Spotify challenges YouTube with easier video monetization
Spotify has lowered eligibility criteria for its video podcast partner program to three published episodes, 2,000 consumption hours, and 1,000 engaged audience members within the last 30 days. This change enables more creators to monetize content on the platform through premium user views and free-tier ad revenue shares, supporting expansion against YouTube competition.
The partner program launched last year with higher thresholds that creators needed to meet. Those requirements included publishing at least 12 episodes, accumulating 10,000 consumption hours over the prior 30 days, and having at least 2,000 people stream the content during that same 30-day period. Consumption hours represent the total time premium and free users spent watching the video podcasts.
Under the program, Spotify compensates podcasters directly based on the number of premium subscribers who view their video episodes. Podcasters also receive a portion of the advertising revenue generated from free-tier users who watch the content. This dual payment structure applies to all eligible video podcasts once creators qualify under the updated or prior criteria.
Spotify plans to introduce sponsorship tools next month that permit creators to manage host-read ad spots within video podcasts. These tools support updating sponsorship details, scheduling placements for specific episodes, and measuring performance metrics such as views and engagement rates. The features will integrate into the Spotify for Creators app, used by independent podcasters for distribution and analytics, and into Megaphone, Spotify’s enterprise-level podcast hosting and monetization platform designed for professional producers.
To facilitate broader distribution, Spotify is releasing a new application programming interface, or API. This API enables creators to publish video podcasts and access monetization directly on Spotify while operating from their preferred hosting platforms. At launch, five providers have integrated the API: Acast, Audioboom, Libsyn, Omny, and Podigee, according to the company. These platforms host millions of podcasts globally and now support seamless Spotify video uploads and revenue sharing.
Spotify pursues these updates to draw more users and strengthen its subscription-based streaming revenue. Since introducing the partner program, video podcast consumption on the app has nearly doubled from pre-launch levels. The average Spotify user who listens to podcasts now streams twice as many video shows per month compared to the period before the program’s start.