a16z Podcast Market Overview
Consumer Podcast Listening Apps
Key Players
Key Features /
Differentiation
Incumbent
Apple Podcasts (launched
2012, accounts for ~2/3 of all
podcast listening. 27M
MAUS in US estimated from
App Annie)
©2019 - Andreessen Horowitz
Pre-installed on all iPhones
Lacking: Native
monetization; in-depth
analytics around listens;
demographic information;
attribution
Large Existing Audience + New
Podcast Focus
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https://www.iheartmedia.com/press/iheartmedia-revolutionizes-broadcast-radio-iheartmedia-analytics-first-fully-digital
Spotify (9% of podcast market,
207M total MAUS as of Feb '19)
Pandora (66M MAUS as of Q1
2019)
iHeartRadio (120M registered app
users, 270M monthly listeners
across properties as of 2018)
Google Podcasts
Source:
Spotify: https://investors.spotify.com/financials/press-release-details/2019/Spotify-Technology-SA-Announces-Financial-Results-for-Fourth-Quarter-2018/default.aspx
Pandora: https://www.forbes.com/sites/joshmandell/2019/04/24/siriusxm-posts-earnings-miss-after-purchasing-pandora-media/
iHeartRadio: https://www.forbes.com/sites/joshuadudley/2019/02/11/iheartradio-looks-to-grow-the-podcast-audience-with-personalized-podcast-recommendations/#5fdaca746flc
Competing on the basis of large
existing user bases to whom
podcasts can be cross-promoted,
user data around listening habits,
existing monetization capabilities
(subs or ads), and budgets for
exclusive content acquisition
Long Tail Listening Apps
CastBox
Stitcher
The Podcast App
Pocket Casts
Breaker
and many others
Competing on the basis of
better user-facing features
(discovery, search,
commenting, sharing) &
creator monetization (e.g.
RadioPublic's Paid Listens
program)
Increasingly interested in
exclusive content
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