Cheap, easy-to-use technology has destroyed barriers to producing audio shows
By Eric Santiago
The Daily Record Newswire
LONG ISLAND, NY - The future of radio fits in the palm of your hand.
The growing popularity of podcasts, or online audio broadcasts, has reinvigorated a forgotten medium the radio show. Fueled by the smartphone boom, podcasts have enabled consumers to listen to programs about politics, music and dozens of other topics from the comfort of their headphones.
According to the Pew Research Center, a third of Americans have listened to a podcast, a figure that's expected to rise over the next few years. And that's creating advertising opportunities for a wide range of businesses, small and large.
New, cheap and easy-to-use technology has destroyed the barriers that prevented newcomers from producing their own audio shows. Now all that's needed is a microphone and a computer and, today, most computers have those built in. Factor in a media-hungry audience with new media players, and a new media market has just been created.
The most successful podcasts live on the iTunes Store, Apple's one-stop media shop that shook up the music and video industries.
"iTunes changed the game for so many different media," said Mario Murillo, a professor at the Lawrence Herbert School of Communication at Hofstra University in Hempstead.
Murillo linked the spread of the smartphone and iTunes' media-on-demand mentality as two of the biggest reasons for why podcasts have started gaining traction.
Podcasts downloaded on iTunes can be listened to at any time, and for the most part are free though many have advertisements. Meanwhile, Netflix and its competitors are chipping away at cable companies with their on-demand platforms.
"That same experience is reflected in all media," Murillo said.
But instead of cutting the cord, podcast listeners are cutting the radio signal, and more importantly, the show schedule.
"When I'm on the subway, when I'm jogging, straightening out the kitchen - that's when I'm going to listen," Murillo said. "It's that on-demand aspect that makes it so popular."
That popularity hasn't been lost on the traditional media producers. NPR, ESPN and American Public Media all have substantial podcast offerings on the iTunes Store.
New media juggernauts like Buzzfeed and Slate have also joined the fray, particularly after the success of Serial, a true-life murder-mystery podcast produced by This American Life. After its record-breaking iTunes downloads and numerous accolades, including a Peabody Award, Serial has been held up as a watershed moment for podcasting. For Murillo, it also reinforces an argument he frequently makes to his students.
"If you have great content, creative writing and intelligent execution of story, you're going to build an audience," he said.
Another important factor is the close relationship between the podcast's host and its audience, says Ryan Stansky, associate director of media and acquisition for Squarespace, a website-creation tool company that advertises on more than 100 podcasts.
"Every host is talking to their fan base every week and they know what their audience is like," he said.
This has made podcasts a lucrative place for Squarespace to advertise.
"It's being able to tailor the message for their audience, which you really can't do with display [ads] or TV," Stansky said.
But one of the most significant innovations with podcasts is that low barrier to entry. Anyone can upload a podcast to iTunes, which can make for some interesting results.
One of these was Acoustic Long Island, now LIVE@Deepwells, which is a music podcast produced at the Deepwells mansion in St. James.
Its host, David Dircks, originally started the podcast with his brother to record open-mic shows at a cafe in St. James. This was back in 2005 when iTunes and the iPod were just hitting their stride. Volunteer musicians would turn up and perform for the crowd of cafe-goers. Dircks would record the whole show and upload it as a podcast on iTunes.
"We just put it out there in the world," Dircks said. "This little town of St. James could be part of the worldwide conversation about open mics and where music is going."
That conversation spread quickly. Dircks organized and recorded the show every week, which started to garner a loyal fan base. Within a year, Acoustic Long Island was forced to abandon its cafe roots for violating fire code. The show was bringing in more than 60 people a week to a small cafe that was only supposed to hold 20.
At the same time the show was building its online following. At its peak, Acoustic Long Island was seeing downloads in the tens of thousands per episode. Even now it's still the first result when searching for "acoustic" in the iTunes podcast store.
Dircks attributes the podcast's success to its content, which at the time was unique.
"If you wanted free music and if you wanted something a little offbeat, podcasting was it," said Dircks. "There were very few podcasts out there and people were hungry for this type of raw, unscripted thing. It was really easy to stand out."
Acoustic Long Island has evolved since then, becoming LIVE@Deepwells when it moved to the Deepwells mansion. The show now competes with streaming audio services like Spotify and Pandora, which Dircks said has dented his listenership. However, the now-monthly concert series still regularly attracts more than 100 people.
"I think it was the right place at the right time," said Dircks. "We didn't really hear of an open mic [podcast] when we started this. We filled that position and I think that still holds true today."
That same idea of filling a void was what led Mike Street, a digital strategist based in Harlem, to create his podcast, Smart Brown Voices.
Street created the podcast to highlight the careers of people of color in the marketing and creative industries. He searches for people he wants to interview and then sets up a Skype call with them. That call is recorded and uploaded as a podcast.
As a consultant who's worked on brands as widespread as Toyota and Coca-Cola, Street and his guests bring a wealth of marketing knowledge to each episode, which he says has helped his business.
"For me podcasting is a great brand extension," he said. "I was really able to focus more on the marketing aspect of what I do. It's helped me extend my revenue for my consulting practice."
Since launching the podcast in February, Street has published more than 20 episodes of the show, which has become one of the most popular new podcasts on iTunes. The trick to his success, he said, is understanding your audience.
"You have to really take a look at what your client base is and figure out what kind of content are they thirsty for," he said. "I try to make each podcast a learning experience so that anyone who jumps into any episode of my show can have one or two main takeaways that are going to help extend their business."
When it comes to offering advice for businesses, Street also stressed that there isn't a better time than now for a business to start a podcast.
"It's a really great talking point and gives you a point of differentiation against your competitor," he said "Don't be intimidated. It may seem hard, but really once you learn all of the logistics, it's pretty easy."
For now, the popularity of podcasting seems to have nowhere to go but up. President Barack Obama was interviewed on one last month in another landmark moment, and Apple is including the podcast app in the latest version of the iPhone's operating system. At the same time podcast media networks like Panoply and Gimlet Media are creating new business models for the platform, ensuring that isn't a phenomenon that's going away anytime soon.
Published: Mon, Aug 10, 2015
