YouTube and Spotify take over Apple as main podcast platforms
Apple has dominated the podcasting platform game for almost 20 years, since adding the then-nascent format to iTunes. Two decades later, the competitors have caught up.
This is according to new insights from Cumulus Media and Signal Hill Insights, who found that YouTube and Spotify are now the two most prominent places from where people access podcasts.
This is American data, based on a survey, but it found that 31% of respondents primarily access podcasts through YouTube, with 21% using Spotify to listen.
Apple listeners now make up just 12% of the podcasting public, a mighty fall from a virtual monopoly. A few clues can be found in the reporting data, which notes that “since 2022, surveys include people who watch podcasts in addition to listening”. This is a huge portion of podcast imbibers, and this recent addition shows that Apple’s dominance may have actually faded some time ago.
In July 2019, 29% of weekly podcast listeners used Apple, compared to 16% through Spotify, and 15% through YouTube. Given that millions of Joe Rogan YouTube video podcast viewers weren’t being counted in 2019, these figures aren’t representative of how people actually consume podcasts.
“YouTube is the entryway into podcasting, whereas you could make a strong argument that using Apple Podcasts was the predominant way to become a podcast listener and consumer if you go back 10 years,” reasons Paul Riismandel, president at Signal Hill Insights.
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