Podcasts Are Always the Next Big Thing

Podcast coverage has a peculiar history. Whether fueled by wishful thinking or impatience, the media’s takes on the format often come in fits and starts. Many outlets have declared podcasts the next big thing over the years, and there’s been a lot of discourse surrounding podcastings perceived booms, busts, and even blips. Commonly pegged to the seemingly never-ending stream of new shows, discussions of the golden age” or peak of podcasts are regularly had. Articles compare the podcast boom to the Wild West and the American gold rush. It is all very amusing. And, when compiled, all of this breathless coverage reveals just how difficult it is to capture something with a community ethos through an industry lens. Here we celebrate podcasting’s sweet 16 with a look back at some of the more excited articles — including our own — from the early days.

Posted on: 13 May 2021 | 11:08 am

How a podcast can add value to your marketing

These five questions can help you decide whether a show of your own is the way to go. 1. Where does this fit in my strategy? 2. Can I add value with a show? 3. Do I have a content marketing strategy to plan this show? 4. Do I have the resources to devote to this show? 5. Can I bring in quality guests?

Posted on: 11 May 2021 | 11:06 am

Coronavirus, Consolidation, and Collective Bargaining: The Year in Podcasting

Any summation of the past year begins and ends with COVID, even if we’re just talking about podcasts. Given everything that’s happened, how can it not? We had just a little over two months of expected life in 2020 before counties across the United States started implementing initial lockdown measures, drastically altering the shape of everyday activity. Movement was scaled down, businesses were shuttered, and a great cloud of uncertainty descended upon the populace as this massive and utterly terrifying thing unfolded all around us.

Posted on: 6 May 2021 | 11:03 am

Mark Cuban predicts podcasts and livestreams are only going to become more popular.

Cuban shared his unique insights about the current and future state of  not just podcasting, but the entire media industry. We discussed both legacy media companies and independent creators. Here are the main takeaways and my thoughts from our conversation: 1. Streaming is the future, and legacy companies need to get on  board in order to survive 2. These days, audio is just as competitive as video because the  barrier to entry is lower and there's no pressure to look nice 3. As new technology emerges, media will continue to evolve — and creators must keep up

Posted on: 4 May 2021 | 11:02 am

Apple to switch its 'Subscribe' button to 'Follow' on Podcasts

Apple to switch its 'Subscribe' button to 'Follow' on Podcasts

Posted on: 29 April 2021 | 11:01 am

New Survey Bears Good News For Spotify And Podcasts, Bad News For Radio

Every year at this time, Edison Research and Triton Digital publish the results of a study called The Infinite Dial that tracks the use of digital audio and related media in the United States. It’s a study that dates back over 20 years—it got its name from the digital radio that was introduced at that time—and is well-respected for the rigor and consistency of its methodology. This year’s study shows how the pandemic has changed digital audio consumption habits. It also shows a few surprises in the streaming music sweepstakes. The 2021 Infinite Dial results show that the use of online audio—including digital radio, AM/FM internet streams, podcasts, and music services—has plateaued at 68% of Americans ages 12 and up. But there are clear winners and losers, and they don’t merely reflect pandemic-related factors such as people staying at home. One big winner is podcasting. Growth in podcast listenership shows no signs of tapering off, as monthly listenership continues its linear growth path to 41% penetration, up from 37% in 2020. Growth is particularly high in the 12-34 age bracket, more than half of whom now listen to podcasts regularly (while the 35-54 bracket levels off around 40%). Podcast listenership is also getting more racially diverse, with nonwhite listeners now at 43%, up from 37% last year.

Posted on: 27 April 2021 | 10:59 am

Spotify May Have Already Won Podcasting

Podcasts exploded in 2020. People created nearly 900,000 new podcasts last year, according to Chartable, and hungry listeners couldn't get enough. Listenership in the U.S. grew 90%, and it grew even faster in other countries tracked by the podcast measurement company. One thing that stood out in Chartables data is how dominant Spotify has become, thanks to its strategic podcasting acquisitions. And despite the ongoing consolidation in the industry, it may have built an insurmountable lead in most areas of podcasting from the creative, advertising, and listening sides of the equation.

Posted on: 22 April 2021 | 10:58 am

How a TV Critic Turned to Podcasts During a Pandemic

TV meant to be responsive to the moment seemed distant. But podcasts, with the intimate production values, felt more immediate and relevant than ever before. In a year otherwise defined by loss, one area of our lives has remained untouched; abundant, even. Movie theaters closed and blockbusters were delayed. Music and theater venues shuttered. But TV marched on. The number of original scripted shows dipped slightly, but international series and older shows arriving on the streaming platforms more than filled the void of shows canceled or delayed. And yet, as the pandemic months piled up, TVs seeming imperviousness to the halt of all other cultural activities started seeming less like a virtue and more like a vice, like denial, like a dispatch from a faker world.

Posted on: 20 April 2021 | 10:55 am

Why Podcasting Might Be One Of The Best ROI Marketing Channels In 2021

Podcasting Will Boost Your Network Like You Never Thought Possible As you grow your audience, you’ll find that podcasting can become an incredible resource for expanding your network. I have had the opportunity to invite guests onto my own show, as well as appear as a guest speaker on several business-oriented podcasts. These have given me the opportunity to meet and interact with several incredible entrepreneurs working in a wide range of business categories. Having a podcast gives me a valid reason to reach out to other entrepreneurs who I admire. These are people I might not have been able to meet otherwise, and they have given me valuable insights that I have been able to apply to my own business endeavors.

Posted on: 15 April 2021 | 8:30 am

Podcasting in 2021: How podcasts have captured hearts, minds and ears globally

Illustrating how podcasting have captured the interest of people all over the globe in recent years, research company Grand View Research suggested that the global podcasting market size valued at USD 9.28 billion in 2019 and is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 27.5% from 2020 to 2027. During the pandemic, listeners worldwide are observed to be spending more time at home due to work-from-home and social distancing policies – changing the entire dynamics of the market for podcasts, which used to have a pre-pandemic target audience of people listening to broadcasts during their commute. The industry is now expected to grow with engaged listeners who are stuck indoors while working from home.

Posted on: 13 April 2021 | 8:28 am

2021 in Podcasting: Now What?

As you might recall, 2020 closed out with yet another flashy podcast acquisition. Right before the New Year, Amazon announced that it was buying Wondery for its Amazon Music service, where it will presumably be made to pump out original content rendered exclusively at some point to lure new users to the platform.

Posted on: 8 April 2021 | 8:26 am

Top Podcasting Secrets & Shows for Digital Marketers & Beyond

Podcasting is a great way to reach and engage with your audience. Here's the lowdown on podcasting and the shows digital marketers should pay attention to. Podcasting is the new normal in digital marketing. Experts are calling podcasting modern-day blogging. Doubling in attendance from the previous year, Podfest March 2020 marked the 6th edition of the annual international event produced by Chris Krimitsos. It also skated by the pre-pandemic shutdown as one of the last live events of 2020.

Posted on: 6 April 2021 | 8:24 am

3 Lucrative Hidden Benefits Of Podcasting

1. Relationship Building 2. Infinitely Recurring Revenue 3. Securing Media

Posted on: 1 April 2021 | 8:21 am

Sinister sounds: podcasts are becoming the new medium of misinformation

The role of podcasts in the information ecosystem has gone largely unexamined. While alt-right figures have been increasingly chased off Facebook and Twitter, podcasting is shaping up as the next arena where the fight over questionable or dangerous content will play out. However, the problem of how to moderate audio content is proving thorny. As podcasting grows in stature and revenue, its disinformation problem can’t be ignored.

Posted on: 30 March 2021 | 8:18 am

The 10 Commandments of Podcasting

1. Thou shall not do it for the money 2. Thou shall be a consumer 3. Thou shall reflect well on your brand 4. Thou shall be useful 5. Thou shall not be a salesperson 6. Thou shall get personal 7. Thou shall create a consistent format 8. Thou shall release episodes regularly 9. Thou shall be professional 10. Thou shall be sociable

Posted on: 25 March 2021 | 8:17 am

Podcast As Marketing Tool: It Creates Value For Listeners

In an age wherein a variety of marketing tools are available for experts, one tool is often underutilized—podcast. Podcasts are effective tools for marketing because they help brands to reach a niche targeted audience. According to research, podcasts help to hypertarget audiences and give a good return on investment. Podcasts also create value for listeners because they are often informative and educational. According to Forbes, iTunes is a rank one website. Hence, any founder who is featured on a podcast with a description contributes to SEO ratings of the brand. Hence, podcasts can be an effective tool in boosting up page rankings. Listeners are increasing for podcast channels and 115 million people are expected to listen to podcasts per week.

Posted on: 23 March 2021 | 8:12 am

Podcasting Growing – But Are You Making Money?

While most radio companies, outside the biggest in the industry, struggle to find a revenue generating podcast strategy, the number of consumers listening to podcasts continues to grow. Monthly listening is up, weekly listening is up and the average podcast listener tunes into about 5 shows per week. The latest Infinite Dial stats show that about eighty million Americans – 28% of the U.S. 12+ population – are now weekly podcast listeners, a 17% increase over 2020. And, 57% of the country have now listened to some kind of podcast. The overall monthly podcast listening audience is now more diverse than ever: 57% of monthly podcast listeners are white, 16% Latino, 13% African American, 4% Asian, and 10% of some other background. With podcasting on the rise the big question that remains for most radio stations around the country is how to make money at it. Unless you have a large enough network of shows, like the bigger radio companies, to be able to sell millions of downloads to advertisers and ad agencies, it takes a minimum of 25,000 downloads per show for an advertiser to even look at a show.

Posted on: 17 March 2021 | 7:28 am

Are Music Streaming Companies a Big Hit With Investors?

Music streaming companies have seen stellar growth in user numbers. We ask Morningstar equity analyst Neil Macker if the trend can continue. Some of the key findings are, as you said, the music industry has rebounded because of simply the streaming industry itself. Music streaming has exploded over the last few years, and because of that, record labels have moved from a declining business in terms of revenue to a growth business over the last five years.

Posted on: 23 February 2021 | 2:43 pm

Spotify says it is dominating the podcasting market because of a million-plus tiny podcasts

Spotifys $100 million-plus Anchor acquisition is seemingly paying off. In data released today as part of its annual Wrapped look-back on the year, the company says Anchor, which makes podcast creation software, powered 80 percent of new podcasts on Spotify this year, meaning the software contributed more than 1 million shows to Spotifys catalog in 2020 alone. Overall, Anchor powers 70 percent of Spotifys total podcast catalog, or around 1.3 million out of over 1.9 million shows. Anchor-hosted shows account for more consumption of third-party podcast content on Spotify than any other podcast hosting or distribution provider Spotify says Anchor’s top five markets in 2020, by total number of shows, were the US, Brazil, Indonesia, Mexico, and Great Britain. In Indonesia, Spotify signed nine shows to become exclusives. Meanwhile, the fastest-growing markets, looking at the average monthly increase in new shows, are India, Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, and Indonesia. India accounts for nearly 40,000 Anchor-made shows and has been growing at an average of 22 percent month-over-month increase in 2020.

Posted on: 19 February 2021 | 2:42 pm

4 crucial tips for making your podcast connect with audiences

After months of working from home, and with many more months to go for most companies, keeping employees, customers and partners connected is more important now than ever before. One way brands are looking to stay engaged is through podcasting. Podcasts are an intimate medium that allow listeners to feel more connected to the host and engaged with the topic. Here are four best practices for how to make company podcasts effective and engaging for the long run: 1. Empower your team. 2. Provide consistent, accessible and digestible content. 3. Pay attention to feedback. 4. Put in the work.

Posted on: 17 February 2021 | 2:33 pm

Local musicians find their podcasting voices

As the COVID-19 pandemic complicates that exchange, several artists have found another way to connect. Launching podcasts that sweep the corners of their musical experience, they sound out their voices in fulfilling fashion. Robin Anderson and Audra Sergel launched their Musicians Dish podcast in September. The show represents both a natural expression of their friendship and an extension of their concerns as freelance artists. Whether recording on their own or collaborating, Anderson and Sergel nimbly blend elements of pop, jazz and musical theater. Each songwriter's work unites bold humor and deep sentiment — as does their podcast, which is irreverent and informed.

Posted on: 15 February 2021 | 2:33 pm

Amazon wants to dominate podcasting now, too

Amazon has long owned Audible, the audiobook titan that dabbles in podcasting, but only very recently began to work its way into the podcast arena. Just this September, Amazon Music launched podcasts, in an effort to boost one of the truly struggling arms of the company. For whatever reason, Amazon Music streaming has not been able to maintain a foothold as a competitor to Spotify for Apple Music, in the same way that Prime Video contends with other top video-streaming services.

Posted on: 11 February 2021 | 2:31 pm

8 ways branded podcasts are helping these brands get results

Podcasting is marketing. And companies have been using branded podcasts for a long time. But while many companies, big and small, have attempted using branded podcasts, not all of them have been equally successful. Begin with a strategy No matter what the nature of your business is, creating a branded podcast starts with a sound strategy. What are the objectives of your branded podcast? Who is it for, and what is the purpose behind creating it? These are the first questions we ask any brand before starting an engagement. Well-executed branded podcasts are not about just the podcast, but about everything from strategy to research to storytelling to distribution.

Posted on: 8 February 2021 | 2:22 pm

Soundwise Can Help for Connect Your Audio Products to Your Audience

Podcasting and audiobooks have become increasingly popular in recent years – especially for entrepreneurs and in the business community. For many, these audio formats are a great way to educate people about your product, grow brand loyalty, and help bring in additional revenue for your company. But, a podcast or audiobook is only as good as its technical quality and distribution, both of which can be difficult to master. Soundwise is an all-in-one platform that helps you create and sell audio products like audiobooks, podcasts, audio courses, and albums directly to your customers.

Posted on: 4 February 2021 | 2:22 pm

How the Podcast Industry Found a Voice During the COVID-19 Pandemic

When the pandemic hit us, nobody anticipated the extent to which it would alter our lives. Just over a year ago, the coronavirus was spreading only in the unfamiliar region of China’s Hubei province. Today, every major country is reeling under its effects, with people trying to balance work, home and social wellbeing. While our routines remained restricted due to imposed limitations on movement, it has provided us additional time to spend at home. Moreover, the work-from-home phenomenon has given employees the flexibility to accommodate the various facets of everyday life. People now have a myriad of options to pick and keep them entertained and connected to the world. Over the months since the initial lockdowns, there is a significant buzz, with reports suggesting a spike in mobile phone usage, online shopping, OTT video content and podcasting.

Posted on: 2 February 2021 | 2:19 pm