Podcast market value chain The next investment is the listeners

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20,000 foot view:  Investments from major audience platforms in audio infrastructure, such as hosting platforms and advertising, kickstarted the growth of the podcast market. With the basic infrastructure now in place, it is time for the major platforms to focus on growing the format by expanding listenership and user experience. While each platform has different strategies to reach this goal, they all (more or less) have the necessary tools to do so. 

Key insights  

• After initially prioritising infrastructure over user experience, major audience platforms are now shifting focus to the latter
• The podcast host is a crucial investment to dominate the audio market as it provides audience analytics and monetisation opportunities for creators 
• The global podcast value chain from creation through to distribution was worth        billion in 2021 
• Spotify and Amazon are catching up to the capabilities of audio-native companies, such as iHeartMedia and SiriusXM
• Increased partnerships between audience platforms and podcast studios will expand potential audience reach and mainstream appeal
• Apple’s additions of creator and network subscriptions, as well as partnering with creative studios, highlight the opportunities for both direct and indirect podcast monetisation 
• Google can capitalise on the underserved spaces of podcast discovery and video podcasts as YouTube develops its podcast vertical
• Radio broadcasters have unique distribution channels and ad sales abilities to increase their market position, such as exclusive ad deals with podcast companies and doing more to integrate digital audio in the car
• Investments in podcast marketing for creators is an opportunity for major audience platforms to attract creators to their services 

Companies and brands mentioned in this report: Acast+, Acast, AdsWizz, AdvertiseCast, All Things Comedy, Amazon, Amazon Music, Anchor, Apple, Apple Pod, Apple Podcasts, Apple Podcaster Program, Apple TV, At Will Media, Audacy,        Campside Media, Chartable, Content Allies, Critical Role, Crooked Media, Disney, Entercom, Facebook Groups, Freakonomics, Futuro Studios, Google, Google Home, Gusto, HBO, iHeartMedia, iHeart, Jigsaw Productions, Julep Media, Lemonada Media, Libsyn, Luminary, Megaphone, Meta, Moonbeam, Netflix, Pandora, Pineapple Street Studios, Podchaser, Podsights, Podspike, Podz, Resonate, SiriusXM, SmartAudio, Spotify Ad Studio, Spotify Car Thing, Spotify, Stitcher, Studio Resonate, TikTok, Triton Digital, Twitter, Voxnest, Whooshkaa, Wondery, YouTube