🔴 Spotify’s next round of layoffs, audiobook listenership rising, and a fiction summer listening program






AC June 6 Issue

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Written and curated by Shreya Sharma

Hello there! In today’s issue, we’ve got data on audiobooks listenership, Gen Z’s podcast consumption habits, Spotify’s layoffs and exits, resources for brands, upcoming events, and what’s making waves in the audio world. 

 

Let’s dive in, shall we?

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▶️ Audio News

1

Audiobooks’ revenue continues to increase plus, over 50% of the U.S. adult population has now listened to one, as found by the Audio Publishers Association (APA.)

On June 1, the APA shared the results of two surveys: a Sales Survey with Harris Interactive, and a Consumer Survey with Edison Research.

  • Eleventh consecutive year of growth: In 2022, the publishers’ audiobook revenue grew 10% to $1.8 billion. This is the eleventh year of double-digit growth in this space.  

  • Escapists unite: Fiction and Sci-Fi/Fantasy are the two biggest genres, in terms of sales. The fastest growing genres are Humor, Non-Fiction, and Romance. Shreya: as a listener of over 5+ hours weekly of fantasy, I can relate.

  • Listeners are younger and slightly more diverse: the majority (57%) of listeners are between 18-44, which is higher than 49% of the U.S. population in this demographic. About 30% of the listeners identify as either African-American or Hispanic, which is slightly higher than 27% of the population in this demographic. 

  • Get ’em young: in the category of audiobooks for children, the listening numbers have not “receded to pre-pandemic levels.” In 2020, 35% parents they have children listening, while in 2022, this number is at 56%. 

  • This was initally reported in a paid issue of the Hot Pod newsletter. 
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2

In a memo to staff, Spotify announced plans to lay off about 2% of its workforce, which translates to about 200 jobs.

Meanwhile, podcaster Jemele Hill is looking to get off the Spotify exclusive train with her podcast Jemele Hill Is Unbothered.

  • A refresher: Earlier this year, the audio company cut its workforce by 6% (about 600 people.) Additionally, Spotify canceled ten original shows from its’ studios Parcast and Gimlet. 

  • The reason: In this memo Sahar Elhabashi, the head of Spotify’s podcast unit, said that this is to create a “tailored approach optimized for each show and creator.” Elhabashi also said that the pivot is to allow Spotify “to support the creator community better.” 

  • A meta merger: Spotify plans to merge the Parcast and Gimlet studios into a Spotify Studios division. Alongside The Ringer, the new division will produce Spotify originals. 

  • Seeking new horizons: Jemele Hill and her podcast network, The Unbothered Network, are reportedly looking for a new home. Hill is not interested in renewing the two year-long exclusive contract with Spotify. 

3

More than 50% of the time Gen Z spends consuming spoken-word audio content is spent on podcasts, finds a study by SXM Media and Edison Research. 

The report surveyed over 1,000 U.S. monthly podcast listeners between the ages of 13 to 24 in April 2023. 

  • An increase in the past five years: From “unpublished data from the 2023 Infinite Dial” from Edison Research – 47% of U.S. listeners in the 13-24 demographic have tuned into a podcast in the last month. This represents a 57% increase in the last five years. 

  • Podcasts get double the love: This demographic spends 58% of their total time on spoken-word audio solely on podcasts, which is double the number (28%) it was in 2018.

  • Listeners are more diverse: When considering gender, female monthly listeners have risen from 42% in 2018 to 46% in 2023. Additionally, one in five listeners identify as Hispanic/Latino, 15% as Black/African American, and 4% as Asian.  

  • Higher engagement: Among Gen Z listeners, 80% say they have “listened [to a podcast] in the past week.” Additionally, 78% say they “binge-listen” to shows. 

  • The gateway to podcasts: Among listeners to have listened to or watched a podcast clip on TikTok or Instagram, 73% say that this led them to listening to/watching the podcast on another platform. 

  • Read all the findings here. 

📢 Upcoming Events

Events and related news in audio:

  • Audio: On Friday, June 9, the Domino Sound Festival is happening in New York City. The festival will spotlight queer audio creators, including podcasters, comedians, and musicians.

  • Podcast Production: On November 3-4, the Resonate Podcast Festival for podcast producers is being held in Richmond, Virginia.  

  • Streaming: In December, the VTuber awards will be hosted by Twitch streamers Filian and Mythic Talent. 

💪 Resources for Brands

Every other week or so, we’ll be sharing a resource (either in-house or otherwise) for brands and stakeholders in the audio space.

FRQNCY Media, a branded podcast production company, published a piece on how brands can use curiosity in their branded podcasts. 

Disclaimer: Audio Currents is powered by Recordical, which is a sister brand of FRQNCY Media.

🌊 Making Waves
  • Fable & Folly, an audio fiction network, has launched the Summer Listening Program to promote listenership of fiction podcasts. It involves lots of listens, a bingo card, and a prize of 50% off Fable & Folly’s subscription. 
  • The Podcast Plunge newsletter is now a user-generated podcast recommendation letter.
  • The Meet the Creators webinar, detailing the findings of the Meet the Creators report from Recordical, was held last Wednesday; here’s the free recording. 
  • Twitter’s head of brand safety and ad quality, A.J. Brown, is to leave the social media platform. 
  • ICYMI: viewership on TikTok seems to be declining. AdWeek presents a few theories on why that might be the case. 

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