Spotify’s video podcast program draws praise from creators — and skepticism from networks

Spotify’s video podcast partner program is gaining traction with smaller creators drawn to its direct payouts — but major podcast networks remain hesitant, citing the lack of dynamic ad support for subscriber-only content.

Spotify launched its Partner Program in January, giving creators their first opportunity to share video content, and receive a cut of its ad and premium subscription revenue, on the previously audio-only platform. (Spotify has not publicly disclosed this percentage cut, but has offered to share an estimate with any creator who asks.) Six months in, video podcasters largely fall into two camps: Smaller individual creators embracing the format for its direct payouts and podcasters who are part of larger networks — which are holding back, wary that subscriber-only video could cannibalize their dynamic ad revenue.

The split primarily comes down to how much dynamic ad revenue podcasts generate from audio via tools like Simplecast or Spotify’s Megaphone service. Although this is a significant revenue stream for many podcasters, the Spotify Partner Program (SPP) doesn’t allow for dynamic ads to be served to premium Spotify subscribers when they consume a video podcast. Creators who are part of podcast networks that don’t want to lose access to this revenue stream are choosing to continue sharing their podcasts as Spotify audio, rather than video.

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