Published June 10, 2025Edited September 15, 2025
More than 80 years after Procter & Gamble pioneered the first-ever soap opera on the radio, the drama lives on in a new format: true-crime podcasts. The form has changed, but the fundamentals remain the same — it’s still about storytelling, sound and the power of voice.
Audiences are in, and advertisers are following. Global podcast revenue has grown from $1 billion to a projected $5.2 billion in 2025.
And podcasts are just a part of the picture. Audio has grown into a $29 billion annual global ad market — completely reinvented for the digital age. Apple, Spotify, Pandora and YouTube have revolutionized how we listen to music, as well as news, sports and entertainment commentary.
Tune in to the latest episode of For Context for the full story of how audio became music to marketers’ ears.