According to Firstory, APAC’s leading podcast service, recent studies (2024 H1) indicate significant growth and maturation in the podcast market compare to the previous year. The DAI market GMV saw a 164% year-on-year increase. Additionally, revenue from the paid membership business model surged by 378% year-on-year, with revenue shared with creators exceeding $500k in the first half of 2024.

Compared to mature podcasting DAI markets in the U.S., the APAC region, particularly the sino-sphere, has only been developing podcast monetization infrastructure since 2020. This progress has been driven by the launch of several new podcast hosting services and DAI systems. The flywheel of the podcast creator economy began spinning two years ago, with active podcasters rapidly reaching 12,000.

This new marketing channel is gaining recognition for its efficiency in building brand awareness and cultivating customer loyalty. The DAI market GMV grew 1.5 times over the last year. Unlike host-read ads, DAI can bring 7 times the exposure and 3 times the click-rates.

Another benefit of this approach is that paid memberships have become a new revenue stream for podcasters. For top-ranking creators, average monthly revenue from memberships exceeds $10K, for those with over 500 subscribers.

Kirk Liu, the COO of Firstory, stated, ‘According to our data, the DAI market in sino-sphere market is expected to double by the end of 2024. In Q1 2024, the average podcast CPM rate for a 60-second pre-roll ad saw a respectable increase, reaching $12.’

He added, ‘As the first strategic hosting partner in the APAC to integrate paid membership API with both Spotify and Apple podcast, promises to provide podcasters with a smoother experience in managing their membership business.’

Firstory is aiming to continue it’s ambitious growth into the following year, with projections reaching a potential 2 to 3x market growth.