So technically, you can run your podcast month-to-month without spending any money producing it.

But the big question is: can you grow a successful show?

When we asked respondents to our Independent Podcaster Survey (sign up to get the full report soon) how much it costs them per month to run their show, a substantial 17% said they produce on no budget whatsoever.

These podcasters said they ‘spend’ time rather than money. This reminded me of another survey we ran back in 2022, which showed the vast majority of new creators (79%) would prefer to invest time rather than cash when launching and growing their content.

So it’s interesting to see that 17% of our survey respondents are actually managing to do this.

I wanted to know a bit more about these podcasts: Are they reaching their goals, getting the downloads in and managing to sustain a regular show while keeping costs non-existent?

Let’s find out – can you run a successful podcast on no budget?

Yes, If You Make a Particular Kind of Podcast

Every time we run a new survey, we’re always prepared for the data to show something that contradicts our expectations. But with this particular topic, the data backed up our general thesis that you can run a podcast on no budget, but only a particular kind of podcast.

For a zero-budget podcast to be successful, it would most likely need to be a solo show with an altruistic, hobbyist goal.

Let’s break that down…

1. A solo show

In theory, solo shows are easiest to run for free. They don’t rely on co-hosts, interview guests, or remote recording software, so they’re much easier to squeeze into your free time and sustain as a hobby.

This was reflected in the survey, which showed that the majority of free podcasts (53%) are solo shows. This number dropped to 28% among those who spend under $50 and to 24% among those who spend more than $50/month (where the interview format was much more popular).

65% of the ‘free’ group also said they get no help with running their show, compared to just 35% of the $50+ group.

2. A show with an altruistic goal

One surprising thing: not spending any money running a podcast doesn’t seem to have any impact on whether respondents achieve their goals.

71% of the ‘free’ group said they’re still achieving at least some of their podcast goals. 72% of the sub-$50 group said they were, and 80% of those who spend $50+.

If I’m honest, I was expecting to see far fewer podcasters in the ‘free’ group achieving their goals, so this was initially quite surprising.

But of course, this also has a lot to do with the goals themselves and what ‘success’ looks like to those creators.

Regardless of whether podcasters spend money on producing their show, the top 3 goals remained the same: supporting others, personal enjoyment, and raising awareness about a topic.

However, revenue-related goals (particularly ‘to develop or promote a brand or business’) were more common among those who spend monthly on their podcast.

3. A hobby project

If you’re not spending any money on your podcast, you need to go in with the mindset that you probably won’t make any money from it either.

Comparing the three spending groups suggested that the more you spend, the more likely you are to make a financial return. Only 5% of respondents who make a podcast on no budget reported making any money from their podcast. This climbed to 16% in the sub-$50 and 26% in those who spend over $100 a month.

Overall, just 15% of all of those who took our survey said their podcast makes money. 85% don’t.

BUT Free Podcasts Come With Limitations

So clearly, it is possible to run a successful podcast on no budget. However, not only do you have to be prepared to be limited to a particular type of show, but free shows come with some other limitations, too.

Free podcasts are harder to grow

If there’s one really clear takeaway regarding the ‘success’ of those shows that run on no money, it’s that, unsurprisingly, they’re harder to achieve substantial growth with.

68% of respondents who told us they spend no money producing their podcasts get under 50 downloads per episode in the first week. To be clear: there’s absolutely nothing wrong with a podcast that gets under 50 downloads per episode – in fact, it’s a marker of success for most shows.

But there’s an undeniable trend. Download numbers climb the more creators financially invest in their shows. Only 24% of those who spend $100+ get less than 50 downloads per ep.

Free podcasts can be hard to sustain

Another thing I noticed when looking into the data was that 44% of those who create their podcast at no cost have only been running their podcast for less than a year.

This number drops to 33% of sub-$50 and 22% of $50+. Perhaps creators begin their podcasting journey on no budget, but over time, they spend more as their show grows and their needs become more complex.

Similarly, you might take from this that the more you invest in your podcast, the more likely you are to stick it out. Or at least, when you start putting money into it each month, you’re more inclined to show up.

Which takes me to my final point…

Spending keeps you accountable

This example might not ring true to everyone, but hear me out. If I’m paying for a gym membership, I’m likely to make more of an effort to go regularly than if I had free access. There’s just less motivation there to make the effort when I’m not concerned about getting my money’s worth.

The same idea can be applied to podcasting. Our data suggests that those who have an allocated budget for their show tend to put a bit more into the production, too.

For example, there’s a correlation between money spent and time spent. You’d be forgiven for thinking that spending money = less need to spend time. But according to our data, the opposite seems to be true.

12% of podcasters who spend nothing on their shows say they spend less than an hour on each episode. It is hard to imagine creating strong content in under 60 minutes, yet many report doing so.

At the other end of the scale, 19% of those who invest more than $100 per month spend over ten hours producing each episode.

Financial investment also seems to influence how consistently podcasters release new content. 16% of those in the free group have no fixed schedule, compared with 10% of the sub-$50 group and just 4% of those spending $50 or more.

Listeners value consistency, and irregular publishing inevitably affects engagement. Still, it is easy to see why those who podcast for free struggle to maintain a routine. Just like skipping the gym when you’re not paying for a membership – something else always feels more urgent than lacing up your running shoes.

The Under-$50 Sweet Spot

So yes, it’s possible to make a podcast with no budget, but it can be tough and rarely gives you the best shot at growing your show.

You can see from the original graphic that the most popular spending bracket was $10-49 per month (I’ll post it again here to save you scrolling back!).

That’s not an insignificant amount of money, especially with the cost of living these days. But it signifies to your brain that you take your show seriously, and those monthly payments are great for holding you accountable.

What’s more, spending on your show gives you access to better tools, which in turn, helps you create better-sounding content. This opens up the door for monetising your podcast, and with a couple of hundred loyal listeners, you can quickly recoup that monthly spend with something as simple as a Patreon account.

This data was gathered from our Indie Podcasters Report, which will be published in the coming week. Be sure to subscribe to Podcraft Perspectives, and you’ll get it in your inbox the minute it goes live.

Delighted? Disappointed? Indifferent?

While some podcasters might think 100 downloads isn’t a number big enough to aspire to, it might surprise you to hear it’s actually a real marker of success. In fact, landing just 27 downloads in the first week puts you in the top 50% of podcasts on Buzzsprout.

So what didn’t come as a surprise to us is that the vast majority (68%) of podcasters who took this year’s Independent Podcaster Survey (sign up to get the full report to your inbox soon!) fall into the under-100 download mark, too.

In fact, half of all respondents get less than 50.

(Note: we excluded pre-launchers from all the data in this article, for obvious reasons.)

I was interested to know more about the 32% who have crossed that 100-download mark. What are they doing differently, and is there anything we can learn from their workflows?

Here’s what I learned when I dug into the data.

4 Insights from High-Download Indiepodders

1. Have patience to play the long game

Let’s start with something that probably won’t surprise you. One thing that stood out about the 100+ DL club was that they’ve been podcasting for a while. In fact, 36% of that group have been running their podcast for more than 5 years.

Anyone who’s launched a podcast knows that success doesn’t happen overnight. Growth can be slow, but audiences tend to be much more engaged and loyal than consumers of other media.

So having patience to see it through is a lesson to take from these high-download shows. One podcaster from the 100+ club said:

“Stick with it… Don’t try to make an audience. Make great content and let your audience find you.”

Having patience to play the long game was also cited as the most essential ingredient to having success with your podcast in our last Indiepod survey back in 2022.

2. Video isn’t the be-all, end-all

When it comes to engaging your audience, you’d be forgiven for thinking having a video component is a non-negotiable these days. With so much of the discourse around podcasting dominated by video, there’s a lot of pressure to get in front of the camera.

So much pressure, in fact, that ‘adapting to video expectations’ was flagged by our survey respondents as the #3 biggest threat to podcasters in the next 3 years. The only bigger threats respondents flagged were ‘increased competition’ and ‘AI’.

But what I found super interesting when I dug into the 100+DL club data was that only 37% of them actually do video.

Not only this, but 21% said they have no intention of doing video in the future either.

And when I compared this with the segment that gets fewer than 100 downloads, there wasn’t much of a difference.

28% of that group said they publish video episodes, and this number goes up to 34% when I isolated the under-50 download group. So essentially, what the data may suggest here is that adding a video component doesn’t have the guaranteed growth impact we’re led to believe.

Interestingly, many podcasters are still tapping into the video trend without producing video podcasts – and more 100+ podcasters are doing this than sub-100s.

16% of shows with more than 100 downloads use platforms like YouTube to share their audio with static imagery, compared with just 8% of those under the 100-download mark.

3. Longer form is IN

If you ever worry that your podcast episodes are too long, the answer is almost always ‘no’. We’ve explored this topic in-depth before, and it’s great to see the results from our survey back up the theory that long-form is stronger than ever before.

When I compared the sub-100 download group with the 100+ group, there was a notable difference in average episode length.

You can see the general trend from the graphic: the podcasts in our survey that get more downloads per episode are the ones that favour longer-form content. 21% of the 100+DL club have an average episode length of over an hour.

So this idea that no one has the time, patience or concentration span to enjoy long-form audio anymore is once again proven baseless.

4. You get back what you put in

It seems like there’s a new AI tool built to speed up the podcasting process emerging almost daily. But despite this, our survey suggests you still need to put the hours into creating your content if you’re going to cross that 100-download mark.

We asked podcasters who took our survey how much time they spend on average making a single episode of their show, from planning through to publishing.

The most popular option amongst the 100+ group was more than 10 hours, with 24% choosing that option. The most popular option amongst the sub-100 group was 4-5 hours per episode, at 31%.

As you can see from the comparative graph above, while only 8% of sub-100 podcasters spend more than 10 hours on producing an episode, while a meaty 24% of the 100+ club do.

It’s worth noting that we didn’t ask respondents about the promotion stage of their podcast workflow in this question – this is purely the time spent leading up to publishing an episode.

If this data is anything to go by, putting in those extra hours to get your podcast to the next level could really pay off – AI or no AI!

We’ll be releasing a full report of the survey results soon. Sign up to Podcraft Perspectives to be the first to get it straight to your inbox.

We’re stoked that 558 independent podcasters responded to the survey. This has given us a great snapshot of the workflows, wins and challenges that podcasters are experiencing in the current landscape.

We’ll be publishing a full report of the survey findings in the coming weeks (sign up to Podcraft Perspectives to get it straight to your inbox). But in the meantime, I wanted to share an interesting data story that has emerged from the survey results.

When we analysed the survey results, we weren’t looking for gender differences. But a pattern revealed itself that we couldn’t ignore. The results showed that podcast burnout is disproportionately impacting female respondents compared to males.

First of all, the good news. When we asked respondents what, if anything, had ever made them consider quitting their show, a substantial 41% said they’d never even considered giving up.

But of course, it’s not all rosy – 22% said they had considered quitting their podcast due to burnout. 

When we separated the data by gender, the percentage of respondents reporting burnout jumped up to 28% for women, and down to 17% for men. 

One female respondent said:

“I love podcasting but burn out and motivation is a real thing.”

To be clear, I’m not here to speculate on why this gendered pattern exists. That’s not what these kinds of surveys are for. But what I will do is present the data, along with some comments from podcasters who took the survey, and you can take from it what you will. 

The Gender Gap in Podcasting: Understanding Barriers

It wasn’t just the question about reasons for quitting that showed a gender gap related to podcasting barriers. Here are a few patterns we saw elsewhere in the data regarding how female respondents told us they’re experiencing podcast-related challenges at the moment. 

They’re less likely to be reaching their podcasting goals

When we asked respondents if they’re achieving their podcasting goals, there was a notable difference between how male and female creators were achieving what they want to achieve.

Only 15% of women who answered this question said they were achieving most or all of their goals vs 24% of male respondents.

On the other end of the scale, 13% of women who took the survey told us they weren’t achieving any of their goals. Only 7% of men chose this option.

They’re more likely to bring in support 

When we asked respondents if they outsource any additional support when creating their show, 54% of men said they do everything themselves, compared to 49% of women. 

When I looked specifically at which areas people outsource, I noticed that 28% of female respondents said they hire an editor, producer or audio engineer. Only 16% of males reported outsourcing help in this area. 

One female respondent commented:

“I enjoy my podcast…but sure wish I could be more effective with growth and engagement. I grow weary of doing it myself.”

They’re finding it harder to monetise their show 

One thing that’s very clear from the survey is that monetisation is no walk in the park for creators in 2025. 85% of the creators who took our survey reported not making any money from their podcast.

Monetisation was also the second-biggest podcasting challenge people cited, after growing an audience.

And when I separated the data out by gender, there was a notable difference there too. The percentage of those who said monetisation was their biggest challenge jumped up to 49% for females and dropped to 34% amongst males.

They’re more likely to see video as a barrier

When we asked respondents what they saw as the biggest threat to podcasting in the next three years, the most popular options were ‘increased competition’ and ‘AI’. But #3 on the threat list was adapting to video expectations.

Again, when I broke down the data by gender, I noticed another gap. Of those who said adapting to video expectations was the biggest threat to podcasters, 53% were women vs just 37% of men. 

This is also reflected in the gender split of who’s publishing video and who isn’t. Only 25% of female respondents said they publish full video episodes of their podcast, while 32% male respondents do.

When I compared this data to the indiepod survey we did back in 2022, it suggested that the gap is growing slightly too. Male respondents were 3% more likely to have a video component in the 2022 survey and 7% more likely in the 2025 survey.

One female respondent commented: 

“The shift to video is a threat because it is setting an expectation to have video – among advertisers and listeners.”

And another:

“Would love to see a delineation between a podcast and video, which feels like that’s a TV show vs. audio. Lots of pressure is placed on doing video for podcasts now.”

Again, I’m not going to make any assumptions about why this gender gap might exist in video podcasting – I’m simply presenting the results of the survey. Also, Lindsay already did a great job of exploring the question of whether video is increasing the gender divide in podcasting in this article.

The Next Wave of Female Podcasters Is Coming

All things considered, let’s end on a positive note. When I looked at the demographics of new podcasters who took the survey (they were excluded from the analysis in this article as they’re yet to launch), it looks like the potential barriers aren’t discouraging future female creators.

57% of those who said they’re yet to launch their show were female, while just 33% were males.

And just last week, Podnews reported that the first female-founded video podcast network launched on a mission to “close the gender gap in podcasting” too.

If these challenges feel all too relatable to you as a creator, there’s support out there. Consider joining a community like the Women Podcasters Club or see if you qualify for any of the funding options available to women creators in this space.

We’ll be publishing more findings from the 2025 survey in the coming weeks, including the full report. Sign up to Podcraft Perspectives or the Podcraft Pointers weekly newsletter to be the first to see the data land in your inbox once it’s live.

But algorithms can be really positive too – especially when it comes to helping us find more content that we’re actually interested in and want more of.

It’s not hard to see how they can be super beneficial to podcasting, for both listeners and creators. However! It’s also easy to see why creators and industry folks are conflicted about the long-term impact of algorithms.

We’ll dive into the reasons why everyone’s so split on this topic in just a sec. But first, let’s quickly clarify how algorithms currently influence how people find and listen to new podcasts.

How Do Algorithms Work in Podcasting?

Some podcast listening platforms (most notably Spotify) use algorithms to recommend new shows to listeners. The technology does this by gathering and analysing large amounts of listening data and using machine learning to direct them towards shows with similar qualities or shows that similar listeners enjoy.

The more podcasts you listen to, the better the algorithm gets to know your interests and tastes and can suggest more of what it knows you like.

When you search for podcasts on an algorithm-driven platform, results are ranked by factors like relevance, popularity, and download numbers, as well as keywords in titles and descriptions.

But it isn’t just about search. Recommendations on a home page or sidebar can be algorithmically-driven, too. How many times have you ended up going down a YouTube rabbit hole on videos or topics you definitely weren’t searching for?

Outside of Spotify and YouTube, algorithms are either much more subtle, or absent altogether. But have they become so ingrained in our online habits that listeners will soon expect them in every app – podcasts included?

Algorithms in podcasting split opinion. Critics say they flatten taste, reduce variety, and erode nuance. Supporters argue that they give creators a better chance to be discovered, go viral, and grow an audience.

We asked a bunch of creators if they think podcast listening platforms should use algorithms more like YouTube does for video content. Here’s what they said:

63% of creators think they should use algorithms more to recommend new content to listeners, while 37% don’t think they should.

But what are the reasons why creators feel the way they do about algorithms in podcasting? Let’s dive in.

Podcast Algorithms: Friend or Foe?

First, here are a few ways algorithms are doing good things for podcasting and why some creators we spoke to want listening platforms to leverage them more in their technology.

Why Algorithms May Be Good For Podcasting

Algorithms solve discovery issues

Podcasting has always had a bit of a discoverability problem. As a listener, it’s not so easy to find your next binge-worthy podcast that ticks all your boxes; for creators, reaching new listeners can be a challenge if you’re not making the charts.

This is why the industry still relies quite heavily on word of mouth to reach the right listeners, which a lot of people find frustrating and archaic.

“Word of mouth isn’t enough. My audio only podcast is 100 times smaller than my YouTube and Spotify is now helping discoverability of my video podcast. It’s great for everyone. Podcasting is like blogs. Stuck in 2005 internet. It needs an upgrade”

– Anonymous podcaster

Algorithms tackle this by hyper-personalising listener searches and using their listening history data to uncover more of what they like. Many of the creators who took our survey think this is the direction podcasting platforms should take.

“[Podcast platforms] should do a better job of categorizing, highlighting, and promoting new, relevant, interest matching, and trending podcasts.“

– Anonymous podcaster

Algorithms democratise access

Theoretically, algorithms can also give smaller, independent creators a new path to finding the right audience.

Podcast charts are completely unreachable for the vast majority of independents, and achieving high growth quickly normally requires a decent marketing budget and/or industry connections to help promote your show.

Algorithms democratise the process by allowing lesser-known shows to potentially gain traction based on things like high engagement and relevance to a listener’s history, rather than how well-promoted they are.

Algorithms improve listener experience

Some believe that algorithms should be used more because they simply improve the listener experience overall.

By recommending a steady stream of new shows, this takes the effort out of digging for new content and potentially wasting time on subpar shows. Some survey respondents also suggested that the algorithm can get to know a listener’s interests better than they know themselves:

“Sometimes people don’t know what they want and AI can Identify interests better than someone may be able to articulate it.“

– Anonymous podcaster

Why Algorithms May Be Bad For Podcasting

While all of the above points carry weight, it’s also worth bearing in mind that algorithms aren’t all rosy. Here are some reasons why many believe there’s a danger in relying too heavily on algorithms for podcast discovery.

Podcasters create for algorithms instead of people

One inevitable issue with algorithms being so effective at delivering content to the right audiences is that creators start creating content for the algorithm instead of for their niche audience or for their own creative expression.

Matthew recently had a really interesting chat about this with Jeremy Enns from Podcast Marketing Academy on this episode of the Podracft Podcast.

“If you want to win at the algorithm game, you’re no longer following your creative energy. You are creating for the algorithm, not for the stuff that lights you up and probably is going to resonate most with your audience.

There’s this whole theory called ‘dead internet theory’, which is basically that the way algorithms are leading us is that everything is just going to be created for algorithms and not for people. This just leads to this morass that nobody actually wants to engage with and so people will opt out.”

– Jeremy Enns, Podcast Marketing Academy

Algorithms can create bubbles and echo chambers

And while being recommended more of what you like is certainly not a bad thing, what about the unexpected gems that sit outside of your listening history trends?

Algorithms can create content bubbles and echo chambers, where listeners are constantly fed a single perspective that can lead them down a particular path of thinking. This is quite contra to the concept of podcasts as a tool for educating listeners and providing diverse perspectives.

One pre-launch podcaster told us she has reservations about this:

“I think rabbit holes are unhelpful and result in the potential for narrowing horizons and breadth of awareness.”

– Claire MacLeod, Gen Z Career Coach

Algorithms can be manipulated

As with any technology that brings content creators success, it’s not unusual for podcast algorithms to be gamed or manipulated for an ulterior motive (to make more money or push a particular political perspective, for example).

For this reason, many podcasters and industry folks think there’s a danger in podcast platforms relying too heavily on algorithms.

As one anonymous podcaster in the survey put it:

“Social media algorithms have been responsible for promoting and normalizing the disastrous trends of the past decade.”

And not everyone’s convinced that YouTube’s algorithm is as democratic as we’re led to believe:

“I intensely dislike YouTube’s UI and would be surprised if their algorithm is revenue agnostic.”

– Anonymous podcaster

What Does This All Mean for You?

Whether you’re pro, anti, or indifferent to algorithms, most of this is outside of your control. You’ll have little influence on whether platforms choose to fully embrace them.

The one thing you can control is your content, and your approach to podcast discovery.

There are loads of things you can do to make your podcast more discoverable. Our SCALE framework contains no fewer than 30 ways to promote your podcast, but here are some low-hanging fruit pointers to get you up and running:

• Collaborate with other podcasters in your niche. Swap trailers and episodes, run co-hosted and montage pieces.
• Optimise your show’s essential details. Are your podcast name, description, and episode titles the best they possibly could be?
• Create content that others can’t help but share. Think lists, comparisons, reviews, costs, how-tos, and case studies for starters.

Maybe there is a podcast discovery problem, soon to be magically solved by a benevolent machine God. But, to play devil’s advocate, why would an algorithm favour your show in particular? There are more than four million podcasts out there.

Some podcasters reject the claim that there’s a widespread discovery problem in podcasting. After all, people discover new podcasts every single day. Discovery problems can exist for individual shows, but the great news is that this empowers you to do something about it. You don’t need to hope or wait on a tech company to do it for you.

That is, at least, according to entertainment journalist James Hibberd in a recent piece for the Hollywood Reporter.

James is entitled to his opinion, of course. But exaggerated claims like this can mislead and harm the industry. Not only are they about as reliable as licking your finger to see what way the wind is blowing, but they also push creators to second-guess themselves or even stop making the work they enjoy.

Debates over video versus audio in podcasting have been loud this past year, but hard numbers have been scarce. Recently, however, Rob Walch of Libsyn and Tom Webster of Sounds Profitable shared data that challenges much of the narrative. Here are the key takeaways.

Dynamic Video is Only Essential at the Very Top Tier

In episode 300 of Libsyn’s podcast, The Feed, Rob did some data digging to test the Hollywood Reporter’s claim that a podcast has “got to be on video to break through.”

When looking at the top 50 shows on Libsyn, Rob learned that, in reality, dynamic video was only needed at the very (very!) top.

Yes, the shows reaching a 300k+ audience per episode required live-action video, but those between 50k and 300k saw no clear difference between having no video, static video, or dynamic video. 

Remember, you only need about 27 downloads to put you in the top 50% of podcasts, so these are all elite-level numbers that most of us can only dream of. The real takeaway? Lessons from blockbuster shows don’t automatically translate to indie podcasters. What works at the very top doesn’t necessarily work for everyone else.

YouTube Is Just One Part of The Picture 

YouTube is undeniably making its mark as a major new podcast consumption platform, but it’s still only one part of the picture.

Yes, YouTube consumption is growing, but one of the best aspects of RSS distribution is that listeners are free to choose from many different platforms to access podcasts.

And the data shows that people still do. Rob’s research showed the largest proportion of the top 50 podcasts still got less than 2% of their audience from YouTube, and only 16% got more than half of their audience from the platform. 

Loads of the Top Podcasts Still Don’t Use Video 

Of course, it’s undeniable that many of the top podcasts have a video component. But to suit the hype narrative, we often ignore a really important point: a huge amount of them don’t. 

In Rob’s research, he also found that when looking at the top 25 new shows in just the last year on Podtrac, only 5 (20%) had video. The same amount used a static image when publishing to YouTube, and 60% (15/25) had no YouTube presence at all. 

When we look back again at the top 50 US shows (which includes shows that didn’t just launch in 2024), the number of shows with dynamic video is higher, but not by as much as you might think. 

While 66% of the top 50 shows have a video accompaniment, 24% just post audio with a static image to leverage the platform, and 10% of the top shows again have no YouTube presence at all.

Half of Those Who Consume Podcasts on YouTube Only Listen 

Tom Webster from Sounds Profitable also recently presented some data from their Podcast Landscape Report. 

They found that almost half of those listeners they surveyed who said they consume podcasts on YouTube only listen – they don’t watch – even when it’s a video podcast. 

Here’s a point often missed in the video trend: if you produce video for podcasts, it also has to work in audio. It is not just about repurposing audio for video.

Last year, we ran a study that suggested YouTube’s growth as a platform for podcasts isn’t synonymous with the rise of video podcasts, as a lot of people like to claim. In reality, it’s simply an indicator of the growth in popularity of YouTube more generally as a platform for watching OR listening. Sounds Profitable’s data paints a similar picture.

Audio-Heavy Deep Dives Remain Strong 

Contrary to the Hollywood Reporter’s claim that ‘investigative deep dives are out,’ the numbers suggest otherwise.

18 out of 25 (72%) of the top new shows of 2024 were true crime or long-form investigations, according to Podtrac.

Interestingly, the claim isn’t supported in the article either. Beyond that opening sentence claiming investigative true crime was out of fashion, there’s nothing in the article to substantiate it. 

Listeners Want Flexibility – But Not at the Expense of Your Show

A final takeaway from Sounds Profitable’s Podcasting Landscape report is a growth in public perception that a podcast may be either video or audio. 

This means the real issue is not format but freedom. Listeners want the option to engage however they prefer, on the platforms they choose. If you can offer both video and audio, that is great. But never at the cost of being sustainable and consistent.

Can I Still Make an Audio-Only Podcast in 2025?

As James Cridland of Podnews puts it, a podcast works best when it gives the ears something to do while the eyes are busy. With that principle in place, your show can thrive on any platform, regardless of whether the audience is watching a screen.

Video will always remain an option for later. If and when you feel ready and capable, you can expand into it without forcing it too soon.

The Hollywood Reporter piece said that: “Breaking through as an independent act has never been tougher.” It’s a fair point. But chasing video content you do not want to make will not fix that. Focusing on the podcast you can sustain will.

In ‘The Power of Podcast Titles‘, the agency outlined three key components to the perfect podcast artwork:

• The name of the show
• A publisher logo
• An image of the host

But is this the right formula for every podcast?

If you’re an independent podcaster, you’re instantly going to spot an issue with this formula. For one thing, indies by definition don’t work with networks, so that rules out a publisher logo.

But another thing that didn’t sit so well with me: a photo of the host isn’t always the right choice for your cover art.

In fact, we surveyed a bunch of independent podcasters and learned that 71% of them don’t include themselves in their cover art – and for a whole variety of different reasons.

So let’s take a look at some reasons and situations where adding your photo to your cover art could be a good idea – and when it’s best avoided.

When a Host Photo Is a Good Idea

For some podcasts, adding a host photo to the cover art makes perfect sense. Let’s see if yours is one of them.

You use a fitting format

The most obvious clue would be if you run a solo show or interview-based podcast where you’re the ‘common thread’ throughout the series.

Including a photo of yourself as the host of an interview series helps build consistency, familiarity, and connection with your audience. This matters even more because your guests change every episode. As one early-stage podcaster in our survey put it:

 “I’ve heard a lot of more experienced podcasters advise to share more of yourself from the beginning since you are the common thread throughout every episode and they should be getting to know you as well [as your guests].”

– Briana Ottoboni, The Trades Show Podcast

You’re building a personal brand

If your podcast’s goal is to build your personal brand, a photo in the cover art can reinforce it.

This is why host-name-based podcast names tend to be popular in business podcasts, too. These shows are all about building brand recognition, so the more elements you can add to brand-building, the better.

By including your photo in your cover art, you’re building a full-circle brand for yourself that, over time, will make you more recognisable to your audience.

One podcaster told us:

“To boost name and brand recognition, I include my full name in my podcast title and all graphic assets. Several images contain my photo to offer potential followers an opportunity to possibly resonate with me visually. Many listeners have told me that seeing my picture helped them connect with me and want to follow me.”

Charlotte Spicer, Spiritual Insights with Charlotte Spicer – Spirituality & Metaphysics Talk Radio

Your goal is to build trust

There are some podcast topics and categories where building your authority as an expert, or a voice your listeners can trust, is crucial to the success of your show.

This is particularly the case for health and fitness podcasts, parenting podcasts, or any other types of shows where listeners are taking advice from you rather than listening for entertainment.

When a Host Photo Is a Bad Idea

There are some situations where including a photo just won’t be right for your podcast, whether it’s part of the ‘perfect artwork formula’ or not. If any of the following ring true to you, your artwork will work just fine without one.

You don’t want to use one

This is probably the most important point of this debate: No matter what the data or industry advice is telling you, if you’re not comfortable having your photo in your cover art, don’t include it.

Some creators enjoy the anonymity of listeners not knowing what they look like, and there’s nothing wrong with that.

In our survey, some respondents argued that audio-only podcasts should include host images so listeners can “put a face to a voice.” I disagree. Would we have said the same thing ten years ago, when video wasn’t so tied to podcasting?

The rise of video podcasting has created a new pressure to always be on camera, and that risks putting some creators off making great content. If you don’t want to be in front of the camera, then don’t.

Your podcast isn’t personality-driven

Sometimes, decentring yourself as host feels like the right decision for your podcast. In these situations, it definitely wouldn’t make sense to include a photo in your cover art.

For example, maybe the topic of your show makes host photos feel a bit inappropriate. One podcaster spoke about how a photo would be incongruent with her show, which is about practising Buddhism:

“I don’t have my photo on the cover art because I don’t want to make it about me, but about the Dharma I’m sharing. As a Buddhist podcaster, I am focusing on less attention to myself. I am not trying to be a guru or influencer.”

– Wendy Shinyo Haylett, Everyday Buddhism: Making Everyday Better

This might also be the case if you’re running a fiction or drama podcast. It might even confuse listeners to include your photo, as they could conflate you with one of your characters.

“I run a fiction (actual play) podcast, so I want the art to focus on our characters and setting. My other podcast is about creating art with the listener(s), so it didn’t feel right to have the art focus on me as the host.” – Anonymous podcaster

Your audience is kids and adolescents

The one area where listener demographics do come into the argument here is that kids and adolescents don’t need to see host photos. For younger listeners, recognition and trust in a host matters less.

As one kids podcaster suggests, host photos are better for website ‘about’ pages, whereas cover art is for drawing listeners in with fun and eye-catching imagery.

“My pic is on my about page. I use colorful and punchy artwork to appeal to adolescents and young adults which is my target audience “

– Mark Taylor, Headstraight Podcast

Another podcaster, Dean Bowler, told us he used AI to create cartoon versions of the hosts instead: “We have used ChatGPT to formulate characters of ourselves, so it is us, just in cartoon form!”

So, Should I Use My Photo in My Cover Art?

There’s no right or wrong approach here; only what works for you, your content, and your audience.

Remember that adding a photo to your cover art might benefit you. But it guarentees nothing. It isn’t a silver bullet hack for podcast growth. Nothing is.

Adding a photo could even hamper your growth if done poorly. If you go down this route, make sure your pic is recent and high quality. Stick to a headshot rather than a full-body picture, too, because podcast artwork appears small in apps and a close-up makes the strongest impact.

For most podcasters, choosing whether to include a photo of yourself in your cover art is a real gut-feel decision. You just know it is or isn’t the right choice. But if you’ve been on the fence about it, hopefully this article has been food for thought.

If you’re looking for more detailed guidance on creating the right art for your show (headshot or not!), check out our guide to podcast cover art for some more great tips. And if at this stage, you still can’t decide? Let this cover art quiz from Earbuds decide for you.

But podcasting isn’t social media. Podcast hosting giant Buzzsprout recently reported that if your episode gets 27 downloads in its first 7 days, you’re already in the top 50% of all podcasts.

Our own survey of over 500 independent podcasters backs up Buzzsprout’s data. 50% of those we spoke to said their new episodes get fewer than 50 downloads in the first week.

The full report will be released in the coming weeks – sign up to the Perspectives newsletter to get a copy to your inbox!

Average podcast download data has been published by platforms like Buzzsprout and Libsyn for years, so this is no big revelation to the industry.

But what about its impact on creators themselves?

When we polled independent podcasters to find out how Buzzsprout’s findings made them feel about their own show, here’s what they said: 

The majority (70%) of creators who took the poll said they felt encouraged by Buzzsprout’s findings because it made success feel more achievable than they thought.

And here’s why 27 downloads shouldn’t be dismissed: 27 people who have chosen to spend real time with your podcast is worth a whole lot more than thousands of passive views.

And that’s why podcasting success feels different – and arguably, more meaningful too.

Why These Numbers Feel Low 

There are three main culprits that dupe us into thinking the 27 downloads mark is too low to indicate success.

1. Social media

Most early-stage creators have been conditioned to prioritise volume over value, but those metrics are often shallow. Podcasting isn’t social media, where big numbers often come fast, but they don’t mean much. 

For example, if you’ve ever uploaded a YouTube Short before – even on a channel with no prior traction or subscriber base – you might see it hit anywhere between 500 and 1500 views out of the blue.

Or, if you ran a Twitter account back in the day and had a “follow back” strategy, you might’ve seen “audience” numbers in the high hundreds or low thousands for simply posting the odd rant about your bins not getting emptied.

So it’s likely that those 5.5% of the creators we polled who said they felt ‘underwhelmed’ by Buzzsprout’s 27-download benchmark felt so because they’re approaching podcasting with a social media mindset. But as a longer-form medium, podcasting works in a very different way.

2. Advertisers

Social media isn’t the only thing to blame for creators thinking they need viral numbers to be successful. The monetisation world doesn’t make it easy either.

Many of the benchmarks advertisers and sponsors use are higher than they should be, and can make you feel like you’re under-performing.

But in reality, we know that 27 engaged listeners is far more valuable (to them as well as us!) than 2,700 fake podcast downloads paid for through gaming apps. 

3. The news

Many podcasting studies and media stories fail to include data from independent podcasters. They tend to focus on shows signed to major networks.

While this is a perfectly standard practice, it can give independents a skewed perception of the numbers they should benchmark and what success looks like. 

These shows have entire marketing and production teams behind them, so naturally, they’re going to tot up viral download numbers. Attempting to achieve anything close to these numbers is only going to result in you feeling totally deflated and burnt out.

Why Podcasting Isn’t A Numbers Game

Let’s just take a minute to talk about why it’s so important to remember podcasting isn’t a numbers game. 

Unlike with social media, where audiences are bombarded with content (often that they’ve not even asked to see), podcasting is entirely opt-in. Your listeners have chosen to spend time with your show, and they’re there to give you 20+ minutes of their attention, not a split second. This is why comparing podcast downloads to social media metrics is like comparing apples to oranges.

Growing your podcast audience is a slow process, but it’s intentional and it’s about creating listeners who come back time and again. This sort of number-building is a strategy that’s often underappreciated — especially in the early stages. Retention, not virality, is the game.

When someone listens to your podcast, they’re more likely to follow, subscribe, share, and trust you. This is long-term value that social metrics rarely deliver.

So to refer back to our quick poll: 70% of creators felt “encouraged” by the 27-download benchmark. This is because they intuitively understand that they’re building a real audience with their content. 

What Can Podcasters Take From This?

There are a few essential takeaways to keep in mind when reviewing your podcast numbers moving forward.

• Don’t be discouraged by big viral numbers. Remember, a small, highly-engaged audience is way more valuable than hundreds of disengaged listeners (and the industry is slowly starting to recognise this).
• Focus on your own numbers rather than industry numbers when measuring growth. If you’re creating a pitch deck for your podcast, talk about percentage growth that shows growth in the right context. Don’t compare your numbers to industry averages.
• Track depth, not just downloads. Downloads aren’t everything. What about subscribers, audience feedback, listening time, or ratings and reviews? There are a whole load of other podcast metrics that creators find more valuable than downloads.

So 27 downloads may not seem like much, but it is if you think about what it really means: A room full of people who showed up, pressed play, and stuck around.

Podcasting isn’t about chasing clout, but building long-term connections with your audience. And 27 downloads is an important part of that journey.

We’ll be publishing the full report of our indie podcaster survey soon, which is chock full of interesting insights about how independents currently work, their challenges and lessons you can learn from. Sign up to the Perspectives newsletter to be first in line to get your free copy.

Almost every day, a new growth statistic lands in my inbox. A quick Google will also throw up a crazy amount of studies and reports saying how podcasts are becoming more popular amongst particular markets and demographics.

But how much do we actually do with this listener data? There’s a whole lot of “hmmm, that’s interesting!” and carrying on as usual.

These studies put big growth opportunities on the table that creators don’t always capitalise on – and that’s untapped audiences.

When we talk about ‘untapped podcast audiences’, we likely mean one of two things:

• A demographic that’s showing a lot of growth but hasn’t been capitalised on yet
• An audience where growth is stunted, but the audience has a lot of potential.

Either way, recognising these listener trends is how you identify opportunities to reach new audiences and grow your show.

So let’s dig into some largely untapped podcast listener audiences that are worth thinking about – and how you might reach them.

1. Kids

A report by Edison Research suggests as much as 49% of 6-12-year-olds in the US listen to podcasts. Of those kids who listen to podcasts, nearly half listen every single day.

Engaging listeners early benefits the entire podcasting industry. When kids grow up with podcasts as part of their world, listening becomes a habit, not a discovery. Nurture young audiences now, and you’re helping create lifelong listeners.

68% of parents in the same Edison study said they listen to podcasts along with their children. In this sense, creating a podcast that appeals to children means you’re likely to get double the engagement. If a kid likes your podcast, their parents will, too.

And there’s big potential to monetise this genre too. In a study by Morning Consult, 9 in 10 parents with children who consume podcasts said they’re willing to pay for a subscription to a children’s podcast. This is substantially higher than the average 21% of listeners.

We’ll likely see the industry giving a lot more attention to kids’ podcasts in the near future, as studies are revealing a multitude of benefits. Podcasts have been reported to improve grades and enhance positivity and self-esteem among young people.

A Clinical Psychologist involved in the above study said:

“The link between audio content and enhanced positivity, self-esteem, and academic performance is a call to action. It’s time we create content that nurtures, educates, and empowers our children.”

Kristin J. Carothers, Ph.D.

How to appeal more to this audience

While creating a podcast for children could be fun to try, you don’t necessarily have to create a kids’ podcast to appeal to kids.

We know that parents have a big impact on the podcast content their children listen to. Creating interesting, informative and funny content that’s child-friendly but not targeted specifically at kids could be the sweet spot you’re looking for.

So consider if there’s any way you could make your content more accessible and appealing to children under 12. For example, think about keeping your episodes short (under 20 mins). Using a clear but conversational tone and adopting storytelling techniques will help to keep young listeners (and their parents) engaged.

When it comes to promotion and discoverability, publishing your podcast on YouTube will help you engage with young audiences. One study by UTA found 82% of child listeners consume podcasts on YouTube.

It’s also worth working on your social media presence and considering social ads. 58% of parents reported getting their podcast recommendations for their kids from social media.

2. Gen Z 

Your Gen Z listeners are those born between 1997 and 2012. So right now, they’re aged between 13 and 28.

Gen Z is worth paying close attention to for a whole number of reasons. In fact, we have an entire article on why you need to care more about your Gen Z listeners.

But in a nutshell: Podcast listenership amongst Gen Z is constantly growing, they’re more engaged than any other demographic, and they’re super receptive to podcast advertising. This makes this demographic gold dust for advertisers and for your podcast, too.

One study by eMarketer projects that Gen Z podcast adoption is accelerating faster than all other generations. The report estimates that Gen Z podcast adoption will reach 69% by 2028, overtaking millennials.

How to appeal more to a Gen Z audience

Again, you don’t want to completely change up your podcast just to satisfy Gen Z. It’s important to keep making the show you want to make.

But there’s also no harm in thinking about how you can make some changes to your podcast that might draw more Gen Z listeners in.

For example, some studies have suggested Gen Z engage most with shows where podcast hosts are facilitators rather than the single focus of attention. They’re interested in hearing true-life stories from the people who have experienced them.

Do you tend to run your podcast exclusively as a solo show? Maybe it could it be worth experimenting with guest interviews for the odd episode to see how that lands with listeners.

A Gen Z study by Spotify also found that 39% of Gen Z listeners prefer to listen to podcasts at an accelerated playback speed. This would suggest that this younger demographic, who are deeply immersed in a micro-content world, won’t be so tempted by your marathon 3+ hour tangent episodes.

How you promote your podcast will have a huge impact on whether your podcast reaches a Gen Z audience, too.

While you might turn to friends or podcast charts when looking to discover new podcasts, Gen Z rely heavily on social media for this. A recent study by Edison revealed that short video clips on social media are the #1 way this generation finds new podcasts to listen to. 80% specifically said they use TikTok for podcast discovery.

The same study found that 71% of Gen Z discover new shows organically on YouTube through the ‘watch next’ algorithm. But let’s be clear about something: Leveraging YouTube to reach Gen Z doesn’t mean you have to completely change your podcasting workflow to incorporate video.

You can still publish your podcast on YouTube as audio with a static image in place of a video component. This is how 61% of the independent podcasters we polled are using YouTube to share their show.

3. Boomers

There’s been a fair amount of chatter about the untapped potential of “Boomer” podcast listeners in recent years. 

“Boomer” is a term generally used to refer to the post-war “baby boomer” generation. This demographic is aged roughly 60+ (or specifically 61-79 right now in 2025).

A study released in April 2023 by Edison Research and NPR found that podcasting has a largely untapped audience in the Boomer demographic. Similarly, Sounds Profitable refers to this demographic (but more specifically, females of 55+) as “The Persuadables”. The potential is there for serious growth, they say. We just need to grab the bull by the horns.

As a generation that’s only been exposed to listening technology as adults, they’re generally less familiar with podcasting. As a result, they listen to podcasts far less than other age brackets.

But the interesting thing is that 91% of Boomers own a smartphone. They have the tools, the time and the interest to listen (talk radio is hugely popular amongst Boomers). We just need to make it easier for them to access our content. Technology has moved too fast for many people of this generation, and they’re not motivated enough to “get into” a whole new medium.

A study published this year suggests that adoption numbers are finally growing with Boomer listenership. It found that 27% of Americans aged 55+ have now watched or listened to a podcast in the past week, continuing an upward trend from 19% in 2024 and 14% in both 2023 and 2022.

Here are some ideas on how you can make your podcast more discoverable for the Boomer generation.

How to appeal more to a Boomer audience

Engaging Boomers isn’t necessarily about creating podcasts on topics that will appeal more to them. There’s already so much great content out there that this demographic would love – it’s more about closing the technical gap to make listening to podcasts easier and more accessible to them. They just need to be persuaded that podcasts are a medium worth getting into.

But how do you persuade a generation of FM radio listeners that podcasting is just as good (if not better) option for them?

By making your content available in places where Boomers will find it and making it as easy as possible to access.

For example, you might want to promote your show on platforms like Facebook, which is the most popular among this demographic. Share individual episodes as posts that they can listen to easily just by clicking. Any links that divert them to a listening platform they don’t know are likely to result in a drop-off.

We also know that Boomers make up around 18% of YouTube users, suggesting this is a platform they’re comfortable using. Making your podcast available on YouTube (again, I mean as audio with a static image, not creating a whole video component just to leverage YouTube) could help you reach more Boomers with your content.

Tapping into the Boomer demographic is really about converting non-listeners into listeners, which is something we as an industry need to care more about.

Here are some tactics on how to turn non-listeners into podcast lovers that will help you generate new Boomer listeners for your own show and play your part in converting new listeners for the industry more broadly.

4. Non-English Speakers

A study published by Rephonic last year showed that English and Indonesian language podcasts are way overrepresented.

In languages like English or Indonesian, there are far more podcasts than there are native listeners, which makes it much harder to stand out.

On the other hand, languages such as Japanese, Russian, and Korean are significantly underrepresented in the podcasting world. This creates a major opportunity for podcasters to reach large audiences who are interested in spoken-word content but have limited access to it in their native language.

How to appeal to more non-English audiences

Don’t worry, I’m not about to suggest you start learning Russian so you can grow your audience over there!

If there’s one way AI has the potential to really boost the podcasting industry, it’s in allowing our shows to break into any international market, regardless of which language they speak. This was cited as one of the podcasting industry’s biggest opportunities for 2025.

There’s already a fair amount of podcasting technology out there that can dub your podcast into multiple languages for you.

And the spooky part? As the technology uses voice cloning, this means your podcast will still be available in your original voice. Ever wondered what you’d sound like if you spoke Mandarin? Now’s the time to find out!

Opportunities for Growth

There are a lot of people out there who don’t listen to your podcast. Some might see that as a negative; others see it as an opportunity.

If you have an idea for a new podcast that appeals to one of these untapped audiences, our free AI-powered Showplanner tool will help you come up with a name, trailer and entire launch plan in minutes.  

But, remember, you don’t need to come up with an entirely new podcast to reach new people. Sometimes, a few tweaks and a little creativity can help get your show in front of those who never knew it (or podcasting more generally!) even existed.

Most independent podcasts exist on a shoestring budget (majority of indies run their show on less than $40 a month). Many great podcasts survive on no budget at all.

But did you know there’s a wide range of grants and funding available to podcasters that could give your show a little cash injection?

When we surveyed a bunch of independent podcasters, we learned that 41% didn’t know applying for funding as a podcaster was even an option.

In reality, there are a whole load of different creative grants, mentoring programs and funding opportunities available to podcasters in the UK, USA and beyond that can support you in taking your podcasting career to the next level.

Here’s an overview of just a few of these initiatives and where to go to apply for them.

Grants and Funding for UK Podcasters

1. Arts Council England (ACE)

Good For: Arts-based podcasts

Arts Council England offers various grants for audio storytelling and community-driven projects within the arts.

Funding for individuals rather than organisations is offered through the National Lottery Project Grant. The grants are ongoing, so you can apply throughout the year.

Funding available: £1,000–£100,000

>>> More ACE funding info here

Tip: Creative Scotland/Wales Arts International, and the Arts Council of Northern Ireland are all regional equivalents of ACE that fund creative projects, including audio.

2. Whicker’s Podcast Pitch

Good for: Documentary podcast makers

In collaboration with Sheffield DocFest, The Whickers offers a bunch of funds to successful documentary podcast makers, including a top prize of £15,000 and £5,000 for the runner-up.

They also dish out a package to 6 finalists that includes free passes to Sheffield DocFest (including travel and accommodation) and a bunch of great audio networking opportunities.

The 2025 deadline has passed, but it is worth checking next year.

Funding available: £15k (first place), £5k (second place), £400 to 6 other finalists.

>>>Check out The Whickers Podcast Pitch fund

3. BBC Sounds Audio Lab

Good for: Young and under-represented voices in podcasting.

Every year, the BBC runs an accelerator program for podcasters who need a bit of support to turn their big audio ideas into productions.

The program is focused on under-represented voices and runs for a whole 8 months. Over that time, successful candidates gain access to funding, training, mentoring, production expertise, and promotion on the podcast release.

Funding available: Amount unknown for individual creators (any inside info on this, please get in touch!), but if you’re a production company based in the UK, the BBC also offer up to £30k to organisations keen to support successful applicants in producing their show.

Applications for 2025 are now closed, but you can keep an eye on this page for updates.

Grants and funding for US podcasters

1. Podfund

Good for: More established podcasters

Podfund is an awesome opportunity for experienced creators with proven traction and revenue with their podcast.

You’ll have to have a bit of an existing success story to be considered, but the reward can certainly pay off. Podfund offers startup and growth capital of between $25,000 and $150,000 (sometimes even more!) as well as mentorship, peer community, tool access, and strategic support.

It’s a fair whack of a grant that they’re open to offering individual podcasters as well as studios, so it’s certainly worth the punt.

Funding available: $25,000 to $150,000 plus extra support perks.

>>> Check out Podfund

2. Elevate Creatives Fund

Good for: Early-career audio professionals

The Elevate Creatives Fund is a joint grant program by Wave (a small-business financial platform) and the Shorty Awards. It’s designed to remove financial barriers that get in the way of creative entrepreneurs making great content – including podcasters.

Any podcaster who’s shortlisted in the first round gets a link on the Shorty Awards website and a free personalised accounting and bookkeeping session from the folks at Wave.

And if you’re one of the six chosen for the program, you get $20k to develop your show, creative mentorship and a free ticket to the Shorty Awards.

Funding available: $20,000

>>> Check out the Elevate Creatives Fund

3. Our Greatness

Good for: Independent Women of Color podcasters

Our Greatness is a funding initiative run by Matriarch Digital Media.

The company offers microgrants to independent US-based Women of Color podcasters in the hope of removing any resource barriers that get in the way of important stories and perspectives being told through podcasting.

You can apply throughout the year, and applications are reviewed at the end of each month. I struggled to find any details on how much the grants are, so if you have any information on this, please reach out

Funding available: Unknown

>>> Check out the Our Greatness podcast fund

4. AIR Media New Voices

Good for: Early-stage audio professionals

Since 2009, AIR has been offering a mentoring program to underrepresented voices in audio who are at the early stages of their careers in audio.

The initiative runs annually and includes mentorship, professional development support, networking with industry leaders, and a $1,000 stipend.

In 2024, they announced an additional program, AMPLIFY, that focused on supporting creators with marketing an existing podcast.

Deadlines for these programs are usually in the summer months.

>>> Check out AIR Media funding page

5. The Black and Brown Podcast Collective

The BBPC offers a number of funds to US-based podcast creators of colour.

To apply for any of the BBPC’s grants, you just need to become a member of the Collective first. Membership is free, and there are no application fees for the grants either.

Here’s what funds are available through BBPC right now:

• Podcast Education Grant
• Black Women, the Experience Grant
• Podcasters of Color Seed Grant
• Allies – Bridging the Gap Grant
• Content Creator Music Grant (Free background music for a year)

>>> Learn more about BBPC grant opportunities

Grants for podcasters worldwide

1. Content is Queen

Content is Queen is a UK-based podcasting agency that offers its microgrants internationally.

This global initiative is supported by Audible, allowing them to offer small-scale grants (£500 or £1,000) to help independent podcasters develop trailers, pilot episodes, or special instalments of an existing show.

There are 20 grants available each year, with 10 grants of £1,000 and 10 grants of £500.

Successful applicants don’t just get cash, but production support too, including:

• Access to producers, editors, and the Epidemic Sound music library (1 hour per month).
• Use of the Content is Queen studio (based in Somerset House, London).
• Expert guidance through regular check-in calls.

Information on the 2025/2026 deadline has yet to be announced, but it typically occurs at the end of the year.

>>> Learn more about Content is Queen Grants for podcasters

2. Podcasting, Seriously Awards Fund

This fund was born out of a well-known problem in the podcasting industry: podcasting awards rarely go to independent creators. And one of the reasons this happens is that indies can’t afford to pay the (often high) application fees that a lot of these awards programs require.

Enter, the Podcasting, Seriously Awards Fund. This program reimburses independent BIPOC, Queer, and Trans audio producers for up to $200/year in awards entry fees and $500/year for audio production education courses, too.

To qualify, you need to be based in the U.S., U.K., Canada or Australia and identify as BIPOC, Queer, or Trans. Your show also needs to have been published within the last year.

Applications are rolling all year round. You submit your receipts after paying entries for awards, and they’re reviewed anonymously within 2–3 weeks of submission.

Over 300 grants have been awarded since 2021, supporting entries into major awards such as The Ambies, Webby, Tribeca, and ARIAS.

>>> Check out the Podcasting, Seriously Award Fund

6 Tips for a Successful Podcast Grant Application

1. Look for niche grants that are relevant to your show.

The narrower the niche, the less competition, so finding grants in your particular niche can be much more fruitful. For example, the John Templeton Foundation offers grants specifically to podcasts on topics around science, philosophy and spirituality.

And it’s not just podcast-specific grants you should keep an eye out for. Focussing more on niche rather than format can open a few additional funding doors.

2. Know your “why” (and say it clearly)

Purpose-Driven Podcasting: What Is Your “Why”?

Read article called: Purpose-Driven Podcasting: What Is Your “Why”?

Funders want to know why your podcast matters – not just to you, but to a community, or a gap in the industry. Be able to say: “This show exists to…” in one sentence.

3. Align with the grant’s mission

Most grants focus on themes like diversity, journalism, innovation, underrepresentation, or accessibility. Read the criteria carefully, and reflect the funder’s own language in your pitch. Show that you’ve done your homework and that your podcast aligns with their mission.

But don’t change your project to fit the grant. Stay true to your ideas!

4. Keep your application details specific

Vagueness kills all applications! Try to be as precise as possible about what the grant will fund (e.g., “3 episodes + marketing graphics”), who your audience is, and how/when you plan to produce the content.

This shows funders you’ve thought seriously about the logistics of what you’ll actually do with the funding.

5. Include data in your pitch

Any data you hold on your podcast is helpful to include. Don’t worry if the numbers are small – you can frame it in a way that sounds good! Highlight trends, like “total listen time grew to one year last quarter” or focus on your niche success (e.g. “Top 20 History podcast on Apple Podcasts Singapore.”)

6. Stay in the know

Even if a fund isn’t currently accepting applications, it’s a good idea to sign up for updates so you’re among the first to know when an application round opens.

Sign up to the Perspectives newsletter for updates on new podcast funding opportunities – we’ll let you know as soon as we do!

This helps us (and you!) do a few things:

• It helps us learn more about independent podcasters‘ aspirations, processes, and opinions about the podcasting industry.
• It gives us insight into the challenges podcasters like you are currently facing, so we can work out how we might be able to help.
• It gives you the opportunity to get your voice heard on industry topics (and even get a promotional link back to your podcast in the process!).

Here’s a roundup of what we learned from the data this summer.

5 Things We Learned About Podcasters Summer 2025

1. Creators still love the term ‘podcast’

We asked indies whether they agree with Max Cutler that the term “podcasts” is becoming outdated. He argues that podcasts have evolved so much that the community needs to move with it. He’s calling for podcasts to be renamed “shows” so the term encompasses video and other content, too.

Turns out this is a debate that a lot of creators care about – it was the most popular poll we’ve run to date!

And here’s what the jury’s verdict looked like:

There were a load of great comments from podcasters too – you can read some of them in the full piece: “Podcasting Is Dead. Long Live The Show”?

2. Many podcasters have run multiple shows

We ran a poll to find out how many podcasts creators have generally run in their careers.

Surprisingly, only 36% of those who responded said they’ve stuck to the one show concept their entire podcasting journey, while 9% have launched more than 10 (ten!) in their career.

A large slice of the respondents (35%) said they’re still in the planning stage of their show.

If you’re part of that 35% still in the pre-launch stage, Colin ran a live session this month specifically aimed at helping creators get a new show over the line. You can watch the replay of the Live Launch Lab here.

3. Podcasters think we need to champion audio more

At The Podcast Show, we asked industry folks the question: Do we need to champion spoken-word audio in a world of video hype? 

We got a wide range of sharp, surprising, and opinionated responses. But we also wanted to hear from independent podcasters. So, we asked. Here’s what you said:

A massive 91% of you said yes, we do still need to champion audio, while 9% said it wasn’t an issue.

The general vibe from those who said action wasn’t needed was that audio isn’t at threat and is strong enough to “take care of itself.”

4. Podcasting budgets vary widely

We asked podcasters how much they roughly spend on running their podcast each month. Monthly outgoings can include anything from hosting costs and software subscriptions to marketing budgets.

What we learned is that budgets vary widely, but $20-39 per month seems to be the sweet spot, with 28% saying they spend that amount each month to run their show.

A considerable 16% said they run their podcast on no budget at all.

5. Few podcasters know about funding opportunities

Monthly budgets aside, we asked podcasters if they had ever applied for any funding or grants to support their shows.

We were surprised to learn that as many as 41% of indies didn’t even know this was an option. Only 24% of those podcasters we surveyed said they’d ever applied for any sort of funding for their show, with 18% being successful.

If you’re a podcaster in the UK or the USA, we’re currently pulling together a list of some of the best funding opportunities available to you. Sign up for the Perspectives newsletter to get the guide in your inbox as soon as it’s live!