Here are the most interesting news articles and tutorials for the second week of February, 2020.

Thanks to Kato, Alexander, and Norman for supporting the show.

1

Will Spotify Ruin Podcasting?

From Matt Stoller for his Big Substack newsletter, a long and excellent read about Spotify's recent moves in the podcast world. This section about the commodification of independent podcasts caught my eye:

Spotify seems to be trying to build out control of advertising and distribution of podcasting. With gatekeeping power over listeners through its streaming service, and gatekeeping power over ad revenue through its advertising network, Spotify will eventually be able to force podcasters to live in its ecosystem. It won’t be impossible to get listeners without Spotify, just as newspapers can technically get direct traffic instead of traffic from Google and Facebook, but it’ll be very hard.

It’s not 100% clear how well this will work. Podcast ads are, like radio ads, often based on the trust of the host of the show. Hosts tend to read out ads, so they are more like paid sponsorships relying on the trust and voice of the host than traditional advertisements. But if the Spotify ad insertion tech is sophisticated and effective enough, they may be able to alter this dynamic, making any particular ad slot on any podcast less valuable.

None of this is inevitable. And in fact, there’s one significant difference between today and the mid-2000s, and it’s not a small one. Today, we understand that monopolies are dangerous. This means we can activate a whole series of laws designed to protect us from them.

Today’s flourishing podcasting market is evidence that we can have a diverse and financially viable media market. We just have to stop gatekeeping in our markets for speech, prevent vertical integration, end the inappropriate use of other people’s data to let a middleman like Spotify inappropriately monetize art it didn’t create, and retain open standards like RSS for podcast distribution instead of privatizing public utility functions.

An important read if you care about the openness of podcasting and preventing any single platform from controlling it.

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2

Advertising A Podcast, Part 2

From Sean Howard on podnews.net, part two of his three-part Advertising a Podcast series. This one's about buying ads on social media and search platforms:

I spent the last couple of months running a series of campaigns on Facebook, Twitter and Google Adwords. I wanted to understand the potential costs to acquire a listener using paid online ads.

If we are spending money and time to generate listeners, it’s important to actually measure how many listeners we generated.

When I send my partner to the store to buy cookies, I want to know how many cookies he purchased and even what kind of cookie. But online platforms that sell advertising want to tell us everything but these two facts. We have to keep them honest.

In this article, I’m going to share two tools I truly adore and am using to track the number of listeners I am creating through paid (and unpaid) advertising efforts.

When it was all said and done:

I wrote this series with the intent of getting more podcasters to embrace advertising, and my first experiments with purchasing social and search ads clearly suggest that these are not a good use of anyone’s dollars or time. The irony is not lost on me.

Data is important and sometimes it tells us things we don’t want to hear. So while paid digital advertising may be a bad choice, I remain convinced that other forms of advertising are an important part of building a brand and growing our audience.

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3

Why the Podcast Gold Rush is Slowing Down for Some Publishers

From Max Willens on Digiday:

A ton of money is pouring into podcasting as platform companies and advertisers express more interest in the medium. But for the smaller publishers that have been experimenting with the medium, the increased competition for listeners — and, by extension, advertising dollars — is prompting them to change their approaches.

Ok, tell me more.

In 2019 Politico decreased the frequency of two of its seven U.S. podcasts and ended a third: It discontinued “Off Message,” a podcast launched in 2015, after the host left Politico.

Ok, but did they end the show because of increased competition, or because the host left?

Last spring Bustle abandoned its second foray into podcasting, “The Bustle Huddle,” after producing about 16 months’ worth of episodes. Bustle Digital Group’s chief revenue officer, Jason Wagenheim, told Digiday this week that the publisher considered the show a test. He added that Bustle plans to launch several new audio products this year, mostly related to its newly expanded culture and innovation desk.

Ok, so a company was experimenting and plans to do more. So?

And last fall Business Insider paused its podcast “This Is Success.” The show, which had landed guests ranging from Facebook executive Sheryl Sandberg to athlete LeBron James over its nearly three-year run, had secured sponsorship or just three episodes in 2019. A spokesperson said this week that Business Insider plans to bring the show back but did not provide a timeline.

I'm assuming there's a typo here and that second sentence is supposed to read "had secured sponsorships for just three episodes in 2019".

So you found a generic business interview show that couldn't secure sponsorships and was shut down. Sound the alarm, the whole podcasting bubble is bursting right in front of us.

Podcasting was meant to be a low cost way to diversify revenues and digital audiences.

Is that was it was meant to be?

Now more than ever, podcasting requires sustained editorial, marketing and promotional support — all for an increasingly uncertain payoff.

Let me fill you in on a little secret: Podcasting has always required sustained efforts, and the payoff has always been uncertain.

Indeed, it is hard to predict how many people will like a show, especially one that was made by people hoping to grab some of that easy podcast ad money.

A source at McClatchy said the publisher had to dissuade one of the newspapers in its portfolio from making a show in the style of The New York Times’s “The Daily” because it would have required extensive resources.

What's the size of the team that works full-time on the Daily? 12 people now?

Hang on, let's look at the episode notes for the latest episode:

“The Daily” is made by Theo Balcomb, Andy Mills, Lisa Tobin, Rachel Quester, Lynsea Garrison, Annie Brown, Clare Toeniskoetter, Paige Cowett, Michael Simon Johnson, Brad Fisher, Larissa Anderson, Wendy Dorr, Chris Wood, Jessica Cheung, Alexandra Leigh Young, Jonathan Wolfe, Lisa Chow, Eric Krupke, Marc Georges, Luke Vander Ploeg, Adizah Eghan, Kelly Prime, Julia Longoria, Sindhu Gnanasambandan, Jazmín Aguilera, M.J. Davis Lin, Austin Mitchell, Sayre Quevedo, Neena Pathak, Dan Powell, Dave Shaw, Sydney Harper, Daniel Guillemette, Hans Buetow and Robert Jimison. Our theme music is by Jim Brunberg and Ben Landsverk of Wonderly. Special thanks to Sam Dolnick, Mikayla Bouchard, Stella Tan, Lauren Jackson, Julia Simon, Mahima Chablani and Nora Keller.

Extensive resources, indeed.

It's almost as if you have to be super passionate and work insanely hard for a long time to be successful with a podcast, and even then, you might not make a ton of money.

Who wants to take that chance? Stick with something proven and safe.

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4

The Math Behind Membership

From Amira Valliani on the Glow.fm blog:

We’ve spoken to over 1000 content creators about building memberships. The three questions we hear the most are:

1. How much can I make?
2. How much should I charge?
3. How do I grow my membership?

So, we crunched the numbers to give you data-driven answers.

Some good takeaways in this article, and you can get a longer report if you give them your email address.

I'd love to hear from more podcasters who have had success with the membership model.

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5

Podcast Subscriber Tracking Is Pointless

A good point from Evo Terra on his Medium blog:

Most podcasters want one thing: for people to listen to their content. So it makes sense that understanding a podcast’s total subscriber count would be a good thing. Only… it isn’t.

Subscriber count doesn’t matter. I’m personally subscribed to something like 178 shows in Apple Podcasts. Do I listen to every episode published by those shows? Of course not.

I understand why podcasters want to see the number of people who are subscribed to their show, but the number of subscribers does not equal the number of listeners. Like Evo, I'm subscribed to 100 or so shows. I listen to maybe 10% of those shows on a regular basis.

What you really should be paying attention to is:

1. How many people are listening to each episode (unique listeners)
2. How far through the episode most people are getting (episode retention / play-through)

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6

What Agencies And Advertisers Say Is Needed To Achieve $2 Billion In Podcast Ad Revenue

From Pierre Bouvard on westwoodone.com:

95 executives from all parts of the podcast ecosystem completed an online survey in early February on measurement, attribution, ad tech, and what’s needed for podcasting to become a $2 billion advertising medium. Here are the key findings:

Agencies and brands give poor marks on the current state of podcast measurement, though there is a sense that things are looking up

Only 5% rate podcast measurement and attribution as “excellent.” A whopping 64% say it’s “fair” and 19% deem it “poor.” Yet there are signs that the buy side sees improvements ahead. Compared to prior years, 43% indicate the current state of attribution and measurement is getting better. 57% say things are about the same. No one feels it is getting worse, somewhat akin to saying you cannot fall off the floor.

When asked what it will take for podcasting to become a $2 billion ad medium, most of the responses centered on improved measurement and attribution. Some indicate content will need to step up: “Larger scale content…a big breakthrough in the content space.” Others note podcast discovery and search needs improvement. A number feel big marketers coming into the podcast space will be a major accelerator. Several point to the major opportunity to monetize “the longer tail shows which are being relatively ignored.”

Will think about this more and revisit it later.

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7

Creating Great Podcast Shownotes: What Format Should I Follow?

From Colin Gray on thepodcasthost.com:

Shownotes serve three main purposes. The first two serve existing listeners:

1. To offer a summary of the show content – either to persuade someone to listen, or to remind a previous listener what was covered.

2. To offer links to resources, people or products that were mentioned. You can't link within the show itself, so you offer the links on the shownotes.

The last serves you, and those who have yet to listen:

1. To attract new listeners through search traffic.

That last one is the one most podcasters neglect. You'll find a lot of podcasters throwing up show notes that are nothing more than a very quick introduction paragraph, and then a list of the resources that were mentioned. That's fine, as a minimum. It serves your listener, covering #1 and #2. But, if that's all you do, you're missing a trick in growing your audience.

I've championed great show notes for a long time. If you've new to podcasting, read this tutorial.

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8

Radiotopia’s Philosophy of Fundraising

From Gina James on the PRX Medium blog:

At Radiotopia, we believe there is no magic formula for a successful fundraiser. Each year, we approach the annual campaign with excitement, trepidation, and pragmatism. Sure, we know the basic principle: ask the listeners who devour the shows (to the tune of more than 19 million downloads per month) to support what they love. And yes, we know we should ask them to donate any chance we get— in their ears while they’re out and about, in their inboxes while they’re checking emails, and on social media when they’re scrolling at the bus stop.

But what everyone always really wants to know is: what truly moves people from considering the act of giving to actually making a donation? And how does Radiotopia keep getting tens of thousands of people to keep it up, even five years in?

The answer, in short:

Radiotopia is known for our curated, high-quality, sound-rich podcasts. It’s with that same aesthetic, care, and dedication that we approach our fundraiser each year.

Our philosophy is to craft campaigns that are as well designed as the programs themselves, with Radiotopia producers who see campaigns as an important element of how they engage their audience as well as generate revenue.

We believe in doing everything in our power to break through the invisible wall between the shows and their fans. From the language we use to call listeners to action, to the rewards we offer them when they do, everything is centered on the producers who create the content and the listeners who consume it. Our ultimate goal: to create a stronger, more authentic connection between them.

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9

will-spotify-be-in-5-years.aspx">Where Will Spotify Be in 5 Years?

From Will Healy on The Motley Fool blog:

Spotify faces both a bright and uncertain future. Founded by Daniel Ek in 2006, the Sweden-based music streaming service has grown to 271 million users in 79 markets across the world. The user base, proprietary content, and partnerships have helped to bring Spotify growth. However, Spotify also faces the world's most powerful tech names as peers. These conditions make it likely that Spotify stock will trade at higher levels five years from now if it can manage to fend off its large competitors.

Interesting breakdown of the challenges Spotify faces. This section made me do a double-take though:

Spotify has engaged in legal disputes with Apple in both the U.S. and the EU. It began when Apple offered to pay major music labels to not renew contracts with Spotify that allow Spotify to play their music on its free tier.

Apple did what now?

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10

From Loyalty to Membership

From Ana Andjelic on The Sociology of Business Substack newsletter:

In the modern aspiration economy, brand affinity is created not economically, but socially. In the old school model, membership offered modest, slow, and infrequent monetary gains. In the modern aspiration economy model, consumers use their membership to advance their social, cultural, and environmental capital.

Essential reading if you're thinking about or trying to use the membership business model for your podcast.

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11

Brands, Here’s How to Measure Podcast ROI

Maybe those brands hoping to get into podcasting should read this article from JAR Audio:

So you want to make a podcast.

If you’re reading this, it’s because you’ve decided that your brand - which you work incredibly hard to develop and protect - is due for a foray into the audio sphere. You’ve decided your brand needs an actual, real-life authentic voice.

And with this desire comes the ultimate question burning in your heart and that of your team:

What’s the True ROI from a Branded Podcast?

And to that, we have a very simple answer (followed by a complex article): What will be the ROI of not doing a podcast?

Good article, but holy hell they need to use a different typeface for their site. Switch to reader view in your browser or prepare for visual pain.

Here's a takeaway for you though:

In fact, in a recent study conducted by the BBC, organizations with branded podcasts have also seen:

• 89% higher awareness
• 57% higher branded consideration
• 24% higher brand favorability
• 14% higher purchase intent
• 16% higher engagement and 12% higher memory encoding than other forms of content

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12

Why Your Podcast Definitely Needs a Website

The articles keep coming. From Frank Racioppi on the discoverpods.com blog:

You are t-minus 60 minutes to go to podcast launch. You’ve checked the first episode for errors numerous times. You’ve checked the file formatting and uploaded. Months, even years were spent in preparation and your first podcast goes live.

So why do I want to discuss a website? You have the podcast. A website is a money-drain and time-suck you don’t need, right?

Wrong. In fact, well-designed and content-rich websites can drive considerable traffic to your podcast. Here are 10 reasons why new and established podcasters should have a website and ensure that it is robust enough to support the podcast, garner more listeners, attract and retain sponsors and monetize the podcast either through donations, product extensions or ad-supported revenue.

I'm 100% on the "websites are important for podcasts" team, and I've always appreciated the websites that Simplecast provides for shows hosted on their platform.

However. Simplecast sites don't have specific functionality for 4 out of the first 5 things on this list:

1. Place to donate
2. Email list signups
3. Newsletter (which is kinda the same thing as the email list signup?) and
4. Bios about the host (or an About page)

Friends from Simplecast, if you're reading this, please consider adding these features to the show sites.

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13

If people will pay for MP3s of people whispering them to sleep, why won’t they pay for podcasts?

From Caroline Crampton for the Hot Pod newsletter on niemanlab.org:

Will people pay for podcasts? This is something we’ve been discussing in Hot Pod for years now, whether via what CastBox was doing in 2018, the “Netflix of podcasting” wars of 2019, or the ongoing growth of tools like Supporting Cast and Glow that enable podcasters to offer their own premium feeds.

Despite these high profile experiments and the bonus-episode culture created by crowdfunding tools like Patreon, I think it’s safe to say that the majority answer to that question across the industry is: “No, not really.”

It’s why advertising has dominated podcast monetization up to this point and why the (contested) definition of the word “podcast” has such a strong association with being free to air. Even the podcast-like series made by Audible and kept behind their paywall have always been framed as either a way of hooking users in for the subscription or as a nice bonus for existing subscribers. You pay for the audiobooks, and the podcasts come with them — it’s not a podcast subscription platform.

Even in the age of Netflix, there’s a sense that self-improvement and education are worth paying for, while entertainment should be free.

Nailed it. I was listening to Rainn Wilson's recent episode on the Armchair Expert podcast, he was talking about people not being willing to pay $4 a month to listen to his show on Luminary.

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14

How to Make a Sh*t Podcast

From James Mulvany on LinkedIn:

Podcasts. Every man/woman and his/her dog/cat/fish/hamster is giving it a go.

The problem is, like with anything, the more podcasts that crop up, the more there are that’re a bit...well...sh*t.

But, who needs a good podcast? Who needs good sound when you can record it on your iPhone 4? Who needs good guests when you can just invite your mates over to laugh about that time Starbucks got Steph’s name wrong and wrote Steve on her cup? Everyone’ll find that funny, right? Who needs the right distribution channels when you can simply upload it to Anchor and chuck it out to your 36 followers on LinkedIn? If all else fails, your mum’ll defo listen.

Yeah, sh*t podcasts are in, baby, and it’s time to get on board.

Cheeky. Made me laugh. This line especially:

Make sure you're getting paid for this thing you started for fun and which offers no value to anyone choosing to listen.

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15

content.com/the-most-crowded-categories-in-apple-podcasts-february-2020-edition-e087d6455e6a">The most crowded categories in Apple Podcasts, Visualized (February 2020 edition)

From Dan Misener on the Pacific Content blog (who publishes a great article every single week, it seems):

Back in October 2018, I analyzed 390,000 podcasts in an attempt to find content.com/the-most-crowded-categories-in-apple-podcasts-7123447660cf">the most crowded categories in Apple Podcasts.

Since then, much has changed:

• In 2019, Apple significantly revamped their list of podcast categories. They removed some categories, renamed others, and added several new options (including True Crime, History, and Fiction).
• The sheer volume of podcasts has increased dramatically. Depending on who you ask, the number currently sits around 900k shows.

So I decided to run the numbers again in February 2020, using a sample of 764,379 shows.

Interesting to see the breakdown of shows by category.

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Closing Thoughts

As some of you may have seen by now, this past Friday was my last day working at Simplecast. I've had an incredible time with that team over the past two years, and I'm proud to have been a part of building Simplecast up to what it is today.

With that said: I've accepted a job offer from a startup in Los Angeles that is working on solving some problems for podcasters that I feel are very important problems to solve right now.

All parties involved agree that I've got the right mix of skills to help with the mission, so in a few weeks I'll be packing a few personal items into my 4Runner and driving west across Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona to the land of the sun and the state I was born in: California.

Looking forward to telling you more about it soon.

Have a great week, and happy podcasting!

Aaron Dowd

If you enjoyed this episode, please take a moment to leave a rating and review in Apple Podcasts, or share the episode with a friend. Thank you! 💙

This show was produced by me, Aaron Dowd.Music and SM7B illustration by Sean McCabe.Hosting and technology by Simplecast.