By Evo Terra
The podcast currently has 811 episodes available.
Introducing: Trailer Park: The Podcast Trailer Podcast is a podcast that showcases podcast trailers. Whether those trailers were made and then abandoned, were made as creative proof, are part of a larger body of work, or were created just for fun, they're welcome here at the park!
Get more info at https://trailerparkpodcast.crd.co/
Not so long ago, it was possible to talk about the future of podcasting in relevant terms for every podcaster. But podcasting has evolved beyond those simpler times. So what do we do in these more complex times?
I'm not gonna beat around the bush. What you are listening to or reading right now is the very last episode of Podcast Pontifications that I will make. This is it.
I wrote out this long and detailed outline of a script that dug deep into why I'm making this decision and what I'm doing next... but I threw it out because it was a little—OK, a lot—self-serving. Brevity is better. Episodes should be as short as you can possibly make them, right? That's something you've heard me say before. So I might as well eat my own dog food.
I'm choosing to shut down production of future episodes of Podcast Pontifications for a lot of reasons, but they all trace back to a single reality: Podcasting has outgrown my ability to keep up with all the changes.
That's something that's likely not going to slow down anytime soon. So I'm doing the only logical thing to do when an industry gets this fractured, and you're just one person. I'm niching down. You know. That course of action I've suggested you do with your own podcast for years now?
The niche I'm picking is fiction podcasting. No, not as a maker of fiction podcasts, which also precludes me from being a pundit. I'm simply not qualified to tell fiction podcasters what they should be thinking about.
No, my role in fiction podcasting starts with curation and enabling. A couple of weekends ago, I sent out a special edition of this newsletter. If you skipped that, here's what you missed:
I'm helping people who love fiction audio—audiobooks, audio drama, radio theater, etc.—to discover great fiction podcasts. Not when those productions start, but when they have reached the (or at least a) conclusion, providing an excellent listening experience.
I'm doing this with a newsletter I call The End, which you can—and I hope you will—sign up for free!
If you like watching fiction TV or movies and you haven't yet dipped your toes into the amazing world of fiction podcasting, you are missing out on some amazing stories. Stories that just might let you cancel one or more of those expensive streaming video services!
So, yes, this is the end of Podcast Pontifications. I've genuinely enjoyed meeting so many amazing people and podcasters, and I'm humbled to know that I've played a small part in helping those podcasters make their own podcasts, and therefore all of podcasting, better.
And I don't see that behavior stopping anytime soon. So please reach out to me if you ever need any sort of help whatsoever. My general email account [email protected] will probably reach me forever. The website for this show will stay up for a little while longer, but not forever. I plan on keeping all of the mirrored posts up on Medium for as long as Medium exists. The audio episodes will stay up as long as Captivate doesn't kick me off. So if you feel like archiving close to 600 episodes of Podcast Pontifications for posterity, now is your time.
Again, thank you. Please subscribe to The End, and I'll see you around
Cheers!
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Podcast Pontifications is a production of Simpler Media. New episodes are released weekly, 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.
If you received value from today's episode of Podcast Pontifications, return some of that! We call it value-for-value and there are many ways to show your support.
The podcast advertising business is once again taking it on the chin, blasted from inside the industry and out. What can podcasters and podcast listeners do about it?
From ad buyers paying for podcast plays that ran inside mobile video games. 20-minute episodes with 20% filled with ads. People are getting fed up with advertising.
If a popular podcast runs ads, it's guaranteed that more than one negative review will simply read: too many ads. A valid complaint leveraged against much of the content we watch on our TVs and mobile devices. Ads we can't avoid.
But podcast creators can (and often do) offer ad-free options. And today, it's super easy. Subscription services built directly into Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Ad-free feeds via Patreon, Supercast, or Buy Me A Coffee. Or network-specific apps like those from Wondery+ and Realm.
The real problems are related to friction and awareness. And there isn't much we as podcasters can do about the friction issue. That's a tech problem only really solved by Apple Podcasts. And not everyone listens on Apple Podcasts.
But we podcasters can do something about awareness. We can make people aware that yeah, they are listening to an ad-supported feed, so expect ads. But also make them aware that there is an option (or options, I guess) to get an ad-free listening experience.
And there's one other thing we podcasters can do: We can stop complaining about ads in podcasting. Production costs—like all costs—continue to rise. The quality bar continues to be raised higher and higher, causing podcast creators who rise to that new level to again incur more costs.
Podcasting may still be a fun hobby to most, and I truly hope it stays that way. But the industry is driven forward by those who treat podcasting like a business. And for many, ads (and an ad-free option) is a very big part of the business.
Let's at least accept that fact, shall we?
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Sponsored by:
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Links
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Podcast Pontifications is a production of Simpler Media. New episodes are released weekly, 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.
If you received value from today's episode of Podcast Pontifications, return some of that! We call it value-for-value and there are many ways to show your support.
Mentioned in this episode:
Support For Abortion Rights
While Americans overwhelmingly support the right of an individual to make their own decisions about abortion, unfortunately, that right is no longer protected everywhere in the U.S. The Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade on June 24th.
Podcasting managed to survive a going-on-three-year global pandemic. But the podcasting industry is starting to feel those economic realities finally catching up to us. That won't end soon.
2023 Is the year that podcasting has to pay. And by "pay" I mean pay for itself. And by "itself" I mean it has to make fiscal sense for the people writing the checks that power podcasting.
If you're a fiscally responsible person who diligently balances their books each month or pay period to make sure you have enough money to do the things you both need and want to do in life either as a business owner or just a productive member of society—this is not a shock to you.
But just read the headlines from podcasting over the last few months, and you'll see it's clearly a shock to some people who work in the business of podcasting.
Unfortunately, that shock is now settling in, getting nice and cozy with us, and promises to be a part of podcasting for a very long time. It's up to us to figure out how we each deal with it.
For those at the "top" and "bottom" (I hope the air quotes came through loud and clear) of podcasting, this solidifying reality isn't going to mean many changes in day-to-day life. Well-estabished, highly-downloaded, and money-making podcasts will continue to do well, assuming they remember to stay focused on who they are for and why they are there.
It's a similar situation for the indie podcaster who's not in this for fame or fortune—OK, maybe a little fame, but still no fortune—but instead are in podcasting because podcasting is something they love doing. They aren't seeking much in the way of economic gain, so serious economic pressures on the podcasting industry have less of an impact on many indies.
But for those in the middle of podcasting, it's a very different story. Those who work in the business of podcasting with a range of roles and skills from producer to service provider will be—and are—feeling the effects of the "right-sizing" (I hate that phrase) and pullbacks podcasting is facing at the business level today.
Things are different today. I have many friends and acquaintances who either run or work for small to medium-sized podcasting-focused companies who are telling me things are different. Where it was easy for them to do things just six months ago—things like raising money for launching a new service, or getting a bigger ticket production greenlit, or snagging some budget from other departments to fund new podcasting initiatives—it's now hard. More than one person has been told "No, sorry. Had you asked me six months ago, I'd have said yes."
Buy that world is now gone. And no, I'm not going to attempt to predict when it's coming back.
I don't say these things to panic you. If you, like many of my listeners, work for a large, established, and profitable podcasting company, there's a very good chance you won't feel the crunch. And there are a lot of large, established, and profitable podcasting companies employing lots of people. Hosting companies, software developers, and other service providers who service the industry and can do so profitably.
But if you don't have the luxury of working for one of those podcast companies, then things could be different. How well you—we—ride out the storm is dependent on a lot of factors. If I were a financial advisor, I'd tell you to diversify. But I'm not a financial planner, and sometimes the best podcast companies are ones that specialize, so that may not be good advice.
Come to think of it; I don't have good advice to give on this. So instead, I'll end with hold tight, make the best decision you can for yourself, and do your best to handle whatever 2023 throws your way, podcaster.
With that, I shall be back next week (maybe?) with yet another Podcast Pontifications.
Cheers!
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Sponsored by:
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Links
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Podcast Pontifications is a production of Simpler Media. New episodes are released weekly, 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.
If you received value from today's episode of Podcast Pontifications, return some of that! We call it value-for-value and there are many ways to show your support.
Mentioned in this episode:
Support For Abortion Rights
While Americans overwhelmingly support the right of an individual to make their own decisions about abortion, unfortunately, that right is no longer protected everywhere in the U.S. The Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade on June 24th.
If the majority of the world isn't talking about one single must-listen podcast, the industry is dead. Right? Wrong. So very, very wrong. Here's why this mythical success metric needs to die.
Every time there's a negative article focusing on podcasting's inability to generate blockbuster hits, I get a little stabby. Because here's the secret: you don't need to create a blockbuster podcast—because podcasting does not need blockbuster hits.
I know that seems at odds with other forms of media. There's a blockbuster movie every three or for years that everyone is talking about. Every fall, there's a TV program or two that seemingly captures the entirety of the world. A single hit song dominates the airwaves for weeks or months, and there are best-selling books that "everyone" seems to have on their shelves or talks about over coffee.
But in podcasting? Not so much. Not since 2014–2015, by some yardsticks. Here's what I have to say about that:
So what?
You were probably expecting me to break down all the reasons why podcasting is different from those other blockbuster-driven media channels. Like the distributed architecture we built into podcasting from day one. Or the relatively low entry barrier for creating and distributing podcasts. Or the fact that "it's a podcast" tells a potential listener nothing about the audio's actual content.
All of those things are true and certainly contribute to why podcasting doesn't have blockbuster hits like other media forms have blockbuster hits. I shall return to my secret once again.
So what?
Podcasting doesn't need blockbuster hits to survive. Podcast creators—at least those who understand our industry—don't need blockbuster hits to survive.
Yes, the podcast industry must demonstrate that popular shows can attract and retain large audiences. As more shows enter the space with much higher production costs, that will continue to be a driving need within our industry.
But a podcast's audience that qualifies as "large and retained" need not mean everyone. That's another power of podcasting: Establishing an audience that's many orders of magnitude below everyone can still make the efforts pay off for all of a podcast's creators.
That's what matters for many podcasters. That's what matters for many podcast networks. That's what matters for many podcast service providers who build the tools and services necessary to power podcasting as an industry.
If you're looking to make a blockbuster, I advise looking at a media form other than podcasting. Podcasting is a great place to be if you want to build a show—or a service—that can only work in podcasting. And be pretty rewarding.
With that, I shall be back next week with yet another Podcast Pontifications.
Cheers!
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Sponsored by:
-----
Links
-----
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Podcast Pontifications is a production of Simpler Media. New episodes are released weekly, 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.
If you received value from today's episode of Podcast Pontifications, return some of that! We call it value-for-value and there are many ways to show your support.
Mentioned in this episode:
Support For Abortion Rights
While Americans overwhelmingly support the right of an individual to make their own decisions about abortion, unfortunately, that right is no longer protected everywhere in the U.S. The Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade on June 24th.
Podcasting should be made better, not just easier! That's the motto I started this show with. And I still stand by it! But a lot has happened in five years. What if making it easier to podcast also made it better?
#podcasting
https://podcastpontifications.com/episode/making-complex-podcast-tech-disappear-with-alitu
One thing that has me terribly excited for the future of podcasting is how the entire process of making a podcast has, for many, changed drastically in the last 20 years or so.
Alitu, a service from The Podcast Host, is one of those services reimagining how podcasts are made. They're the Branded Benefits Sponsor of today's episode, and I recently sat down with Colin Gray to ask him how Alitu makes podcasting better.
His answer surprised me. "We've enabled our users to forget about the tech behind it all so they can concentrate just on their voice and getting their message out to the world.
That's the goal; to make the tech just disappear so creators can concentrate on their message."
You may be looking at that with a marked note of skepticism, especially if you've not been keeping up with how much audio tech has advanced in the last few years.
"We're deeply committed to automation," Colin goes on to say, making the bold statement that quite often audio "cleanup isn't something most podcasters should worry about. It should be fixed automatically, so we do it automatically. They're partnered with Dolby Audio, "who know audio back-to-front... to do automated audio cleanup, clearing the noise, adjusting levels, automatically doing de-essing and de-plosives" and more.
I asked if Alitu was something for audio pros who are comfortable using high-end DAWs. "I know people who use Alitu to create one show, but then they use something like Audition to create another complex show where they want to have the full audio engineering experience and control," was his reply. Makes sense to me.
Is it right for you? We're probably spending time and energy doing things that would be better left to software and systems. Systems and software that, frankly, could probably do a better job than we can. At least sometimes.
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Sponsored by:
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Links
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Podcast Pontifications is a production of Simpler Media. New episodes are released weekly, 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.
If you received value from today's episode of Podcast Pontifications, return some of that! We call it value-for-value and there are many ways to show your support.
Mentioned in this episode:
Support For Abortion Rights
While Americans overwhelmingly support the right of an individual to make their own decisions about abortion, unfortunately, that right is no longer protected everywhere in the U.S. The Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade on June 24th.
Large podcast conferences are at a crossroads, with the podcasting community wondering how next year's conferences and beyond will be reshaped by the winds of change. Here are three possible futures.
#podcasting
https://podcastpontifications.com/episode/podcast-conferences-cancel-culture-human-dignity
Photo by Markus Spiske from Pexels
But before you say, "Ugh, not another hot take about the kerfuffle at Podcast Movement 2022"—rest assured, I'm not adding another hot take on what happened.
Instead, I want to present three possible futures I believe are likely to play out for future podcast conferences—not just Podcast Movement.
One quick caveat: There's no way in hell I'm going to "both sides" this issue. I've zero patience for deplorable people. And if you're already bristling at my use of that word, you have been warned.
1. The Free-Dumb Future For Podcast Conferences
If the free-speech-at-all-cost torchbearers are not curtailed, expect protests. Activist attendees with clever slogans on t-shirts. Panelists and presenters naming names. Disruptions from the audience toward panelists or presenters who seek to undermine democracy.
2. The Status Quo Future For Podcast Conferences
Equally likely is a future where...nothing happens. I believe many event organizers and attendees are counting on this future. This keeps marginalized voices away, and conferences cater to the bigger, more monied side of podcasting.
3. The Responsibility-First Future Of Podcast Conferences
Or perhaps podcast organizers do make a stand and carefully vet every speaker, sponsor, and possibly even attendee. Or more conferences like She Podcasts Live and BLK Podcast Festival come into existence.
Will those conferences create echo chambers? They can, sure. Do they restrict "different opinions" from being presented and limit the inclusivity they claim to uphold? Oh, FFS. Give me a break. Anyone saying that is either being disingenuous or still has no idea what an asshole they sound like to the rest of us. If they want, they can—and probably will—form their own conference where they can collectively pine for a return to the world of segregation, don't ask don't tell, and a time when less than half the population had the right to vote.
Fuck 'em.
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Sponsored by:
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Links
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Podcast Pontifications is a production of Simpler Media. New episodes are released weekly, 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.
If you received value from today's episode of Podcast Pontifications, return some of that! We call it value-for-value and there are many ways to show your support.
Podcasting is like crack for your ears, many have said. Listen once, and they're hooked for life, right? Well... wrong. What do we need to do—as podcasters and an industry—to help build listening habits?
It's a harsh reality that most people who listen to podcasts don't keep listening to podcasts. 62% of the US population +12 have listened, but only 26% frequently listen, according to Edison Research's Infinite Dial survey.
I blame the podcast listening app makers. But I also blame us, the podcasters who provide the content to those apps. We could both do a better job of helping listeners develop the podcast listening habit.
What happens when your Netflix series ends? Netflix immediately makes recommendations. Not after the credits. But during them. And it works.
What happens when you reach "the end" of an ebook on your Kindle? Amazon is making recommendations. Not after the book's back matter. And it works.
Why aren't podcasting apps doing that? Podcast apps are the ones that actually own the relationship with the listeners. So yeah, it's on them!
Or is it?
How do they know when the end of a series or a season has been reached? We have a tag for that, but not all podcast hosts support it. How can we get better at giving app makers more data?
And what do app developers do on the vast majority of podcasts that don't have proscribed endings but just keep going? Recommend a new show too quickly and piss off a lot of podcasters.
There isn't an easy answer. So what do you think we should do?
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Sponsored by:
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Links
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Podcast Pontifications is a production of Simpler Media. New episodes are released weekly, 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.
If you received value from today's episode of Podcast Pontifications, return some of that! We call it value-for-value and there are many ways to show your support.
Mentioned in this episode:
Support For Abortion Rights
While Americans overwhelmingly support the right of an individual to make their own decisions about abortion, unfortunately, that right is no longer protected everywhere in the U.S. The Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade on June 24th.
It's almost impossible to make a good podcast without listening to great podcasts. But it probably takes more than listening to get from good to great. The secret is learning those not-hidden secrets.
I recently discovered the secrets to restaurant-quality eggplant parmesan and crave-able Manhattans. Only they weren't secrets. They were just things I'd overlooked or rushed through. Tiny things learned when I (finally) asked people who were better than me.
One thing was clear with decades of hindsight: eating and drinking great examples of both wasn't the answer. No, I needed to learn secrets (that aren't secrets) from people better than me.
The same is likely true if there are parts of your podcast you want to improve. You just don't know how to make them better. And listening to more great podcasts doesn't seem to be helping.
So ask. Ask a podcaster you admire. Don't ask how you can become as good as they are. Share your specific, personal pain points. Don't say, "listen to this and see what you think." Tell them where YOU think you need to improve. And if you're going to Podcast Movement 2022, you'll have an excellent opportunity to ask for help from some of the best.
See you there!
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Sponsored by:
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Links
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Podcast Pontifications is a production of Simpler Media. New episodes are released weekly, 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.
If you received value from today's episode of Podcast Pontifications, return some of that! We call it value-for-value and there are many ways to show your support.
Mentioned in this episode:
Support For Abortion Rights
While Americans overwhelmingly support the right of an individual to make their own decisions about abortion, unfortunately, that right is no longer protected everywhere in the U.S. The Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade on June 24th.
Finding advice on how to make your podcast better is easy. Knowing what advice to take and what to ignore is trickier. Before implementing any advice, take a close look at the agenda behind that advice.
The agenda you have for your podcast is not the same agenda I have for my podcast. The same goes for every other long-time podcaster or podcast consultant. We all want people to keep listening and tell their friends. But what are our real agendas? And how closely do they align with your agenda?
Your agenda is not your podcast hosting company's agenda. Or any hosting company's agenda. They create advice designed to keep their business in business by attracting more people to their service. But how well is their general advice aligned to your agenda?
Your agenda is not a podcast listening app's agenda. They might make it easy for people to listen to your show on their app. But it's the "on their app" that they care about more than "your show."
I'm not disparaging the advice offered by pundits, consultants, hosting providers, or app developers. I'm just stating the obvious: all of that advice is, to one degree or another, serving their agendas first. Not yours.
So... does anyone share an agenda with you? Sure! Your ad rep firm is probably very closely aligned if you run ads on your show. Because when your ad revenue grows, the amount they make from your show grows. Win-win!
The same goes for the agenda of your staff (employees, contractors, service providers). Your show succeeding means they keep a paycheck. That's a definite shared agenda!
So listen to them. Listen to others (like me), sure. But listen most closely to those who share your same agenda, podcaster.
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Sponsored by:
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Links
-----
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Podcast Pontifications is a production of Simpler Media. New episodes are released weekly, 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.
If you received value from today's episode of Podcast Pontifications, return some of that! We call it value-for-value and there are many ways to show your support.
Mentioned in this episode:
Support For Abortion Rights
While Americans overwhelmingly support the right of an individual to make their own decisions about abortion, unfortunately, that right is no longer protected everywhere in the U.S. The Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade on June 24th.
The podcast currently has 811 episodes available.