YouTube Podcasts: Why You Should Get In On the Action

YouTube has almost single-handedly changed the way we consume video content. With over 2 billion monthly active users, it’s the second most popular website in the world. Beyond being a place for music videos, or movie trailers, you can find tutorials for just about anything — commentary, criticism, global and local news, human interest pieces and the list goes on. So it would only make sense that in 2023, YouTube is expanding into the podcast game too, and not a moment too soon. 

As of today there are more than 450 million podcast listeners globally, and that number is expected to grow to more than 500 million by the end of 2024. Spotify and Apple Music are already deep in the world of podcasting, with Spotify spending $3.5 billion on audio shows. Out of the more than 5 million podcasts currently available, you can find 3.6 million of them on Spotify already. However, YouTube is offering some serious money to get podcasters over to their platform — a huge perk for the creator community.

Why you should start a podcast on YouTube

To kickstart their new focus, YouTube is offering a grant starting at $50,000 for individual creators and up to $300,000 to established podcast networks for video formats of podcasts. Data has also shown that videos with the label “podcast” can get more than twice as many views if they include video content and not just a still image.

Some of the most popular video podcasts on YouTube today include “The Joe Rogan Experience,” “Tech Talk,” and “Vox.” Each one has millions of subscribers, and has grown to the point of branded merchandise and live events. 

The opportunity for new creators to build a community around their podcast on a platform like YouTube is already pretty promising. YouTube is free to use, and has a lot of tools built-in for easily uploading and monetizing videos. Meanwhile, established creators don’t need to see this as a huge new undertaking either. Pivoting podcasts into video doesn’t have to involve a complete niche change. 

Logan Paul’s YouTube podcast “IMPAULSIVE” has over 4 million subscribers, and is a live recording of a traditional podcast taping in a sound studio. Similar in format is Cody Ko and Noel Miller’s “Tiny Meat Gang” podcast, which currently has 1.2 million subscribers. New to the video podcasting game are Noah Peck and Larray of the podcast “Put A Sock In It,” and “The Diary of a CEO” with Steven Barlett, that has already managed to amass 4.51M subscribers. 

For podcasters who have specific licensing deals or don’t want to upload all of their content in video format, they can upload snippets of their podcasts to YouTube, growing their exposure beyond an audio-only platform.

The hugely popular “My Favorite Murder” podcast has been so successful that hosts Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark were listed in Forbes as the second highest earning podcasters worldwide, and while they don’t upload live recordings of their studio sessions, you can find short animated videos on YouTube with ten of thousands of views.

Wrapping up YouTube podcasts

So what does this mean for podcasters and creators? YouTube has officially entered the world of podcasting and the benefits for everyone are plain to see. It’s an ideal avenue to increase exposure, grow your YouTube channel and audience, and further monetize your content. By simply recording a live podcasting session you already have your video podcast ready to go, and on a platform as popular as YouTube, the possibilities are exciting. 

Ready to start your own podcast? Find royalty-free music for your first podcast.