Spotify has reached an important milestone in its podcast efforts, announcing it paid over $100 million to podcast publishers and creators worldwide in the first quarter of 2025.
This large investment shows Spotify’s commitment to supporting creators and increases its competition with YouTube in the fast-growing video podcast market.
The $100 million payout, shared publicly for the first time, includes money from advertising and earnings through the new Spotify Partner Program.
This program, which is available in the U.S., U.K., Canada, and Australia, offers creators flexible ways to earn money, including payments based on engagement from Spotify Premium video and shared advertising revenue across Spotify Free and other podcast platforms.
Early results show the program is gaining popularity, with participating creators seeing their earnings grow by 23% from January to February and by 29% from February to March.
This financial commitment shows Spotify’s strategy to attract and keep top podcast talent, especially those using video, a format where YouTube has usually been stronger. Research from 2024 found that YouTube was the most popular platform for podcast listening in the U.S., followed by Spotify.
By providing new ways to earn money and improving the listener experience, like removing ads from video podcasts for Premium subscribers, Spotify is challenging YouTube’s position.
Shows in the Spotify Partner Program, like Your Mom’s House and The Rest Is Politics: US, have already seen significant increases in weekly viewership since joining.
Popular creators like Joe Rogan and Alex Cooper, whose shows are not exclusive to Spotify but still available there, can also benefit from the partner program.
While Spotify’s $100 million payout is big for its podcasting section, it competes in a crowded market with high payouts from other platforms like YouTube, which paid out $70 billion to all sorts of creators between 2021 and 2023.
However, Spotify is focusing specifically on the podcast creator community, signaling its goal to be the top platform for both audio and video podcasts. The company is attracting major advertisers like McDonald’s and Google to its Spotify Audience Network, which increases earning chances for creators.
As Spotify gets ready to share its full earnings report for the first quarter, this $100 million payout highlights its dedication to helping creators succeed and solidifying its status as a main platform for podcasters who want to reach a global audience and build sustainable careers.