Share of people who listen to podcasts monthly in the U.S. 2020-2024, by age group

According to a survey held in early 2024 in the United States, 59 percent of respondents aged 12 to 34 years old had listened to a podcast within the preceding month, compared to 27 percent of those aged 55 or above. Adults in the latter age category have been increasing their podcast listening consistently for years, to a point where respondents aged 35-54 almost caught up on the younger age category.Podcasts are gaining popularityThis increased monthly podcast consumption shows the growing prevalence of the format in the United States. A survey on podcast consumption found that in 2012 only 29 percent of U.S. respondents had ever listened to an audio podcast, but this figure increased annually and reached 57 percent in 2021. Although this rise in popularity is significant, it might also reflect the generational gap in podcast consumption, with younger consumers tuning in more regularly than their older counterparts. In 2021, the share of Millennial podcast consumers in Canada and the U.S. amounted to 48 percent, with Boomers only making up 23 percent. Podcast providersThe recent controversy surrounding Spotify and the Spotify-exclusive podcast ‘The Joe Rogan Experience’, in which Spotify sided with Joe Rogan despite complaints from artists, demonstrated the rising influence of podcasts and their importance for streaming platforms. In the United States, the main platform used to access podcasts among adults was Spotify in 2020, with 31 percent of respondents using the service. Slightly less popular was Apple Podcasts with 22 percent of respondents citing the platform as their preferred provider. Similarly, data on the most popular podcast providers in the United States according to users’ age showed that Spotify was the go-to choice for all adults in the survey, though Apple Podcasts also fared well and SoundCloud was also the preferred platform among 26 percent of those aged 18 to 34 years old.

据2024年年初在美国进行的一项调查显示，12至34岁的受访者在过去一个月内收听了播客，占比高达59%，而55岁及以上的受访者中，这一比例仅为27%。后者年龄段的成年人一直在持续增加播客收听，以至于35至54岁的受访者几乎赶上了年轻年龄段的人群。播客的流行度正在上升，这种增加的月度播客消费量显示出播客格式在美国的日益普及。一项关于播客消费的调查发现，2012年仅有29%的美国受访者曾收听过音频播客，但这一数字每年都在增长，并在2021年达到了57%。尽管这种流行度的上升是显著的，但它也可能反映了播客消费的代际差异，年轻消费者比年长消费者更频繁地收听播客。到2021年，加拿大和美国的千禧一代播客消费者占比达到48%，而婴儿潮一代仅占23%。播客提供商近期围绕Spotify及其独家播客《乔·罗根体验》的争议，其中Spotify尽管受到艺术家投诉，却依然站在乔·罗根一边，这一事件展示了播客日益增长的影响力和其对流媒体平台的重要性。在美国，2020年成年人使用的主要播客访问平台是Spotify，31%的受访者使用该服务。稍微不太受欢迎的是Apple Podcasts，22%的受访者表示该平台是他们的首选提供商。类似地，根据用户年龄统计的美国最受欢迎的播客提供商数据显示，Spotify是所有受访成年人的首选，尽管Apple Podcasts的表现也相当不错，SoundCloud也成为了18至34岁人群中26%人的首选平台。