Podcast Listenership Surges Under Quarantine

 

Because not everyone can watch ten hours of Netflix at a time, there has also been a surge in other binging activities during lockdown. Aside from the rampant increase in baking, gardening, and stalking of one’s ex’s on social media, there’s also been a giant increase in podcast listenership.

 

In March Spotify noted they had nearly 150,000 podcasts uploads, which was a 69% increase from February and the largest monthly increase in Spotify’s podcast catalog overall.

 

And, at a time when many productions in the film and television market have been put on hold, Spotify continues to build out its podcast business. As more and more people are craving for entertainment and news while in lockdown, the demand has created more necessity for quality content. Further, since podcasts can be produced remotely with little more than a good microphone and a decent internet connection, it is a viable way to create low-cost new and ongoing shows. 

Now that Spotify has bought Gimlet Media and Parcast, two large podcast companies, they have large steaks in the game. So hold on to your hat because The Obamas just signed a deal to do their own podcast. So from here on out, it’s no longer just your cousin doing weird movie reviews from his basement.