Why Substack Is Going All In on Podcasting
Substack is making a bigger push into podcasting, but its ambition goes beyond becoming another place to listen to shows.
The company has launched a dedicated Podcast tab in its iOS and Android apps, giving podcasts a more prominent place alongside writing, video, communities and subscriptions. The move gives Substack creators another way to put their shows in front of listeners, while bringing podcasting further into the company's wider creator ecosystem.
For Substack, that matters because publishing a podcast is only part of the challenge. Creators also need ways to build an audience around it.
Substack Already Has a Podcast Business
The new tab is being introduced on top of an existing podcast operation rather than as a new experiment.
Substack says creators publishing podcasts on the platform collectively earn more than $200 million a year. The company also provides tools for hosting podcasts and distributing them to services including Apple Podcasts and Spotify, while episodes can sit alongside a creator's written work and subscription offering.
That gives creators a different proposition from using a podcast platform on its own. Someone running a show on Substack can also publish a newsletter, collect paid subscriptions, build a community and communicate directly with the same audience.
The podcast becomes part of a larger media business rather than the entire business.
Discovery Is the Bigger Opportunity
Creators told Substack that helping new listeners discover their work was one of their biggest challenges, which led the company to create a dedicated Podcast tab.
The new tab gives podcasts a dedicated discovery surface inside the app, alongside the existing Read tab. Substack says it is designed to help existing listeners find more shows while giving creators another route to reach new audiences.
There is already an example of what this ecosystem can do for an established creator. Organizing Things recorded 10,385 downloads in its first week on Substack without paid promotion or advertising spend, according to Podnews. But the show's co-host Shea Serrano already had 128,000 newsletter subscribers, meaning the result also demonstrates how much easier podcast growth can be when a creator brings an existing audience into a new format.
That is an important distinction. The example shows the value of connecting audiences across formats but it does not yet prove that Substack's new discovery system can consistently turn unknown podcasts into successful shows.
That is part of the strategy to keep watching.
The Podcast Is Becoming Part of the Creator Business
Substack's podcast strategy makes more sense when viewed alongside the rest of its platform.
Creators can distribute their shows through major podcast apps while using Substack to manage subscriptions, written posts and direct communication with their audiences. Paid podcasts can also be distributed to Spotify through Spotify Open Access, allowing existing subscribers to listen there while giving free listeners a route to upgrade.
That means Substack does not need to replace Spotify or Apple Podcasts for the strategy to work. Its opportunity is to sit around the podcast, connecting listening with the other parts of a creator's business.
For independent podcasters, that could be more valuable than another standalone listening destination.
The question now is whether Substack can make that ecosystem work at scale. The company has given podcasts a more visible place inside its app and already has the publishing, subscription and distribution infrastructure around them. What remains to be proven is whether the new discovery layer can consistently bring new listeners to smaller shows and turn those listeners into long-term subscribers or members.
If it can, the Podcast tab becomes another way for Substack to connect creators with audiences across everything they publish.
