• by Colin Kirkland , January 3, 2025

Spotify has announced the launch of its “Partner Program,” a video-first initiative designed to pay creators in the U.S., the U.K., Australia, and Canada a portion of the company's advertising revenue depending on how much engagement their videos receive from paid subscribers.

The program aligns the audio-streaming platform more closely with YouTube, especially as Spotify doubles down on video podcasting – a popular medium over the past year – and competes for more than audio budgets in the digital advertising pool.

Over the summer, Spotify's Vice President of Podcast Product Maya Prohovnik said that video was “becoming core to the global Spotify experience,” with the appetite for video content “increasing immensely” across the platform's major content categories.

To convince more creators to publish their video content on Spotify, the company's Partner Program is promising a cut of ad sales. And, according to Spotify, the program is already popular among creators, with over 65% of eligible podcast shows and networks enrolling since the initiative was first announced in November.

In addition, Spotify has begun allowing paid subscribers to watch video podcasts without ads (though this does not include creators’ embedded sponsorships), while also inviting creators to promote their shows via short-form video blurbs called Podcast Clips. The company says that these clips are “33% more effective than previews at converting browsers into engaged listeners.”

However, as Spotify continues to boost its video offerings, luring more creators to the platform via ad revenue payouts, the company has faced recent issues regarding content moderation, including the infringement of sexually explicit video clips appearing in the platform's search function.