PODCAST DEVELOPMENT

SPOTIFY

🔥 Global Podcast Industry Transformation: Spotify's 2024 Wrapped Reveals Multi-Format Success

Spotify's 2024 Wrapped report shows a significant increase in podcast consumption, with over half a billion people engaging with content since its inception in 2019. The platform's innovative video podcast delivery strategy has significantly transformed audience consumption, leading to the thriving presence of over 300,000 video podcasts in various markets.

According to Spotify's 2024 Wrapped report, the podcast landscape has experienced substantial evolution across sports, comedy, and true crime genres. The data showcases not only the growing popularity of traditional audio podcasts but also emphasizes the significant adoption of video podcast content, demonstrating the medium's adaptability to changing consumer preferences.

The Key Points:

• Over 500 million people have listened to podcasts on Spotify since 2019

• More than 300,000 video podcasts are now active on the platform

• "The Joe Rogan Experience" maintains its position as the top global podcast

• Sports, comedy, and true crime emerge as dominant podcast categories

• New podcast launches in 2024 show strong audience engagement, particularly in sports and entertainment sectors

Highlights:

The data demonstrates significant diversification in podcast consumption methods, with video podcasts gaining substantial traction. The sustained success of established shows alongside the emergence of new formats indicates a maturing market with diverse content preferences.

The Big Picture: For podcasters and producers, this data indicates significant opportunities in both traditional and video podcast formats. The industry's expansion into video content opens new revenue streams and creative possibilities, offering content creators diverse monetization avenues and innovative storytelling opportunities. Content creators can now effectively reach audiences through multiple formats, while advertisers benefit from enhanced engagement opportunities, leading to a more dynamic and interactive content ecosystem. The success of both established and new podcasts suggests a healthy ecosystem that continues to attract both creators and listeners.

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PODCAST INSIGHTS

SIGNALHILL INSIGHTS

🎙️Canadian Podcast Listenership Soars: Signal Hill Insights Reports 5.1 Million New Monthly Listeners

The podcast industry has boomed in Canada, adding over 5.1 million new monthly listeners since the pre-pandemic era, a population bigger than all of Norway's adults. Growth is changing the face of media and engaging a responsive, educated, and affluent audience with content and advertising.

Matt Hird, Senior Research Director at Signal Hill Insights, found, according to the Canadian Podcast Listener study, which is the longest-running comprehensive podcast research initiative tracking since 2017, that monthly podcast listening in Canada has increased from 26% to 39% of adults. Such a shift in listening and demographic reach gives much to understand about the ever-evolving landscape of podcasts.

The Key Points:

• Monthly podcast listening in Canada has increased by 13 percentage points, from 26% to 39%, over five years as documented by Signal Hill Insights.

• 65% of Canadian podcast listeners are predominantly younger, with a higher representation in the 18-34 age group.

• Listeners have higher household incomes - 14% above average for $100k+ - and education levels, 26% higher for university graduates.

• Podcast advertising demonstrates 25% higher engagement and 30% lower skip rates compared to traditional media channels.

• Four of Canada's top 10 podcasts originated as independent productions, demonstrating the medium's accessibility

Highlights: This represents unparalleled growth in Canadian podcast listenership, fueled by both rising adoption rates and a growing population. According to an analysis by Hird via Signal Hill Insights, listeners are proving to be a premium advertising audience with higher-than-average levels of education and income compared to other Canadians.

The Big Picture: The impact is transformational for the podcast industry. Such growth will offer podcasters greater access to larger and more engaged audiences, with increased monetization opportunities. Signal Hill Insights' research also finds that producers are seeing increased investment potential as advertisers recognize the value of podcast audiences. In all, the industry has gained from some form of a positive feedback loop: the more listeners, the more advertisers; the more advertisers, the more investment in creating content; and the more listeners again.

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EDISON RESEARCH

🚨Edison Research: Music Commands 74% of U.S. Audio Consumption Time

Edison Research has discovered that music rules audio consumption since 74% of Americans' daily listening time is attributed to it. Examining American listening behaviour among 13 years of age and above, the company—which specialises in audio consumption research and analytics—emphasized the importance of both traditional radio and modern streaming services.

By means of survey data and real listening measurements, the study provides insights on the availability of musical content across platforms.

The Key Points:

• Edison Research reveals music accounts for 74% of daily audio consumption time in the United States

• Their data shows AM/FM radio and radio streams lead with 32% of music listening time

• Edison Research's findings indicate that streaming services contribute to 28% of music listening time.

• Edison's analysis finds YouTube captures 18% of music listening through videos and music content

• Their research reveals that both SiriusXM and self-owned music each contribute 9% of listening time.

• Edison Research highlights a demographic shift by noting that for listeners aged 13-64, streaming surpasses AM/FM radio in audio consumption, with 31% compared to 30%.

Highlights:

Edison Research's data showcases the enduring dominance of music in audio consumption, with traditional radio maintaining its leadership position while streaming services continue to gain ground, particularly among younger demographics. Their thorough analysis provides essential insights into the changing trends of audio consumption, uncovering a significant preference for streaming services among younger listeners.

The Big Picture: Edison Research's findings have significant implications for the audio industry as a whole. Content creators and platforms need to carefully balance their focus between emerging formats like podcasts and the dominant music sector. The research suggests that while podcasting represents an important growth area, music remains the primary driver of audio consumption, anchoring the audio industry's content landscape.

These insights from Edison Research should guide investment decisions towards prioritizing music-related content, shaping content strategies to leverage the enduring appeal of music, and developing advertising approaches that capitalize on the widespread consumption of audio content.

The significant presence of traditional radio alongside streaming services suggests that successful audio strategies should encompass both established and emerging platforms, enabling content creators to connect with diverse audiences and adjust to evolving consumption patterns.

📢 PODBUSINESS & MARKETING

⏭️ Acast Unveils New UK Headquarters to Boost Podcasting Community Designed to function as a collaborative venue for podcasters, advertisers, and Acast's UK team, Acast has opened a new London headquarters with four multimedia studios for audio and video production including a free Amazon Music-sponsored studio for emerging artists.

⏭️ APM Partners with Magellan AI for Enhanced Advertising Analytics To provide advertisers real-time campaign analytics and attribution tools, American Public Media has teamed with Magellan AI, so bringing commercial-grade measurement capabilities to public media advertising for the first time.

⏭️ WARC Study Reveals Gap Between Audio Consumption and Ad Investment. With Americans spending 220 minutes daily with audio media but only 8.4% of ad spend, a new study by WARC and Audacy exposes a clear mismatch between audio consumption and advertising investment in the US, so highlighting the need to dispel preconceptions about audio advertising efficacy.

🎧 FROM THE COMMUNITY

⏭️ The Evolution of Podcasting: Why RSS Alone Won't Define the Medium's Future. While RSS is still crucial for podcasting, a media specialist contends that as audiences find and consume podcasts via other platforms like YouTube and Spotify rather than conventional RSS-based podcast clients, the medium's future rests on embracing these platforms.

⏭️ December Revealed as Second-Highest Month for Podcast Downloads Despite Creator Break Though less new episodes are produced, new studies reveal that podcast downloads rise dramatically during the holiday season; hence, podcasters should keep their publishing schedule during this time to take advantage of more listener demand.

⏭️ WJCU Wins Station of the Year at 2024 International Student Broadcasting Awards. WJCU from John Carroll University, USA won Station of the Year, so highlighting exceptional student talent in broadcasting, podcasting, and digital content from universities all five continents. The International Student Broadcasting Championship (ISBC) has declared its 2024 winners.

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