The trend: Video podcasts are everywhere, from short clips on Instagram Reels and full-length shows on YouTube to emerging award categories at the Golden Globes. One streaming player that has invested notable resources into video podcast creation and infrastructure is Spotify.

In fact, the platform now offers about 7 million podcast titles, of which more than 590,000 are video podcasts, per Spotify’s Q1 earnings report.

EMARKETER spoke with Jordan Newman, Spotify’s head of content partnerships, about the streamer’s push into video podcasting, how engagement and listenership are being measured and defined, and what the medium’s growing cultural recognition offers for the platform.

The bigger picture: Spotify has changed over the years, from a predominantly audio-focused business into a multi-hyphenate platform. Newman describes Spotify as a platform for “super fans,” where audiences are increasingly expecting more two-way engagement and conversations.

“Obviously at our heart we are an audio company, but I think the move to video has been both a reflection of [growing] demand from our users as well as the opportunity that we see to allow creators and artists to better engage with their fans,” Newman said.

The company defines the success of video podcasts through three main prongs: Scale of audience, depth of engagement, and creator sustainability. “Ultimately, our focus is on rewarding creators who produce great content that attracts deeply loyal audiences [and helping] more creators grow their earnings over time,” he said.

Zooming out: Spotify’s ad-supported revenues reached €385 million ($434.3 million) in Q1 2026, down 5% YoY and 25% QoQ. Hyper-visual offerings like video podcasts could help address revenue drops by turning usage from a passive activity—like queueing up a playlist then setting the phone down—into an active one.

Video podcasts could help make Spotify’s ad business more competitive by driving more active engagement, which in theory supports higher ad loads and more premium formats. However, it also puts Spotify in more direct competition with platforms like YouTube, which is already dominant in video and creator monetization.

Looking ahead: While Spotify’s video podcasting opens the door to more integrated ad placements and opportunities for high-performing inventory, its efficacy will depend on whether users actually shift toward visual over audio engagement.

The outlook depends on whether Spotify can prove that video meaningfully increases time spent and delivers differentiated value for both creators and brands, rather than just replicating what already exists elsewhere.

Why it matters for marketers: Spotify’s evolution into visual offerings and social functions like podcast commenting could unlock premium, TV-adjacent video inventory and new creator partnerships, including opportunities for product placements, branded segments, or host-read ads.

This structure supports a creator-friendly monetization model, subscriptions tiers that avoid ad fatigue, and a wealth of marketing options for brands, all of which make Spotify a unique platform for marketers.

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