Young and multicultural audiences are major drivers of growth for spoken word listening — podcasts, news, audiobooks and talk radio. Presented yesterday by NPR and Edison Research, the 2021 Spoken Word Audio Report revealed that 28% of Americans’ listening time is spent with spoken word, an all-time high.
“While the growth in listening is really astounding, what stands out from this research is the use of spoken word audio for intrapersonal needs,” said Edison Research VP Megan Lazovick. Among some younger listeners, the connection they find in spoken word is “an antidote to a superficial social media world.”
The comparison of 2014 to 2021 offers a remarkable snapshot. All good news: While white listeners have increased time spent with spoken word by 26%, Black listeners have increased that time by 83% and Hispanic/Latino listeners by 80%. In the last seven years, spoken word listening has risen 40% overall.
Breaking your podcast’s format — changing its essential structure, tone, or nature — is generally not a good idea. UK producer and consultant Nick Hilton explains why, though not all interruptions will harm a show’s progress. “There are some good reasons, both creative and practical, for shaking up your format.”
A planned shift from what listeners expect is much more likely to succeed. It’s an extreme example, but Gimlet’s Reply All demonstrates what can happen when a total overhaul is forced. If it’s unclear to the listener what you’re up to (and if they like it or not), the reasons behind a show’s identity crisis become irrelevant.
The key is to thoughtfully guide your audience through the experiment. “Breaking your format is a right you earn via the loyalty of your listeners,” Hilton says. “Strike too soon, and the assumption will be that you are fickle or that the content being released is not the final one (and no-one wants to listen to your drafts).”
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