Big news for creators! Today marks the biggest update to podcasts on Spotify ever—including a new monetization program for video podcasts, improved analytics and audience growth tools, new ways to get your podcast discovered on Spotify, and an exciting evolution of the name and brand of our creator platform.
We’ve been in the podcast game since 2019, and while the podcast ecosystem is as vibrant as it’s ever been, the definition of a podcast is now more fluid. Creators are experimenting and engaging audiences in new ways through video, and podcast fans want the flexibility to seamlessly watch or listen to content depending on what they are doing. And it’s clear that video is growing: According to our most recent Fan Study, we’ve seen an 88% surge in users consuming video podcasts in the past year alone.
That’s why we’re announcing an exciting leap forward in our creator ecosystem: Spotify for Podcasters is evolving into Spotify for Creators. It’s a whole new chapter in our ongoing mission to give creators the tools to grow, monetize, and manage a show, whether it features audio, video, or both formats. And to mark this journey, we’ve launched a set of new features that make it easy to be successful on Spotify, no matter what type of show a creator has.
We sat down with Maya Prohovnik, Spotify’s Vice President of Podcast Product, to discuss what this means for creators.
Congratulations on this evolution, Maya! What’s driving these changes?
Thank you! It’s a big day for podcast creators on Spotify. We’ve seen some pretty major shifts across the industry in recent years. Creators are experimenting with different formats to draw in more fans, and audiences are changing their behaviors, too, by watching more of their favorite content instead of just listening. More than 250 million users have watched a podcast on Spotify, and nearly two-thirds of podcast listeners say they prefer podcasts with a video option! As podcasts and their creators evolve, so does Spotify.
We’ve updated the branding of our podcast creator platform from Spotify for Podcasters to Spotify for Creators because it better captures the expansiveness of whom we support today: It’s a platform for both audio and video creators to grow, monetize, and manage content on Spotify. We want to be clear that we’re supporting this evolution and this new generation of podcasters. We’ve massively upgraded our analytics and insights because we know how important understanding is for growth, and giving creators more data continues to be a big area of focus for us.
You mention video. Can you expand on that?
In general, we have been steadily investing in video because of its growing popularity on our platform, and we’ll always focus on things that we believe will make Spotify an even more powerful destination for creators and listeners. For creators, this has meant more tools to engage and connect with fans, better monetization opportunities, and more ways to be discovered and grow. For listeners, we’ve made some great enhancements to the viewing experience. They can still easily switch between watching or listening—whether they’re on Spotify Premium or Free—and now Premium subscribers can watch their favorite video shows uninterrupted by ads. We’re also giving them more ways to discover content because we know podcast fans are always looking for their next favorite show.
So, what does this all mean for the creator community?
We’ve launched some great things for creators today. As mentioned above, the biggest change is that eligible video podcasters now get to offer the best possible version of their content to Spotify Premium subscribers, who can watch it uninterrupted by ads. And they’ll get paid out by Spotify based on actual engagement, which is better for everyone. We’re really excited about this and think this will immediately translate to more audience growth and retention, as well as more revenue, for most video podcasters.
I think podcasters will love the updated Spotify for Creators. This is where any audio or video podcaster can upload their audio and video content, understand their performance with powerful new analytics, interact with their fans, and monetize their show. We’ve also launched new ways for creators to customize their content on Spotify to help them stand out and grow their audience.
And why should they choose Spotify?
In terms of Why Spotify, creators today should have their content wherever audiences are online. Spotify is one of the largest platforms in the world—we have more than 640 million users and more than 250 million subscribers. So I think the opportunity to reach new, highly engaged audiences is high. We also find that, generally, audiences on Spotify are more likely to stay loyal and return to a show they love, compared to other platforms that are more focused on driving users to viral content. But I don’t think it’s about choosing Spotify instead of other platforms; we understand that creators are multiplatform and multiformat, so our goal is just to make sure that access to Spotify and our audience is as easy as possible. We want every creator to have a path to success on our platform, and with today’s updates, we think that’s more true than ever before.
What changes are you most excited about?
I’m excited by the opportunities that the Spotify Partner Program—our powerful new monetization program for creators starting in the U.S., U.K., Canada, and Australia—will unlock. We built it to open more ways for them to earn for their work since we know that’s top of mind for many creators today. With this program, creators can earn a revenue share on ads played on or off Spotify, or they can earn based on how much Premium subscribers stream their video content. The video content will be uninterrupted by ads for Premium viewers.
I also really love our new promotional and discovery features, like custom video thumbnails and podcast clips that we believe will help drive new audiences to shows. We know that both video and audio podcasters are already making promotional clips for their social channels and now, for the first time, they can upload this short-form content directly to Spotify. We’ll surface these clips across Spotify with the goal of converting new potential audiences to stream the full-length episode. And there’s now a Following Feed so audiences can more easily find the content they already know and love, and creators can continue building their loyal fandoms.
We know this is just the start of great things ahead. How should prospective creators get started with Spotify?
I’d say head to creators.spotify.com to learn more and get started. We can’t wait to hear what you think of all these new features!
Check out more coverage from Spotify’s Now Playing event.
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