Making Media
Episode 14 Is Podcasting the Future or the Past?
Making Media

Episode 14: Is Podcasting the Future or the Past?

Making Media

Episode 14

Is Podcasting the Future or the Past?

Bryan Barletta is the founder of Sounds Profitable. We cover why there aren’t enough ad dollars in the industry, how platforms can agree on seemingly simple things like downloads, and why bespoke is always better.

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(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

Is Podcasting the Future or the Past?

Introduction

Dom
In this of 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. Bryan's business partner is Tom Webster, who spent two decades at Edison Research and is arguably the voice of detailed analysis in podcasting.

With Bryan, we explore podcasting's growth problem. Why aren't there enough ad dollars in the industry? Is that ever going to change? And how can the industry even agree on seemingly simple things like what constitutes a simple download. We also talked from a podcaster's perspective about the ways to best monetize your show, how to implement subscriptions and of course, I ask about marketing. Please enjoy this conversation with Bryan and stay tuned for Matt and my debrief at the end of the conversation.

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