What Podcasts Are Gen Z Listening To?

Fuzz Martin 0:00

Good morning, podcasters. Today we explore Gen Z and what kind of podcasts they're listening to. My daughter, Bri, is a college freshman and she's back home for Thanksgiving weekend. Yay. While we were sitting at the counter, I took the opportunity to talk to her about what she's listening to and what her friends are listening to when it comes to podcasts.

Fuzz Martin 0:25

Now, I would have interviewed her what our seven year old was feeling left out, and that was becoming a thing. So I'm just going to relay the responses to. Parenthood, am i right?

Fuzz Martin 0:38

So first I asked her what specifically she listens to when it comes to podcasts. And she said, these are the five shows she listens to regularly. 1. Therapy Gecko. That show's description: "An unlicensed a lizard psychologist travels the universe talking to strangers about absolutely nothing." They post new episodes three times a week they stream them live on Twitch and they take call-ins from guests and apparently it's hilarious.

Fuzz Martin 1:07

2. She listens to Anything Goes with Emma Chamberlain. Their description, "Emma prefers to share her thoughts with a microphone rather than a physical human being. So thank God she has a podcast recorded from the comfort of her bed Emma talks at length about whatever is on her mind every week. Anything really does go on this podcast, sometimes philosophy, sometimes a random story from 10 years ago, sometimes advice and sometimes nothing at all. You never know what you're going to get. But that's what keeps it interesting new episodes every Thursday." Again that's anything goes with Emma Chamberlain.

Fuzz Martin 1:42

3. The third thing Brianna and her friends listen to is The Comment Section with Drew Afualo, and this one's description is, "It's going down in the comments in this new weekly show from defender of women on the internet, Drew Afualo. Join Drew and a new weekly guests as they explore the dreaded comments section in their tagged videos on Tiktok. Through a candid discussion and lots of laughs, Drew keeps it real and gives in depth advice on the issues that you care about most. Alright, two more of these.

Fuzz Martin 2:13

4. The fourth one is "Podcast, but Outside." and that one is "We interview a famous person but have no idea who they are with guests Andrew Michaan and Cole Hirsch."

Fuzz Martin 2:24

5. And then finally, the one that's title makes me laugh all the time. It's the Tiny Meat Gang podcast. Comedians Cody Ko and Noel Miller. Noel Miller make you laugh, hopefully. So that's what my 18 year old daughter is listening to.

Fuzz Martin 2:41

I asked Bri if there was any common thread to the shows that she listens to and she said they're all funny, or they all make fun of men. And she said they're relatable and all of the hosts are Zs or younger millennials. It was really interesting because later I found Spotify's latest Culture Next report about listenership amongst Zs. One of the points from the report said Z's are more likely than millennials to describe their generation as quote, stressed out and quote 67% of Z's say that they're stressed out versus 48% of millennials. It also says they're more likely to agree that quote, their generation is under too much pressure to fix the world's issues end quote, and that's 76% of Z's versus 72% of millennials. In the culture next report, which I will share in the show notes, and on GoodMorningPod.com, Spotify found that 75% of z's in the US say that they use audio to understand themselves better, which is cool. A few other points from the survey, it said in 2021 Gen Z streamed more audio than they consumed any other media, including television videos and video games. And in Quarter 1 of 2022, 18 to 24 year olds streamed 57 I'm sorry, 578 billion minutes of music on Spotify. That was the most of any demo group and 16 billion more minutes than the 25 to 34 year olds. Also interesting if you're not a podcaster, who is a Z 70% of American Gen Z kids said they liked I shouldn't say kids anymore. 70% of American Gen Z people said they like listening to and watching media from earlier decades because it reminds them of when things were simpler. So that's promising if you're running any sort of nostalgic content.

Fuzz Martin 4:29

All right back to my anecdotal conversation with Bri. I asked her how she found the podcasts that she listens to, and she said that she found most of the shows that she listened to, when they were snippets on her for you page on Tik Tok. Almost all the shows she listens to also have YouTube versions of the show which she watches sometimes. And when she listens to audio only she listens on Spotify, and that's mostly when she's driving. All the shows were an hour long or longer and she listens or watches in segments. Never watching the whole thing at once. She said if you want to connect with the Z generation, you need to be authentic, empathetic and vulnerable, and they don't react too well to pride or bravado. This all coincides with Spotify as findings from the report that says podcasts need to go beyond sheer entertainment and serve as spaces for knowledge learning, and even catharsis.

Fuzz Martin 5:22

Again, I'll link to Spotify's Culture Next 2022 report in the show notes and on GoodMorningPod.com. I want to say a quick thank you to the new subscribers to the Good Morning Inbox newsletter which comes out every Monday morning and gives you some insight that you don't hear on the show about things related to marketing, advertising, PR or social media as they relate to podcasting. go to gmp.fm/news. To get signed up for the newsletter. It's free until January 3. gmp.fm/news.

Fuzz Martin 6:01

If you're in the US have a great Thanksgiving. I'm thankful for you listening to the all-new Good Morning, Podcasters! If you're not in the US, I hope you enjoy the rest of your Wednesday. And enjoy your Thursday as well. And we'll talk to you again on Friday right here on Good Morning, Podcasters!