A Polish podcaster can now apply to a programme that pays on Spotify for advertising and for every time a paying subscriber plays their video. A Czech creator does not have that option. Spotify has expanded its Partner Program to 35 new regions, and Poland is one of nine countries it named explicitly. Czechia is not on the published list.
What the programme pays for
The Partner Program combines two sources of income. A video episode played by a Spotify Premium subscriber counts towards the payout, as does a share of advertising from free-tier listeners. Creators keep all income from their own sponsorship and can still distribute the show on other platforms.
Spotify cut the programme's entry criteria this year. A creator with three episodes, 2,000 hours of listening and 1,000 engaged listeners in the past 30 days can apply. According to the company, video shows in the programme see their listening hours grow by more than 45% on average.
The money in the programme is growing. According to the company, video podcast consumption on Spotify has risen by 140% since video launched in 2022, and total monthly payouts to shows have increased by a third since January this year. At the April launch in Western Europe, Spotify said that January payouts rose 300% year on year and hundreds of creators passed $10,000 in monthly income from the programme, with the top earners reaching six figures.
Where the programme runs and where it does not
The programme has so far run in the US, Europe and Australia. It launched in January 2025 in four English-speaking markets, and on 29 April 2026 nine countries were added, among them Germany, Austria, France and the Netherlands, which brought the number of markets to thirteen.
The new wave adds further regions. Spotify named Italy, Spain, Poland, Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, Chile, the Dominican Republic and the Bahamas, plus other markets in Latin America and the Caribbean. The company gives the full list in its announcement. It names 36 countries and Czechia is not among them. Of Central and Eastern Europe, only Poland is on the list.
What a Czech podcaster has available
Czech creators meanwhile monetise elsewhere. Since 15 October 2025, Seznam's Podcasty.cz platform has been open to all creators, offering free hosting and earnings from advertising in episodes. By joining its partner programme, a creator gets 30% of advertising revenue. Alongside that, YouTube advertising income, Apple Podcasts subscriptions and direct sponsorship remain available.
Seznam shares income from the Czech advertising market with the creator. The Partner Program connects creators to a payout pool that Spotify funds from subscriptions and advertising across dozens of markets. For a show aimed at a Czech audience this does not matter for now, because there is no access to the programme from Czechia. For a creator with an international, English-speaking audience, it is an income channel that is open in neighbouring Poland and closed in Czechia.
Spotify has been expanding the programme market by market for a year and a half. The company has not said when or whether Czechia will follow.
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