Sorry Spotify, YouTube is now officially the biggest podcast platform in the world

Summary

YouTube has announced that it has over one billion monthly podcast viewers.
According to Edison Research, YouTube is the leading platform for podcast listening in the US and is the top choice for discovering new podcasts.
In September 2023, Spotify reported it had 100 million regular podcast listeners, a far cry from YouTube’s current numbers.

Podcasts have become a major phenomenon in the past few years, and many creators are pivoting to the popular format to grow their audiences. While podcasts initially started out as an audio-only experience, many creators quickly turned to publishing them in a video format also on places like YouTube, and it seems their popularity has exploded.

In a recent blog post, YouTube announced that over one billion people on its platform tune in to podcasts monthly — a staggering one-eighth of the world’s population. While YouTube isn’t traditionally a podcasting platform, it appears to have become the leader in the space. Podcasts are not just popular on mobile devices and computers either; YouTube reports that viewers watched more than 400 million hours of podcasts monthly on their TVs in 2024.

“Podcasts with video are more than just a trend, they meet audiences where they are: on YouTube,” the company said in a blog post. “We’ve specifically developed our podcast product experience to make it easier for fans to find podcasts they love, discover new ones, and watch (or listen!) wherever they want.”

YouTube Premium

What’s included?: YouTube and YouTube Music add-free and in the background
Price: $14 a month
Live TV: No

The Spotify and YouTube icons on either side of an Android phone.

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Viewers flock to YouTube for podcasts in the US

Spotify is doubling down on its video efforts

YouTube app on an iPhone with a purple background.

According to Edison Research, YouTube is the leading platform for podcast listening in the US and the first place people turn to for discovering new podcasts. YouTube also seems to be outperforming its competitors significantly. In September 2023, Spotify announced it had 100 million regular podcast listeners, with half a billion users having listened to a podcast on its platform since 2019. Although those figures are over a year old, they still fall far short of YouTube’s billion monthly podcast viewers.

Spotify has been pushing for video podcasts recently, and creators can upload video formats of their podcasts for users to watch or listen to. Last year, Spotify said it was doubling down on its efforts to deliver “best-in-class-video” and a podcasting experience that is “superior to any platform.” However, it seems the company has its work cut out to catch up to YouTube.

As someone who subscribes to both Spotify and YouTube Premium, I’m not too surprised to hear about these numbers for YouTube. I find myself turning to full-length podcasts on YouTube more than on Spotify simply because the video format is more engaging. However, one drawback of YouTube for podcasts is that if you’re listening on a mobile device, you have to pay for YouTube Premium to hear it in the background.