Image credit: MIDiA

A report from research and analysis firm MIDiA suggests Spotify Podcasts is the most widely used podcast platform with 42% of all podcast listeners.

MIDiA’s latest report surveyed 6,000 people in the US, Canada, Australia, UK, Germany and France. Podcast users represented 780 respondents. Leading to roughly 14% of the population of these countries thought to be podcast listeners.

The report shows Spotify in the lead with 42% of podcast listeners, followed by Apple Podcasts in second place with 32%. Spotify were second in the Q4 2019 report. To be 10% above Apple Music in 6 months shows staggering growth.

Podcasts on the whole are on the up, however 14% is still a relatively small market that podcasts platforms are looking to expand. MIDiA say “This means that podcasts are at the ‘critical mass’ phase of adoption, where usage starts to move from early adopters towards the mainstream.” Also suggesting a change of podcast content could be the key to bringing in the mainstream.

These analytics only show volumes of listeners, MIDiA stress this is a simple survey that doesn’t suggest how often each user of each platform listens to podcasts or how many podcasts they are subscribed to.

Spotify has heavily invested into podcast content over the last few years. They are unlikely to see much return on their investment for a while, as the majority of podcasts monetisation is ad-based. Spotify are hoping to take radio listeners by offering all the music and spoken word content you need. In the same way Netflix took away many TV viewers.

In the UK, BBC Sounds shows how a traditional radio broadcaster can adapt their model to suit modern times, offering radio shows, podcasts and music on-demand. BBC Sounds represents the second-most used podcast platform in the UK.

Spotify’s Q3 2020 results show 22% of their monthly active users are listening to podcasts.