>publishers should offer podcasts through their own app that measures listens, and either sell ads themselves if they have the scale or outsource it to a company like Midroll. Midroll, for their part, should leverage their new player technology to offer skinnable apps for publishers who can’t build their own.
Here's my problem with this idea:
I, like many people, listen to a lot of different podcasts. Dozens, in my case. I have a podcatcher app that puts them all in one place. That makes it easy and convenient for me. Some of the shows I only listen to maybe once per month when there's a guest on that I enjoy, or if I run out of new episodes of everything else. If each show required its own app for me to listen, I'd only listen to the ones I really, really enjoy and support, and the rest I'll do without or bootleg. So, in a sense, the individual app per show idea would be limiting the potential audience.
I'm already seeing this happen with Libsyn custom mobile apps[0]. There are a number of shows I listen to that have paywalls for old episodes which can only be accessed through subscription plans available in individual apps. $1.99 or $2.99 may not seem like much by itself, but if it's 10 or 20 shows you're listening to this becomes an unjustifiable bill.
The only viable alternative I see is the further growth of podcast networks, where multiple shows are available for one price. But, currently, this model is still too small and fragmented. Until the Netflix or Hulu of podcasts comes out, I'll be left to pick and choose which deserve my support enough to justify buying into their distinct "ecosystem".
Edit: I see that my points here were addressed in the paragraphs following the one I quoted, but I'm still not buying the idea that siloing is the best way to monetize podcasts.
Regarding your point about "the Netflix or Hulu of podcasts" it is important to remember that by far the majority of their content is at least a full season old. They are able to secure the rights to it for less than the cost of producing it because the networks are receiving ad dollars the first time around.
Most of the podcasts I listen to aren't timely so listening to them a year after they "air" isn't a big deal. I'm not sure if I am in the majority there though.
My suspicion is that podcasts are going to borrow from the music industry in the form of podcasts being something they give away in hopes of making money through merchandise, events, additional media such as books or subscriber-only episodes, or more likely, broadcaster access in the form of communities. (Off of the top of my head I can think of four entrepreneurial podcasts that have their own membership communities: Startups For the Rest of Us, Tropical MBA, Entrepreneur on Fire, and Chris Ducker. I imagine there is a lot of audience overlap but not membership community overlap and maybe a different method would be to have a single entrepreneurial podcast membership community that shows can join for a portion of the subscription fees. A smaller piece of a bigger pie...)
And like music some people will still create them out of a labor of love.
>My suspicion is that podcasts are going to borrow from the music industry in the form of podcasts being something they give away in hopes of making money through merchandise, events, additional media such as books or subscriber-only episodes, or more likely, broadcaster access in the form of communities.
I primarily listen to podcasts from stand-up comedians, and this exactly what most of them do now, and I agree that it may be the best (or at least more realistic and palatable) option for everyone involved.
My favorite podcasts are the "comic hang" type. They're basically an hour or two of funny people being funny, and producing these podcasts seem to benefit the hosts and guests in a few possible ways:
1. As an avenue to gain fans who will attend live shows or buy albums and other merch (which are in turn promoted on the show)
2. As a platform to publicly work out new stand-up material in a conversational setting (giving us "civilians" a glimpse inside their creative process -- probably my favorite part)
3. As a direct revenue stream through donations/subscriptions/advertisments/sponsorships
I've been listening to comedy podcasts since probably 2007, and, unfortunately, I've seen more than a few take a nosedive in quality when point 3 becomes the priority.
'giving "civilians" a glimpse inside the creative process'
One of my favorite podcasts is Song Exploder. Artists talk about how they create a specific song, including the thought process, context, and history behind specific sounds and segments that make up the song, and then the song is played in full at the end. It covers quite a variety of genres.
I don't object to any genre wholesale, but there's only a couple that I really like listening to. But the story and creative process that is broken down in Song Exploder is completely agnostic from the genre it was produced under and is interesting enough for me to drop any other podcast I'm playing to listen regardless of the genre.
Probably my current favorite is Tuesdays With Stories[0]. It's a consistently funny show and a unique look into the lives of a couple of comedians with pretty distinct personalities as they continue to progress in their careers. I've had the chance to meet both of them and they're awesome dudes as well.
Here's my problem with this idea:
I, like many people, listen to a lot of different podcasts. Dozens, in my case. I have a podcatcher app that puts them all in one place. That makes it easy and convenient for me. Some of the shows I only listen to maybe once per month when there's a guest on that I enjoy, or if I run out of new episodes of everything else. If each show required its own app for me to listen, I'd only listen to the ones I really, really enjoy and support, and the rest I'll do without or bootleg. So, in a sense, the individual app per show idea would be limiting the potential audience.
I'm already seeing this happen with Libsyn custom mobile apps[0]. There are a number of shows I listen to that have paywalls for old episodes which can only be accessed through subscription plans available in individual apps. $1.99 or $2.99 may not seem like much by itself, but if it's 10 or 20 shows you're listening to this becomes an unjustifiable bill.
The only viable alternative I see is the further growth of podcast networks, where multiple shows are available for one price. But, currently, this model is still too small and fragmented. Until the Netflix or Hulu of podcasts comes out, I'll be left to pick and choose which deserve my support enough to justify buying into their distinct "ecosystem".
Edit: I see that my points here were addressed in the paragraphs following the one I quoted, but I'm still not buying the idea that siloing is the best way to monetize podcasts.
[0] https://www.libsyn.com/custom-mobile-apps/