61% of Podcast Listeners Discover Their Favorite Shows Through YouTube and Social Media

Sounds Profitable, the trade association for the podcasting industry, released new research today with JAR Podcast Solutions examining how podcast listeners discover, engage with, and recommend podcasts. According to the results, YouTube has become both the leading discovery platform and the most-used platform for podcast consumption. Forty percent of listeners said they discovered their favorite podcast on YouTube, more than double any other source. Additionally, 40% identified YouTube as their most-used podcast platform, surpassing both Spotify (18%) and Apple Podcasts (11%).

When social platforms including Facebook, TikTok, and Instagram are added to the equation, 61% of listeners attribute discovering their favorite podcast to either YouTube or social media.

The research also found that discovery is increasingly driven by organic content rather than paid promotion. Among listeners who discovered a favorite podcast through social media, 60% found it through content shared by someone they follow, compared to 33% who discovered it through sponsored content.

“Podcasting has spent years optimizing for podcast apps while audience behavior has been shifting elsewhere,” said Tom Webster, Partner at Sounds Profitable. “What this research makes clear is that discovery is happening where people already spend their time. YouTube, social feeds, search, and personal recommendations have become the front door to podcasting. If you’re relying primarily on trailers, chart positions, or cross-promotion within podcast apps, you’re missing where most new listeners are actually entering the medium.”

The study also revealed significant differences between discovery channels, demonstrating that platforms function not only as distribution channels but also as audience segments.

Among the findings:

• TikTok discovery is nearly seven times more common among listeners ages 18–34 than among those 55 and older.
• Spotify-discovered listeners represent one of podcasting’s most engaged and brand-responsive audiences, with 61% listening weekly.
• Apple Podcasts browsing remains a key discovery mechanism among affluent, audio-first listeners, particularly in news and technology categories.
• TikTok-discovered audiences are among the youngest and most diverse listener groups.
• Host recommendations continue to deliver highly engaged “super-fan” audiences, despite representing a smaller share of overall discovery.

The report also revealed the powerful role that personal recommendations continue to play in podcasting. Nearly two-thirds (64%) of podcast listeners receive recommendations from friends, family members, or colleagues, while 72% say they are likely to act on those recommendations. 

“Discovery isn’t one challenge anymore, it’s many different challenges depending on who you’re trying to reach,” said Roger Nairn, Co-Founder and CEO of JAR Podcast Solutions. “What excites us about these findings is that they give brands and creators a much clearer roadmap. The audience discovering podcasts on TikTok behaves differently than the audience discovering them through Apple Podcasts, YouTube search, or host recommendations. Understanding those differences allows marketers to build smarter strategies and invest in the channels that actually align with their goals.”

For advertisers, the study found that listeners are increasingly receptive to branded podcast content. Brand-produced podcasts generated a 27-point net lift in trial intent overall, with significantly higher performance among highly engaged podcast audiences.

The full report explores how discovery channels shape audience behavior, which platforms deliver scale versus engagement, and what publishers, creators, and brands should prioritize when launching and growing podcasts in today’s fragmented media environment.

The complete study is available here.