In & Around Podcasting

As Artificial Intelligence continues to be ever more present in podcasting, discussions and conversations have appeared online at an equal rate on whether this is a good or bad thing for the podcasting industry.

Does it make life easier when it comes to creating content, or does it run the risk of making podcasting redundant through an increased lack of originality?

Join Mark, Danny, and guest co-host Liam Heffernan as they dissect the article and review each viewpoint.

Our guest co-host this week: Liam Heffernan

It used to be that podcast downloads were the main data point podcasters would use to track their growth. The thinking was, get X amount of downloads per month and sponsors will jump at you with wallets full of cash. While that may have been the way back in the day, today's success metrics looks a lot different when it comes to podcast success.

In this special live recording of In & Around Podcasting from PodSummit YYC 2024 in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, Danny is joined by Kattie Laur and Tim Truax to talk about how you can take advantage of them, and reframe your thinking and discussion around monetization and sponsorship.

Takeaways:

• The podcasting industry is evolving, and metrics should extend beyond just downloads.
• Engaged listeners are more valuable than sheer download numbers when seeking sponsorships.
• Indie podcasters should focus on local sponsorships to create meaningful monetization opportunities.
• Understanding your audience's engagement can help shape your content and sponsorship strategies.
• Value for value models allow listeners to support creators without traditional sponsorships.
• Experimenting with different ad formats can improve listener retention and engagement rates.

Companies mentioned in this episode:

• Bumper
• Captivate
• Apple
• Spotify
• Acast
• Douglas
• AG1
• Buy Me a Coffee
• North Bay Echo
• Canadaland

Our guest co-hosts this week:

Kattie Laur

Kattie Laur is an award-winning, freelance podcast producer and writer based in Brantford, Ontario. She has a life-long love of public radio, and has been clinging to the podcasting space since 2013. As both a professional and independent podcast creator, Kattie’s insights have her keenly focused on making the Canadian podcasting ecosystem sustainable, equitable and world-renowned. Kattie writes the biweekly newsletter for the Canadian podcasting ecosystem, Pod the North. Pod the North’s regular readers include many media excutives from the likes of CBC Podcasts, Spotify and Apple Podcasts. She is currently also working on her debut podcast, Canardian, in association with her newsletter coming Spring 2024.

In a recent article on Hollywood Reporter, top podcasters like Rachel Maddow, Bill Simmons, Josh Lindgren and more shared their take on the biggest issues facing podcasting. These included visibility, podcast apps, lower advertising, and more.

Join Danny and guest co-host Dan LeFebvre as they dissect the article and review each viewpoint.

Our guest co-host this week: Dan LeFebvre

Host of Based on a True Story, the podcast that compares Hollywood with history.

Apple Podcasts is now available on the web, opening up the Android market and allowing users to listen on Windows. This is a significant milestone for podcasting as it provides more options for listeners and creators. The web player supports syncing across devices and allows for purchasing subscriptions to creators. However, there are potential risks with unethical marketing techniques and spoofing of download referrals. Overall, this move by Apple is a positive step forward for the industry.

Takeaways

• Apple Podcasts is now accessible on the web, expanding its reach to Android and Windows users.
• The web player supports syncing across devices and allows for purchasing subscriptions to creators.
• This move by Apple is a positive step forward for the podcasting industry, providing more options for listeners and creators.

In & Around Podcasting is a podcast industry podcast brought to you by Mark Asquith and Danny Brown.

Currently, if a podcaster wants to get the full picture of their show's growth, they need to look at multiple analytics reports: their hosting company, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and now YouTube. Then they need to correlate how all this data is presented, since it can be very different, depending on IAB Certification, downloads, listens, and more. And that's just the podcaster - then you have media and ad buyer data, too.

So how do we bring all this convoluted data together, and where do podcast analytics need to improve to give that fuller picture? Join your host Danny Brown and guest co-host Dan Misener as they dive in to podcasting's analytics problem.

Our guest co-host this week:

Dan Misener

Dan Misener is co-founder of Bumper, a podcast growth agency. Prior to co-founding Bumper, Dan served as Director of Audience Development at Pacific Content. Prior to that, he spent a decade working in public radio at the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), both on-air and behind-the-scenes. He was involved in the CBC's earliest podcasting efforts, and served as producer on many national and local news and current affairs programs. Dan has taught podcasting and audio storytelling at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health and Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy at the University of Toronto, the RTA School of Media at Toronto Metropolitan University, and through the Podcast Career Accelerator program at the Hot Docs Podcast Festival. Dan is host and producer of the independent live event and podcast series Grownups Read Things They Wrote as Kids, which has won several industry awards and been downloaded more than 10 million times.