The year 2025 promises to be full of new developments for Spotify, which intends to shake up YouTube in the field of video podcasts. The music streaming giant has just announced a series of major changes which will come into effect on January 2, including a new remuneration system for video content creators.
A promising new monetization program
Spotify is launching its “Partner Program” which will allow video podcast creators to be paid based on their engagement with Premium subscribers. To be eligible, you must have accumulated 10,000 hours of listening and 2,000 unique views over a period of 30 days, as well as having published at least 12 episodes. The program will initially be available in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and Australia. There is no doubt that this system will arrive in Europe in a few months after this experimental phase.
Gustav Söderström, co-president of Spotify, promises “competitive” revenues compared to other platforms, although the exact details of the calculation have not been revealed. Creators will be able to track their earnings through the “Spotify for Creators” hub, which will also offer detailed analytics and the ability to upload vertical video clips. It is not yet clear what the level of remuneration and revenue sharing between Spotify and the creator will be.
An optimized user experience without advertising
In its desire to compete with YouTube, Spotify is banking on a premium experience without advertising interruption for video podcasts. A strategic decision when we know that almost two thirds of podcast listeners prefer the format with video according to the platform’s figures.
Success is already there since Spotify now has more than 300,000 video podcasts on its platform, compared to 250,000 last June. Daniel Ek, CEO of Spotify, says he wants to “deliver an experience superior to any other platform” thanks to this ad-free approach combined with the flexibility of Spotify.
New features will enrich the video experience such as chapters, comments, pinch zoom and thumbnail navigation. Note that as on the iPhone with Apple Podcasts, users will be able to easily switch between listening in the background and actively viewing content.
The platform, which boasts more than 640 million users including 250 million Premium subscribers, seems to have found a major new growth lever in video. According to Gustav Söderström, “it’s the fastest way to succeed on Spotify today,” with half of successful new podcasts now including a video component. After difficulties with audiobooks, Spotify intends to catch up once again with podcasts. While waiting for an enrichment of the musical offering with Spotify Hi-Fi which never seems to happen.
