From completion rates to favorite genres, we’ve put together everything you need to know about your audience’s listening trends—and how you can use them to level up your podcast.
REACH
reach
INSIGHT 01
Did you know that Gen Z's podcast discovery is growing at more than twice the rate of other age groups?
Podcast Discovery Growth By Age Group
We looked at the percent change from the average number of podcast shows discovered from April 1st to June 30th of 2021 to the number of podcast shows discovered from April 1st to June 30th of 2022 for each age group.
When you think of typical podcast listeners, your mind may go to an older demographic. But the data tells a different story. In fact, of all the age groups, Gen Z is actually discovering podcast content at a rate more than double that of any other generation.
action:
This Spotify study explains why Gen Z is the fastest growing podcast audience, and can help you explore new ways to pique their interest.
reach
INSIGHT 02
Even the smallest podcasts often have listeners from around the world.
Correlation between Average Number of Countries and Listeners
We looked at podcast shows with up to 100 listeners from April 1st to June 30th of 2022.
On average, a show with 30 listeners has users from five different countries. You read that right – that’s a much more global audience than you might have expected when you started your podcast. In fact, for every 10 listeners you gain, on average, 1 new listener will come from a different country. Now’s your time to think big! With a more worldwide fan base, you can get more creative with where you advertise, or even where you do live shows.
action:
Find out how to grow your podcast globally to connect with fans across the world. Read more.
reach
INSIGHT 03
While Comedy is the most popular genre globally, the other fan favorite genres vary widely across regions.
Popular Genres by Region
We looked at the relative popularity of podcast genres in each global region based on listening hours from April 1st to June 30th of 2022.
Listeners around the world have a wide range of favorite genres, but compared to the average of the global audience, some regions have clear favorites. For example, we see that compared to other regions, Latin America loves Fiction podcasts, while the US and Canada over index* on Kids & Family and Asia Pacific over indexes on Religion & Spirituality shows.
*over index in this case means the ratio of a region’s percent listening hours per genre to the global percent of listening hours per genre.
action:
Discover how your favorite genre performs in your target region and brainstorm ways to incorporate these topics. Not sure where to start? This article will help you find and build your audience for your podcast niche or genre.
reach
INSIGHT 04
Your fans have a more complex listening palette than you may think.
Percentage of Genre Overlap
We looked at the audience overlap between podcast genres based on a random sample of 3M podcast listeners from April 1st to June 30th of 2022.
We took a look at how fandoms overlap across podcast categories, and you may be surprised at some of the crossover – for example, starting from the top left side of the graph below, 31% of Arts listeners also listen to Comedy, however only 18% of Comedy listeners also tune in to Arts podcasts.
action:
Learn how other genres compare to your podcast’s genre, and how they can complement each other —from cross-promotion with other creators, to inviting new co-hosts that bring a new perspective. Read more.
engagement
engagement
INSIGHT 01
In a world of short attention spans, you might be surprised at how long podcast fans will listen.
Completion Rate And Average Duration Based By Genre
We looked at to what extent listeners listen to the entirety of a podcast episode as well as the episode's average duration by genre from April 1st to June 30th of 2022.
Knowing your audience is listening to a podcast episode from start to finish is incredibly rewarding, but you might be surprised to know that episode completion rate* varies from genre to genre. Listeners may be willing to spend time digging into a True Crime mystery from start to finish, or tuning in to catch the highlights of a Tech podcast. Depending on your genre, shorter isn’t always better – especially in a time when bite-sized content seems ubiquitous.
*Completion Rate is the ratio of minutes of episode consumed / total minutes of episode length.
action:
What's your show's current runtime and completion rate? Checkout the completion rate trends and average episode duration in your genre, and compare to your show's performance on your Spotify for Podcasters dashboard.
engagement
INSIGHT 02
Fans who follow your podcast will listen to 4X the number of episodes.
Average Number of Streams by Followers vs. Non-Followers
We looked at average podcast episode consumption of followers versus non-followers from April 1st to June 30th of 2022.
Your followers are notified when your new episodes are available on their Spotify homepage, so it should come as no surprise that your podcast followers are much more likely to actually consume your content than those who don't. With so much focus on gaining new listeners, your loyal listeners shouldn’t be overlooked — making sure they are following your show so that they will be notified and listen on a regular basis.
action:
Remind your listeners to follow your show on Spotify and across your other touch points: your podcast website, social channels, newsletter, and more. Read more.
engagement
INSIGHT 03
Stick with it. The biggest growth happens for your podcast during the first four months.
Average Listener Size Based On Show Maturity
We looked at average listener size based on podcast show maturity from April 1st to June 30th of 2022.
Rome wasn’t built in a day, and the same can be said for your potential podcasting success. It’s easy to get disheartened when it feels like your podcast isn’t taking off the way you want it to, but there’s often a light at the end of the tunnel! Podcasts on Spotify tend to see their biggest traction within the first four months of your show’s history.
At Spotify, our Fan Study helps music artists uncover insights about how fans listen all over the world. We’re excited to bring those same tools and resources to our first-ever podcast edition—helping creators better understand fans and trends on Spotify to make more informed decisions.
METHODOLOGY & DISCLAIMERS
reach
INSIGHT 01
We looked at the percent change from the average number of podcast shows discovered from April 1st to June 30th of 2021 to the number of podcast shows discovered from April 1st to June 30th of 2022 for each age group.
reach
INSIGHT 02
We looked at podcast shows with up to 100 listeners from April 1st to June 30th of 2022.
reach
INSIGHT 03
We looked at the relative popularity of podcast genres in each global region based on listening hours from April 1st to June 30th of 2022.
reach
INSIGHT 04
We looked at the audience overlap between podcast genres based on a random sample of 3M podcast listeners from April 1st to June 30th of 2022.
engagement
INSIGHT 01
We looked at to what extent listeners listen to the entirety of a podcast episode as well as the episode's average duration by genre from April 1st to June 30th of 2022.
engagement
INSIGHT 02
We looked at average podcast episode consumption of followers versus non-followers from April 1st to June 30th of 2022.
engagement
INSIGHT 03
We looked at average listener size based on podcast show maturity from April 1st to June 30th of 2022.
All insights are based on data that looks at consumption of all podcast shows hosted on Spotify (excluding Spotify Original & Exclusive content) from April 1st to June 30th of 2022.