The podcasting experience might just be the next big wave in business…

Funnily enough, podcasting got its name from the iPod – the first mobile platform where ‘audio-blogs’ could be downloaded and listened to.

Journalist Ben Hammersly coined the term ‘podcast’ back in 2004 and since around that time- when podcasts were made available on the ‘I-tunes store’- podcast popularity and listening began to grow exponentially.

Though I’m sure many of you at least know what a podcast is (considering more than 155 million people listen to at least 1 podcast per week), I’ll still give a quick layout on what they are:

Podcasts are essentially an audio recording of two or more people discussing one or multiple topics in any given time, though the average length of a podcast sits at around 40 minutes.

Podcasts today cover a range of topics such as: sports, entertainment, crime, business, education and basically any other niche topic you could conjure up in the mind’s eye.

I know it seems like a simple concept in today’s ever evolving media animal that seems to sprout a new innovative limb, promising the ‘newest shiniest video format or social media platform,’ to feast your eyes on every day.

However, I think this is where the success of the modern-day podcast lies…

Podcasts both embody the incomprehensible media barrage that modern consumers crave, but also a break from screen and over-indulgence that brings a fresh simplicity to the listening experience.

Trends suggest that the most popular places for people to listen to podcasts are at home, when commuting or driving and whilst working.

The medium grew from 3% to 4% in 2019 as the most popular audio source to listen to in the car, which is interesting considering the cult status of radio and the human desire to constantly consume the most current information.

155 million listeners per week is a huge number for an audio medium that hadn’t been known less than 20 years ago…

I think therefore that much of the success that podcasts have accumulated is to do with their flexibility.

As statistics suggest, podcasts can be consumed whilst doing other tasks such as: driving, work, or housework.

However, they also fall into the category of the luxury media experience of reading or watching tv, as many will simply sit down and listen to a podcast due to an interesting subject.

As of 2020, there were 700,000 active podcasts and 29 million episodes available for download.

This brings me to another of the successes of podcasts – the wealth and variety of content. If you look on the podcast section of Spotify – the most popular podcast streaming service currently – there are political podcasts, podcasts for podcasts for Arts, podcasts for business, podcasts for comedy, podcasts to teach you how to brush your teeth and tie your shoelaces (well maybe not that last one.)

The variety and wealth of podcasts available is an interestingly individual feature of the medium, allowing listeners to access as much content as on any other platform, however the selectability of this makes podcasts different from social media and radio.

Much like YouTube, podcast listeners can choose to subscribe to genres or specific podcasts that they enjoy, they can choose which ones to down-load and boy is there a lot to choose from!

This allows a unique listening experience where people can avoid the gatling gun barrage of depressive radio news, they don’t have to constantly scroll through or adjust their video due to the short nature of other media platforms and can still quench that modern day primordial hunger for content, but specifically regarding topics that interest them.

Some of the top podcasters therefore make a lot of money. Just to take a few of the big names:

The New York Times makes an estimated $4.4 million on their podcasts, Wondery – a podcasting network which covers a range of topics including crime, history, and news- makes around $77.8 million per annum.

Whilst big name podcaster Joe Rogan, who covers a range of topics such as martial arts and general affairs and provides a relaxed environment for the listening experience, signed the biggest recorded podcast contract with Spotify in 2020 for $100 million over three years.

However, this is all undercut by the fact that most podcasters see little success and only the biggest names (a miniscule percentage) in podcasting can reel in this kind of revenue.

Although, there is one statistic I would like to draw you to:

In 2019 55.6% of people say they purchased an item after hearing it advertised on a podcast.

This opens a whole new road in business and advertising, where providing a relaxed and engaging communication line with potential customers can reap this kind of purchasing results.

Podcasting is undoubtedly going to be a major player in the future of advertisement and can also be a great way of business promotion.

Some of the most popular business podcasts include ‘The High-Performance Podcast’ and the ‘Mentor Mindset’ which are available to listeners within just a few clicks from the Spotify app, showing the current popularity of business podcasts.

Within our business we’re also adapting to the market in a similar vein, with business book reviews (found on our website) which provide business advice through the work of top business gurus, backed up by a steady stream of educational videos.

Podcasting is a new tool in the way consumers take in information by choosing specific interesting and easy-listening content. It’s changing the way people buy products and consume news.

…maybe it’s time we recorded some podcasts too. But what about you?