This comedy-history hit delivered:
In their first few months with video on Spotify
- Rapid and continuous growth, with consumption hours on Spotify doubling between March and September 2025
- Hit a milestone of 400,000 monthly consumption hours on Spotify in May and have kept growing from there
- Took the #1 spot on the UK Spotify comedy podcast charts
Ingredients:
- A unique show concept (history for people "who like history but don't care what actually happened")
- Two hosts with natural comedic chemistry
- Spotify Partner Program enrollment
- A distinctive visual setup (i.e., a retro late-night philosophy show meets comedy chaos)
- Cross-platform content strategy that feeds discovery
How they did it:
Step 1: Created a world around the conversation. Fin and Horatio built their show around a specific aesthetic: recreating the look of "British blokes in suits talking about philosophy very seriously on a sofa." The visual comedy is born from the juxtaposition of serious presentation with completely unserious content.
Step 2: Let video enhance the experience. The duo uses images extensively when discussing historical topics, as visual references bring stories to life immediately. But listeners can always follow along audio-only, thanks to the ability to seamlessly switch between foreground and background playing on Spotify. “It’s nice that you can be on a train watching it, and then you get off the train, and you click the lock screen, and then it just carries on playing,” says Fin. “It’s ideal for podcasts.”
Step 3: Embraced platform-native discovery. Unlike other platforms where they have had to design their titles to compete for attention, Spotify let Fin and Horatio use genuinely funny titles that reflect their brand. "I can put the titles I want because I think a lot of the titles are very funny," Fin notes. “Spotify is a podcast platform, so it's much easier and more joyful to upload.”
Check out the case study video with Fin and Horatio:
Meet the creators
Fin Taylor and Horatio Gould are, as Fin puts it, “a nice bit of vinegar to cut through all the American.” The buttoned-up image of their show — recorded in suits on a retro British talk-show aesthetic set with mustard-yellow walls — gives way to dry, irreverent, quietly chaotic humor. “Fin vs History,” which Fin calls “the history podcast for people who like history but don’t actually care what happened,” has become one of the year’s breakout comedy hits on Spotify. The show grew rapidly after its January 2025 launch and has continued to build momentum every month, more than doubling its monthly consumption hours between March and September 2025 and topping the UK comedy podcast charts along the way.
We sat down with the pair to hear about their tremendous success this year and what they’ve learned about building an audience on Spotify. Here’s what we discovered.
“Just guessing,” brilliantly
Can authenticity trump authority? If you're transparent about it (and maybe just the right amount of cheeky), then yes. Fin and Horatio never pretended to be historians — they're comedians who happen to find history fascinating and aren't afraid to be spectacularly wrong about it.
Their concept works because it's relatable. Fin likens the show to “fan TV for history,” referencing channels like AFTV (ArsenalFanTV), where passionate supporters offer unfiltered takes on their team. "You can watch pundits, but the appeal of the fan TVs and why they all blew up is you want to see what normal people say about that kind of thing,” adds Horatio. “It’s passionate, it's under-researched, they’re wrong all the time."
I thought there was a space for a history podcast that has a level of irony and self-awareness to how boring a lot of it is.
And there was a gap for that kind of content. Fin recalls his friends almost dejectedly telling him how they started listening to a new history show. “There was a self-awareness to it that they were getting into history, being unavoidably dragged towards being this boring old [man] who's got military history books in his bookshelf,” he explains. “So I thought there was a space for a history podcast that has a level of irony and self-awareness to how boring a lot of it is.”
Why video was always part of the plan
"Fin vs History" was conceptualized as a visual experience, even though it works perfectly as audio-only content. Fin and Horatio built a set that recreates the aesthetic of late-night BBC philosophy shows, complete with suits and serious demeanor, which makes the absurdity of their actual content even funnier. “It's like you build a world,” says Fin, “so I think that must be a grab for people, the aesthetic of it.”
I don't think you need to watch it on video, but I do think it's always better. It's less convenient sometimes, but it's a better experience.
For Fin, one big appeal of video is that “you're getting more information. I don't think you need to watch it on video, but I do think it's always better. It's less convenient sometimes, but it's a better experience."
Horatio agrees, especially now that they’ve begun adding footage to accompany their dialogue. "If you watch it, you do get a lot more because we're talking about so much stuff from history, and if you have a visual reference, it brings it to life immediately." They point to their Renaissance episode, where they spend several minutes “dissecting a mad painting,” as an example of something that wouldn’t quite hit the same for those who were just listening.
That said, both Fin and Horatio are big fans of Spotify's seamless transition between video and audio modes. "I think that's the number one thing, actually, that transition," Horatio notes. Fin agrees, explaining how “it’s nice that you can be on a train watching it, and then you get off the train and you click the lock screen and then it just carries on playing. It’s ideal for podcasts. There'll be times where we've said: if you're listening on Spotify, switch the video now for this next bit.”
I think that's the number one thing, actually, that transition. It’s nice that you can be on a train watching it, and then you get off the train and you click the lock screen and then it just carries on playing. It’s ideal for podcasts. There'll be times where we've said: if you're listening on Spotify, switch the video now for this next bit.
The discoverability advantage that changed everything
Spotify isn’t the only platform where “Fin vs History” has found an audience, but Fin and Horatio have noticed something different about how it performs here: “the growth has been much bigger.” For Fin, that’s not just about numbers — it’s about creative freedom. “On Spotify, there’s more discoverability. What I like about Spotify is that I can put the titles I want on the name of the podcast.” On other platforms, he explains, the pressure to game the system can stifle expression: “to punch through that algorithm, you have to make it a serious title.” On Spotify, he’s found space to be both true to the tone of the show and still reach the right audience.
Their content consistently finds placement in Spotify's discovery sections. "We were in new and hot and now we're in recent and decent," Fin jokes. (Despite the self-deprecation, “Fin vs History” has seen sustained success in the UK comedy podcast charts.) And their show clearly resonates with the Spotify audience — “Now Spotify is where the highest share of our audience comes from,” he adds.
What I like about Spotify is that I can put the titles I want on the name of the podcast because I think a lot of the titles are very funny.
Then there’s also the audience itself. The number of people listening is great, but so are the actual people. “Spotify, it feels like your audience stays more and it's less fleeting,” says Horatio. Fans’ ability to comment does a lot of heavy lifting too, as it’s the perfect opportunity for creators and audiences to engage meaningfully. "It's nice compared to other podcast platforms where you don't get any feedback apart from the star rating," Fin says. "Whereas Spotify, at least you get a sense that people are, because of the comments, engaging with it."
Stop guessing, start growing on Spotify
For a show literally built on guessing (wrong) about history, Fin and Horatio got one thing absolutely right: betting on video on Spotify when the opportunity presented itself. "If you're already filming for clips, which is the way you get discovered, and then you're filming to put on other platforms that have always been video-forward, then it's a smooth transition," Fin concludes.
Of course, results like theirs aren't guaranteed, and every creator's experience will be different. But for comedy podcasters and other personality-driven creators, Fin and Horatio’s success is a compelling case study in building the right audience on the right platform.
Ready to give it a try? Get started with video on Spotify.