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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