Podcasting has never been more accessible – or more difficult to sustain. A new report finds one in six Americans has created a podcast, yet a third have since quit, exposing a widening divide between creative enthusiasm and long-term endurance.
The Creators 2025 report from Sounds Profitable and Signal Hill Insights shows 17% of US podcast consumers have created or attempted to create a podcast, yet one in three of those creators has since stopped producing episodes.
The study, based on a survey of more than 5,000 Americans aged 18 and older, is the largest publicly available dataset examining podcast creators in the US. It expands upon the inaugural Creators report from 2022 with new information on why so many projects fade. The findings show that while entry barriers have dropped thanks to lower production costs, easier publishing tools, and cross-platform exposure, sustainability barriers remain steep.
Among active creators, 71% now incorporate video, while 29% continue to produce audio-only.
The rapid shift toward video-first production has introduced higher time, equipment, and editing demands, straining independent creators and small teams. The report identifies this “format imbalance” as a key factor in burnout: creators who produce in a different format than they prefer to consume, like making video while listening primarily to audio, are far more likely to abandon their shows.
The Creators 2025 also found that support infrastructure, like monetization, audience growth, and peer collaboration, plays a central role in sustainability. Only 27% of creators who quit had ever monetized their shows, compared to 56% of active creators. For many, podcasting remains a creative outlet rather than a viable career path. The lack of community and economic scaffolding around creators, especially those from underrepresented groups, continues to drive attrition.
The study’s demographic analysis shows where resilience and fragility diverge. Female creators, while underrepresented overall (8% participation), display slightly stronger retention than men once they begin (69% versus 67%). Hispanic creators have the highest participation rate at 18%, while Asian creators show the strongest sustainability at 77% retention. By contrast, 40% of LGBTQ+ creators and more than half of creators aged 55 and older have stopped producing podcasts entirely.
“Money alone does not build networks,” the report notes, echoing sentiments shared by Sounds Profitable leadership in prior studies. Platforms that prioritize long-term retention through better analytics, scalable editing tools, and community support will determine whether podcasting’s boom translates into durable creative ecosystems.
