More users, more profit, but less Spotify ad revenue

• Spotify released its Q2/25 financial report. Year-on-year, the company made 53% more income, and 19% higher profit. It now has 696mn monthly users (up 11%).

• Spotify’s revenue from ads decreased by 1% to €453mn (US $523mn). Daniel Ek tackled this head on in his opening remarks: “The one area that hasn’t yet met our expectations is our ads business – we’ve been moving too slowly and it’s taking longer than expected to see the improvements we initiated take hold. It’s really an execution challenge, not a problem with the strategy. While I am unhappy with where we are today, I remain confident in the ambitions we laid out for this business… we are working quickly to ensure we are on the right path.” Spotify’s VP of Global Advertising, Lee Brown, is to leave the company by what’s described as a mutual agreement.

• How is video working on Spotify. In Dec 2023, the company only had 100,000 video podcasts on its platform; now, according to Gustav Söderström, there are “more than 430,000 video podcasts on Spotify and video continues to outperform with consumption trending higher and higher - growing 20x faster than audio-only consumption since 2024. More than 350 million users have streamed a video podcast on our platform, a 65% increase year over year.” These figures look impressive; but Spotify only launched their big video push in Nov 2024 - and many larger video podcasters are quietly given $5,000 of advertising to kick things off, which might mean only a temporary uplift. Later, in the earnings call, Alex Norström added that “Users who watch a podcast consume 1.5x more than users who just listen”.

• Nominees for the 2025 Ear Worthy Awards have been announced, which recognises indie podcasts and podcasters. Our editorial policy is that we don’t single out specific podcasts who get nominations, which we’re slightly regretting today. But we - by which we mean all nominated podcasters, of course - find out who’s won on Aug 26. Fingers crossed!

• At the end of June, The Times of London’s Arts section had a cover story about an exciting new podcast about the downfall of EMI records. The article ends: “Music, Money and Mayhem is on BBC Sounds from July 7”. We gather that the show is made by Novel in partnership with BBC Studios: but the BBC hasn’t announced it at all, and the show has yet to appear more than three weeks later. Novel hasn’t responded for comment - but if it’s made, and it’s been promoted, and presumably paid-for, we’re curious where it is…

• Good luck to our friends in UK radio today, and may the RAJAR numbers smile on you.

YouTube Travel Channel Sees Rapid Subscriber Growth

Paid content

In just five days, a growing YouTube channel in the Places & Travel category gained 6,030 new subscribers thanks to a targeted campaign powered by Audiencelift. With over 82,000 video views, the channel gained 4,068 earned subscribers and 1,962 direct conversions, achieving a cost of just $2.49 per new subscriber.

Rather than chasing vanity metrics, Audiencelift’s YouTube growth platform prioritized authentic audience building. The campaign focused on “Earned Subscribers,” which are viewers who subscribe to the channel organically after interacting with a promoted video. By using optimized video ads and data-driven audience alignment, the campaign attracted highly engaged travel enthusiasts and foodies.

The result: scalable, meaningful growth from viewers who are more likely to stick around and engage long-term, delivering value well beyond short-term numbers.

Want results like these? Learn more about Audiencelift’s YouTube growth platform

Moves and hires

• Alexander Damiano Ricci is to leave his position as Chief operating officer of Europod - the Brussels-based podcast agency - at the end of this month, after 7 years. As a founding member of Europod (formerly Bulle Media), Alexander has helped developing the European podcast industry through projects such as WePod and the Sphera Network.

Tips and tricks

• Your podcast can speak to two different types of listeners — and both can grow your brand. Vertical content serves your (B2C) audience and clients. Horizontal content connects with peers and collaborators (B2B). The magic happens when you know which lane you’re in or when to switch - it shapes stronger episodes and makes designing lead magnets way easier (and less sales). Podcast Clarity gave us this tip - and is running a two-weekend workshop starting Aug 9 to define and generate your podcast ideas, and then get planning how to make them.

Podcast News

In The Offcuts Drawer, successful writers share their best worst ideas. Laura Shavin, a voiceover and actor, interviews great writers about the stuff they never finished, had rejected or can’t quite find a home for - and get them performed. This week is Dan Maier, a comedy writer who has written for Charlie Brooker, Harry Hill, and the Big Breakfast among others.

Game Changers Radio is for you if you like the science behind radio. Hosted by three Aussie radio professionals, it had been focusing on the Melbourne radio market, but has broadened its focus recently to all Australian radio, and beyond.

The Hexings is a new serialized mystery/horror podcast (audio drama) that just launched this week. After a video of a teenage girl who appears to be possessed starts a viral social media challenge, a professor in a small Midwestern town investigates. Her research uncovers a dark occult mystery that confronts her understanding of what is real.

Generative AI is not like other education technologies, which schools often invite into the classroom - this one crashed the party, and then it started re-arranging the furniture. In a little over a year, the Teaching Systems Lab has talked to over 90 teachers and 30 students about the impact of Generative AI - and kicks off a new season this week: Teachlab presents: The Homework Machine, a mini series exploring the impact of AI on K12 education.

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