Spotify has paid more than $100 million since January to podcast publishers and creators, the company told the New York Times' Dealbook.
Payments are the result of a program introduced in 2025, opening new revenue streams to eligible hosts. However, it is also an attempt to attract more creators (and their audience) to Spotify, as the rise of video podcasting has been driven to YouTube.
Videos now dominate podcasting. According to the January Edison Survey Report, more than half of Americans over the age of 12 watch video podcasts, but mostly on YouTube. The service reaches 1 billion podcast consumers each month, becoming the dominant platform for Media King and Kingmaker Podcasts, leaving ATIO-only platforms like Spotify and Apple Podcasts in the Dust. (Spotify introduced video podcasts in 2019.)
Compared to YouTube, Spotify has become a vulnerable podcaster, with 170 million podcast listeners per month within a general audience of 675 million. One indication of how far Spotify has to go to catch up with top players: YouTube paid more than $70 billion to creators and media companies from 2021 to 2024.
The company reported revenues on Tuesday, and is expected to earn around 540 million euros pre-tax revenues at 4.2 billion euros, according to S&P Capital IQ.
However, Spotify is listed on the New York Stock Exchange, but is based in Stockholm. It remains a major player in the industry thanks to its talent roster. We distribute and sell advertisements for the world's largest podcast, the Joe Rogan Experience. And it achieved its first year of profitability in 2024 (Rogan's podcast is also available on YouTube).
The new partner program aims to reduce YouTube's advantage. Spotify, like YouTube, was a creator previously paid only by sharing advertising revenue with them. They also offer incentives to upload videos. Qualified creators make additional money based on how much their premium subscribers are involved in the video.
The company is trying to attract more viewers. Spotify announced its partnership program in November, and announced that paid subscribers in certain markets do not need to watch dynamic ads on video podcasts. Video consumption has already increased by more than 40% since January, according to Spotify.
The current question is whether Spotify can convince creators to change their priorities.
David Coles, host of the horror fiction podcast “Just creepy: Scary Stories,” said he is reevaluating the “home platform” after Spotify's revenues have recently surpassed YouTube's revenues. Last quarter, Coles said he received about $45,500 from Spotify. After joining the company's new partner program, his quarterly Spotify revenue rose to around $81,600.
This increase could be even more dramatic for large shows and podcast companies like YMH Studios, a comedy network with 2.1 million YouTube subscribers that produce popular podcasts such as “2 Bears, 1 Cave.” YMH Studios said its quarterly Spotify revenue has more than tripled after joining the partner program, refusing to share accurate numbers.
The creators emphasized that these are still in their early days, but Alan Abin, head of advertising revenue at YMH Studios, called the new payment program a “game changer” and a “very happy surprise.”
