How does Gen Z listen to podcasts?

TL;DR: While YouTube dominates podcast listening overall, our latest survey reveals that Gen Z strongly prefers Spotify (56%) and overwhelmingly chooses audio-only formats (76%) over video. These findings challenge common assumptions about young listeners' podcast consumption habits.

Key findings

• Spotify remains Gen Z's preferred podcast platform (56%)

• Audio-only listening dominates (76%)

• Most Gen Z podcast consumption happens at home on mobile devices (59%)

• Fiction podcasts are surprisingly popular with this demographic

In the past few years, the podcast industry has been ablaze with conversations about YouTube and video podcasts.

Edison Research says YouTube is now the most popular podcast consumption platform across all age groups, capturing 31% of listeners. In their results, Spotify is next at 27%, and Apple is third at 15%.

Many industry observers assumed that a lot of YouTube's growth was coming from the younger demographic of podcast fans: Gen Z.

Interestingly, Edison Research's Gen Z Podcast Listener report doesn't include data on which podcast app Gen Z prefers.

The only data I could find was from the survey we did back in 2021.

To fill this gap, we conducted a new survey, explicitly targeted at "Gen Z podcast fans." The survey collected demographic and listening habit data from over 100 Gen Z podcast listeners (ages 13-29) in February 2025.

Which podcast app does Gen Z prefer?

Spotify is still the most popular podcast app for Gen Z. 56% of respondents prefer it to the other options (up from 47% in our 2021 survey). Also, despite the hype around video, most of them (88%) listen to audio only, while 12% prefer a mix of audio and video consumption.

21% of respondents say YouTube is where they consume podcasts. This number is up from our 2021 survey (10%). Unlike Spotify users, YouTube users are more likely to consume video: 52% indicated they watched video podcasts all or some of the time.

Apple Podcasts came in third at 10% (down from 16% in 2021). Amongst Gen Z respondents, Apple Podcasts users tend to be slightly older than Spotify and YouTube users.

Notable mentions for other podcast apps mentioned by survey respondents go to Pocket Casts, Podcast Addict, and AntennaPod.

Does Gen Z prefer audio or video podcasts?

According to our survey data, Gen Z podcast fans prefer audio!

When asked, "How do you consume podcasts most often?" our Gen Z respondents answered:

• Primarily listen to audio – 76%

• Mix of audio and video – 18%

• Primarily watch video – 6%

Gen Z consumes podcasts at home

Perhaps not surprising, our Gen Z respondents don’t listen in the car as much as older generations.

Our survey data for answers to "Where do you consume podcasts most often?" based on 102 responses:

• At home, on my phone / tablet – 59%

• On the bus / transit – 12%

• While walking / cycling – 10%

• In the car – 9%

• Other – 6%

• At home, on my TV – 3%

• At work, on my phone – 2%

For all the hype around “connected TV” and “living room podcast video consumption,” only 3% of those surveyed said they consumed podcasts most often at home on their TV.

What are the most popular podcasts for Gen Z?

I was surprised to see how popular fictional drama and horror were with this generation. Here are the top podcasts, ranked by how many times they were mentioned:

• Welcome to Night Vale – 11 mentions

• The Magnus Archives – 11 mentions

• Malevolent – 7 mentions

• The Magnus Protocol – 6 mentions

• My Brother My Brother and Me – 5 mentions

Other repeatedly mentioned shows included: Rotten Mango, Acquired, Joe Rogan, Life in the World to Come, Wolf 359, The Daily, If Books Could Kill, So True with Caleb Hearon, and Normal Gossip.

Bonus: who do they consider a “popular podcaster?”

At the end of the survey, I asked “When you think of ‘popular podcasters,’ which names come to mind?” Joe Rogan was the most mentioned personality, by a wide margin:

• Joe Rogan – 28 mentions

• Alex Cooper – 5 mentions

• Theo Von – 5 mentions

• Call Her Daddy – 3 mentions

What does this mean for podcasters?

Our 2025 survey reveals several key insights that challenge common industry assumptions about Gen Z podcast listeners:

1. Platform preferences differ from overall trends: While YouTube leads general podcast consumption, Gen Z still strongly prefers Spotify. Learn more about how Spotify captured the younger generation.

2. Audio isn't dead: Gen Z podcast fans overwhelmingly prefer audio-only content despite the industry's pivot to video. This suggests that creators shouldn't feel pressured to add video unless it enhances their content. This is a great time to start an audio podcast if you're targeting a younger demographic.

3. Fiction's surprising strength: The popularity of narrative fiction podcasts among Gen Z listeners highlights an often-overlooked opportunity in the podcast market.

4. Mobile-first consumption: With 59% primarily listening at home on mobile devices, optimizing for mobile listening experiences remains crucial.

[For more information about the survey, including the raw data and methodology, visit this link →]