The audio listener is too valuable for the music industry to ignore

On the heels of positive Q4 2024 financials for Spotify, the National Music Publishers Association (NMPA) has not lost a step in holding the company accountable for what it sees as unauthorised music usage. On February 4, 2025, Spotify released their fourth quarter earnings, which boasted 12% year-on-year growth in monthly active users, 11% year-on-year growth in subscribers, and 16% year-on-year growth in revenue – not to mention 330,000 video podcasts having been streamed by 270 million listeners. According to Music Business Worldwide, that very same day, NMPA’s David Israelite launched an extensive takedown campaign, accusing Spotify of enabling widespread copyright infringement in podcasts. 

In 2024, MIDiA covered both NMPA and Spotify’s ongoing feud over subscription bundling audiobooks and music and also the hurdles and opportunities for music in podcasting. In this latest action taken by the NMPA, the feud is now boiling over into podcasting, and given Spotify’s recent win in court on bundling, the NMPA is doing what it can to play any cards it has left. With a potential opportunity for spoken word audio to have a net positive effect on music and musicians’ bottom line, the question is whether the NMPA is shuffling the deck in the right way.

According to MIDiA’s newest report, "Audio’s entertainment value: Examining audio listeners’ cross-entertainment lives", podcasts and audiobooks have the potential to provide music rightsholders with one of the highest value audience segments out there. Across the board, data shows audio listeners are more willing than music streamers to engage with digital marketing efforts like pre-saves or listening to, add music to their collections, listen to songs they have heard on TikTok, listen to full albums on streaming services, listen to editorial playlists, and listen to songs they have Shazamed. Thus, targeting audio audiences with music (e.g., on podcasts) helps rightsholders improve conversion, engagement, and fandom. 

The benefit does not just stop at marketing. Audio listeners are also more likely to go to live shows, buy merch, pay for digital music downloads, and purchase CDs and vinyl than the average consumer. In an industry where marginal wins at scale make all the difference, the music industry would do well not to neglect the high value opportunities that exist within this audience segment.

All this is not to say that fair licensing procedures should not be put in place – especially if copyrighted material is being used without permission; however, there are abundant opportunities in audio that continue to go unnoticed as other industries attempt to defend their own value. The reality is that podcasts and audiobooks are not going away, and neither are multi-format platforms like Spotify, so understanding how to extract value from multiple formats may be just as worthwhile as defending the value of a single format. 

The important thing to note is that audio listener data shows that they are active consumers of music who will pay for a premium product or experience. But their high value behaviour is not exclusive to music and carries over into other formats like social video, television, and games. As such, every segment of the entertainment industry should consider how to reach these audiences where they are, whether that means investing in podcast advertising, doing podcast interviews and audiobook readings, or working out blanket licensing deals with platforms like Spotify. As the entertainment industry continues to adapt to a digital-first world, understanding and targeting the unique behaviours of audio listeners will be crucial for brands and creators looking to tap into the most valuable consumer segments in entertainment today.

To learn more about how audio listeners engage with entertainment formats from music to television and gaming, download our new report, "Audio’s entertainment value: Examining audio listeners’ cross-entertainment lives", here.