42.6% of Gen Z Regularly Listen to Podcasts: The Meanings for Brands

For several years now, the digital content industry has been moving in one consistent direction: shorter durations and faster consumption. TikTok, Reels, and Shorts have become the primary reference point for most brands' content strategy, and the 15-to-30-second format has become the new standard.

Indonesian podcast data shows a different pattern. According to the Digital 2025 report from We Are Social, 42.6% of Indonesian internet users aged 16 and above regularly listen to podcasts every week, almost double the global average of 22.1% (GoodStats). A figure this high appears in a country that is also recorded as one of the most active short-video markets in Southeast Asia. For marketers, this pattern raises a strategic question: if short-form content wins outright, why is a format that demands a 30-to-90-minute time commitment growing this much in the very same market?

Short-form and long-form content serve different needs within a single audience journey. Short-form content excels at reach and discovery: audiences consume it quickly and share it easily, making the format effective at introducing something to a large number of people in a short amount of time. That strength operates at the surface, as designed. The format is built for quick introductions, while building long-term trust requires more room.

Long-form content fills that space. Audiences who need more time with a brand, idea, or figure find their place in podcasts and video podcasts. The two formats have served different purposes from the outset, and both are equally necessary.

For brands, the consequence is immediate. Brands that put all their resources into Reels and TikTok are only optimizing the top of the marketing funnel. The middle and bottom, where casual audiences grow into fans or loyal customers, remain wide open, waiting to be filled by a longer-form content strategy.

Long-form content growth in Indonesia is happening at a national scale and reaching a broad audience. The gap between 42.6% and the global average of 22.1% signals a market scale far beyond the world average, in a country whose population is also recorded as one of the most active social media user bases in the world. Data from We Are Social and GoodStats shows high short-form content consumption and high long-form content consumption happening simultaneously.

For brands, this scale matters because it changes podcasting's status. Indonesian podcasts have moved from a supplementary category to a primary channel that deserves a place in content marketing planning from the outset, on par with short-form content.

The momentum behind long-form content is driven by functional need, and Indonesia's demographic structure reinforces it. According to the Indonesia Millennial and Gen Z Report (IMGR) 2026 from IDN Research Institute, Indonesia has a relatively young population with a median age of around 30, with Millennials and Gen Z dominating the demographic structure. The same report notes that these generations have strong ambitions to grow while facing increasingly complex economic pressures, from a volatile job market to widening income gaps.

This economic context explains the type of content being sought. Indonesian Millennials and Gen Z are looking for practical guidance for real problems: starting a business, changing careers, managing finances, and maintaining mental health. Podcasts, with their long duration, provide room to combine relatable personal stories with directly actionable advice. Short-form content offers about 30 seconds to capture interest, while a thorough explanation of how something actually works needs more room and podcasts provide that room.

For brands, the implication is clear. Long-form content works best when a brand offers concrete functional value, not simply a longer runtime.

Long-form content growth in Indonesia is taking a new shape: podcasts packaged visually. According to IMGR 2026 from IDN Research Institute, half of Indonesian podcast listeners now prefer to watch video podcasts, 43% still prefer the audio format, and 7% enjoy both equally.

The same research explains why. Seeing facial expressions, body language, and emotional nuance from a speaker makes content feel more real and relatable compared to audio or text alone. This pattern is consistent with the digital habits Millennials and Gen Z formed through YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram, which are platforms rich in visual expression. In other words, video podcasts are adopting the visual language of short-form content, such as engaging shots and tight editing, and combining it with the long duration typical of podcasts.

For brands, this finding changes production standards. Investment in long-form content now needs to account for visual quality, not just audio quality, especially to reach audiences who grew up with visual platforms.

Gen Z is the main driver of podcast growth in Indonesia, and their consumption pattern confirms that they use short-form and long-form content for different functions. According to the YouGov Indonesia Media Consumption Report 2025, Gen Z accounts for 58% of daily podcast listeners in Indonesia, while still remaining active on short-form content for discovery needs.

This consumption pattern can look counter-intuitive, since Gen Z is typically associated with short-form content and short attention spans. Other findings help explain the pattern. According to IMGR 2026 from IDN Research Institute, Gen Z favors the video podcast format and seeks practical guidance for real-life problems, with genre preferences leaning toward motivation, inspiration, comedy, self-development, and education. The YouGov report reinforces this picture, noting that 45% of Gen Z respondents spend more than an hour a day on podcasts, indicating a need for deeper, more focused content. Gen Z embraces long-form content on one condition: production standards and delivery styles that are already familiar to them from short-form content.

For brands, this pattern gives a clear direction. Gen Z separates their discovery needs, served by short-form content, from their needs for depth, served by long-form content and video podcasts and they demand a high standard on both.

Indonesia's podcast growth has gone beyond a lifestyle trend and moved into the realm of business. According to Populix, in the Podcast Indonesia Trends and Strategies 2026 report, Indonesia's podcast market is projected to reach roughly $408 million in revenue in 2025, with monetization models beginning to shift from conventional advertising toward sponsorships, premium subscriptions, and more integrated ad formats.

This shift in monetization models signals a maturing ecosystem with commercial sustainability. Revenue growth running in parallel with rising audience attention reinforces that signal.

For brands, this figure changes how podcasts should be viewed. Long-form content deserves a place in budget planning as a channel with long-term return potential, not merely a content experiment.

Before investing, brands need to understand where podcast audiences actually are. According to a Populix survey from September 2025, published by GoodStats, Spotify is the dominant platform for audio podcasts with an 87% usage rate, followed by Google Podcasts at 30%. This distribution shows that audio podcast listener preference remains concentrated on one main platform.

This concentration sends an important signal for budget allocation. As long as audio podcast distribution strategy remains relevant and centralized, brands have a strong case for keeping a portion of their budget in the audio format while weighing a gradual shift toward video.

For brands, this means audio distribution and video distribution should run as two complementary tracks, matched to the context in which their audience actually consumes content.

The platform share data above doesn't yet answer a more concrete question for brands: what kind of content is actually being listened to most at the top of each platform? For that, it's necessary to look directly at the top podcast charts, not just market-share figures.

Based on a direct check of Apple Podcasts Indonesia (podcasts.apple.com/id/charts, accessed July 6, 2026), the top seven positions shown were:

1. Lentera Malam (Horror Podcast) — Lentera Malam

2. Podcast Seminggu — Podkesmas Asia

3. Rapot — RezaAnkaRadhiniAbigail Potkes

4. Suara Berkelas — Bilal Faranov | Se.Kelas

5. Hanan Attaki — Hanan Attaki

6. Rotten Mango — Stephanie Soo

7. Do You See What I See? — Indonesian Horror Stories

8. The Catch Up Club — The Catch Up Club

9. Tentang Rasa — Tentangrasa

10. BKR Brothers — BR Brothers

For comparison, a top-10 chart purportedly from Spotify Indonesia is also available:

1. Lonceng Mystery (Podcast Horor) — LCM Entertainment

2. Besok Pagi (Podcast Pendakian Horor) — Besok Pagi

3. Podcastery Jurnalrisa — Jurnalrisa

4. Sumar Adi Wijaya (Podcast Horor) — Sumar Adi Wijaya

5. Podcast Raditya Dika — Raditya Dika

6. LOGICKAH FRIMAWAN — Corbuzier

7. SUARA BERKELAS by SE.KELAS — Bilal Faranov

8. Lentera Malam (Podcast Horor) — Lentera Malam

9. GOYANG LIDAH — Corbuzier

10. PODKESMAS — Podkesmas Asia

Patterns visible from this comparison:

Horror dominates both charts, not just one platform. Lentera Malam appears on both lists (#1 on Apple, #6 on the Spotify list), and Suara Berkelas also appears on both (#4 on Apple, #9 on the Spotify list). This is evidence that horror fiction and motivation/self-development content both have cross-platform appeal, rather than being preferences isolated to a single ecosystem.

At the same time, there are also real differences: Apple Podcasts features Hanan Attaki (religious content) and Rotten Mango (English-language true crime) in high positions, neither of which appears in the given Spotify top 10. Conversely, the Spotify list shows more horror variety (Lonceng Mystery, Besok Pagi, Sumar Adi Wijaya) as well as comedy/personal content such as Podcast Raditya Dika.

For brands, two important notes follow from this:

First, a chart is a daily-changing snapshot, not a permanent picture. This data reflects a single point in time and should not be used as the basis for budget placement decisions without re-checking closer to campaign execution.

Second, the genres that actually dominate the charts (horror, personal storytelling, religion, self-development) differ from the genres often used as examples in discussions of "business podcasts" or "professional podcasts." This matters so brands don't wrongly assume that Indonesian podcast audiences overall lean toward serious/formal educational content. Interest figures for the education genre do exist (58% of Gen Z and Millennials say they like education-genre podcasts, according to IDN Research Institute and Populix), but that reflects genre interest, not evidence that this genre is what's most listened to at the top of the daily charts.

For the sake of precision, the limits of this article's claims need to be stated openly. The available data supports one specific story: strong growth in long-form content and podcasts, and a growing share of attention. Comparative data on changing engagement for short-form content has yet to be collected, so claims about fatigue with short-form content are better treated as a hypothesis than as a finding.

Because of this, the most solid framework for brands is parallel growth. Short-form and long-form content can grow simultaneously, and this parallel-growth framing is a more accurate, and more useful, story than a win-lose narrative.

All the findings point toward one clear content strategy framework. Short-form content serves as the top of the content funnel. Its function covers discovery and fast reach, introducing a brand or idea to many people in a short time. Long-form content, whether audio or video podcast, serves as the middle and bottom of the funnel. Its function is to build trust and depth, then convert casual audiences into loyal audiences who drive decisions, from purchasing, to subscribing, to trusting recommendations.

A brand that invests in only one side of the funnel is, by definition, under-investing in the other. Large reach without depth produces awareness with low staying power, while depth without reach produces a small community that grows slowly. Combining both produces a complete funnel, and this is precisely where Indonesia's podcast growth becomes a real opportunity for content strategy.

Maintain your audio format allocation. According to the Populix survey, audio podcast consumption via Spotify remains highly dominant at 87%, and according to IMGR 2026, 43% of Indonesian podcast audiences still prefer the audio format. Audio-only placements remain valid, especially for product categories whose audiences are accustomed to listening while doing other activities such as commuting, working, or exercising. Video podcasts excel at building personal connection through the host's expression and body language, while audio serves a different consumption context.

Choose the format based on your communication goal. To build trust through a figure's (host or spokesperson) credibility and closeness, video podcasts have the advantage, since facial expressions and emotional nuance come into play. To reach audiences in multitasking mode (commuting, exercising, working), audio-only is more suitable, as it offers more flexible attention.

Prioritize content that is practical and directly actionable. According to IMGR 2026, Indonesian Millennials and Gen Z are looking for concrete guidance amid economic pressure around career, business, finance, and mental health. Brands that enter long-form content with genuinely practical content, complete with clear takeaways, have a greater chance of being remembered and trusted.

Treat production standards as a hard requirement for Gen Z. Gen Z is used to the high visual standards of short-form content and expects the same standard from long-form content: clean audio, tight editing, and a credible, relatable host. Well-curated podcasts will win out in the competition.

Manage short-form and long-form content as a single, integrated content funnel. Short clips from a podcast episode can function as an entry point for discovery, then direct audiences toward the full episode for depth. This approach uses the strengths of each format efficiently within a single flow.

Take advantage of the shift in monetization models. According to Populix, with the podcast market projected to reach $408 million and monetization models beginning to shift away from conventional advertising, brands have an opportunity to explore more integrated collaboration formats, such as content sponsorships, co-created series, or host-read ads woven into the content itself.

Findings across multiple studies show that Indonesia's podcast growth is happening alongside the continued strength of short-form content, not replacing it. Both formats are growing in parallel, serving different functions along the consumer journey: short-form content introduces, while long-form content deepens and builds trust. Data from We Are Social, IMGR 2026, and Populix positions Indonesia as one of the most mature podcast markets in the world, with Gen Z as its main driver.

For brands, the challenge lies in design, not selection. Rather than choosing between short-form and long-form content, the brands best positioned to capture this momentum are the ones that connect both within a single, complete content funnel. Short-form content captures attention, video podcasts and audio podcasts build closeness, and the combination of both turns casual audiences into loyal customers.

Market growth projected to reach $408 million signals that this momentum has real commercial grounding. Brands that build a funnel-based content strategy from the outset, with production standards matched to Indonesian Gen Z expectations, are best positioned to grow alongside Indonesia's podcast ecosystem in the years ahead.

Bibliography

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IDN Research Institute. (2025). Indonesia Millennial and Gen Z Report 2026 (IMGR 2026). IDN Media.

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