How Spotify Can Lead the Podcast Market

Spotify (NYSE: SPOT), known for popularizing music streaming, launched its podcast feature back in 2015 and has quickly gained market share ever since. In fact, according to a recent survey, 25% of U.S. podcast listeners use Spotify for their primary app vs. only 20% for Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL). This divide will only increase over the next few years. Spotify has set itself up to lead the podcast market by investing in exclusive content, empowering show creators, and creating a dynamic ad market that will help it capture the majority of dollars flowing through the industry.

The music streaming service is branching out with a big bet on podcasts. Image source: Spotify.

The podcast market is on fire. Some 75% of people in the U.S. now understand what a podcast is, up from only 49% in 2015. Apple started out as the leader in the space, allowing users to download shows as early as 2005. It has captured the majority of listenership by pre-loading its podcast app on new devices, making it free for its 1 billion-plus users to download/stream shows.

Source Fool.com