All of us are listening to podcasts, as has been demonstrated by the reveal of Spotify's end of 2019 numbers.
All media forms have evolved, and continue to evolve, almost more quickly than some of us can keep up with them. Physical forms of media have almost been replaced entirely as we turn to streaming services and want our media on-demand. As time has passed, it felt like radio had been left behind. However, in a way, even that medium has evolved.
It has evolved into podcasts. Yes, they're on-demand, but podcasts are effectively talk radio that we listen to whenever we want. What's even better is we don't have to rely on a radio show host to talk about a topic we might like. There are podcasts about almost everything, and fans of them can pick and choose which ones they want to listen to.
There was a time when podcasts felt like the new and hip thing to do. Well, that's not the case any longer. Everyone is listening to them, as was revealed by Spotify's end of 2019 numbers reported by Business Insider. Spotify users listened to 200% more hours in 2019 than they did in 2018. That is quite the boom, and it is only going to continue to grow on the platform.
via Business Insider
That's because Spotify has just acquired The Ringer, a podcast network headed up by Bill Simmons. That makes four big podcast acquisitions in 12 months for Spotify, hence the growth in podcast numbers. The Ringer joins Gimlet, Anchor, and Parcast under the Spotify podcast umbrella, so we can expect those hours-listened to increase again in 2020, and perhaps the acquisitions will keep on coming.
As for Spotify as a whole, it seems to be doing pretty well for itself, podcasts or otherwise. 124 million people worldwide have paid subscriptions to the service, while an additional 153 million people use the ad-supported free service. Both numbers have increased each and every quarter since the first quarter of 2017. Apparently, 16% of those subscribers are listening to podcasts on the platform, so as much success as podcasts are having on Spotify, there is still plenty of room for improvement.
If you want to learn more about Spotify podcasts and maybe even start one on your own, check out the official Spotify for Podcasters page.
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