Nearly twenty years in, and many podcasters still have trouble thinking of podcasting as an industry. But our problem does not plague cash-flush brands looking to enter our industry. Who's perspective will win out? 

Image credit: Grand View Research

Do you know the value of the podcasting industry? 

You heard people talk about the $1 billion U.S.-based podcasting is projected to earn from advertising income this year. Make that almost $1.4 billion if you look at the rest of the world too.

But that's just advertising income. What about the money podcasters spend, from buying new mics or other equipment, paying our hosting providers, hiring staff or contracting with freelancers, or paying our way to attend a few podcast conferences.

Who do you consider as the big players in the podcasting industry?

Apple, Spotify, maybe Wondery...the usual suspects. But not TuneIn or Soundcloud, right? You, like me, probably don't consider them influential in the "true" podcasting industry, right?

Our answers to both of those equations are incomplete because we're on the inside looking in.

For big brands and industries on the outside looking to invest heavily in podcasting need a more complete perspective.

When they look at the size of the opportunity in podcasting, they see our industry with an estimated value of $14 billion. Not $1.4.

They absolutely consider many companies we've collectively decided to poo-poo, like TuneIn and Soundcloud, as integral parts of the $14 billion podcasting industry.

So...should we care? Does it matter that fat-cats are basing the value of our industry off a handful of reports thick with cringe-inducing statements written by analytics with little understanding of what it means to be a podcaster?

Hell yes, we should!

We need to know what those outside looking in find so appealing about podcasting. Because as the podcasting industry appears more appealing, we'll see more interest, more money, more content, and yes, even more listeners.

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Links

• Getting more than 10K downloads per episode? Talk to Gumball.fm! 
• 2021 IAB podcast advertising revenue $1B
• 2021 global podcast advertising revenue $1.37B
• 2021 overall podcast industry marketing size $1.4B
• Over 100K active podcasters trust Buzzsprout.

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Podcast Pontifications is a production of Simpler Media. New episodes are released four times a week, providing ideas and questions every serious podcaster should be thinking about.

It's created and hosted by Evo Terra. Follow him on Twitter for more podcasting insights as they come. Allie Press assists with the production and transcription of the show.

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