Photo Credit: Edison Research
YouTube continues to steamroll Spotify in the podcasting game, despite the latter’s billion-dollar investment in the medium over the last few years.
YouTube has, unsurprisingly, been the dominating force in the video content space for years now. But it’s also the leader in the podcast space in a major way. New data from Edison Research suggests that the Google-owned platform has now overtaken Spotify in the UK as the most popular space for video podcast consumption.
According to the data, 29% of weekly British podcast listeners, aged 15-plus, chose YouTube as the service they most used to consume podcasts. Notably, 28% choose Spotify—so it’s still fairly neck-and-neck.
However, the news still comes as a significant blow to Spotify, which has been investing millions in its podcasting and video infrastructure over the past several years. That includes a partnership with Netflix and buying up podcasting platforms like The Ringer, Gimlet Media, Anchor, Parcast, and the advertising/publishing infrastructure network Megaphone.
Spotify also secured several exclusivity deals with big names in the podcasting space, which have included Joe Rogan ($100 million, then renewed for $250 million) and Alex Cooper’s Call Her Daddy ($60 million). In all, Spotify has spent more than $1 billion on exclusive podcast deals over the years, including partnerships with Kim Kardashian, the Obamas, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, and watched its podcast revenue bloom by 20% from 2021 to 2022.
But Spotify founder and then-CEO Daniel Ek noted that the company’s expensive deals were a drag on margins, which led to a pivot in strategy and resulted in cost-cutting and a slew of cancelled shows and layoffs. That also put the kibosh on Spotify’s strategy of cutting exclusive deals with big-name podcasters.
By late 2024, YouTube was already the go-to destination for podcasts, at least for the majority of Americans, according to Edison. In October of that year, Edison reported that 31% of weekly podcast listeners aged 13 and up chose YouTube as the service they use most to listen to podcasts.
“A few years ago, YouTube might have seemed like an unlikely platform for podcasts. But as the world of podcasting evolves, many podcasters have embraced video podcasting, recording their shows in both audio and video formats,” noted Edison.
“Not only can podcast consumers listen to episodes, but they can also watch video versions of their favorite shows. As video and audio content continue to overlap, creators and listeners are benefitting from more dynamic and engaging experiences.”
Despite injecting over a billion dollars into podcasting, Spotify remains at a disadvantage as podcasting continues to evolve into a video-forward format. While Spotify has been investing in expanding into the format, it’s difficult to pull users who are already used to consuming video content on YouTube. Many users online have expressed disinterest in the increase in video content on Spotify, which they say they use—and want to continue using—only to listen to music.