Podcast Trends

22 Podcast Stats and Facts You Should Know 

Last updated on: 
July 27, 2022

Discover 22 podcast statistics and facts that are crucial for podcasters to know in 2020

As podcasts continue to grow year over year (about a 16% listener growth YOY), understanding the industry and some key statistics and facts around it is crucial.  

We spent some time compiling some statistics and facts from credible resources that anyone in the podcast industry should know. Check them out below. 

Listening Platforms  

  • Pandora has the highest brand awareness as an audio brand, followed by iHeartRadio, Spotify and Apple Music. (The Infinite Dial)
  • On a weekly basis, Spotify is the top audio listening platform. (The Infinite Dial)
  • Spotify and Amazon Music’s monthly listener percentages have grown in 2020, whereas Pandora’s has decreased and Apple Music’s has stayed the same. (The Infinite Dial)

Awareness & Listening 

  • 75% of the US population 12+ is aware of podcasting. (The Infinite Dial)
  • 55% of the US population 12+ listens to podcasts. (The Infinite Dial)
  • 37% of the US population 12+ listens to podcasts on a monthly basis. (The Infinite Dial)
  • Where are people listening? 
    - 49% while at home 
    - 22% while driving
    - 11% while at work
    - 4% while on public transit (Music Oomph)

Demographics & Insights

  • Listening to podcasts on a monthly basis, 51% are male and 49% are female. (The Infinite Dial)
  • The most popular age demographic for podcast consumption is ages 35-54. (The Infinite Dial)
  • It's 45% more likely for a podcast listener to have a college degree, and 68% more likely to have a post-graduate degree. (Music Oomph)

 Consistency 

  • On average, podcast consumers listen to 7 hours of content on a weekly basis. (The Infinite Dial)
  • US weekly podcast listeners average at about 6 podcasts per week. (The Infinite Dial)
  • When it comes to engagement, 80% of podcast listeners listen to an entire podcast episode or at least most of it. (Music Oomph)
    - This gives podcasts one of the best if not the best engagement rate among rich media.

Volume & Discoverability

  • Apple Podcasts has reached over 1 million downloadable podcasts. (My Podcast Reviews)
  • Over 88,000 podcasts have been added in the last 30 days on Apple Podcasts. (My Podcast Reviews)
  • There are also over 30 million episodes as of April 2020. (Podcast Insights)
  • 'Society & Culture' tends to be the most popular podcasting genre, followed by Business, Comedy, News & Politics, and Health. (Music Oomph)
  • How people are currently discovering podcasts (The Podcast Host
    - 43% on social media or on an online community 
    - 23% directly ask someone
    - 16% search a podcast app's directory 
    - 12% search on Google
    - 6% browse through podcast charts

Advertising

  • 54% of podcast consumers say that they are more likely to consider the brands they hear advertised on podcasts. (Edison Research)
  • 75% of NPR podcast listeners hold a more positive opinion of brands that support NPR. (NPR
  • 69% of the respondents agreed that podcast ads made them aware of new products and services. (Music Oomph)
  • Podcast advertising revenue is expected to pass $1 billion by 2021. (IAB Podcast Ad Revenue Report)

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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