Podcasting Nears $1 Billion In Creator Payouts As Revenue Growth Doubles Social Media’s.

Are podcasts becoming a bigger revenue stream for creators than social media? A new report from Emarketer projects that as podcast advertising revenue grows, it is proving to be profitable for creators as well as publishers. Analysts forecast creators will pocket $940 billion from podcasts this year, and if current trends hold it will reach the $1 billion mark in 2026. The data, released in Emarketer’s U.S. Creator Podcast Revenues Forecast, says that although podcast creator revenues are less than what social media creators receive, podcast creator revenues are growing at nearly twice the rate of social media creator revenue.

The forecast says that while podcast creator revenue is expected to increase 27.3% this year compared to 2024, podcasting still represents a small share of total creator revenues. “The revenues creators will earn from podcasting this year will grow quickly year-over-year, but will only equate to about 5% of what will be generated from social media,” says Emarketer. Even so, it says podcasts are becoming crucial to creators as they build audiences outside of social’s walls — especially with TikTok’s fate in flux. The report says social media creator revenue will increase 15.8% year-to-year to $17.76 billion in 2025, according to Emarketer estimates.

Time spent listening to podcasts is growing, which analysts say is helping to drive creators’ revenues. “Podcasts are one of the few media channels that are not seeing plateaus or declines in this area,” says Emarketer. This year, it projects U.S. adult podcast listeners will spend nearly an hour (51 minutes) listening to podcasts per day — including listening to podcasts via video platforms like YouTube. That is more than the 47 minutes Emarketer says the typical U.S. adult TikTok user will spend on the social video platform.

One issue for the numbers-crunchers is that there is a continued blurring of the lines between podcast and social media revenue. For instance, Emarketer says any revenues that creators earn on YouTube Podcasts are counted as social media revenues, but not as podcast creator revenues. And it predicts that as more creators break into video podcasting the lines will blur even further.