Welcome to Stream On. This is the second time we've hosted this event, and I'm thrilled to be here with you in L.A. This room is full of artists and podcasters and authors, and virtually, we're joined by a global creative audience. I know many of you are tuning in to hear what's next for Spotify, but I want to be crystal clear that today's event is for you, the creators. It was really important to me to do our first in-person Stream On here in L.A., a city that's long been a beacon for creative voices from all over the world. It's a place that's overflowing with energy, and I think sparks of magic are literally everywhere. L.A. is the home to some of the most well-known and beloved creators, but it's also home to countless dreamers that's just starting out in pursuit of their passion.
This is also what we're building here at Spotify, the best home for creators, where you can establish your career and where the world can be inspired by your creativity. A place where you can thrive and grow, really no matter what stage you're at in your career. That's been our mission from the start. When we founded Spotify in 2006, the music industry was in a free fall. The fundamental question everyone was asking was a big and important one, "Is the music industry doomed? Or could it be reimagined and still be a sustainable career for talented artists around the world?" Now, more than 15 years later, we know that that answer is yes.
More and more artists are finding success through streaming, we also know that means more artists than ever are entering into the arena, which of course means more great content and more competition, because as the opportunity grows, so does the interest. The data clearly shows that far more artists are making a living off of their music than at any other time in recorded music history. In fact, in 2022, if you looked at the list of the top-earning artists, we estimate that even the 50,000th most-streamed artist on Spotify generated more than $50,000 across all recorded revenue sources. In light of that, it may not be all that surprising to hear that Spotify's payouts to the music industry since our founding is approaching $40 billion.
That makes us the single biggest source of revenue for the entire music industry. These are just some of the stats that we're sharing in our annual Loud & Clear report today, and you'll hear much more about this in just a few minutes, but we predict that there's still a lot of growth ahead for music. As we continue to provide better tools for artists, labels, and their teams, we also expect to unlock even more ways to find success. As we think about meaningful revenue, we aren't just limiting it to royalties. We're thinking about everything from merch to ticket sales to customizable storefronts and even live events, and we're investing in new ways to drive music commerce. We will have much more to share as this work evolves.
The music industry is healthier and more diverse than ever before, we remain committed to furthering its success, and that's just the beginning. In the last few years, we've also expanded beyond music to include a new category of audio creators on Spotify, podcasters and audiobook authors. As we entered into this space a few years ago, a new question emerged, which is, "Can Talk creators, podcasters, and authors find the same level of success as music artists and also build sustainable careers?" Because of what we learned and accomplished on the music side, I believe here, too, the answer is an unequivocal yes. While we still got a lot of work to do, the opportunity is massive. How's it going? Well, 2022 was a huge year for Talk, and I think it clearly demonstrates that we're gaining a lot of traction.
It's not just in established podcast markets like North America or Europe, it's really around the entire world. Let's take Brazil, for example. Brazil has emerged as one of our fastest-growing new markets, and it's now the second-largest podcast market in the world. There's India, which is quickly gaining ground as a close third. If we zoom out for a moment, we've gone from just about 10 million podcast listeners in 2018 to more than 100 million today, and that's more than 10x growth in just a few years. We also announced our entry into audiobooks in 2022, launching in five countries with a huge catalog of content that our users has been requesting for years. Is the experience ultimately what we think it can be? No.
We're planting our flag, and it's a really important step to get us rolling. Even though it's early, we're already seeing authors embrace our platform in really innovative ways. One of my personal favorites is Brandon Sanderson. He's a widely popular sci-fi and fantasy writer, and on the heels of his record-breaking Kickstarter campaign to help fund his latest series, Brandon chose to partner with Spotify because he was so excited about our approach. As part of his campaign, he offered each backer a unique code which allowed them to listen to the book. The outcome was super positive, with around 40% of his Kickstarter backers choosing to listen to the book on Spotify.
In response to the success of this collaboration, Brandon then chose to purchase additional thousands of redemption codes to include in his book bundles to allow more readers to also be able to listen to the book on their favorite audio platform. Later this year, you'll hear much more about our work in audiobooks, but today's event is really going to be focused on how we're going to support our creators in music and podcast. We're here to highlight how you can better grow your audience, engage with your fans, and monetize your work bec ause I think it's really in this place between creator tools and a consumer experience where the magic happens. That brings us to the really big news for today. We are excited to introduce an entirely new and updated Spotify experience.
You're going to see and hear much more about this from Gustav in just a few moments. I wanted to offer a little bit of background. We hear the same things again and again from the creator community: "Get me closer to the fans, give me more ways to engage, and help me better monetize." We are delivering just that. This all-new Spotify experience not only meets your expectations and matches your ambition, it also gives your fans more of what they want, which is you, the artist, the podcaster, the author. This marks the biggest change Spotify has undergone since we introduced mobile 10 years ago. It's an all-new interface with more space to showcase your individuality and creativity, helping you chart new pathways to success on your own terms.
From audio to video, we're giving you the resources to grow your audience by arming you with better tools, which means more control over your art than ever before. Today, you'll get a first look at what's next for Spotify, and some of this is already live, some of this will be debuting today, and even more will roll out in the coming weeks and months ahead. In the past, you likely thought of Spotify as being the best destination for listening. Today, this evolution is really about bringing Spotify to life. We want to infuse the platform with the same energy and creativity that I feel every time I have a chance to sit alongside an artist or creator and feel their passion as they tell their stories.
While we're going to build on many of the things that you like the most about Spotify today is really about hanging out a new shingle to let creators everywhere know that Spotify is open for business. We're adapting to better meet your needs. I'll preview just a few highlights of what we'll cover today. We're going to give you better tools and more data. We're going to develop more ways to engage with your audience and be discovered. We're going to create more room for you to play. We're going to enable more creativity and personalization when it comes to what you're sharing with your fans. We're going to help you build out adjacent businesses like merch and ticket sales. Finally, we're going to provide you with support and mentorship, especially for up-and-coming artists.
Today, there are over 10 million creators on Spotify, and we recently passed half a billion monthly listeners across 184 countries and markets. Think about the massive potential that represents for you. No matter where you are in your career as an artist, podcaster, or author, the potential here is to reach more than half a billion people. As you'll see, that reach is about to become even more powerful. Creators, welcome to your new home. To understand where we're going, let's take a quick look at where we've been.
Wow, what a journey. Even for me, it's incredible to see the evolution of what we built. On any given day, millions of people on Spotify find themselves listening to a song, podcast, or an audiobook created by someone they never heard of before. These discoveries drive everything we do. Users tell us that every day they find something new to love on Spotify. This day, Spotify recommendations drive close to half of all user streams. What's more, each time your music gets played on a program playlist like Release Radar, you receive on average three times more stream from that listener over the next six months.
When a listener decides to follow you, they listen to on average five times more of your music. That's why discoveries on Spotify, unlike many other platforms, give creators so much more than just a fleeting moment of viral fame. Those meaningful long-term connections are a key part of what makes Spotify a platform for professional and aspiring artists. We're already leading the industry in giving users and creators the best discovery experience when they're playing music in the background with their phones in their pockets, and we're proud of that. There are other moments in the discovery journey when audio is more than just background, moments when users want to actively see a creator, to learn about them, and engage with them. We decided to evolve Spotify to also provide an incredibly engaging foreground discovery. That took a lot of investment and reimagination.
As Daniel mentioned, this is one of the biggest changes since Spotify's inception, a change that makes the best home for creators even better. Let's face it, the world today pulls us in 1 million different directions. The most important thing that we at Spotify can do for creators is to reduce the distance between your art and the people who love it, or who would love it as soon as they discovered it. The new Spotify home feed solves that problem. It leads listeners straight into your world without even a single tap. Today, we're proud to introduce for the very first time, the brand new Spotify, and it begins with the home feed.
This is a completely new experience that you'll see come to life throughout the coming weeks and months. It's powered by advanced recommendations and leverages new visual canvases and a completely new and interactive design.
The Spotify we're revealing today is built to feel alive. The interface is dynamic. It's easier than ever to scroll and swipe and loaded with all new ways for listeners to enjoy your work. The reimagined home feed will show better recommendations from your favorites to fresh content, richly animated images and videos. When you open Spotify, you'll still find all of your go-to music and podcasts in the shortcuts section up top. These are some of my favorites. Now, down below, you'll also find new ways to explore songs and artists. For you, the creator, we're introducing an even easier way to get your work noticed, previews. When your friends are talking about a new movie, what do you do? Well, you check out the trailer, right?
We launched podcast trailers on the show page a few years ago, and everyone loves them, but we knew we could go further. We talked to creators and users from all over the world and combined their insights with our cutting-edge machine learning. Together we created a feature that's both automatic for creators and intuitive for users. Today, Spotify is the first platform to enable truly seamless previews across music, podcast, and audiobooks. They let you explore much more in far less time. Listeners will now be able to see and hear short clips powered by machine learning right in the home feed, making it much easier for them to discover the content that we think they'll love. This means that they can check out a preview before deciding to listen to a full playlist, podcast, or book.
Our tests show that this leads to more listeners becoming committed fans. Now, when I open my home screen, I won't have to choose what I might be interested in just based on a cover art that I've never seen before or an episode name that I've never heard of. Instead, I can instantly hear the most interesting part of a song or an episode without a single tap. That's home. Now, let me take you through our dedicated feeds for music, podcast, and audiobooks. When users open the music feed looking for their current favorite track or playlist, they can still find it easily at the top. Here are my favorites again. Below that, users will now see recommendations of new music we think they'll love, as well as our brand-new personal DJ, but I'll come back to that later.
Listeners can tap through multiple songs to explore a playlist right in the feed and get a taste before committing to the whole thing. On the visual side, we're bringing artist canvases straight into the music feed to give users the opportunity to truly engage with you and your work. Before I'd just see a song title or a static album cover, but now I can actually see you, the artist, in a canvas just like this. That means that the hundreds of millions of people who open Spotify will now see more of you and your work. For artists, this is a powerful new way for you to entice that all-important first listen. Because it's easy for users to save a song or follow an artist, more of them will become lifelong fans.
The same goes for podcasts and shows. Podcasters everywhere know that podcasts have been notoriously hard to discover. We designed this new feed to offer fans way more opportunities to learn about your work with very little effort. We're also seeing explosive growth of video podcasts on Spotify, with more than 70,000 podcasters adding video to their podcast in a very short time, like here with Higher Learning. Users tell us they love being able to switch between watching and listening to your podcasts. Until today, video publishing has only been available to creators hosting on our Anchor podcast platform. Starting right now, any creator, regardless of platform, can sign up to be among the first to get access to this feature and start expanding their audience. We're excited about the possibilities this will bring.
As you can see, podcasters, including ones like Emma Chamberlain, are already having lots of fun with video. Next, let's talk about audiobooks. If podcasts have been hard to discover, audiobooks have been almost impossible. We're bringing all of this innovation and discovery to audiobooks as well. I've got a long trip coming up, so I'm looking for an audiobook for the flight. This one has been recommended to me. Now, I could purchase that or just keep on browsing and find even more that sound interesting. You've just seen how easy audio discovery can be on Spotify. Discovery guides every step we take. As I've mentioned, it's not just fleeting viral fame. It's discovery that endures. The new Spotify is designed to help users discover content that drives deep, meaningful, and long-lasting engagement.
While we are building very effective mechanisms for discovery, we are not optimizing for time spent in the feed like other platforms. Spotify optimizes for helping you discover content to listen to later. This actually helps users get through the feed as fast as possible rather than trying to make them stay as long as possible. What we measure is how many songs and episodes listeners have saved for later. We think this optimization will be a step change in how easy it will be to discover new music, podcasts, and audiobooks. Our goal is not to steal time. It is to help users save time. More than eight years ago, we introduced editorial and algorithmic playlists, innovations that changed how people listen to music and helped the industry return to global growth. Let's face it, today, that's old news. It's time to innovate on music listening all over again.
Recently, we released a new feature that is already changing how the world listens to music. We call it DJ.
Hey, what's going on Stream On crew? It's really great to be here with you in sunny California. I'm Xavier. My friends call me X. From this moment on, I'm going to be your own personal AI DJ on Spotify. Yes, I'm an AI, but I'm all about music, your music.
DJ is a new AI-powered, fully personalized experience that reimagines how listeners hear and discover the music they love. It transforms Spotify from a music tool into a living, breathing, interactive music experience. To tell you more about what you can expect from DJ, I'd like to invite to the stage the man behind the voice, X.
Hey, everybody, what's up? Y'all got to talk back to me. Hey, everybody. What's up? I'm X. Hey, for those of you who don't know me, I've been in the industry and here at Spotify for a long time. I've gotten to wear a bunch of hats across our music and cultural partnerships teams. I've had a front row seat seeing discovery evolve from multiple angles. Discovery and the technology that drives it has always set Spotify apart. We launched our first personalized playlist, Discover Weekly, all the way back in 2015. It's actually still one of the features our listeners tell us they love most. Listeners around the world rely on discovery to find new songs. With more than 100 million tracks on Spotify, they have a lot to choose from. That can be overwhelming.
At Spotify, we have hundreds of musical experts from every corner of the map. It's like they're DJing for the whole planet. Our dream was always to give everyone their own personal DJ, explaining the world of music, their music, just to them. That's what we built. Now, when I don't know what I feel like listening to, DJ has my back, bringing me something it knows I'll love like thisNext, I got Steve Lacy, who hails from Compton. He started his career as a member of the band, The Internet. In 2017, Steve's first solo track, Dark Red, was added to Spotify's Fresh Finds playlist. Since then, his catalog spans across a range of genres from bedroom pop to rock, and he recently won a Grammy for Best Progressive R&B Album. Here's his breakout hit, Bad Habit.
I could listen to my voice all day. That's the surreal thrill of having your own AI voice coming back at you, saying words that I never actually spoke. How crazy is that? By incorporating human voice traits such as pacing, projection, and emphasis, DJ is expressive, emotional, and ready to do the heavy lifting for you, searching through the latest music, looking back at your old favorites, and delivering a stream of songs picked just for you at the exact moment in time. To use this feature, just press play and you'll get a lineup of music exclusively for you, along with personalized commentary, which comes from our music editors tapping into generative AI. Just like Discover Weekly, it gets better with time because DJ learns with you.
If the song isn't the vibe I'm looking for right now, I can just hit the DJ icon in the corner and get served a new one. Now, I'm going to pass the mic back to Gustav to tell you about even more ways we're bringing discovery into all kinds of audio. Thanks. Peace.
Thanks, X. Now, when I'm on my long drive to work or just listening to a few songs to clear my head, having someone to guide me through the music and explain why I'm hearing that song is a game changer. Whether I listened to it last summer or it's just trending because of a new Netflix or HBO episode. DJ is one of the key ways that Spotify's coming alive, that sense that every surface of the app is just waiting to help you connect more deeply with your audience. Now, I want to tell you about a few more updates that make this the best Spotify experience ever. As we talked about, sometimes a user wants Spotify to take the wheel, but other times, they might want to find that next song all on their own.
That's why we're also offering a whole new way to discover music in search and browse. These new discovery feeds are for those moments when users know the genre they want to listen to, but they need help finding new inspiration, or when they want to explore a new genre that they've just heard of but aren't familiar with yet. Here, users will see visual clips of new songs suggested just for them. If you're an artist, you will have a better chance than ever of attracting new fans. Listeners will also be able to explore related genres using hashtags, all to help them expand their taste and explore new music and artists. These feeds makes it easier to find amazing new music, share it with friends, and add it to playlists.
As of today, users will also be able to preview tracks in playlists, like RapCaviar, Hot Country, and Mood Booster, before jumping in. Sometimes listeners want to create their own playlist, like the mixtape that I grew up on. The perfect playlist does more than just pull together great songs. It captures a key moment in time, like a great trip, a breakup, or a move to a new city. Maybe it's been a while since they listened to that playlist every day, but it still means something to them. They love those old songs, but they're also eager to find more songs that perfectly fit and extend that moment. Enter Smart Shuffle, a dynamic new way to get your music onto the favorite playlist of your next biggest fans.
This feature breathes new life into listeners' playlists by recommending and visualizing additional songs that perfectly connect with a playlist feeling, and it's already rolling out worldwide. The next time they're ready to refresh a playlist, they can tap the shuffle icon and we'll throw the right new songs into the mix. These feature make it easier than ever to discover new music. What about podcasts? We thought about that too. The result is our all-new discovery tool, Autoplay for podcasts. Now, just like with music, when a podcast ends, we'll automatically start playing another episode that fits your taste and is relevant. When you've got another mile on your run, but you've reached the end of your episode, don't worry, we'll have another podcast perfectly lined up to keep you going.
All of the features that I've shared this morning are just the start of the new Spotify. As we've been designing and building, our focus has been on delivering an experience that's alive with interactivity and a platform that's full of potential for artistic expression. Many of these new features are available as of today, and the rest will roll out in the coming weeks and months. Keep an eye out. Whether you're a musician, podcaster, or an author, the evolution that we unveiled today will give you more space than ever to share your work and more opportunities to be discovered. We can't wait to see and hear what you do. Here to share even more are my colleagues, Sulinna and Joe.
My name is Sulinna Ong, and I'm Spotify's Global Head of Editorial.
I'm Joe Hadley, Global Head of Artist Partnerships and Audience.
I have the best job in the world. It's to listen to new music and curate it on Spotify.
I spend my days collaborating with artist teams, building campaigns to attract new audiences, and creating new opportunities.
The Spotify Music team is in this business because we live for music. We are here to serve you, artists, and songwriters.
In order to grow your audiences and turn listeners into fans, you need the most powerful tools to promote your art and ultimately earn. Streaming has lowered barriers to entry, and as a result, millions of musicians have the opportunity to connect with half a billion listeners from around the world. We're proud to enable that. Now, our primary focus is on supporting artists who are making music their career. Our tools and services, and the updates we're about to share with you today, are geared toward the roughly 200,000 professional and professionally aspiring artists from around the world. Before joining Spotify last year, I represented a wide range of artists. I know how important Spotify is to an artist's earnings, and we want it to be even more important in the years to come.
We pay the vast majority of every dollar we generate from music, nearly 70%, back to the industry. All-time Spotify payouts are approaching $40 billion to the music industry, and that doesn't even account for new revenue streams. We're helping you build them, including tickets and merch.
We think you should know where all that money comes from and where it's going. That's why we're proud to share that today we've updated our annual Loud & Clear. We're the only streaming service that makes this level of royalty data available. Loud & Clear details the number of artists generating different amounts of royalties per year, whether $10,000 or $10 million. As of this morning, the site has been updated to cover all of 2022. It's complete with material on how Spotify pays your rights holders and distributors. Loud & Clear offers a crash course on where every penny of that money goes.
In another era of the music business, most of that money would go to a handful of the world's biggest superstars. Today, in the streaming era, more artists than ever are generating revenue. Last year, 57,000 artists generated more than $10,000 from Spotify alone. That's more than twice the number of artists than just 5 years ago. If you take into account what they earned from other streaming services and recorded revenue streams, these artists are likely generating four times that amount from recorded music sources overall.
This is a global renaissance, providing artists more options to build their careers, whether they are on major labels, indie labels, or independently distributed. Of these 57,000 artists, over 20,000 live outside the top 10 music markets, and a quarter of them self-release their music through an independent distributor. Artists who in the past might have struggled to find opportunities are now finding their audiences and making a living. Our global reach, combined with our programming, is creating space for all new types of artists to find an audience and turn them into fans. Let's meet some of these artists from around the world. Music from around the world has really gained popularity due to streaming. From Korea, from Southeast Asia, from Africa, some of the biggest artists in the world and the most important genres.
We've been building our subscriptions and advertising business for over a decade, resulting in the biggest payouts in music history. Let's talk about the next revenue line we want to help you grow, music commerce. In other words, merchandise and live events. When you think about connecting your fans with T-shirts or vinyl or getting them to see you on tour, it makes sense to meet them where they are, and your fans are listening to your music on Spotify. Let's get into how we're helping you with that and what you can look forward to.
For too long, fans have had to search different websites and platforms to find tour dates from their favorite artists. We want to make sure fans never miss out, so we've been busy integrating your touring schedules across the app and promoting shows to your biggest Spotify listeners. In 2022, we listed over 840,000 concerts on Spotify. Going forward, Spotify listeners will start to see personalized concert listings featured more prominently across the app, across the homepage, browse, This is Playlists, the Artist's Pick and On Tour sections of your profile, and the Live Events feed as well.
We're also going to surface your upcoming gigs in our Now Playing view. It's one of the most powerful places to market your shows and will grab your listeners' attention right when your music resonates most. If a concert listing catches your fan's eye, they'll be able to hit an Interested button. That way, they can check back any time on their own personal calendar in the Live Events feed.
This year, we're also expanding the pool of artists who are eligible for our Fans First program in the U.S. Fans First ensures that your top listeners are first in line for merch exclusives and ticket pre-sales by sending them emails and notifications to let them know when they have special access. Going forward, we're going to partner with even more of you and your teams to build exclusive and custom fan experiences.
Of course, no concert is complete without the merch table. Your merch sells best alongside your music, which is why we've made sure it's on your artist profile, your album and single pages, and even your top fans' Wrap recaps. We're also going to start adding it to the Now Playing view. That way, fans can buy the merch right at the moment they're falling in love with your song.
We talk to artists all day, every day. The number one challenge we hear about is how hard it is to find those next fans, to get that first listen. Sure, it's easier than ever to release new music around the world in an instant, and that's a great thing. The hustle is more intense than ever.
Trying to go viral with a video, posting on every social media app, even buying old-school ads, artists are doing whatever it takes to get attention. Marketing music on these digital platforms that aren't built for music is exhausting and, frankly, not very effective. We've been working closely with artists, labels, and management partners to design a suite of tools that find the fans who love your music most where it matters most. Here are a few of the new features you'll soon find in the Campaign section of Spotify for Artists.
Let's start with Marquee, which is already a big part of an artist and label's release strategy. It's one of the most effective tools out there to market new releases. Marquee offers a full-screen sponsored recommendation of your new release. It focuses on reaching listeners who have shown interest in your music. Recently, we've been working with marketers across 8 labels and distributors to find out just how much more effective Marquee is than leading off-platform marketing options. The answer? On average, Marquee is 10 times more cost-effective at getting listeners to stream your music on Spotify than ads on the most popular social media platforms.
Another tool that's taken off is Discovery Mode. Algorithmic recommendations are critical on audio and video streaming platforms. On Spotify, one-third of all new artist discoveries happen that way, but there really hasn't been a way to make those recommendations work with your strategies, until now. Here's how to use Discovery Mode. Together, you and your team identify priority songs, and we'll add the signal to the algorithms that shape personalized listening sessions. If your song is resonating with listeners, Discovery Mode will increase the likelihood that it's recommended in both Radio and Autoplay. Every month, you'll be able to see reporting to understand how many new listeners you reached, how many added you to a playlist, and how often your songs were saved. Far, we've been in testing mode, but the results speak for themselves.
On average, we've seen users save Discovery Mode songs 50% more often, add them to playlists 44% more, and follow the artist 37% more, and that's just within a song's first month of Discovery Mode use. Those results have stayed strong as we've scaled up the program. Now we're ready to take that one step further. While labels can continue to access Discovery Mode directly through our team, I'm excited that Discovery Mode is now available directly within Spotify for Artists today. Now, thousands of independently distributed artists and labels have access to Discovery Mode.
Finally, we're excited to share a new audience development tool we're testing, Showcase. This will appear as a mobile card on our brand-new home feed and will introduce your music, whether a new release or catalog, to likely listeners. We're just starting to test Showcase with artists and labels and will make it more widely available in the near future. With the addition of Showcase, Spotify for Artists offers you and your teams a robust suite of promotional tools. You can reach people right when they're deciding what to listen to, target listeners based on their streaming history, and get data that actually tells you how the tools performed.
Streaming already democratized access to music for listeners. With these new tools, we're democratizing access to marketing for artists. No matter your size, no matter your budget, we're helping more and more artists market their music at scale.
There's the all-important new album release moment. Today, building that buzz requires artists and their teams to work across multiple platforms and services. Once again, there's a disconnect between where music is being teased and where music is actually being streamed. The most powerful time to reach fans is when they've chosen to engage with music, when they open up Spotify. That's why we've built a new tool called Countdown Pages.
Behind me, you can see the brand-new Countdown Page for Subtract, the new album from Ed Sheeran. These Countdown Pages provide dedicated space on your artist profiles and on our home feed for your fans to watch the timer count down to your new release. Fans who pre-save your album will get push notified when it's released and will automatically add your album to their library so they can start streaming.
To tell you more about them, I'd like to welcome to the stage a group that certainly knows how to drum up excitement for a new release. Please welcome the Jonas Brothers. We've been testing Countdown Pages ith Karol G, Taylor Swift.
We're really excited to tell you more about what we have coming.
We've been testing Countdown Pages as well with Florence + the Machine, Måneskin, Sam Smith, and many others, and the results really have been stunning. On average, 80% of pre-savers stream the new release within the first week. Based on that success, we're rolling out Countdown Pages to more artists through Spotify for Artists starting now.
We couldn't be more excited to bring Countdown Pages to life. We'd be doing you a disservice if we limited your video clips to Countdown Pages. We're making them available in every place your music lives on Spotify.
Video, of course, gives music a powerful boost, but on social media, music often gets hacked into soundbites and pushed into the background. Soundbiting music pressures artists to take time away from creating art to try and sync it with memes. Now, if an artist is lucky, a listener might seek out the whole song, but artists and their teams tell us it's actually far from guaranteed. It's in that spirit that we're expanding our video ecosystem, keeping music at center stage where it belongs, a space where artists can connect with the biggest music fans, create long-term relationships, and build careers that last.
Starting today, and expanding to more artists and more places over the next few months, Spotify will begin to let artists add 30-second videos to their artist profiles and album pages. That way, new listeners and their biggest fans can go deeper into their stories while they're listening. We call these videos Spotify Clips. Let's hear from an artist who's excited to tell you more about this feature. Please welcome Chloe.
Hi, everyone. My name is Chloe. It's great to be here at Stream On. Maybe you heard, I'm gearing up for the release of my debut solo album, In Pieces. I am so very excited. Each song on this project stems from my own personal experiences. It's important to be able to connect with my fans on a deeper level. That's why I am so excited to be here to talk about Spotify Clips, a really powerful way for artists to interact with fans. You can talk about an unreleased song, promote a new album, share the stories behind a song, or really anything you can come up with. New listeners will be able to learn more about you. Loyal fans will be able to spend more time with you.
Spotify is unlocking this feature for thousands of artists this week and will open it up to more artists throughout the spring. Here are a few artists already testing it out. Keep your eyes peeled for more. While music remains the core of Spotify's identity, it's not the only area where they're breaking new ground for creator and audiences. Next, I'll pass the mic to Julie McNamara to share what's next with podcast. Thanks, Spotify.
Hi, everyone. I lead the Global Podcast Studios. I get to work with many of the most talented podcasters in the world. It's hard to believe that just over five years ago, podcast growth was treading water, ad spending was minimal, and Spotify had just a fraction of market share. That was the state of the industry when we began investing in podcasting. Spotify had transformed the music industry, and we knew we could do the same thing here, connecting creators with hundreds of millions of listeners around the world. Today, podcasting has exploded on Spotify. We now have millions of podcasts on our platform, and in 2022 alone, 165 of our own productions, meaning our original and exclusive series, hit number one on the charts across 99 markets. According to Edison Research, we also have the widest network reach among Gen Z and young millennials.
Here's just a sampling of the power of podcasting on Spotify.
What I love about podcasts is it's really helped me view the world in a different way. I've really enjoyed doing it on Spotify. It's been a pleasure to be a part of the biggest podcast platform in the world.
As you just saw, our success is rooted in support for creators and genuine appreciation for the power and the intimacy of this medium. Case 63 is a perfect example of this. It was created by Chilean writer Julio Rojas, and shows how a brilliant local Spotify Original became the most streamed scripted podcast in the world. This time-bending love story captivated audiences in Chile, and we saw the potential for a global hit, so we adapted it into multiple languages and markets, including India, Brazil, and most recently, the US, where a spectacular cast, led by Julianne Moore and Oscar Isaac, helped drive it to number one in eight additional markets. Now it's being developed into a feature film. All of this from the mind of one inspired creator.
Case 63 was also one of our Wrapped top global podcasts for 2022, along with The Joe Rogan Experience, Call Her Daddy, and our newest exclusive, Anything Goes with Emma Chamberlain, meaning that Spotify has four of the top five biggest hits worldwide. Many of our top hosts are also pioneers in video podcasting. It's no surprise that adding video has really helped them connect with fans on a deeper level. Take this special episode we just recorded with Alex Cooper and host Léna Situations , who is a huge social media star in France. We had two of the biggest voices from two different countries sit down to talk about what it's like for them to be young women in a male-dominated industry.
Not only does video allow us to capture this great crossover moment, but you get to feel like you're a fly on the wall for this intimate personal conversation between friends. Audiences love having the option to either watch or listen or sometimes both. In this case, fans were able to watch it either in English or dubbed or subtitled in French. We're seeing more and more creators starting to embrace video. It's one of the fastest-growing areas of podcasting. We expect that growth to continue. Right now, we have over 70,000 video creators on the platform, with a lot more on the way. Forbidden Fruits with Julia Fox and Niki Takesh will return for season two with an exclusive video edition. Who wouldn't want to see what these two fashion icons are wearing episode to episode?
We're bringing Drew Afualo's video podcast, The Comment Section, exclusively to Spotify, starting on April fifth. We're also rolling out limited video series from other top podcasters like The Mindset Mentor with Rob Dial, as well as innovative partnerships with Collab, Creative Juice, Get Engaged Media, Golden Child, and Karat. We are committed to introducing millions of new listeners to podcasting, and we want to empower more creators to tell their stories on Spotify. Creators who understand the power of audio to spark new conversations or challenge old ideas, even at times build entire storytelling universes, like one that begins on a rainy night in Gotham City. On that note, I will leave you with a message from The Riddler himself, Hasan Minhaj.
This past summer, the first season of Batman Unburied made history when it debuted simultaneously in nine languages and topped charts in 35 countries around the world. The success has continued with the premiere of Harley Quinn and The Joker: Sound Mind, which has already hit number one on the Spotify charts in six markets. The real reason why I'm here today is that it is my privilege to announce that audiences are going to travel back to Gotham City with me in a story that leaves clues, puzzles, and shines a spotlight on my personal favorite character, The Riddler. I can give you all a little inside info. Everything you loved about Batman Unburied, Batman, The Riddler, Barbara Gordon, and several others, all of these iconic characters will be returning to Gotham City.
This time, instead of Batman saving The Riddler, Batman needs Riddler's help to save the Bat from certain death. This time, finally, The Riddler gets the spotlight that he deserves. We've got an amazing cast and creative team led by Phantom Four, and of course the brilliant filmmaker, novelist, and comic book writer, my dude, David S. Goyer. I grew up loving comics and the graphic novels that DC did. I've been doing comedy almost 20 years. It's a deep, indelible part of my identity. I identify as a comic. One of the things that I'm so grateful for is I get to be playing an iconic character like The Riddler. In a million years, I would've never thought that I'd be included in the canon and the history of Edward Nygma, but dreams do come true.
The Riddler: Secrets in the Dark will debut exclusively on Spotify later this year. Without further ado, I'm excited to turn it over to someone who knows the power of storytelling from podcasts to the Boston Celtics. Give it up for Bill Simmons.
Thank you. Leave it to The Riddler to bring up the Celtics. I am Bill Simmons, disgruntled Boston fan, head of The Ringer here at Spotify. Great to see you all. At The Ringer, we love to experiment with different kinds of formats. Video is one that we've come back to over and over again by doing side-by-side interview panels, instant reaction podcasts. We've basically mastered companion podcasting. We're always launching something fresh, new shows that stand out in their own ways. Most recently, gotten excited about developing a brand-new game show, which we will be sharing more info about very soon. Three years ago, The Ringer became part of Spotify. Since then, we have grown from I remember when we had two shows. Now we have 50-plus shows producing over 100 hours of new global content per week across sports, TV, film, music, current events.
It is a scintillating era for our creators and fans, and it's just the latest in our incredible history here at The Ringer. Our formula is simple. First, we find passionate people who do deep research, have an irresistible, sometimes contrarian, sometimes a little crazy point of view, and then we put Spotify's machine of unrivaled reach, data, and resources behind them. To date, that formula's paid off for us, my friends. We have the number one collection of NFL and NBA podcasts. We have the number one nerd culture podcast, The Ringer-Verse. By supporting brilliant creators like Van Lathan and Rachel Lindsay, we've launched breakout hits like Higher Learning, which was recently nominated for an NAACP Image Award. We're always on the hunt for more voices that break through the noise and explode across the industry. Creators out there, I'm talking to you.
That's why we'd like to see more of you grabbing the mic, and I love that Spotify is building tools to make it easier for every creator. Let's go to my friend Maya to learn more.
Thank you, Bill. Shows like The Riddler and The Ringer-Verse remind us of the unlimited potential in podcasting, the ability for anyone anywhere to grab the mic, a camera, or even just their phone and create something that connects them with people all around the world. I lead Spotify's podcast product development, the team that's dedicated to building the best podcast and video tools for creators. Empowering creators is central to everything we do at Spotify. Whether you're native to audio or video, we're committed to building the platform you need to make great content and find success. So far, we've built a lot of unique creator tools, but they've been across multiple separate platforms. Even within the Spotify ecosystem, you've had to make and upload episodes with one tool, monetize them with another, and track your data with a third.
That's just too complicated, and it means that some of you haven't had access to everything you need. Now we're combining our tools into one platform that works for everyone. Today, I'm so proud to introduce the all-new Spotify for Podcasters. This brings together the best of those creator tools into a one-stop shop with everything you need to create, publish, manage, and most importantly, to monetize and grow your show. The new Spotify for Podcasters is available to everyone in every Spotify market for free beginning now. This platform is the foundation that finally enables us to build the future of podcasting together with you, the creators.
It makes it easier than ever to create and grow your podcast, and it also enables us to provide new innovative features that help you better engage with your listeners. That includes things like polls, Q&As, video, and starting today, we're also adding podcast chapters. This feature lets you create thematic sections in your episodes, so listeners can easily browse through the topics you cover. Chapters are available now for all podcasts. All you have to do is include timestamps in your episode descriptions, and they'll show up on Spotify automatically. That's just the beginning of the features we'll be rolling out this year for all podcasters. Here to help me show you what the new podcast experience for creators looks like is one of the top podcasters in the world and someone who's already embraced the future of the medium, Alex Cooper.
What's up, Daddy Gang? L Et me give you a sneak peek into what the new Spotify for Podcasters looks like for me and my team. Starting today, when I log in, everything is in one place and super clear. The first thing I see in my Podcast's dashboard, my home base to publish episodes, see my data and how my show's doing on Spotify, and add extra features to my episodes. I can create or upload episodes to publish instantly. I can add video, which is a crucial element for my show and helps me take full advantage of that new home feed Gustav shared. I can add my audience Q&As and polls to my episodes, so I can hear directly from my real fans. Trust me, the Daddy Gang has a lot to say.
I can also use Spotify's analytics to track how my podcast is performing and gain a deeper look into my audience's listening habits, not to mention seeing when my show is charting or getting added to podcast playlists.
Before now, most of these features were only available to creators hosted on Anchor. Now, Anchor is becoming part of Spotify for Podcasters, which means we can start opening up everything Spotify has to offer to all creators. That means, going forward, all podcasters will have access to the tools and features we're building, no matter where their show is hosted. Starting today, all podcasters across the globe can access Q&As and polls, as well as advanced insights and analytics on Spotify. We're also starting to roll out video access to more creators, as Gustav mentioned earlier. Beginning today, you can sign up to be one of the first to get access at spotify.com/video. These new tools in Spotify for Podcasters also work seamlessly for creators using Megaphone, Spotify's hosting solution for enterprise publishers.
Megaphone will be uniquely integrated into Spotify for Podcasters in the future. As of today, all Megaphone publishers, representing a wide array of partners from around the world, which now includes Netflix and Schwartz Media, have everything they need to create a successful podcast business on Spotify. Stay tuned for more. Later this year, we'll be investing in even more ways for you to find and grow your audience and connect with your biggest fans on Spotify. If you're already on Anchor or Spotify for Podcasters, nothing changes for your show besides the new features you'll have access to. All you have to do is log in. If you're new to Spotify for Podcasters, you can sign up today using your Spotify login. There's no need to switch your hosting platform to access these new features.
If you're not on Spotify yet, now is the best time to start. We're so excited to unlock the full power of Spotify for all creators, as artists and as entrepreneurs who've paved their own path to success, creators like you, Alex.
Thank you, Maya. I want to share how some of these features have made a big impact for me and my show. Video episodes of Call Her Daddy not only get more engagement than audio-only episodes, they've also helped me expand my artistic capabilities to formats like documentary-style reporting, and I've been absolutely floored by the response to the Q&As on my podcast episodes. Spotify's unique solution to Q&A, where I approve the questions and answers, helps me keep creeps out of my comments, we love that. So I can focus on my actual fans. That's how I realized how much my audience loves hearing from musicians, so I've been able to go out and book that talent that my audience really wants to hear from. As someone who has been in the podcast game quite a long time, I'm well aware of the complexity of producing a show.
The tech behind getting a podcast published used to feel like a whole different skill set from the content creation itself. Spotify for Podcasters makes it feel as simple as hitting post on a photo or video, so we, as creators, can just focus on making great content. The technology driving your podcast is so important when you're building a content business. At the end of the day, your show comes down to you and your voice. I personally love the process of recording, and I'm excited for more people to get to experience it with Spotify's help.
Thank you, Alex.
Thank you.
We've been opening up Spotify Studios around the world, including right here in L.A., to help creators bring their wildest ideas to life, and we're dedicated to making those dreams a reality for more creators than ever before. Starting today, any podcaster can apply for Spotify Labs, a series of workshops around the world that'll provide opportunities to create in our world-class production studios, learn from Spotify experts, and connect with fellow podcasters and artists.
Many top podcasters already know that Spotify is the place to be, and we love hearing about all the ways our platform has fueled their success. We at Spotify want to be the home for all kinds of creators, from massive global stars like Alex and Léna Situations to distinctive voices just beginning to build an audience. Here to share more and to talk with one of those top podcasters, please welcome back Julie McNamara. As you just heard, Spotify offers game-changing opportunities to turn your passion into a profession. With that in mind, I'm thrilled to welcome a true trailblazer and one of our newest partners, Emma Chamberlain. We are just thrilled to have you here, Emma.
Thank you.
thrilled to have you on the platform.
Thank you.
I think it's been two weeks now.
Yes. Two weeks.
Whoo.
It's been amazing so far.
Good. W ell, we have a lot of creators watching today, and you are iconic-
Thank you.
... as a creator in this space.
Thank you.
... vulnerable. I'm sure they'd love to hear a little bit about what drew you to podcasting as the medium for you.
I think my favorite thing about podcasting is the ability to communicate long-form. Podcasting is about developing an idea, having a conversation, and I just think podcasting allows that in a way that no other medium does.
That makes total sense that you get to really tell a narrative in a way.
Yes.
Well, I know now also, you've started experimenting with video.
Yes.
I'd love to hear how that's going for you and what you feel that that's adding.
I think video just adds another dimension. A udio is incredibly powerful, but seeing somebody's body language, seeing somebody's facial expressions, it feels more intimate, and I think it just allows for even more connection through the screen, through the ears. I love video. I think it's great.
Well, your fans are clearly loving what you're doing. They'll follow you in any direction you want to go. I may have a little breaking news to share with you today that you don't know.
Live breaking news?
Breaking news.
Whoa, okay. Let's hear it.
News just in.
Yes
That your podcast has doubled in listenership. Actually more than doubled since you've been on Spotify.
Are you serious?
Yes.
Whoo! Cool. Okay. That's amazing. This is genuinely breaking news. Okay. That's amazing.
Congratulations.
Thank you.
Thank you, and just cannot wait to see what you're going to do next.
Thank you.
I'm going to turn it over now to another brilliant creator who's built an incredible community just by being himself. He's the one and only Markiplier.
Hello. My name is Markiplier. I make videos. I've been making 'em for a long time. In that time, I've been on stages, I've done presentations, I've done shows and stuff. I've never used a teleprompter before, and I don't intend to start today. What I'm here to tell you... Don't worry, I'll be good. All the producers freaking out, I will be good. I'm here to tell you that my podcast, Distractible and Go! My Favorite Sports Team, are going to be bringing video episodes to Spotify exclusively today. Maybe I should've used the teleprompter there. The reason that I'm talking about that is because I love the genuine feeling of these podcasts. I love the genuine conversation that you have when you're just talking with your friends. To me, that's what podcasts are all about. It's conversations.
It's people trying to listen and hear and feel like they can relate to the people that are talking about whatever they're talking about. So they can feel like they're in the room with you and share with their friends. Bringing video into the mix allows us to expand beyond just being a voice in their ear. It allows us to be in the room with them. I've been making videos a very long time, and I love making videos. I love doing all of this. It's a beautiful process of creation that just allows people to express themselves in whatever way they want, to be themselves, as they said back there.
I'm going to take all of the teachings and skills that I've built from making videos on YouTube and expanding it into exploring new territories on Spotify and also help out where I can to let them expand the platform as well, as best I can anyway. With that, hopefully, the freaking out isn't too bad back there, and I can introduce the next guest. Please help me in welcoming Alex Norström.
Thank you, Mark, you are right. It is great to see your face. Good face indeed. Welcome to Spotify. Today, I want to talk about what we really mean when we say we want to be the best home for you, the world's artists and creators. As you've seen today, Spotify's coming alive. We're upgrading the platform to create more opportunities for fans to lean in and get closer to your work. Above all, when we say we want to be the best home for the world's creators, we mean that Spotify is where you can build your career. Wherever you are in your journey, our job is to help you reach more fans and monetize your art. This is the mission that drives us. At the last Stream On, we had almost 350 million users across 96 markets.
Today, we are in 184 markets with more than 500 million users. Looking ahead, our ambition is to have 1 billion users on Spotify by 2030. We are by far the most global audio platform, connecting artists with fans across continents and genres and cultures. We're helping local artists like Feid, Ayra Starr, and Diljit Dosanjh to grow their audiences at home, but also reach new listeners abroad. Over the last decade, as streaming has been adopted worldwide, our global expansion has transformed listening habits. We now have the platform to unlock the ability of any artist from anywhere in the world to connect with listeners everywhere. One of the most impactful ways we help you connect with fans is through our powerful community of subscribers. In fact, that community is now over 200 million strong.
That's about 3% of the world's population paying monthly so they can have uninterrupted access to your art. This is huge. This community is a superpower for Spotify and for you, the artists and creators on our platform. Our subscribers are your loyal fans. Subscribers, they're the first to listen when you drop a new track and they stay with you for the long term. They keep listening, and they keep discovering. For example, they stream more than three times the amount of content per month compared to a free user. One of the key things that make Spotify such an exceptional home for artists is the fact that we're home to this enormous and passionate community of paying listeners. We're not stopping here. Our distribution power will only increase.
Remember, our job is to help you, the artists and creators, to connect with these users. I want to focus on podcasters for a moment. Specifically, I want to talk about how we're helping you monetize your shows, giving you multiple ways to earn. Let's start with ads. We first announced the Spotify Audience Network, or SPAN for short, at the last Stream On. SPAN is our audio-first marketplace that connects publishers and creators with advertisers. Thousands of podcasts from creators and publishers around the world are already part of this network. From The Wall Street Journal, ESPN, Paramount, and indie shows like rSlash and Tiny Leaps, Big Changes. In fact, the number of podcasters taking part in SPAN has grown eightfold in the last two years. Today, we're pleased to announce NPR is the latest publisher to join the network.
Advertisers, they know that podcasts are a great way to reach audiences, and SPAN makes it easy for them to engage podcast listeners and understand results. When advertisers understand the power of a network, they spend more, and creators like you make more. Since we launched SPAN in 2021, monthly payouts to publishers have grown by nearly 50%. Advertiser participation has increased by 500%. As we continue to scale SPAN, our intent is to make this kind of growth available to all creators. Later this year, we'll be launching even more markets. Advertising isn't the only way we're helping podcasters make money.
If you have a podcast on Spotify, you can also earn revenue via podcast subscriptions, which enables you to gate some or all of your content, so it can only be accessed by paying subscribers at a price that you set. Today, we are also excited to announce Patreon as a monetization partner, meaning that podcasters will be able to offer Patreon-exclusive content to listeners on Spotify. We know that many podcasters use Patreon to earn income directly from their biggest fans. In the coming months, fans will be able to easily link their Patreon accounts to access these shows on Spotify. Everyone benefits from this. Spotify users can listen to all their favorite content in one place, and at the same time, Patreon podcasters can increase their income and grow their audience.
These tools give you the ability to choose how you monetize. We'll continue to explore more options for how to build your business. Of course, Spotify remains an open platform for podcast monetization. We know firsthand how important it is to give creators choice, including how they leverage their own ads and revenue mechanisms. We've framed the global scale and the power of our audience, and we've talked about the tools to help you monetize. Now, let's get into how we're using the power of our brand and our marketing money to celebrate and amplify artists and creators around the world. We use the strength of our brand to shine a spotlight on new releases. We champion both emerging and established creators, and we mark milestone moments in your career.
From Times Square in New York City to Spotify Camp Nou in Barcelona, from Mumbai to Cape Town to São Paulo, we're proud to amplify your work. Let's take a look. O ne example you saw there was our partnership with FC Barcelona, which is connecting artists, players, and football players and fans all around the world. We have something pretty special planned for the men's and women's El Clásico. That's later this month, so stay tuned. To wrap up, if you want to build your brand, grow your fan base, and earn money on Spotify, here's what you can expect from us. We will continue to grow our global user and creator community, so whatever corner of the world you work in and wherever your fans are located, you can find each other on Spotify, giving you unparalleled global reach.
We will continue to champion your work, leveraging the personalization power of our platform and combining it with a world-class brand and marketing, all so we can help you grow your audience. We will also continue to invest in the platform. As you've seen today, we're providing you with the best resources to interact with your fans, and we're hard at work creating new opportunities to help you further monetize your content. In short, creators, your success is our success, and this principle is often overused, but it absolutely applies here. It has inspired the new user experience we shared today, and it will continue to guide us for many years to come. Thank you. Now I'm going to throw back to Daniel.
All right. We've shared a lot today, I hope you see this event for what it really is, an invitation. We want you to think of Spotify as the sandbox to play, to experiment, and to create. As we grow together, we aim to be the best home for you, no matter where you are in your career. We want to be a home that's rooted in music, where new stories are always being told. A home that's familiar, always changing. A home where you, as a creator, feel empowered to grow on your own terms, where you can find all the new tools that you need to unlock that extraordinary entrepreneurial power of your work. Where you have all the help you need to create, to monetize, and build an audience.
At Spotify, we believe change is the only constant, that notion is so core to who we are that it's embedded in our team manifesto. We've never been content to sit idly by and wait for others to forge new paths. We want to learn faster than the world around us. To do this, we've dedicated ourself to relentless innovation, and therein lies my commitment. We're going to keep building, we're going to keep improving, and we're going to reimagine this home day and night with passion and determination. We'll continue to look at you, the creator community, for ideas and for inspiration. Thank you so much for tuning in today. I can't wait to see how you start using what we're launching here today. Thank you, everyone.