Podcast stats aren’t just for nerds anymore– at least, not if you want to learn about market trends and grow your podcast. As part of our regular series on podcast stats, this week’s Podcast Stats Soundbite is as American as Apple Podcasts. Yeah. We’re going to make another Apple Podcasts prediction.
Podcast Stats Soundbite 1: Apple Podcast’s market dominance is a marriage of convenience.
As previously discussed, Apple Podcasts is still, far and away, king. Now, maybe this one is obvious, but to remain at the top of the hill, you have to outcompete all comers. But a challenger only has to be right once to topple the big kahuna. Especially if you’re the market leader because of convenience. Think about your own experience: podcast discovery is less than intuitive, to get your podcast on Apple Podcasts you don’t actually upload it there (which is super confusing to podcasting newcomers), and on and on. Ok. We’ll be more blunt: Apple Podcasts is the Internet Explorer of podcasting.
Podcast Stats Soundbite 2: Apple Podcasts will drop below 50% market share in 2019.
Yep. You read that right. Based on our proprietary, IAB Tech Lab Certified, podcast stats data, we see an industry shift underway. We have Apple device data back to 2007, and Android data going back nearly a decade. And the trends are plain as day. So plain, in fact, let’s take another step out on this branch and make an even bolder prediction: Apple Podcasts will drop to ~35% market share in 2019.
There are simply too many other options out there. Especially with Spotify attempting to muscle its way into the podcasting space. Which, honestly, we think is a good thing. More competition forces all of us to stay on our toes, and keep our platforms top notch.