The short answer is: No. Spotify does not pay for podcasts, but fret not! We have good news for you: There are many ways to monetize a Spotify podcast. You can make money on your podcasts through sponsorships, affiliate programs, ads, coaching, and more.
Spotify did set up a deal with The Joe Rogan Experience to host his show exclusively for a set period of time. They are paying out $100 to $200 million for the exclusivity. Joe Rogan has 11 million listeners per episode so Spotify made this exclusive deal because of the size of his show.
In this article, we’ll tell you the ways to make money on your podcasts on Spotify no matter what podcast stage you are at. By the end of this article, we hope that you’ll find at least one monetization method for your show.
So, let’s get started.
Here are the top five ways to make money on your podcasts:
Sponsorships and advertising are the most popular methods to make money on your Spotify podcasts.
You can join different podcast ad networks such as Midroll or Authentic to get in touch with advertisers. They help you find advertisers, negotiate costs, and more.
If you have at least 5,000 monthly listeners on your show, then this is the perfect option to monetize your podcast.
However, if you have a smaller audience, then you can reach out to sponsors directly. To do so, look out for companies that sponsor other podcasts in your niche and contact them.
Affiliate programs give you a commission when you refer your listeners to the products or services of other companies. You earn money when your listeners buy their product or service through your affiliate link.
Affiliate marketing is the ideal choice to monetize your podcast if you are familiar with the products or services that you are promoting.
There are many affiliate programs out there such as Amazon, ShareASale, and more. Choose the one that resonates with your listeners.
You can create your “ad” spot to market affiliate products or mention the products and services of other companies as you deliver your content.
You can also create a simple blog on WordPress to help your listeners find your affiliate links easily.
As the name suggests, you can coach your listeners to earn money. If you run a podcast on health and fitness, business and marketing, education, etc., then this is the ideal monetization method for you.
There are coaches in every industry, so you can create your unique coaching service and start earning now.
However, you are required to put in the effort and time to help or guide people. Of course, you want to help them improve their lives, so you need to know the basics of coaching as well.
Donations are a common monetization method nowadays. This method is often useful for new podcasters. You can ask your listeners to pitch to your cause.
However, you are required to come up with an authentic cause to ask for donations. What do you need the donations for? Do you need donations to improve the quality of your show? Or do you need your listeners to help you purchase the right equipment?
Whatever the cause, make sure, to be honest with your audience. This way, you can build credibility with your listeners.
You can ask for donations through PayPal, Skrill, or GoFundMe. Create your account and paste the link in the description box so your listeners can easily donate to your cause.
If you have created a brand, then monetization through the merchandise is the perfect choice for you.
You can create your own unique products such as t-shirts, hoodies, jackets, mugs, phone covers, etc., and market your brand to your target audience.
If your show has a good reputation, merchandise can become your sole source of earnings as well.
Make sure to brand your products with the name and log of your podcast. You can also use famous taglines and slogans of your show to attract your listeners.
Similarly, you can also create services and offer them to your clients. You can sell exclusive interviews, older episodes, special guest episodes, etc. as well.
Spotify paid podcast subscriptions to offer a more stable and predictable way to earn money. This way, podcast creators can control their podcasts while engaging with their listeners. Here is everything you need to know about Spotify paid podcast subscriptions.
All paid content on Spotify shows a lock icon which demonstrates that you are required to subscribe to the content. The lock icon is present near the play button.
Paid podcast subscribers can listen to the show on Spotify’s website or on a third-party application via a private RSS feed. However, to access the podcast, subscribers are required to head over to the dedicated Anchor page of the podcast, which is typically made available by podcast creators in their bio, podcast description, or notes.
This shows that subscribers are not able to subscribe to a podcast directly inside Spotify which helps Spotify to save the costs associated with the terms and conditions of the App Store.
Podcasters on Spotify have three per month pricing packages to select from. These are: $2.99, $4.99, or $7.99.
However, Spotify is also introducing 20 new packages for podcast creators, so podcasters can enjoy maximum benefits on the website.
Also, podcast creators can download their subscriber list to engage with the listeners and promote their podcasts through phone notifications and email marketing.
If you are a podcaster on Spotify, you can launch your paid podcast on the website as follows:
Viola! Your paid podcasts are live. You can easily track your paid podcasts on Spotify as well.
We hope that this article has helped you understand Spotify’s paid podcast subscriptions and all the common methods of monetization on the website. Remember, your show is unique, so choose your monetization method as per the needs of your target audience.
To learn more about how to upload your podcast to Spotify check out our step-by-step directions.
