Spotify Pays $100 Million To Podcast Creators, Aiming To Topple YouTube's Reign

In a move to challenge YouTube’s dominance in the video podcasting arena, Spotify Technology SA SPOT has paid out over $100 million to podcast creators and publishers since January.

What Happened: Spotify’s hefty payout is part of a 2025 initiative to provide new revenue opportunities to eligible hosts. The strategy is designed to draw more creators and their audiences to Spotify, the company told The New York Times's DealBook.

Alphabet‘s GOOG GOOGL YouTube is the largest competitor for Spotify and between 2021 and 2024, the popular video podcasting platform distributed over $70 billion to creators and media companies.

Research from Edison indicates that over half of Americans aged 12 and above have viewed a video podcast, primarily on YouTube. Despite Spotify’s introduction of video podcasts in 2019, YouTube remains the leader with 1 billion monthly podcast consumers. With 170 million monthly podcast listeners out of a total audience of 675 million, Spotify is working to bridge this gap.

Spotify’s new partner program seeks to rival YouTube by encouraging creators to upload videos, offering extra earnings to those who engage premium subscribers. The platform is working to grow its audience and has already seen a 40% rise in video consumption since January.

Alan Abdine, the head of advertising revenue at YMH Studios, called Spotify’s new payment program "a game-changer" and "a very happy surprise."

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Why It Matters: Spotify has been a significant player in the podcast industry, distributing and selling advertising for the world’s biggest podcast, “The Joe Rogan Experience.” The company achieved its first full year of profitability in 2024, and it is expected to report an earnings per share (EPS) of $2.33 in its quarterly earnings. Spotify is scheduled to report its Q1 Earnings on Tuesday.

Even though most companies are struggling with uncertainty in the trade environment, in March, CNBC’s Jim Cramer suggested that subscription-based business models, like Spotify’s, are more likely to withstand economic uncertainty. On the same note, Bank of America (BoFa) analyst Jessica Reif Ehrlich told Yahoo Finance, “It is our view that SPOT’s subscription model should be more defensive/utility-like amid the current macro uncertainty.”

Benzinga's Edge Rankings highlight strong momentum and growth rankings for Spotify in the 98th and 10th percentiles, respectively. Curious how other stocks stack up? Click here to uncover growth and momentum scores for top stocks.

Over the past month, Spotify stock gained 8.67%, while it closed 3.70% lower on Monday, as per Benzinga Pro.