about episode. 

It’s the Journey

“Listening to a podcast is like having a creator as your best friend,” explains Anna. “They’re with you on your commute, while you’re washing dishes, making you laugh or sharing some tears with you. Wrapped for Podcasters provides the perfect opportunity for creators to acknowledge their fans who have come along on their journeys, stuck around, and become a part of the conversation.”

Dig into a world of data and read all about it in the Spotify for Podcasters blog.

Podcasters Can Better Connect to Their Audiences With the Insights From Our Latest Fan Study

November 9, 2023

We know that podcasters of all sizes want to share their stories with the world, and we’re committed to providing them with the best tools and platform to do so. But creating and sustaining a podcast requires a lot of decisions, and it’s often helpful to leverage the experiences and wisdom of others when embarking on a new creative journey. 

That’s why we are releasing our second Fan Study for podcasters, a collection of data-driven insights about creation trends and fan listening behaviors. Fan Study offers creators a snapshot of listener behaviors through a macro lens so they can get big-picture, industry-level insights that weren’t previously accessible. Alongside each insight, we provide actionable recommendations so podcasters can leverage this information into action—from which month is most popular for listeners to how fans crave interactivity.  

“Our Fan Study gives creators insights that they can immediately put into action, says Spotify associate director of brand marketing for podcasting Clara Prieto. “Regardless of what stage a podcaster is in, we know they all want to grow their shows and foster a dedicated and engaged community. With access to more data and global listening and creation trends, podcasters can reach wider audiences, build meaningful connections with fans, and maximize their presence on Spotify.” 

Jon Youshaei, host of Created with Jon Youshaei, got early access to our Fan Study and found the insights “super helpful. Especially the insights and takeaways section,” he said. “It’s great to know ideal posting times and trending genres to best engage with our audience. To achieve global growth, it’s crucial to understand listening behaviors around the world. The data helps us make changes to our podcast with these listening patterns in mind.”

To create Fan Study, Spotify for Podcasters partnered with Spotify data scientists to identify the top insights. Here are some of our findings, as well as Jon’s own tips for burgeoning creators based on his favorite results. 

Being Seen

  • Video podcasts are growing in popularity across the spectrum, but some categories have more viewership than others. When it comes to consumption of video podcasts, comedy emerges as the top category. 
  • From 1 a.m. to 5 p.m., audiences are more likely to listen to the audio-only experience of video podcasts. When evening rolls around (6 p.m. to midnight), fans tend to watch video podcasts since they’re winding down and primed for “leaned-in” viewing. 

Jon’s rec: “The evenings are your golden hours! Schedule out your social posts and CTAs in the evening to get your audiences watching.”

Being Heard

  • Audiences listen to podcasts more often during the weekdays, with 78% of consumption taking place Monday through Friday and 22% on Saturdays and Sundays. Commutes are prime time for podcasts during the week, with listenership spiking at 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. On Saturdays and Sundays, podcast consumption spikes between 11 a.m. and noon, with smaller upticks in the evening.
  • When breaking down audience insights into podcast categories, we see that audiences’ daily listening behaviors vary. Podcasts falling under the religion & spirituality, arts, history, health & fitness, science, and fiction genres have higher listenership during mornings and late nights, while leisure (games & hobbies) and kids & family see a spike during the evenings.
  • In 2022, people were more likely to start listening to new shows during January, March, July, and October. 

Jon’s rec: “Plan your content accordingly! Make sure to sync your best content, and your content pushes, with the four top months.”

Being Connected

  • Fans crave interaction. 73% of listeners said they are interested in finding more opportunities to interact with their favorite podcast hosts. 
  • On average, listeners who answer a host’s question using our Q&A feature consume 2.35x more hours of the show per month than those who do not. Converting new listeners to loyal fans may require new engagement strategies.
  • The number-one way people find new podcasts is by hearing about them on a show they already listen to (54%). This is closely followed by recommendations from friends and family (53%) and browsing Spotify (50%). Discovery patterns vary depending on demographics. Gen Z is more likely to use social media in their search—1.5x more likely compared to Gen X or Baby Boomers, who are more likely to turn to articles, blogs, and newsletters. 

Jon’s rec: “Add and customize questions for your episodes! I know it sounds simple, but users who engage with those questions on average stick around for twice as long.”

Find the complete Fan Study insights on Spotify for Podcasters.

Spotify’s Podcasting Leaders Share Their Top 6 Takeaways From Podcast Movement

August 23, 2023

Podcast icons header

As podcast listenership has grown, a global community of creators has risen to meet the demand, bringing fans shows that entertain, engage, and inform. In our ongoing effort to support the podcast creators of today and tomorrow, we’re sponsoring a day of programming at this year’s Podcast Movement, the world’s largest gathering for the podcast industry, held August 21-24 in Denver.

The six Spotify-sponsored sessions featured many of our top leaders and creators in podcasting. The sessions offered a glimpse of what’s next for the industry, and examined the latest interactivity, monetization, and marketing tools available to all creators.

For the Record reached out to the session leaders to ask about the key takeaways from their respective sessions.

Looking Ahead: What’s Next for Podcasters on Spotify

Austin Lamon, Director of Product, Podcasts, Spotify 

“My hope is attendees leave Podcast Movement with an understanding of how Spotify is working to build a more robust podcast ecosystem that serves creators, listeners, and advertisers at scale. I was excited to be the opening session, walking the audience through the future of podcasts on Spotify, and specifically, our plans to bring better tools and more actionable insights to creators, publishers, and advertisers.”

From Audio to Video: Embracing the Evolution of Podcast Formats

Jordan Newman, Director, Head of Partner Management, Spotify 

“Video adds a new level of dimensionality and dynamism to the podcast format. We’ve seen video become core to the listening experience, with top shows all around the world adopting this format for their fans on Spotify. My session was full of insights and best practices to help more creators navigate the transition from audio to video.”

How to Future Proof Your Podcast Marketing Strategy

Rae Palermo, Senior Manager, Megaphone Publisher Solutions, Spotify 

“Attendees heard from true insiders on what works and what doesn’t when it comes to audience growth and listener conversion, what data is critical, and fresh ideas that they’ll want to utilize for their own podcast marketing success. This session was for those who’ve ever Googled ‘how to grow a podcast audience’ and been disappointed with the same recycled information. Everyone got to hear unique takeaways from some of the most innovative minds in podcasting!”

Podcast Interactivity 2.0: Fan Engagement

Reesha Sodha, Associate Director, Product Marketing, Spotify 

“It’s clear that creators continue to look for ways to build community with their listeners and fans, which makes this an exciting time for us as a platform as we look for new ways to help creators turn podcasts from a one-way medium to a two-way conversation. The work we have done on Q&As and polls has enabled creators to strengthen their community directly on Spotify, which is exciting because that’s where their listeners are already tuning in. We look forward to learning alongside our creators as we iterate and improve on these products in the coming months.”

Building a Sustainable Monetization Strategy

Dave Zohrob, Product Director, Enterprise Podcast Platform at Spotify

“We touched on the most important topics for enterprise publishers—monetization, audience growth, video, and measurement. Attendees learned how Megaphone and the Spotify Audience Network fit into publishers’ monetization strategies, what kinds of measurement and analytics advertising agencies are looking for now, how top publishers think about video podcasts, and how podcasters balance audience growth alongside revenue growth.”