Spotify announced Wednesday that it will start paying podcast hosts to produce popular videos on its streaming platform, aiming to take over YouTube's dominance in the video podcast space. The company announced a new “partner program” that will allow creators to monetize their content beyond ad revenue.
Creators can already monetize their podcasts on the platform, but are now encouraged to publish a video component alongside their podcasts.
Spotify is taking a page from YouTube's book by paying podcast hosts based on engagement with their shows. The Google-owned platform pays creators billions of dollars a year in ad revenue shares.
The company also plans to allow premium subscribers to watch video podcasts without ads. Spotify says the change will allow listeners to access videos without interruption and may make people more inclined to watch more content on the platform.
Spotify is one of the leading services for listening to podcasts, but YouTube still has a big lead when it comes to overall video. Spotify seems to be hoping that by offering listeners an uninterrupted listening experience, people will choose to listen to video podcasts on its own platform instead of YouTube.
Spotify says more than 250 million users have listened to video podcasts on its platform since launching the format in 2022. The company also said that nearly two-thirds of podcast listeners say they prefer podcasts that include a video component.
Additionally, the number of creators publishing videos on Spotify each month has increased by more than 50% year over year. Spotify also revealed that it currently has more than 300,000 video podcast shows on its platform.
Spotify CEO Daniel Ek said in a blog post: “By delivering a best-in-class video service without being interrupted by ad breaks, and combining Spotify's flexibility and ubiquity, “We can provide users with a better experience than any other platform.” “And by giving creators a new path to monetization beyond advertising, we’re giving them more time to do what they love: create.”
The changes announced Wednesday will take effect on January 2, 2025 in the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, and Canada. Eligible creators can apply to join the Spotify Partner Program and start monetizing their video podcasts.
Spotify has announced that it is embracing video content and will be adding more video features, including chapters, comments, pinch to zoom, and thumbnail scrubbing. The streaming service is also making it easier to discover video content by enhancing personalized video recommendations across its apps.
Spotify also announced that creators can now upload clips directly to Spotify to promote their podcasts. These clips appear in users' home feeds, podcast feeds, browsing pages, and Now Playing view. The company says the addition is not intended to make Spotify “yet another place to watch short-form content,” but rather hopes that these clips will help drive people to longer-form episodes. said.
Additionally, creators on Spotify will be able to choose thumbnails for their video podcasts, similar to YouTube. Additionally, Spotify has redesigned its Creator Dashboard to make it easier for creators to see analytics of their performance and growth.