Is Spotify Overtaking Apple in Podcast Listenership

What platform are you listening to this podcast episode on right now?

As a podcast host, you want to know where listeners are going to source their shows. In this episode I talk about which platforms have the market share so you can make sure your show is available to all those hungry listeners out there.

I give some up to date stats about Apple and Spotify and how things have changed quite drastically for them in terms of listenership. I also talk about what most podcasts are doing in terms of frequency of delivery and episode length, which confirms the recommendations I’ve been sharing with you all.

Statistics don’t lie people!

Transcript:

Welcome to Pump Up Your Pod.
00:10
What is the market share on podcast listeners? As in where are most people listening to their podcast episodes? That is a good question that I often like to delve into. And see how people are listening to shows Buzzsprout does a really good job of breaking that down. Now, their stats are only based off of the podcasts that are on Buzzsprout. But it gives you enough of an idea because basically, wherever your show is hosted, you're still going to have the same kind of metrics as to how people are listening to the show, because they don't know what house you're on. It's just they're listening to it on whatever platform makes sense for the listener. So these will apply no matter where you host your show.

The interesting thing that I find with this particular latest round of stats that Buzzsprout has done is that Apple podcasts is now no longer the far out leader in how people are listening to shows. Spotify is now neck and neck 29.3% Each is just a huge difference to a couple of months ago used to be Apple was the winner, for sure. So that means that Apple podcasts and Spotify are really competing against each other at this point. And I find this extra interesting because only a month or so ago, Apple podcasts announced that they are going to have a subscription option for podcast creators, where people can subscribe to a show, give that creator a couple of dollars to support them in, you know, their craft in doing their show and putting it out there. And I was thinking at the time, Spotify is gotta be having something they're gonna be thinking of something because otherwise, you know, podcast creators are going to jump ship and want everything hosted on Apple so that they don't miss out on revenue. But Spotify announced only a couple of weeks ago that they are now going to be doing basically the same thing.

There's a few catches with the Spotify thing that I don't like, and I'm not going to go into it in this particular video. But I do find it very interesting that Apple podcasts and Spotify are now neck and neck with how people are actually listening to show Spotify is doing a great job in marketing. And it's it's just paying off, which is awesome. The next thing to note there is that number three down the list. So we've got Apple podcasts, Spotify 29.3 Each percent.
The next one is Google podcasts. And that's at 2.8%. There is a massive jump between 29.3 and 2.8. So basically most of the people that are listening to your show are in either Apple podcasts or Spotify, then you've got Google podcasts, castbox, you're in bed player, overcast, that sort of thing. And they're all just tiny in comparison to those big hitters. The one I find interesting is Amazon music being at point 7%.

Now, Amazon music, you got to think about this kind of stuff, because Amazon music is only very new to the game of actually allowing podcast to be on Amazon music. So you might find over time, especially because people have you know, Alexa devices and that sort of thing that maybe that particular percentage might go up considerably, but maybe not as well, you know.
So it's interesting, I find it interesting to really delve into how people are listening to shows and making sure that you are in these places. If you're in a good host like Buzzsprout, then they're going to like you can distribute to all these places and all your bases are covered. But you do want to make sure that you are in the places that the market share is the highest for short.

Now the other thing that I wanted to just touch on in this particular page, which I will leave a link to in the show notes as well. This little one down the bottom episodes published every, like how often people publish episodes, and it is 38% do three to seven days 39% Your eight to 14 days 15 to 29 days is 15%.
So most people are releasing shows between three and 14 days, which is something that I harp on about quite a lot as far as how frequently and that is one of my previous podcast episodes as well. How frequently should you be releasing podcast episodes, and that's what the bulk of people are doing. They're doing it within that three to 14 day, you know, not really over that 14 day mark as much.

Then the other thing that I found interesting was the duration of episodes, which is mostly most people are releasing episodes that are 20 to 40 minutes in length, which is what I've said in a previous podcast episode as well, is that 20 to 40 minute mark is like, you know, it's the best as far as producing stuff that people will actually listen to 40 to 60 minutes was actually quite a high number as well at 23%. And, you know, there are a lot of shows, and certainly we do produce a lot of shows that have longer interviews.
And I have said that, that, you know, if you've got a longer interview, it's okay, because it's hard to get everything out that you want to say in 30 minutes in an interview, depending on the style of the podcast, and what the purpose of it is.

So this is a really good page to check out. If you find this kind of stuff interesting, which I know I do. buzzsprout.com/global_stats is where to find it. And just be aware of what the big players are, and servicing that making sure that you're on Apple podcasts and Spotify that those are the links that you make sure you have somewhere on your website for people to actually click on and subscribe. You need those buttons because that's where most people are. And that would be my recommendation. That's it for today. I hope you enjoyed it. And I hope you have a lovely day. Bye