Some excellent thoughts here, mate. Completely agree on the ads - I've listened to 30 minute episodes, where the first 4-5 minutes are ads or sponsor messages, then there are another two mid rolls, and a final sponsor message as an "end credit". That's almost a third of the episode solely ads - guh. Yes, indies need to make money, but not at the expense of the listener experience.
I would disagree a little on the amount of podcasts by indies. One of the benefits of hosting platforms now, whether paid or free, is that they make it easy to experiment and, as such, really find what works for you.
Given the amount of actual, active podcasts is about 5-10% of all podcasts currently on apps (depending on whose numbers you believe), it does mean there are less podcasts publishing regularly. This does help with choosing what to listen to, since listeners will tend to gravitate to shows that are published regularly (at least, from personal experience).
Of course, any Rogan-inspired podcast is one too many... ;-)
this was a FANTASTIC read. well done.
Thank you Troy.
Some excellent thoughts here, mate. Completely agree on the ads - I've listened to 30 minute episodes, where the first 4-5 minutes are ads or sponsor messages, then there are another two mid rolls, and a final sponsor message as an "end credit". That's almost a third of the episode solely ads - guh. Yes, indies need to make money, but not at the expense of the listener experience.
I would disagree a little on the amount of podcasts by indies. One of the benefits of hosting platforms now, whether paid or free, is that they make it easy to experiment and, as such, really find what works for you.
Given the amount of actual, active podcasts is about 5-10% of all podcasts currently on apps (depending on whose numbers you believe), it does mean there are less podcasts publishing regularly. This does help with choosing what to listen to, since listeners will tend to gravitate to shows that are published regularly (at least, from personal experience).
Of course, any Rogan-inspired podcast is one too many... ;-)
Danny, thank you for your prescient insights as always.