Socioeconomics of podcast listening Engaging a higher value audience

Podcasts alone will struggle to monetise via subscriptions, leaving advertising as podcasts’ key source of revenue for the foreseeable future. However, podcasts do attract high-earning, high-spending audiences, which are often hard to reach with conventional advertising. This makes podcasts uniquely attractive for advertisers, especially those looking to target high value audiences. It is key for podcast platforms to recognise this unique strength of theirs and embrace it, rather than trying to pursue the subscription-related uphill struggle. This report presents data and insights regarding the earning and spending habits of podcast listeners and makes a case for podcast platforms to focus on maximising their advertising opportunity.

Key data and insights:

Analysis: Is the future of podcasts in subscriptions, or in advertising?
Global subscription revenues as a percentage of total industry revenue, for podcasts, games, and recorded music, 2020 – 2030, global
What is the most popular audio format? For monthly, weekly, and daily use
How does podcast and radio usage vary with income? - Podcast and radio weekly active users by income level, Q2 2024
Which platforms do podcast users use to access their podcasts?
How does the use of podcast platforms vary by income level? - Which platforms listeners from different income levels access their podcasts, Q2 2024

This report contains data from:

MIDiA Research Consumer Survey Q2 2024, fielded in US, UK, Australia, Canada, Germany, France, Sweden, South Korea, Brazil, n = 9,000
MIDiA Research Music Forecasts 2024-2031
MIDiA Research Games Forecasts 2023-2030
MIDiA Research Podcast Forecasts 2024-2030

Words: 2368 Pages: 15 Infographics: 3

Companies and brands mentioned: Acast, Amazon, Apple, Downcast, Luminary, Overcast, Spotify, and YouTube

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