Live experiences, AI and more: a look at the present and future of podcasting with Podimo
Posted: Sat Dec 28, 2024 8:57 am
Podcasts are one of the most popular formats today, and the number of monthly podcast users is expected to reach 1.7 billion by 2024, proving that it is a constantly growing phenomenon . Its success is largely due to the fact that listeners consider it a convenient format for entertainment and information.
This format is part of the sweet moment that digital audio is experiencing, thus claiming to be part of an ecosystem that has generated a true revolution in the industry. The well-known “podcast culture” becomes the phenomenon analyzed by Podimo in the first “Audio Report” “Spaces of opportunity Audio-cultures” , a study prepared by Prodigioso Volcán, which takes a look at the present and future of this format.
The report highlights that 49% of respondents listen to podcasts at least once a week, and 82% of them enjoy the format through their smartphone. The emergence of generative artificial intelligence, the rise of more audiovisual formats , the discovery of new content creators or the challenges of monetization are some of the most notable challenges for the establishment of podcasts.
«Audio Report»: the podcast continues to grow
Podcasting is becoming an increasingly consolidated industry, but it is still facing major challenges, such as investment, audience measurement, and the lack of professionalism in the sector. For its future development, it needs sustainable growth that will elevate it to the category of an industry with its own personality, like film, music, or series. Therefore, among the challenges for this audio format, the need for podcasts to stop being a product, an investment, or a format at the tail end of many others in the transmedia mix stands out.
According to the survey of podcast and/or audiobook users in Spain by SEIM and Prodigioso Volcán, 62% of the sample has been subscribed to a podcast platform for more than a year . The main reasons for subscribing include the wide range of content, the absence of advertising and easy cancellation of the subscription.
72% of respondents prioritize the topic when choosing a podcast, and more than half highlight that recommendations from friends and family are the main channel for discovering new content. This underlines the importance of claiming the quality and creative possibilities of the podcast, whether at the interface, navigation or recommendation level, or even the detection of new thematic territories.
Content is particularly relevant to podcast listeners, which is why the report suggests there is a correlation between the content produced and what is actually consumed. “This is where we find some room for improvement: 12.06% of listeners say they cannot find content that interests them ,” the report details.
Live experiences are becoming increasingly important
While podcasts live and breathe in the digital world, live events are becoming increasingly important for their business. They are thus transformed into “late shows” thanks to the fan phenomenon and represent a key monetization route for creators and platforms.
«The proliferation of audio-based shows has grown so much that, on some sales platforms, you can already filter by podcast category.» In figures, there is evidence of a 34.3% increase in the organisation of audio-based events and festivals in 2023 .
This is why live streaming is one of the trends for 2024 , and can becom bosnia and herzegovina whatsapp data a crucial marketing tool to encourage community participation, generate authentic relationships between followers, creators and platforms, or even improve brand influence.
Challenges for the sector: artificial intelligence and business models
Artificial intelligence has grown by 290% in the Spanish audio industry in the last year alone. Beyond the popularity of chatbots such as ChatGPT or Copilot, AI is positioned as an important ally in the world of podcasts, thanks to its ability to improve the quality of audio, generate voices and effects, automatically transcribe or optimize voice searches. In addition, AI can help promote personalized content, or the automated production of the format.
Among the challenges that this technology presents for the sector is the need for regulation that protects audio creators in aspects such as intellectual property, transparency, etc. This is especially relevant in the field of generative AI, which is marking a before and after in the creative and entertainment industries.
In addition, the report details that the search for additional and stable business models emerges as one of the great challenges for the podcast world. This aspect drives bets such as self-production, live shows and other types of experiences with content creators to solidify the business. It also highlights the development of lateral business lines, compared to the current dominant business model, which is based on the distribution and mediation of audio platforms.
New identities and voices are rising
Themes and attention to specific or niche communities have always been a unique feature of podcasts, a format that has traditionally been a meeting point for communities. But the effect of recommendation systems and algorithms, not only on audio content platforms but also on the social networks needed to promote them, skews decisions on new productions in favor of “what already works.”
In this sense, as described in the report, there is a generational component, for example, which explains some of the most important titles. But in the face of the generalist nature of some media, the need to explore new niches and find other voices is evident. According to users, history (9%) and science (7%) should be exploited more , but opinion is hyper-segmented among many topics (sports, current affairs, true crime…).
The podcast listening experience
Podcasts are conditioned by certain codes and consumer expectations, which is why the "video podcast" phenomenon is dominating many of the predictions and proposals of the podcast industry today.
This trend is not only a response to the natural evolution of the format, but also to the dominance of the visual format in the current digital media framework. In this sense, 28% of users prefer video podcasts because they can see emotions and reactions (32%) and it is more dynamic (18%). Something similar happens with new digital habits. For example, searching for conversation topics directly on social networks, just like with TikTok .
This format is part of the sweet moment that digital audio is experiencing, thus claiming to be part of an ecosystem that has generated a true revolution in the industry. The well-known “podcast culture” becomes the phenomenon analyzed by Podimo in the first “Audio Report” “Spaces of opportunity Audio-cultures” , a study prepared by Prodigioso Volcán, which takes a look at the present and future of this format.
The report highlights that 49% of respondents listen to podcasts at least once a week, and 82% of them enjoy the format through their smartphone. The emergence of generative artificial intelligence, the rise of more audiovisual formats , the discovery of new content creators or the challenges of monetization are some of the most notable challenges for the establishment of podcasts.
«Audio Report»: the podcast continues to grow
Podcasting is becoming an increasingly consolidated industry, but it is still facing major challenges, such as investment, audience measurement, and the lack of professionalism in the sector. For its future development, it needs sustainable growth that will elevate it to the category of an industry with its own personality, like film, music, or series. Therefore, among the challenges for this audio format, the need for podcasts to stop being a product, an investment, or a format at the tail end of many others in the transmedia mix stands out.
According to the survey of podcast and/or audiobook users in Spain by SEIM and Prodigioso Volcán, 62% of the sample has been subscribed to a podcast platform for more than a year . The main reasons for subscribing include the wide range of content, the absence of advertising and easy cancellation of the subscription.
72% of respondents prioritize the topic when choosing a podcast, and more than half highlight that recommendations from friends and family are the main channel for discovering new content. This underlines the importance of claiming the quality and creative possibilities of the podcast, whether at the interface, navigation or recommendation level, or even the detection of new thematic territories.
Content is particularly relevant to podcast listeners, which is why the report suggests there is a correlation between the content produced and what is actually consumed. “This is where we find some room for improvement: 12.06% of listeners say they cannot find content that interests them ,” the report details.
Live experiences are becoming increasingly important
While podcasts live and breathe in the digital world, live events are becoming increasingly important for their business. They are thus transformed into “late shows” thanks to the fan phenomenon and represent a key monetization route for creators and platforms.
«The proliferation of audio-based shows has grown so much that, on some sales platforms, you can already filter by podcast category.» In figures, there is evidence of a 34.3% increase in the organisation of audio-based events and festivals in 2023 .
This is why live streaming is one of the trends for 2024 , and can becom bosnia and herzegovina whatsapp data a crucial marketing tool to encourage community participation, generate authentic relationships between followers, creators and platforms, or even improve brand influence.
Challenges for the sector: artificial intelligence and business models
Artificial intelligence has grown by 290% in the Spanish audio industry in the last year alone. Beyond the popularity of chatbots such as ChatGPT or Copilot, AI is positioned as an important ally in the world of podcasts, thanks to its ability to improve the quality of audio, generate voices and effects, automatically transcribe or optimize voice searches. In addition, AI can help promote personalized content, or the automated production of the format.
Among the challenges that this technology presents for the sector is the need for regulation that protects audio creators in aspects such as intellectual property, transparency, etc. This is especially relevant in the field of generative AI, which is marking a before and after in the creative and entertainment industries.
In addition, the report details that the search for additional and stable business models emerges as one of the great challenges for the podcast world. This aspect drives bets such as self-production, live shows and other types of experiences with content creators to solidify the business. It also highlights the development of lateral business lines, compared to the current dominant business model, which is based on the distribution and mediation of audio platforms.
New identities and voices are rising
Themes and attention to specific or niche communities have always been a unique feature of podcasts, a format that has traditionally been a meeting point for communities. But the effect of recommendation systems and algorithms, not only on audio content platforms but also on the social networks needed to promote them, skews decisions on new productions in favor of “what already works.”
In this sense, as described in the report, there is a generational component, for example, which explains some of the most important titles. But in the face of the generalist nature of some media, the need to explore new niches and find other voices is evident. According to users, history (9%) and science (7%) should be exploited more , but opinion is hyper-segmented among many topics (sports, current affairs, true crime…).
The podcast listening experience
Podcasts are conditioned by certain codes and consumer expectations, which is why the "video podcast" phenomenon is dominating many of the predictions and proposals of the podcast industry today.
This trend is not only a response to the natural evolution of the format, but also to the dominance of the visual format in the current digital media framework. In this sense, 28% of users prefer video podcasts because they can see emotions and reactions (32%) and it is more dynamic (18%). Something similar happens with new digital habits. For example, searching for conversation topics directly on social networks, just like with TikTok .