New Creator Study Reveals Format Diversity Growth and Retention Challenges in Podcasting

Sounds Profitable, the trade association for the podcasting industry, today released The Creators 2025, revealing how podcast creators define and produce content across multiple formats. In this second study of the creator universe from Sounds Profitable (the first was in 2022), the data shows that 71% of active podcast creators now produce video content—either video-only or alongside audio—while 29% continue with audio-only production.

The findings reveal a creator ecosystem marked by format diversity, growing creator participation from multicultural communities, and significant sustainability challenges that threaten long-term growth.

“The data shows creators are choosing different paths: some video, some audio, many doing both,” said Tom Webster, Partner at Sounds Profitable. “What matters most isn’t which format they choose, but whether they’re creating in formats they actually consume themselves. That alignment is what separates creators who stick with it from those who burn out.”

The Sounds Profitable Podcast Creator Report examined 5,035 US adults, ages 18 and up. The report analyzes who makes podcasts, how they make them, and why they stop. The research explores demographic, behavioral, and motivational patterns across gender, race/ethnicity, age, LGBTQ+ identity, and content format.

Format Diversity Defines the Creator Landscape

According to Sounds Profitable’s report, among active podcast creators, 71% produce video in some form—either video-only (35%) or multi-format (36%)—while 29% focus exclusively on audio. This format distribution reflects how creators are adapting to audience consumption habits and platform dynamics across YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and social media.

Multicultural Creators Are Leading Podcast Creation

While podcasting has been historically dominated by White men, Sounds Profitable’s new report reveals that content creation in the industry today is being driven by diverse communities. Specifically, among all podcast consumers, Hispanic creators (18%), Black creators (16%), and Asian creators (12%) all outpace White creators (9%). These communities show sophisticated multi-format strategies, with some demographics maintaining both audio and video versions of their content.

The Hidden Challenge: Nearly 1 in 3 Podcast Creators Quit

Importantly, Sounds Profitable’s report reveals a sustainability problem within the podcast industry. According to the findings, for every three people who start a podcast, one stops. While 17% of the population has tried podcast creation, 12% remain active, leaving 6% of the population as lapsed creators. Among LGBT+ creators and those over the age of 55, churn rates climb as high as 40%.

"We celebrate new creators every year, but rarely stop to question why so many stop. Now we know that 6% of the podcast universe knows how to create podcasts but have stopped, which is a retention issue to address,” Webster said.

The Gender Paradox: Women Create Half as Much but Quit Less Often

According to Sounds Profitable’s findings, podcasting has moved from a niche medium to a mainstream creative outlet, with nearly 1 in 6 podcast consumers reporting podcast creation experience. However, within this growth, a gender divide persists.

The research finds that men show 15% creator engagement compared to just 8% for women. However, women who start podcasting are more likely to continue with a 69% retention rate compared to male retention at just 67%.

“Women aren’t quitting podcasting more than men—they’re just not starting. That’s an entry problem, not a commitment problem,” said Webster. “When one group creates at half the rate but retains at higher rates, that suggests structural barriers to entry. Understanding and addressing those barriers represents a significant growth opportunity for the industry.”

The Consumption Disconnect: Lapsed Creators Made Video But Consumed Like Audio Listeners

This new research from Sounds Profitable reveals that creators who quit podcasting show consumption habits more aligned with audio creators than with video creators, despite having produced video content.

More specifically, the report found that 43% of active video creators use YouTube as their primary podcast platform, demonstrating their engagement with visual content. Meanwhile, audio creators show surprisingly high video engagement when they do use YouTube, watching video content 69% of the time, though many use the platform primarily for background listening, such as music or audio podcasts.

The report also found that lapsed creators watch just 49% video content when on YouTube, the lowest of any group, and 53% use YouTube primarily as an audio platform, watching video less than half the time. This suggests they were creating video content while preferring audio consumption.

“For creators struggling to stick with their content creation, the solution could be quite simple: if you mainly listen to podcasts as audio-only but try to create video content, you’re setting yourself up to quit. The most sustainable creators make content in the format they love to consume,” said Webster.

To download this report and all of its findings, visit the Sounds Profitable website.

Methodology

The Creators 2025 was based upon an online study of 5,035 Americans 18+, conducted by Signal Hill Insights. The survey data was weighted demographically to the most recent US Census data.