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Podcast Statistics All Brands Need to Know - 2021

Podcast Statistics All Brands Need to Know - 2021

20 podcast statistics that all marketers should know
July 26, 2022
Contents

What’s been happening in the podcasting space throughout 2021? To sum it up… a lot. We wanted to break down important podcast statistics that all marketers should know. These stats are crucial for brands to start understanding the power of audio, so if you’re representing a brand and thinking about starting a podcast - this is for you! 

Growth 

1. In the US, podcast familiarity has risen to 78% of the total population, up 3% from 2020. 

2. In the US, podcast listening has risen to 57% of the total population, up 2% from 2020. 

3. Monthly podcast consumers grew by 16% year-over-year, cresting 100 million Americans for the first time. 

4. Weekly podcast listening has risen to 28%, up 4% from 2020. 

5. There are over 2 million valid podcasts on Apple Podcasts. 

6. Spotify has spent over $800 million on podcast related acquisitions.

Demographics

7. In 2021, men listening to podcasts has risen to 48% while women listening to podcasts has risen 49%. 

8. The most popular age group for podcast listening is 12-34. 

9. 66% of podcast listeners have a bachelor’s or higher degree.  

Listening

10. The average time spent listening to podcasts is 6 hours and 39 minutes. 

11. Weekly podcast listeners average at listening to about 6 podcasts per week. 

12. Youtube listening is down to 9% in the US, was sitting at 11% in 2018. 

13. News, comedy, and education are the most popular podcasting genres.

14. 52% of podcast listeners are listening for primary content while 48% are listening for background noise.

15. 56% of podcast listeners prefer to listen to podcasts on the same platform that they listen to music.

16. 77% of podcast listeners agree that the "host personality" is important when deciding what podcasts to listen to.

Podcast Advertising 

17. Ad revenue will increase by 14.7% in 2020 despite COVID-19. Prior to COVID-19, it was predicted that podcast ad revenue would grow by 29.6% in 2020.  

18. DTC brands (22%) and financial services (16%) make up top podcast advertisers. 

19. 87% of podcast listeners pay attention to podcast ads

20. 54% are more likely to consider the brand advertised (only 7% are less likely)

21. 72% of people who have listened to a podcast for four or more years have made a purchase

22. 60% of podcast listeners have bought something from a podcast ad.

23. 66% of podcast listeners are more likely to llisten to a podcast if it is recommended or promoted by a podcast that they already listen to.

 

Sources 

  1. IAB
  2. Edison Research
  3. The Infinite Dial
  4. Midroll
  5. Statista
  6. My Podcast Reviews
  7. Billboard
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About the author

A passionate storyteller, Ali is Quill’s Director of Growth Marketing, previously the co-founder and CMO of the branded podcast agency, Origins Media Haus (acquired by Quill). She excels in merging creativity with data in order to successfully build and grow a brand.

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Podcast Trends

Podcast Statistics All Brands Need to Know - 2021

Last updated on: 
July 26, 2022

20 podcast statistics that all marketers should know

What’s been happening in the podcasting space throughout 2021? To sum it up… a lot. We wanted to break down important podcast statistics that all marketers should know. These stats are crucial for brands to start understanding the power of audio, so if you’re representing a brand and thinking about starting a podcast - this is for you! 

Growth 

1. In the US, podcast familiarity has risen to 78% of the total population, up 3% from 2020. 

2. In the US, podcast listening has risen to 57% of the total population, up 2% from 2020. 

3. Monthly podcast consumers grew by 16% year-over-year, cresting 100 million Americans for the first time. 

4. Weekly podcast listening has risen to 28%, up 4% from 2020. 

5. There are over 2 million valid podcasts on Apple Podcasts. 

6. Spotify has spent over $800 million on podcast related acquisitions.

Demographics

7. In 2021, men listening to podcasts has risen to 48% while women listening to podcasts has risen 49%. 

8. The most popular age group for podcast listening is 12-34. 

9. 66% of podcast listeners have a bachelor’s or higher degree.  

Listening

10. The average time spent listening to podcasts is 6 hours and 39 minutes. 

11. Weekly podcast listeners average at listening to about 6 podcasts per week. 

12. Youtube listening is down to 9% in the US, was sitting at 11% in 2018. 

13. News, comedy, and education are the most popular podcasting genres.

14. 52% of podcast listeners are listening for primary content while 48% are listening for background noise.

15. 56% of podcast listeners prefer to listen to podcasts on the same platform that they listen to music.

16. 77% of podcast listeners agree that the "host personality" is important when deciding what podcasts to listen to.

Podcast Advertising 

17. Ad revenue will increase by 14.7% in 2020 despite COVID-19. Prior to COVID-19, it was predicted that podcast ad revenue would grow by 29.6% in 2020.  

18. DTC brands (22%) and financial services (16%) make up top podcast advertisers. 

19. 87% of podcast listeners pay attention to podcast ads

20. 54% are more likely to consider the brand advertised (only 7% are less likely)

21. 72% of people who have listened to a podcast for four or more years have made a purchase

22. 60% of podcast listeners have bought something from a podcast ad.

23. 66% of podcast listeners are more likely to llisten to a podcast if it is recommended or promoted by a podcast that they already listen to.

 

Sources 

  1. IAB
  2. Edison Research
  3. The Infinite Dial
  4. Midroll
  5. Statista
  6. My Podcast Reviews
  7. Billboard

Alison Osborne

Director of Growth Marketing

A passionate storyteller, Ali is Quill’s Director of Growth Marketing, previously the co-founder and CMO of the branded podcast agency, Origins Media Haus (acquired by Quill). She excels in merging creativity with data in order to successfully build and grow a brand.

Platform
Price
Pro’s
Con's
Anchor

Free

  • Easy to use
  • Automatically distributes your podcast to major platforms.
  • Embed media player.
  • Great if podcasting is a
    side hobby
  • Very basic editing
  • Since it’s a free tool, you don’t have full control over the monetization of your podcast.
  • Not the right platform for people taking podcasting seriously
Buzzsprout

Free for 2 hours of content per month

$12 for 3 hours per month

$18+ for 6 hours and up

  • Very user-friendly
  • Caters to both long term and beginner podcasters
  • Advanced analytics
  • Easy distribution of your episodes
  • They measure their size requirements to hours not megabytes
  • Bonus: get a free $20 Amazon gift card when you sign up for any paid hosting plan!
  • Advanced features like dynamic ad insertion need some work
Libsyn

$5/month for Monthly Storage 50mb

  • Oldest podcast hosting site.
  • Easy distribution to major platforms and great for scaling once your podcast gets bigger.
  • Hosted over 35,000 podcasts.
  • An iTunes Podcast partner.
  • Allows you to publish your podcast to specific directories.
  • Embed media player.
  • Price is based on storage
  • 50mb storage for $5 won’t be enough if you are publishing weekly so you’ll end up with a higher price point
Podbean

Unlimited audio package: $9/month

Storage space:

Unlimited

  • Great support & customer service features
  • Unlimited audio.
  • Pages are easy to customize
  • Can schedule podcast release dates.
  • Easy to use.
  • Uploads and changes to podcast titles and/or descriptions are automatic to Spotify.
  • Embed media player.
  • Simple Analytics
  • Analytics aren’t as advanced as other platforms
  • Upload and changes to podcast titles and/or descriptions take a day to change on iTunes.
  • Not an iTunes podcast partner.
  • The process to send a podcast to iTunes is more tedious. But, you will still be able to get on the platform.
Blubrry

Classic

$5/month

Monthly Storage

50mb

  • Podcast Wordpress plugin and management.
  • If you want to record a new introduction or conclusion, add in a sponsored ad or upload a new version of a podcast, it doesn't count towards your storage usage per month.
  • Blubrry allows a 25% storage overage each month
  • Prices are based on storage.
  • Usability is okay.
SimpleCast

Starting: $15/month

Recommendation: $35/month

Monthly Storage: Unlimited

  • Hosts your audio files no matter what the size!
  • Dynamic insertion for podcast ads or edits.
  • Incredibly detailed analytics including number of episodes completed and listener location tracking.
  • Embed media player.
  • Easy to use.
  • Great distribution! Easy access to all major podcast platforms.
  • Customizable podcast
    website.
  • Prices are slightly higher than other platforms, but well worth it especially if you have a branded company podcast!

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