Spotify Partner Program is Now Available for Podcast Hosts, Creators in the US, UK, Canada, and Australia

Spotify announced on Thursday a new “Partner Program” that will allow popular podcast hosts to monetize their video content. Spotify’s new program offers creators who are active on the platform the opportunity to earn additional revenue beyond just advertising revenue, such as video payouts. The program was first announced back in November and is officially launched in the US, UK, Canada, and Australia starting on Thursday.

The program is expected to strengthen Spotify’s video podcast library and potentially compete with YouTube, which currently dominates the entire video space. According to Spotify, more than 65% of eligible podcast shows have joined the Partner Program since the company announced its Now Playing event. These include the Smart Money Happy Hour, The Paranormal Podcast, The Makeshift Podcast, Girls Rewatch Podcast, and many more.

The program, first announced on November 13 during Spotify’s Now Playing event, will add additional features to the platform like videos, thumbnails, analytics, and video discovery, which were all to solidify its position as the leading podcast platform. Spotify says that nearly 60% of eligible shows and networks have signed up since the announcement of the Partner Program.

The revenue streams that are available to creators in this program include audience-driven payouts from video engagement on Spotify Premium, ads on Spotify Free, and all other podcast listening platforms like Apple Podcasts or Pocket Casts. To be eligible for this program, you must host and submit your show through Spotify for Creators and meet the following criteria:

• Have 10,000 hours of streaming on Spotify in the last 30 days.
• 2,000 unique Spotify users have streamed in the past 30 days.
• At least 12 episodes have been published.

Spotify also said that video is becoming increasingly popular on Spotify, so this is a focus for their future investments. The new podcasts have been added as recommended short videos that content creators can upload to Spotify, and Spotify says they are 33% more effective at converting browsers into podcast listeners. Video podcasts that signed up to the program will also not be interrupted by dynamic ads when watched by Premium subscribers.

Spotify is also starting to let premium users watch video podcasts without ads. It also launched a new tool called Podcast Clips, which are short videos that content creators post to promote their shows and help users find them more easily. Since the feature launched in select markets in November, the company says it has seen a 33% increase in views converting viewers into listeners.

The Spotify Partner Program is available to creators who are based in the US, UK, Canada, and Australia. Spotify has not yet confirmed whether the feature will expand to other regions, and if so, when.