Spotify Podcast Partner Program Opens to 35 New Countries

Spotify is giving podcasters in 35 more countries a way to get paid. The streaming company announced that the Spotify podcast partner program, which shares ad and Premium revenue with eligible creators, will expand to new markets across Europe, Latin America, and the Caribbean this fall. Italy, Spain, Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, Poland, Chile, the Dominican Republic, and the Bahamas are among the additions. The program has so far operated in the United States, Europe, and Australia, which makes this its largest geographical expansion to date.

The rollout will be phased in gradually over the fall season rather than arriving all at once. According to PodcastingToday, the launch will come country by country through the autumn, and Premium subscribers in the newly added markets will see dynamic ads removed from participating video podcasts, though sponsorships arranged by creators themselves will remain. For creators in markets where podcast audiences are growing but monetization options have been thin, it opens up revenue streams that were previously out of reach.

How the program pays creators

Eligible podcasters earn in two main ways. When Premium subscribers watch their video podcasts, those views count toward revenue payouts. When listeners tune in on Spotify's free tier, creators get a share of advertising revenue. Both video and audio shows qualify, and the program covers sponsorship tools as well.

Creators also keep their freedom. According to TechCrunch's report on the announcement, podcasters can continue distributing their shows on other platforms while enrolled, and they keep all of the money from sponsorships they arrange themselves. That arrangement favors independent shows that rely on direct deals with advertisers alongside whatever a platform pays them.

Spotify has also lowered the bar to entry. Earlier this year it relaxed the eligibility rules for video podcasts: creators now need three published episodes, two thousand consumption hours, and 1,000 engaged audience members in the last 30 days to qualify. The previous thresholds were twelve episodes, ten thousand consumption hours, and two thousand streamers. The company said consumption among participating shows rose 45% on average after the change.

Video is driving the push

Spotify says video podcast consumption on its platform has risen 140% since the feature launched in 2022. Monthly payouts to enrolled shows have grown by about a third since January, which suggests the money side of the program is scaling alongside the audience.

There is a clear incentive for Spotify to keep creators uploading video. Video podcasts compete directly with YouTube, which has spent years building ad infrastructure for creators. By letting podcasters earn from Premium video views, Spotify gives them a reason to treat its platform as a first stop rather than an afterthought.

A crowded race for creators

The expansion lands as the podcast business enters a more competitive phase. YouTube, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify are all competing for the creators who produce high-value content, and monetization tools have become one of the main battlegrounds. Apple's recent move to bring video to paid podcast subscriptions points in the same direction: platforms want creators to stay inside their walls.

Platforms have also had to police those payouts as the money grows. X recently sued users over alleged creator payout fraud, a reminder that revenue-sharing programs bring enforcement headaches along with the opportunity.

The new markets skew toward regions where creator infrastructure is still developing. Brazil, Mexico, and Colombia have some of the fastest-growing podcast audiences in Latin America, while Italy and Spain represent established European listening markets where local-language shows have surged. Across the Caribbean and Central America, dozens of smaller markets will get access to the program for the first time.

Spotify's broader pitch is that podcasts offer a different business model from music streaming, where margins are shaped by licensing costs paid to rights holders. Around original content, platforms can build advertising, subscription, and revenue-sharing models of their own. The phased rollout runs through the fall, bringing the Spotify podcast partner program online in new markets across September, October, November, and December.