Podcasts are now produced by commercial broadcasters, individuals and companies with no connection to broadcasting. In fact anyone with something to say, and a few pounds to spend on the equipment to say it, can get involved.

The digital audio files are cheap to produce and, thanks to the internet, easy to distribute.

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If you want to test in a channel where early adopters are being rewarded with both attractive CAC and scale, here’s what you need to know:

~ Podcast advertising is used very successfully as a direct-response channel with CAC on par with other consideration-stage activities. It is not just for awareness.
~ Podcast reach is very good, reaching 51% of US audiences aged 12+ monthly.
~ Ads read by hosts outperform canned programmatic ads.
~ Tracking is harder than most digital channels and the cost to test the channel is higher than most digital channels.

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Think about it. When was the last time a new podcast came out that was a mass, mainstream hit? Something that was such a hit that it changed things: brought in masses of new listeners, garnered tons of press, or really altered the perception of what podcasting can be?

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To be a well-rounded business owner today, one must master not only business and finance, but other areas like mental and physical health, family, spirituality and sustainability. And as we approach the next decade, it seems like every self-proclaimed successful entrepreneur has a new weekly podcast offering guidance on these and other topics. So how do you sort through the fluff to find real, honest, useful advice that will help you on your own path?

20 Podcasts That Will Help You Grow in 2020

This year brought seismic changes to the podscape—splashy, big-money acquisitions by companies like Spotify, uneven, big-money débuts by players like Luminary—and, above ground, a healthy crop of reliably good, bountiful content. New daily-news shows arose beside the stalwarts; impeachment podcasts sprang up. History podcasts brought perspective, music podcasts brought joy, and one of my favorite podcast genres—the locally produced NPR-style narrative investigative series—continued to flourish.

Best Podcasts of 2019

Today, the board of the much-esteemed Pulitzer Prize announced that it’s adding Audio Reporting as a new category for its journalism prizes in the next cycle.

Podcasts Can Win Pulitzers Now

One of the more curious growth areas in media has been the rise - largely under the radar - of podcasting. The simple act of voices telling stories, conducting interviews or teaching weird and wonderful things has made it one of the most important communication mediums of the 21st Century. Around 73 million Americans identify as regular podcast listeners, and that number is only forecast to rise. With that in mind, we want to help you get started making your own with our pick of the best podcasting microphones around.

The popularity of podcasting can be largely attributed to communities that form around popular podcasts. So it makes sense that more and more people are looking to podcasting as a way of telling their story.

The good news is that there is a relatively low barrier to entry.

Best Podcasting Microphones

The mighty podcast has had a renaissance over the past decade. Live recordings fill the Royal Albert Hall, the Sydney Opera House and Madison Square Gardens – and that’s just My Dad Wrote A Porno. Just this week it was announced that the Pulitzer Prize Board is adding a new category for audio reporting: you can now win a Pulitzer for podcasting.

As we enter a new era of podcasting, Bazaar look back at those that have defined the past decade.

9 Podcasts That Have Shaped The Decade

It is well-known that podcasting is huge these days. But you might not realize how many educational podcasts are out there.

By educational, we mean shows that focus on some super-focused topic, like a specific period of history or an academic discipline. For instance, there are at least 15 or 20 active podcasts about linguistics, and there are several podcasts out there about conversational Latin (and we were pretty sure that was a dead language that was no longer spoken).

A Podcast for Every Discipline? The Rise of Educational Audio

The U.S. podcast market has been on the rise for years, but 2019 marked an extraordinary year of growth for the space.

At least 90 million U.S. consumers (27% of the population) listen to podcasts monthly, up 23% from 73 million in 2018, which is an acceleration from the 9% year-over-year growth monthly podcast listening experienced last year, according to Edison Research and Triton Digital.

Top 19 Media Trends of 2019: The Podcast Boom

Podcasting is recording strong growth in the UK, with the most recent Ofcom data showing that 7.1m people listen to podcasts each week – equal to one in eight of the total population. Moreover, this figure increased by 24% from 2018 to 2019, and has more than doubled in the past five years. As part of their in-depth survey of media consumption, Ofcom also found that half of podcast listeners began listening in the last two years, and regular podcast users listen to seven podcasts per week, indicating that, for many people, podcasts are now an important part of their daily lives.

Business ideas for 2020: Podcasting

There is an industry trend toward more direct listener monetization and engagement. This includes crowdfunding, membership, tipping, and donations, as well as exclusive and premium content.

This is a healthy development — expanding the range of touch points with listeners beyond the ad impression and helping publishers diversify their revenue and business models. The trend speaks to the depth of experience that spoken-word audio elicits, and it encompasses other podcast engagement strategies such as live shows, email newsletters, fan clubs, surveys, and experiments with personalization and interactivity.

PodPass wants to build the identity layer for podcasting

The audio technology company Voxnest owns the podcasting platform Spreaker. The Italy-based StreetLib is a digital book distributor. Last week, they teamed up for a symbiotic relationship that will let StreetLib’s book publishers create podcasts and Spreaker’s podcasters create and distribute digital books or audiobooks.

The Publishing And Podcasting Industries Are Getting Even Cozier

More than half of the U.S. population over age 12 has now listened to a podcast, according to Edison Research. The medium has fundamentally altered the landscape for audio content, liberating and empowering both listeners and creators. And big acquisitions such as Spotify’s purchase of Gimlet Media signal that the business of podcasting is coming of age, too.

But there remains an economic gulf that some entrepreneurs and investors see as an opportunity. Ad spending on podcasting is around $500 million, by some estimates, but that compares to $17 billion or more for radio.

So where is podcasting heading next? How will speech recognition, smart speakers and other innovations change the landscape for podcasts? Should you start your own show? Could you make any money if you did?

The future of podcasting: Can the business of audio content catch up with the creative revolution?

Last month, the Pulitzer Prize Board announced that there will now be a Pulitzer for audio reporting, further proving that podcasting has become an unignorable cultural force. In the announcement, Pulitzer Administrator Dana Canedy explained that the renaissance of audio journalism in recent years has given rise to an extraordinary array of non-fiction storytelling.

Investigative podcasts are exploding. Here are six great ones to get you started.

Fifteen years after Apple first offered 3,000+ free podcasts on iTunes, the medium has become mainstream.

Basic Facts: According to Edison Research and Triton Digital, there are now 62 million Americans listening to podcasts each week, up from 19 million in 2013. One reason for the growth is the number of choices podcast listeners have today. There are now over 800,000 active podcasts with over 54 million podcast episodes currently available worldwide. Because of a low cost of entry, in the first ten months of 2019, a record 192,000 new podcasts have been launched.

Podcasting Is Going Mainstream

As 2019 moves to a close, Spotify is giving its yearly version of the personalized Spotify Wrapped, as well as a unique one that showcases your listening records through the last decade.

That indicates your Wrapped will add the songs, artists, albums, and podcasts you found on Spotify in 2019, plus the artists you streamed across the past decade, by a My Decade Wrapped option.

Spotify Wrapped extends to add your favorite music from the decade, plus podcaster metrics

On a recent rainy afternoon, a panel featuring a mixture of hip young creatives took place at YouTube’s Manhattan studio space. The topic of discussion? Podcasting. Organized by New York-based podcast hosting platform Simplecast, the event drew a crowd of young creators with a hunger to learn how to produce and distribute their own podcasts.

How Podcasting Became the Next Content Medium Race

I do believe the spike in podcast popularity will be good for its myriad providers in many ways. The rising tide and all of that good stuff. But I do worry that many of its most unique independent voices will get bulldozed as big companies rush to construct skyscrapers. It is our job as listeners, fans and podcasters to make sure those voices are not drowned out.

Independent Podcasts

Last Friday, a group of podcast publishers and related operatives announced the formation of something called the Podcast Academy, which they described as a nonprofit organization dedicated to “elevating awareness and excitement for podcasts as a major media category and advancing knowledge and relationships in and around the business.”

Its various activities will involve things like holding educational webinars, organizing networking events, and publishing white papers. But its flagship endeavor seems to be an awards program to be called the Golden Mics — or, as people are already calling it, the Oscars of podcasting.

Podcasting Is Getting Its Own Oscars. Will It Work?

The soundproof Staples Connect Podcast Studios, developed in partnership with iHeartRadio, will include professional equipment -- a RODECaster Pro control board, RODE microphones and SHURE headphones -- and space for up to four people.

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Starting a podcast is easy. Making one that actually sounds good is another story entirely. We can not help much with the bigger problems facing would-be podcasters -- finding a good topic and getting people to listen -- but we can point you to the best gear to get started. With a few smart purchases, you too can sound like a podcast pro.

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For years, Apple has been the forefront of podcasting. While audioblogging had been around for a while, there is an argument that it was Apple that really invented what we know as a podcast with the introduction of the iPod. Without doubt it was its innovations that sent it mainstream.

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Technologically-enhanced journalism has seen proliferation of online broadcasting channels, blogs and online newspapers. All these are set up in a bid to mainly attract curious millennials, and to offer alternative platforms to the wider content consumers.

In Kenya, online newspapers and TV streaming services have been touted as the next frontier in the media industry.

Legacy media outlets find this both as a challenge and opportunity at the same time. As much as they are a source of new revenue streams, these new digital channels offer tough competition that has seen the traditional media outlets’ earnings substantially shrink.

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Vox Media Podcast Network now generates over $10 million a year in revenue from a roster of more than 200 shows across Voxs 14 brands, including those produced with partners like Stitcher. While president of Vox Media Studios Marty Moe would not disclose revenue figures, he said the goal is to double the eight-figure revenue business. This would mean a minimum of $20 million in 2020. In all, Vox Media worked with over 100 different podcast advertisers last year and he said he expects this number to grow this year, although the focus is on expanding hit podcasts.

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As podcasts continue to grow in popularity, politicians are increasingly using the medium to reach the public without having to go through traditional news media.

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The company behind the hit true-crime podcast Serial is exploring a sale, according to a person familiar with the matter, putting one of digital audios biggest brands on the market as the medium becomes increasingly popular.

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Spotify, the Swedish music and audio streaming giant, has extended its reach further into the growing podcast market with its formal acquisition of the Ringer, a US sports and pop culture platform.

Although Spotify announced the acquisition at the beginning of this month, more details of the deal emerged this week in a filing with the Security and Exchange Commission.

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Podcasts have never been more popular than they are today.

In fact, there are more than 800,000 active podcasts as of 2019, which is a number that only looks to increase in the years to come.

So why are podcasts so popular?

Because they are incredibly huge moneymakers.

Almost a third of Americans listen to at least one podcast a month, and advertisers have noticed.

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Podcasts are growing; we are all going to make millions, get on it, quick! This seems to be the general consensus at the minute.

Now, I can understand the excitement, I’m excited too. A passionate, engaged audience, an intimate environment, niche targeting opportunities; it’s hard not to be interested. So, it’s absolutely no surprise that 75% of brands expect to spend big in the podcast realm this year.

How you do it is the important thing. Fundamentally, you have two options - either to advertise in the space or make your own branded podcast.

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Podcasting has enormous potential for publishers, given the mobile portability of the format and the possibility of converting text content into a spoken-word format listeners can consume while doing other activities. The IAB estimated the podcasting advertising market in the United States may exceed $1 billion by next year, a tenfold increase since 2015.

That estimate is encouraging, but podcasting needs to catch up to the needs of sponsors to become more viable amid a crowded media marketplace.

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We have seen how the radio industry has steadily increased its digital revenue, crossing the $1 billion mark in 2019, according to the RAB. As radio stations look to generate new business, to battle digital monsters Facebook and Google who are coming for their local ad dollars, could podcasting be radio’s next revenue star?

Radio has certainly gotten into the podcast content game, with big companies launching their own networks, some creating original content and most stations converting on-air shows to on-demand podcasts. Revenue has been somewhat elusive so far.

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Spotifys continued investment in podcasts appears to be paying off, after the company reported that podcast listening has increased by 200 percent year-on-year in its fourth quarter earnings today. The company says it now has over 700,000 podcasts on its platform, and that over 16 percent of its users now listen to podcasts. Spotify says the amount of users paying for its premium tier increased to 124 million.

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Chasing industry trends, iHeart Media is about to become the latest audio company to release a custom ad network. Executives say iHeartPodcast AdSuite will tempt brands and potential partners—and set the company apart from its competitors—with a unique array of ad formats across platforms and custom tools.

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Podcast listeners make for an interesting audience segment for B2B brands. According to recent reports on podcasting, 74% of podcast listeners want to learn new things, and they are more likely to be active on social media and follow companies. That means podcasts pose a unique opportunity to generate qualified leads and brand advocates.

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A tool called Headliner is solving the discoverability issue in podcasting in a couple different ways, for both consumers and creators.

On the creation side, Headliner allows podcasters to upload snippets of their podcasts, which Headliner transforms into videos, complete with automatic captions and spiffy images or clips of your choice. The resulting files, called audiograms, can be uploaded to the social media site of your choice (unlike audio files, which no major social network allows to be uploaded).

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Podcasting is becoming the fastest growing audio platform in the world, with new shows created each week.

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The decision to implement a private podcast is a critical first step to improving your business communication, but there are a number of other important decisions you have to make before the show becomes a reality. In this article, we’ll focus on one unavoidable decision: what type of equipment should you buy?

The answer, perhaps unsatisfyingly, is that it depends. However, here are the questions you should be asking yourself as you begin the search for podcasting gear.

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Apple Podcasts reported to have 800,000 shows and over 30 million episodes as of December 2019. According to Edison Research and Triton Digital, there are currently 62 million Americans who listen to podcasts each week.

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Advantage: Convenience

With podcasting, you do not have to worry that your audience is busy offline when you make your sales pitch. A listener can download the file and replay it at whatever time is convenient for him, even while jogging or driving to work. If someone chooses to subscribe to your podcast feed, he can get any podcasts of interest downloaded automatically. If you want all your employees to hear what you have to say, podcasting is often easier than trying to get everyone together for one meeting.

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From a walk along Watling Street to exploring space or the music of west Africa, these podcasts will take you out of your living room and into another world

10 Best Travel Podcasts

Public media have a real lead in the podcasting arena — which is burgeoning. But can public media hold that edge?

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Like so many people throughout the country, we at NPR's Student Podcast Challenge are working from home right now. And after months of teaching students how to make a homemade podcast, we put our skills to the test: The latest episode of our podcast was recorded from our bedrooms.


Host/producer Lauren Migaki recorded a podcast from her home/pillow fort studio.

We used pillow forts (just like in our how-to video!), bulky headphones and special, professional-grade microphones. But don't let the equipment discourage you — with just a couple tweaks you can use essentially the same setup: Replace the headphones with earbuds, and the mics with a mobile device like a cell phone or tablet, and you are ready to go!

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Like blogs and social media, podcasts are democratizing the way people share their thoughts with the world, with the episodic audio series continuing to gain traction with listeners seeking both entertainment value and educational dialogue.

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Over the last five-plus years of my podcast, I have turned down a number of interview offers with artists who were not able to meet face to face. I know a lot of folks who do great podcasts remotely, and I have even done a few (relatively okay) ones myself. But there is really no replacement for being able to do an interview face to face. So much nuance is lost amongst the cloud compression algorithms.

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Podcasting accommodates individuals who prefer to passively consume information (meaning they choose what they want when they want it).

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Seventy-five percent of Americans aged 12 and older (about 212 million people) are now familiar with podcasting, up from 70 percent in 2019. Fifty-five percent (155 million) listen to podcasts in general while 37 percent (104 million people) listen to podcasts monthly, up from 32 percent (90 million) in 2019.

It is more important than ever that brands create content easily retrievable through voice as consumption of both podcasts and voice-operated assistants rise. Over six in ten Americans use some form of voice assistant technology and nearly one-third of smart speaker owners have three or more devices in their homes.

Other noteworthy survey findings include smartphone ownership growing to 240 million, smart speaker awareness growing to about 220 million and smart speaker ownership growing to 76 million. The mean number of smart speakers per household grew from 1.7 in 2018 to 2.2 in 2020. As smart speaker ownership increased, radio ownership decreased, as the mean number of radios per household went from three in 2008 to 1.5 in 2020.

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That podcasting is on the rise should come as a surprise to no one. But the Jacobs Media Tech Survey 2020 gives this trend some granularity. According to their research, more than one in four now listen to podcasts weekly, or more often.

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FEDERATED MEDIA has launched a podcast division, including a podcast network as well as production and marketing services, with 46 podcasts at launch, including original shows, branded podcasts, and repurposed radio content.

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What are the biggest digital marketing and branding trends shaping the year ahead? How will marketers approach increasing brand awareness, attracting new customers and growing revenue in an always on digital world where the only guarantee is change?

2020 will be like nothing we have seen before in the digital landscape.

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