Podcasts Bring Queer Listeners Closer: How Brands Can Tap In

Listening to a podcast with your favorite hosts can often feel like you’ve stepped into their group chat. And for LGBTQ+ listeners, the connection facilitated by queer podcast creators creates an essential extension of community in the sonic space. There’s an intimacy in hearing from podcast hosts who not only understand your life experiences, but have lived them themselves, that makes you feel close to hosts that you’ve never met in real life.

“I think our show over-indexes with people from marginalized backgrounds—women, queer people—they relate to us because of our lived experience,” shared Sam Sanders, the co-host of Vibe Check, a weekly show about news and culture hosted by three gay Black men. “Those kinds of listeners and consumers are the most loyal you can find. Once you identify and lock in with folks from those backgrounds, they’re going to support you because they feel loved.”

Podcasts Are a Sonic Connection to the LGBTQ+ Community

For centuries, queer people have had to build their own communities in response to prejudice and violence from mainstream culture and dominant powers. In their thriving counterculture, LGBTQ+ people from all backgrounds and walks of life can explore their sexual and gender expressions, finding understanding, support, and empowerment from their peers and allies. With the rise in popularity of podcasts and content from queer podcast hosts, that feeling of community has transcended the physical plane to bring folks together through their listening preferences. 

Listeners turn to their favorite podcasts to learn, be entertained, and connect with their communities. And for queer listeners, it’s no different. In fact, the community connection can be the biggest draw to the medium. Seeking and finding community, both IRL and online, is paramount to queer listeners, who are 39% more likely than the general population to say that they need a sense of belonging to feel happy.

As one of our queer Podsurvey respondents wrote, “[Podcasts] fill up the silence and make it seem like there’s someone with me, spending time with me. I feel a sense of togetherness and comfort when listening to others.”

LGBTQ+ Podcast Hosts Carve Out Space for Queer Stories and Perspectives

Part of what makes our slate of queer-hosted podcasts so special is that the hosts are acutely aware of the ways that they and their listeners take up space in the mainstream world as minorities, in their sexualities and their ethnicities. 

As the co-host of Keep It! Ira Madison III said, “Our way of talking about something is always going to be a little different than, like, what you might get from another pop culture podcast, just because I feel like as a Black person and as a queer person, you’re constantly in spaces where not everyone is like you.”

LGBTQ+ hosts on the SiriusXM Podcast Network are claiming their space to get personal, dive into the latest in news and culture, and chat with experts and celebrities. Listeners come to explore their interests and keep coming back because of the vulnerability and candidness of these hosts. The care that hosts show each other and their guests models the care that queer listeners seek out in their IRL community, making the attraction to the podcast medium a very natural one. 

“I think what is beautiful about Vibe Check is that we display the type of friendship that we aspire to,” shared co-host Sam Sanders. “We're kind to each other, we learn from each other, and we disagree with heart. And it's refreshing to hear in a landscape where too many people argue.”

Reaching LGBTQ+ Podcast Listeners Year-Round 

LGBTQ+ listeners are 60% more likely than the general public to listen to podcasts to improve their mood. Because these listeners feel uplifted and connected to queer culture when consuming podcasts, brands can tap into these positive feelings for their message to have a deeper impact. After listening to a product or service advertised on a podcast, 93% of LGBTQ+ listeners have taken any action, including researching the product, visiting the advertiser’s website, and/or using the promotional code in the ad.  

When brands speak to queer listeners using the voices that they relate to, their advertisements go further. Nearly 80% of LGBTQ+ listeners are receptive to ads voiced by the host of the podcast. Partnering with queer podcast hosts shows listeners that a brand is invested in supporting the community and its creators. 

Celebrating the LGBTQ+ community and queer podcast hosts isn’t exclusive to June. Queer people want to see brands support them year-round, not just during Pride Month. By partnering with SiriusXM Media and leveraging our diverse lineup of podcasts and programming, brands have the opportunity to show authentic support for queer listeners all year long.

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