I keep coming back to the same thought about podcast discovery. The industry has become very good at helping people open the shop. We are still working out how to help enough customers find it.
Starting a podcast is easier than ever. Hosting is affordable. Distribution is simple. Good recording equipment is within reach of most serious creators. Someone can record a show at home and have it on Spotify and Apple Podcasts within days.
The harder question comes next. Who is going to listen?
The overall audience is growing. Ofcom says 27% of UK adults now listen to podcasts every week, up from 7% a decade ago.
So there are listeners out there. Getting them to your show is the challenge. That's where podcast discovery starts to look a little like the British high street.
An independent shop can have a great product and an owner who knows their customers. It still needs people to pass the window, come inside and return often enough to keep the business going. Podcasts rely on a similar kind of footfall.
A creator can spend hours researching, recording and editing a strong programme. They may also make the artwork, social clips and newsletter. Once the episode is published, they still need people to find it.
For podcasts, footfall is listeners.
Podcast discovery is still the hard part
The podcast industry has built some brilliant infrastructure for creators.
Hosting platforms make publishing simple. Spotify, Apple Podcasts and YouTube give shows access to huge potential audiences. Creators now have tools for analytics, advertising, subscriptions, editing, video and social media.
That has lowered the barrier to entry. It has also created a lot more competition for attention but being available on every major platform only takes a show so far.
High streets have faced a similar issue for years. A row of individual shops does not automatically create a busy town centre. Successful places give people reasons to visit and return. That might involve events, promotion, planning, shared marketing or a good mix of businesses. Business Improvement Districts are one example. Businesses in the same area contribute towards work that improves the place where they trade. Some problems are simply easier to tackle together.
There may be something in that for podcasting too.
What about the tools podcast hosts already offer?
Podcast hosts deserve more credit than the landlord comparison might suggest. The major platforms now offer much more than somewhere to upload an MP3.
Acast combines distribution with audience analytics, advertising and sponsorship tools. It says it has paid more than $600 million to creators since launching.
Buzzsprout offers analytics, podcast websites, subscriptions, listener support and advertising. It also provides tools for creating social content.
Captivate has built growth tools into its hosting platform. These include marketing support, transcription and tools that use a show's data to help creators make decisions.
Spotify has another advantage. It controls one of the places where the audience is already listening. Spotify for Creators gives podcasters data about how listeners find and use their shows. Its Clips feature can also surface short video extracts within Spotify.
These tools make running a podcast easier. They save time and give creators information that used to require several different services. They can also help with podcast discovery but the question is how much work still sits with the creator.
For example, an analytics dashboard might reveal which episodes bring in new listeners but someone still has to decide what to do with that information. A clipping tool makes social promotion easier but the creator still needs somewhere for those clips to reach people. Subscription tools make taking payments simple but first, a creator needs enough loyal listeners who want to pay.
Yes, the tools are getting better but the workload around growing a show remains substantial.
Where podcast networks can help discovery
Here's where the network model becomes interesting.
A useful network can help listeners move between shows. Someone enjoys one programme and discovers another that suits them. A newsletter recommends a new show. Hosts appear on each other's podcasts. Social channels introduce audiences to programmes they might otherwise miss.
The high street version is easy to understand.
Someone goes into town for the bakery and finds a great bookshop nearby. Both businesses benefit from being somewhere people already visit. Podcast networks can create a similar flow of attention. They can also pool things that smaller shows struggle to build alone. That includes commercial relationships, production expertise, audience data and press contacts.
A network can also create more useful scale. One podcast with a modest audience may have limited appeal to a media buyer. A group of complementary shows can offer something more substantial.
For this to work, the network has to create genuine value.
Shared audience growth takes work. So do commercial opportunities, introductions and practical support. The network should have a role in podcast discovery, rather than simply giving creators another logo to put on their artwork.
Keeping good podcasts going
The podcast industry spends a lot of time talking about its biggest successes.
There are chart positions, celebrity launches, major sponsorship deals and breakout shows. These programmes attract investment and bring new audiences into podcasting. A healthy independent sector also needs smaller shows with loyal listeners. The high street is full of businesses that will never become national chains. They have regular customers, a good reputation and enough income to keep going.
A podcast with a few thousand engaged listeners can have a similar place in its community. The challenge is making more of those shows sustainable.
Income might come from advertising, memberships, events, sponsorship or licensing. For many shows, it will probably come from several sources. Audience growth sits underneath all of them. That's why podcast discovery matters so much.
So why join a podcast network?
This feels like the important question for networks to answer. If a creator joins one, what should they gain from it?
Can the network help more people discover their work? Can it reduce some of the workload around running the show? Can it create commercial opportunities that would be difficult to reach alone?
These are useful questions for the wider podcast industry too.
Podcasting has done an extraordinary job of giving people the tools to start creating. The next challenge is helping good shows find enough listeners to keep going. For independent podcasting, solving podcast discovery could make the difference between simply opening the shop and keeping the lights on.
