Perhaps you have already noticed ... the podcast is gaining ground and is now a daily occurrence in media reports or professional life.
New podcasts are now being launched all the time, and you can see podcasts about the European Championships, the Olympic Games or the upcoming Tour de France, for example, popping up everywhere.
This development is of course closely monitored. We will therefore briefly take you through what the research bureau the Podcast Monitor has to say about this in their half-yearly survey, which came out at the beginning of June...
And we share more news about acquisitions, collaborations and much more in this extensive blog. Plenty of interesting podcast news!
Almost half of the Dutch listen to podcasts
Every six months the Podcast Monitor by Markteffect looks at how podcasts are doing in the Netherlands. At the beginning of June they reported in their fifth measurement that about 6.3 million (44%) Dutch people of 16 years and older listen to a podcast!
Below are the highlights from their wonderful report and want more? You can download the entire report for free! Just click on the link below.
The main reasons for listening to a podcast
For those listeners, relaxation (60%) and entertainment (47%) were the most important reasons for listening to a podcast. But staying informed, listening for personal development and following interesting people were also important reasons.
The video podcast makes its appearance
And... the video podcast is on the rise! Spotify launched the video podcast and with good reason. Some 40% of podcast listeners now also listen to video podcasts on Spotify and YouTube.
Books & podcasts are a match!
And the book trade has also noticed that podcasts are becoming more popular. Around 1 in 5 podcast listeners now listen in addition to reading books, and 1 in 10 even substitute books for a podcast.
It is also the case the other way round; podcast makers are taking their first steps into the book market. So there seems to be a nice win-win here. Managementboek.nl understands this too and released its podcast last spring.
We pay for podcasts
Making money with your podcast... it seems that this is slowly becoming more commonplace. The research now shows that around 8% pays for podcasts, either for exclusive material, to listen without ads or to support your favourite podcast.
Perhaps you've already heard, but Spotify and Apple have also recently launched a paid podcast service. This confirms that they, too, see that paying for podcasts is the future.
The business listener is enthusiastic about the podcast
Of the 6.3 million listeners, 25% is a business listener. This confirms what we see at Springcast: many entrepreneurs and companies are starting to use the podcast as a communication channel and as strengthening their branding. Not only for their target group, but also to communicate internally and to further strengthen the bond with the employee.
The business podcast listener says that the podcast helps them to keep abreast of the latest developments in their field and that many podcasts inspire them and give them new ideas.
And there was more news in the podcast field...
Facebook launches two audio services
Facebook cannot stay behind in the field of audio streaming and podcasting. And so Facebook is launching two new audio services to meet the demand in the market.
Facebook wants to attract new users again and offer current users more possibilities with the option of live audio and podcasts. The increase in interest in audio that Facebook also observed meant that it saw potential in offering audio services in order to generate more user data and advertising revenue again.
And that is why you will soon be able to host live conversations on Facebook and why podcast creators will soon be able to offer their podcasts on Facebook too. Facebook is therefore joining Apple and Spotify in the battle for the paid podcast.
Podcast clips in the making at Spotify
Spotify recently made yet another acquisition, this time it took over Podz. This company will help future Spotify listeners to find a podcast more easily by already providing a short 60-second sneak-peak.
So it is no longer necessary to listen to a large part of a podcast to determine whether it matches your interest. There are certainly tools that do this already, but Podz makes it extra simple by using so-called "machine learning". With this, Podz automatically puts together a great clip.
So audio is HOT
When you wonder if podcasting is something temporary and partly driven by corona, you only have to look at what the techies are doing to draw a conclusion. Our own NOS recently reported that Tech platforms compete for users' ears.
Also at the beginning of 2021, we noted that the podcast market developed at lightning speed. And now we can all see indications that podcasting will only become hotter;
- Twitter is working hard on the Spaces function and making it possible for users to see who they can talk to and what conversations are scheduled via a separate button, and... they want to make the recording available afterwards, so you can use it as a podcast ;D.
- Spotify Following in the footsteps of Clubhouse, launched the "Greenroom", where you can record conversations and make them available via Spotify.
- Clubhouse started the year well and with the Android option also available since May, in addition to the iOs option already, Clubhouse is now growing steadily. for now.
All in all, there are plenty of developments in podcasting and so...if you haven't started podcasting yet; start podcasting today..., because podcasting is here-to-stay!
