In this episode of Making Media, Matt and I speak with Bryan Barletta – the founder of Sounds Profitable. Sounds Profitable is a research group focused on the business of podcasting. They produce content, events, and research on all aspects of the podcasting industry. In our conversation, we explore podcasting’s growth problem; why there aren’t enough ad dollars in the industry, whether that will ever change, and how the industry will agree on seemingly simple things like what constitutes a download. We also talk from a podcaster's perspective about the best ways to monetize your show, how to implement subscriptions, and of course – I ask about marketing. Please enjoy this conversation with Bryan and stay tuned for our debrief.

For the full show notes, transcript, and links to the best content to learn more, check out the episode page here. 

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Show Notes

(00:03:21) - (First question) - His view of the podcast industry and the problem that Sounds Profitable is trying to solve

(00:07:01) - Dealing with the mismatch between ad spend and listenership in podcasting

(00:12:09) - How different platforms compare as avenues for growth

(00:14:36) - Standardization, analytics, and the power of appealing to small niches

(00:18:57) - How moving towards cross-platform analytics protocols could bolster the industry

(00:20:04) - The complexities of download statistics and how publishers are gaming the system

(00:25:23) - How market share between major podcast platforms can affect creators

(00:27:48) - His thoughts on the current push towards video-based podcasting

(00:32:50) - Addressing the pessimism around discoverability and barriers for marketing

(00:39:31) - Reaching new listeners that don’t consume podcasts habitually

(00:42:01) - His thoughts on subscriptions and paywalls for podcasts

(00:46:18) - Their tech stack and systems they use for their podcasting endeavors

(00:47:18) - The most unmissable events in the podcast industry that creators should attend

(00:50:17) - De-brief