Podcasts are awesome. The rise of the podcast has yielded numerous benefits for the people and organizations that produce them and their listeners. What makes podcasts so great? Well, they are really quite intimate, aren’t they? A musical performance offers a certain kind of connection which is amazing. It can be life-changing, provide connection, and in cases like Lady Gaga, provide a lifeline to people who would otherwise be alone in an all too often harsh world.
But podcasts offer up a different kind of connection. They are a little more unassuming. We can’t say that every podcast is not rehearsed, but most of them are, and that is a significant factor.
When you listen to a podcast, you really feel that you are hanging out with the host in a way that you don’t when listening to music. You almost get the impression that you’re in the room and this type of connection has been fueling the recent rise of the podcast. Streaming platforms, it seems, are apparently getting wise to the popularity of podcasts and are reaching for them in a way we haven’t seen with music.
Have you as a music industry professional, ever pondered the possibility of starting a podcast?
It’s a good idea. Podcasts offer a way for your artists and fans to connect in a way that isn’t possible through music alone. The benefits of offering podcasts aren’t limited to the music industry alone, in fact, many businesses have used podcasts to leverage better connections with their peers and clients, and drive growth.
If you’ve thought about producing a podcast, you aren’t the only one in the industry who has looked toward alternative audio content as a means of expansion. Spotify and other platforms like ApplePlay have been aggressively moving on podcasts, so you’re actually as far from being the only one to consider podcasts as possible.
If you are an avid listener of podcasts but aren’t on Spotify, you may or may not have noticed many of your favorite shows are disappearing.
Music Streaming Platforms Expanding into Alternative Audio
Well, they aren’t really disappearing. Spotify is buying the studios and releasing new episodes as exclusives—so, you can only get them there now. It seems kind of strange that a music streaming service would go to such lengths to try and corner a market. But then again, it isn’t. Spotify has been positioning itself to be a leader in providing podcasts, and it’s working. They surpassed ApplePlay as the most favorite consumer choice for finding podcasts.
Can we even call them a music streaming service? Spotify has always self-identified as an audio company, and they seem to be making good on that claim. But what’s the point? Don’t they already do well enough with music streaming?
Why all of a sudden is there such focus on this kind of content? Well, think about it. What does Spotify sell?
Subscriptions.
Alright, so how does branching out into alternative audio content help Spotify to sell more subs? It’s actually quite simple—if your podcast moves to Spotify, you just might follow. By diversifying into the world of podcasts, streaming companies are accomplishing a couple of major objectives. Firstly, they are pulling more subscriptions—even free subs are good for a streaming service. Every time listeners are using your service, you have a chance to convert them into paying customers.
So that’s good, but, something still doesn’t add up here.
How many subscriptions would Spotify have to sell to justify the procurement of even a single podcast studio? Quite a few I’d imagine. It doesn’t seem like good business sense until you realize the other product that Spotify sells (always follow the money!).
Advertising Space.
It’s pretty jarring when you’re listening to your music only to have the song interrupted harshly by some loud, overcompressed advertisement. It hasn’t stopped services from trying, but how effective is it, really? Interrupting music is usually going to evoke a fairly negative reaction.
Luckily, they offer you a brand name, so you at least are provided with an appropriate association to direct your frustration towards. That’s not really very effective advertising, is it?
A podcast, however, is a whole different ballgame. You aren’t listening to a podcast for 5 -20 minutes, you tend to listen to them for an hour-even 2! This is good for listenership, but it also presents a lot more room for advertising, and it fits into the format more naturally, too. That’s a win-win-win for streaming services.
How Can Reprtoir Help?
For record labels and music publishers, creating a podcast is a great way to connect your artists and fans and grow your brand. Luckily Reprtoir's specialized software suite includes a content management system we built especially for storing music, video, works assets.
