

Podcasts are back and making money - adventured
http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/technology/podcasts-are-back--and-making-money/2014/09/25/54abc628-39c9-11e4-9c9f-ebb47272e40e_story.html

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1rae
I dunno, I don't think podcasts ever left.

All the podcasts I listen to still ask for donations to help keep the lights
on, it became easier now that most of them have started using patreon.com. I
would much rather donate than listen to adverts because I think podcasts are
kinda personal, sometime I think of it like an old friendship. It's nice
hearing from the podcaster every now and then, I like to hear about their
lives intertwined into their podcast, sometimes over months, but an advert
just breaks the illusion. If my podcasts start getting spammed with adverts I
will definitely be unsubscribing.

I think most niche podcasts are still going to struggle to make a profit from
their work.

~~~
swah
The ones I hear do 3-4 ads for 2k-5k USD each, IIUC. Marco Arment even said
that Squarespace alone practically financed many podcasts for the first years
of this "podcast boom".

~~~
1rae
Interesting, Joe Rogan's podcast is the only one I happen to listen to that
has adverts, and they seem like they always have a Squarespace sponsorship. In
this case it's 5 mins of rogan talking about his sponsors and then 3 hours of
content, so the ratio of advert to interviews is still not too bad.

I also feel like Rogan won't put up with bad sponsors or vouch for dodgy
products because I'm familiar with his personality and some trust has been
built up over the time I spent listening to his interviews. Perhaps that's the
key.

But if you happen to interrupt the podcast with some techno-music advert and
have someone talk about a sponsor or some completely unrelated product, that's
not cool at all.

------
Osmium
It seems to me that there are a few key players really keeping podcasts afloat
(Audible, Squarespace, etc.); I wonder what would happen if the industry would
still look so healthy without them?

~~~
adriand
Presumably they're getting a ROI, though. They're obviously tracking the
results, since the ads always tell listeners to go to a particular URL to get
a discount.

If they're getting a ROI it means that this form of media is working as an
advertising medium. That seems like a good judge of health to me.

------
lukeholder
I listen to more content in the car through podcasts than I do browsing the
web while at a desk, its a passive activity that can be done while driving.

~~~
untothebreach
yea, I don't think I could concentrate on work while trying to listen to a
podcast. I understand people putting talk radio or something similar on, for
background noise, but I listen to podcasts specifically for the content, not
for noise.

~~~
viewer5
I listen to the One Shot! (comedy rpg) and Critical Success (improv comedy)
podcasts while I program and stuff without too much trouble, while keeping up
with what's going on. If I have to really stop and focus on something, I'll
pause it and set my headphones down, but most of the time I can listen and
work simultaneously.

~~~
untothebreach
I envy you your ability to do that. I can't even listen to new music, anything
novel in my ears distracts me most of the time.

~~~
w1ntermute
I typically only use white noise. My current favorite is SimplyRain.

------
clemsen
In Germany many podcasts use Flattr.com
([http://flattr.com/](http://flattr.com/)) as a form of microdonations. While
this service can be used for basically anything that has a website, podcasts
tend to make up a significant portion of the flattrs, it seems. Interestingly
in the US sponsored podcasts seem to be dominant, while in Germany the ad-free
and donation based form (or funded by public radio) is probably the majority.

Does anybody know the reason why microdonations never really gained traction
in the US?

~~~
freehunter
Just curious, which German podcasts do you listen to? I'm struggling to keep
my German skills up, and while I have a handful of German podcasts, most of
them are geared towards people _learning_ German, not people who just want to
hear the language as it is spoken.

~~~
clemsen
Here are some recommendations:

* "Küchenradio" one of the oldest German podcasts. The authors visit and interview people or interesting places, or just talk, mainly around Berlin. The podcast is uncut even in interview situatons. ([http://www.kuechenstud.io/kuechenradio/](http://www.kuechenstud.io/kuechenradio/))

* Basically all podcasts from Metaebene. Especially "Freakshow" (the team talks about technology and apple etc.), "CRE2 (very long (2-3h) interviews about technology, culture and society), and "Fokus Europa" (about Europe). The Author Tim Pritlove is probably Germany's most famous podcaster. ([http://metaebene.me/podcasts/](http://metaebene.me/podcasts/))

* "Sanft und Sorgfältig". The weekly radio show of comedian Jan Böhmermann and musician Olli Schulz, talking about the week and various other subjects. ([http://www.radioeins.de/archiv/podcast/zwei_alte_hasen.html](http://www.radioeins.de/archiv/podcast/zwei_alte_hasen.html))

* "Das ARD Radiofeature". In depth documentation for public radio stations about various topics. Well produced. ([http://www.ard.de/home/radio/das_ARD_radiofeature/272100/ind...](http://www.ard.de/home/radio/das_ARD_radiofeature/272100/index.html))

~~~
freehunter
Freakshow ist ganz toll, aber sehr lange. Vier stunden? Yikes!

Vielen Dank!

------
MichaelApproved
Speaking of podcasts that make money, the Los Angeles podcast festival is this
weekend[1], starting today. You can go in person or stream it live. A bunch of
profitable podcasts will be there.

Keith and The Girl podcast will be there too. I work with them and they are a
profitable podcasts that have a premium subscription service. You can use our
discount code "KATG" to save $5 on the stream. We make a few bucks for
everyone that uses the code.

[1] [http://lapodfest.com](http://lapodfest.com)

------
jonathanjaeger
I listen to This Week in Startups and Jason Calacanis always makes the ads
really personal. I've gotten value from at least a couple products advertised
on This Week in Startups and This Week in Venture Capital (e.g. Scott Walker,
startup lawyer).

Many of the comedy podcasts I listen to aren't in love with the products like
many of the tech podcast hosts, but they often deliver the ads in a funny way.
I think it's very unobtrusive most of the time (and seemingly effective).

~~~
dhruvbhatia
Uncle Jason's policy is essentially not to advertise products that he doesn't
believe in or use himself, so I'm not surprised they have a personal touch!

IIRC there was an incident where an e-cig company was trying to sponsor TWiST,
but JCal politely declined.

------
cheetahtech
Entrepreneur on Fire has been very vocal about their income reports. Making
over 200k a month.

Its a pretty good podcast as well.

------
silverbax88
Jimmy Pardo's 'Never Not Funny' has a model that works for them. They offer a
free podcast through Earwolf and subscribers can pay for a second podcast and
video of all podcasts. They've been with Earwolf for less than a year but
they've been around and profitable for over a decade.

------
lowglow
I tried collecting all the tech podcasts I know about here:
[https://podcasts.techendo.com/](https://podcasts.techendo.com/)

Does anyone have a more extensive list I can pull in, or know of any more that
aren't already on the list I've built?

~~~
727374
4 of my favorites:

\- .Net rocks (plenty of non .net stuff)

\- Hanselminutes

\- This developer's life

\- Software Engineering radio

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evan_
Seems almost insulting to not mention the scores of podcasts and podcast
networks that have been making money for years. This makes it sound like you
can only make money if you started in Old Media and made the transition.

~~~
blumkvist
Leo Laporte laughs all the way to the bank.

~~~
jccalhoun
No, he complains and plays the victim all the way to the bank.

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antr
On the matter of podcasts:

Is there any website/service a la SoundCloud that downloads/subscribes to my
favourite podcasts so I can listen to them through the browser?

~~~
sc00ty
Pocket Casts just today started a beta version of this service [1]. The paired
Android/iPhone app can sync latest episodes as well.

[1] [http://www.androidpolice.com/2014/09/26/pocket-casts-web-
now...](http://www.androidpolice.com/2014/09/26/pocket-casts-web-now-running-
exclusive-beta/)

------
cmdrfred
I listen to Adam Carolla every day at work, I wish I had more money or I'd
support the Aceman.

------
superusermind
The whole 'relationship with the listener' thing is nonsense. I don't have
relationships with the podcasts I listen to. I don't have relationships with
movie actors when I watch a film either. Like come on.

I want to be informed and entertained. If I'm not, I move on to another
podcast.

~~~
Adirael
I guess that depends on the podcast. I feel like I have a relationship with
the guys from Back to Work [1], they talk about a lot of personal stuff and I
feel like I know them a little. I appreciate that a lot, it makes me trust
them (and thus, I trust the products they advertise).

~~~
superusermind
Using the word "relationship" is a bit manipulative IMO. If it is a
relationship, it's a conditional one-sided one.

~~~
corobo
It's one of those "it's almost technically correct" things to say. It's not
necessarily a lie, but it is a parasocial relationship[1] rather than a normal
one

[1]
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parasocial_interaction](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parasocial_interaction)

