In the podcasting world, the year 2019 might appear like it occurred in a parallel universe. Vulture‘s Nicholas Quah considered it the start of the “huge podcasting period,” indicating the countless dollars that Spotify bought constructing out its podcast operation– and the anticipated cause and effect as other business do the same. “There was podcasting before 2019, and there will be podcasting after 2019. What podcasting will appear like in 2024 stays quite up for grabs,” composed Quah.
And although 2024’s outlook still isn’t totally specific, it’s quite apparent that the golden years are over. There were an incredible variety of layoffs in podcasting and the audio world at big this year, striking every entity from public radio to subscription-based outlets to business leviathans. Spotify went through 3 different layoffs this year, laying off 2,300 individuals in overall, consisting of a substantial portion of Spotify’s podcast labor force and executives. The business is now nearly a 3rd (27.5 percent) smaller sized than the 8,300-plus labor force it was just a year back. The Swedish audio giant likewise exterminated and taken in the podcast business it purchased for almost $400 million in 2019 (the podcast studios Gimlet and Parcast, and the hosting platform Anchor). SiriusXM laid off 475 staff members throughout all departments and sundown Stitcherthe podcast app it purchased for $325 million in 2020. There were podcast task cuts at CNN, the Los Angeles TimesMalcolm Gladwell’s podcast studio Pushkin Industries, Vox Media (The Verge‘s moms and dad business), The Athletic ESPN TWiTSony Music, Barstool SportsFuturo Media, Marvel Entertainment, PRX, iHeartMediaand others.
The very same public radio organizations that leaned into podcasts as a method to reach more youthful, more varied audiences invested 2023 cutting their podcast departments and canceling programs. NPR cut 10 percent of its labor force in order to offset a $30 million space in its spending plan, and it stopped production on Invisibilia Louder than a Riot Rough Translationand Everybody & & Their Mom WNYC laid off 6 percent of its personnelwith a lot of cuts affecting their podcast vertical. It likewise canceled the podcasts More Perfect and La Bregaand offered the almost decade-old podcast Death, Sex & & Money up until completion of the year to discover a brand-new home or source of financing. Southern California Public Radio, which owns the radio station LAist, gotten rid of 21 personnel positions.
Perplexingly enough, all these cuts are taking place at a time where both podcast advertisement earnings and podcast listenership are growing progressively. Moving on, the podcast market will need to continue to grow– with a much smaller sized labor force.
2024: the year of much better analytics?
2024 is likewise the year that the podcast market might concern a reckoning about its metrics. The worst concealed in podcasting is that podcast analytics sort of suck and are puzzling. To make things even worse, nobody actually 100 percent trusts listener statistics– from the marketers to the representatives to the podcast developers themselves. Information like the variety of downloads for your podcast, where your listeners are originating from, their podcast gamer of option, and their demographics are good to have for marketers– however are likewise spread throughout several hosting platforms.
Simply put, the information that Apple Podcasts reveals you is somewhat various than what Spotify reveals you, which is various from all the other hosting platforms. As a repercussion, determining a podcast’s efficiency stays laborious and complex, even in 2023.
2 huge modifications that occurred this year might make podcast information less dirty in 2024.
No more automated downloads
With the release of iOS 17, Apple Podcasts no longer instantly downloads brand-new episodes if you do not play a podcast for the previous 15 days– or if you’re running low on storage. And when you go back to the podcast, Apple Podcasts will not download the old episodes you missed out on– although automated downloads will resume.
This might cause general download numbers dipping for the majority of podcasts– however that’s in fact a good idea. Download numbers have actually constantly been an essential procedure of a podcast’s appeal, however since (previous to iOS 17) Apple Podcasts instantly downloaded episodes of subscribed podcasts (even if listeners had long stopped tuning in), it ended up being clear to numerous in the market that these numbers were pumped up.
It’s prematurely to inform how huge of an effect iOS 17 will make on general download numbers (the modification presented in mid-September), however as my associate Ariel Shapiro mentionsthis will result in more precision in measurement– which marketers like.
No more information from Spotify Advertisement Analytics
Another significant advancement in podcast analytics occurred this summer season in Sweden– and, for the many part, went unreported. Acast, the world’s biggest independent podcast hosting business (and which, like Spotify, is based in Stockholm), silently revealed it would no longer accept information from Spotify Advertisement Analytics.
In Acast’s view, the reality that Spotify both offers podcast advertisements and after that determines the efficiency of those advertising campaign– instead of counting on a 3rd party– is a dish for catastrophe. When Spotify got the significant podcast analytics business Podsights and Chartable in 2022, the majority of the tech press considered it a wise relocation that would bring Spotify closer to its objective of ending up being the world’s biggest audio giant. The concept that such purchases might be a dispute of interest for Spotify didn’t appear apparent– however it triggered a stir within the podcast market.
“This isn’t a knee-jerk choice from Acast,” stated CEO Ross Adams in an episode of the Podnews Weekly Review podcast about the business’s choice to cut ties with Spotify’s advertisement platform. “It’s something we’ve been dealing with for a long time. We deal with thousands and numerous marketers and firms daily around the world and through information we make notified choices, and this is something that has actually been talked to us about by various brand names, particularly when Podsights and Chartable got purchased throughout over to Spotify– now Spotify Analytics.”
Unsurprisingly, Spotify slammed the relocation by Acast, arguing that it would adversely affect openness throughout the board. “Acast’s choice to restrict project insights, reach and efficiency will adversely affect marketers, publishers, and developers, harming the openness of the environment and producing a downstream influence on their bottom line,” a Spotify representative informed PodPod
Both of these occasions– Apple moving far from automobile downloads and Acast cutting ties with Spotify Advertisement Analytics– signal to me that a modification is developing. As podcasting ends up being more business and professionalized, marketers will require more openness and responsibility. The podcast market will be required to step up by offering marketers more advanced, precise information. Some brand names still might not like what they see and go for other types of digital marketing with a larger reach.