Spotify lowers the monetization threshold for audio video files

Spotify is lowering its eligibility criteria for podcast creators to monetize their videos on the platform, lowering the minimum episode requirement to three, the minimum hours of consumption to 2,000, and the threshold for engaged audience members to 1,000 within the last 30 days.

When the company introduced its video content monetization partner program last year, creators had to publish 12 episodes, achieve 10,000 hours of consumption in the previous 30 days, and have at least 2,000 people streaming their content in the last 30 days to be part of the program.

The program pays podcast creators according to the number of premium users who watch their videos on Spotify, along with a share of advertising revenue earned from users in the free tier.

The company is also introducing new sponsorship tools that allow creators to update, schedule, and measure sponsorship points read by hosts in video ads. These tools will be available in Spotify for Creators and Megaphone, the company’s podcast hosting and monetization suite, in April.

Doubling down on its video strategy In an effort to better compete with YouTube, Spotify is now launching a new API that allows creators to use their existing platforms to publish and monetize audio videos on Spotify. At launch, tools like Acast, Audioboom, Libsyn, Omny, and Podigee have adopted this API, the company said.

The new moves come as Spotify looks for new ways to attract users and build on its streaming subscription revenue. The company said that since the launch of the partner program, audio video consumption on the app has nearly doubled, and that the average Spotify podcast user streams twice as many video shows per month as they did before the program launched.

But that may simply be a result of the streaming service offering more video content.

The company is also opening a podcast and video recording studio in West Hollywood. Spotify said the studio will serve as a base for the Ringer podcast network, and will open the studio to select creators from the partner program. The company already has studios throughout the art district of Los Angeles, New York, Stockholm and London.