PodMov Daily: Thursday, December 19

Episode 109: Your Thursday Podthoughts

Podbean's 2019 Roundup: Stats, Trends, and Where We Spend

Podbean’s 2019 Statistics and Trends Roundup is packed with infographics and lists, including the top-earning podcasts in its Patron Program. The feature is similar to the crowdfunding platform Patreon in that listeners pledge a monthly amount to support shows on an ongoing basis.

The paid-podcast question hit the mainstream in earnest this last spring when Luminary unveiled its anti-advertising subscription service. Clearly the model has been effective this year. Podbean’s paywalled Premium option saw an overall income growth rate of 59%, with $100,000 paid out to creators.

On the Patreon front, the alternative political podcast Chapo Trap House is the entire platform’s top earner. It’s bringing in an astounding $147,791 per month at the time of this writing. We hear both cash and content are king — they’re getting along just fine.

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By the Numbers: Voxnest Tracks the State of the Podcast Universe

Voxnest has released its annual State of the Podcast Universe report, tracking detailed industry trends. Business, marketing, listening, and production are just a few areas of interest in the 24-page document.

Breakthrough shifts include the “Hollywoodification” of podcasts and the industry’s arrival to the mainstream. International growth is another major aspect, especially the rise in creation outside the United States.

In local news, Podcast Movement snags a mention in the Marketing and Community Trends section (header: “Live Podcast Events Skyrocket”). The full report is available from Voxnest as a free download.

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Podcasting's Crystal Ball: Jack Rhysider on Looking Forward

Podcast Business Journal has been featuring a variety of industry voices for its series Podcasting’s Crystal Ball. Jack Rhysider, the creator of Darknet Diaries, offers his take on 2019 and the year ahead.

Financial growing pains have surprised him the most. “[…] a ton of people are having a hard time figuring out monetization, and end up taking weird and strange deals,” he observes, pointing out several examples.

Rhysider’s frustrations include the ‘fracturing’ of podcast availability into disparate apps. Creators are faced with an unnecessary and “enormous complexity,” he comments. “This is splitting podcasts into pieces and the wrong direction.”

Overall, he’s optimistic and passionate about podcasting’s future: “When you do something creative and people really appreciate it, it gives you a high unlike anything else.”

Happy Thursday, readers, and thanks to Acast Open for sponsoring our upcoming 28-Day Challenge. The community team is at it again, planning another fresh, free session just in time for the new year.

Sign up through December to see what community can do for you.

Cheers,
Team PM

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Here's what else is going on:

• The Clash: Brian Heater of TechCrunch describes 2019 as “the year podcasting broke” in the sense that punk music ‘broke’ in 1991. In enduring tradition, “podcasts have a complicated relationship with corporate America.”

• Sort of: Hot Hollywood at #5? Per a Podnews exclusive, Podtrac’s top 20 (US) podcast list for November happens to factor in “Android users just visiting their website, and never playing the podcast at all.”

• Audible empathy: Mihlali Ntsabo of Eyewitness News was honored at the 2019 Vodacom Journalist of the Year Awards for Forgotten Citizens, an “innovative four-episode podcast series” about homelessness in South Africa.

• Golden opportunity: James Vincent of The Verge reports that “Finland is making its online AI crash course free to the world.” The 6-week Elements of AI program, available in 5 languages, covers philosophy as well as technology.