We see big companies like Spotify and Amazon making acquisitions in the podcast world all the time. Socials like Twitter are looking for new partnerships in audio. And the media is opting for new apps and platforms to stream audio. Audio is clearly conquering the market.
In this article you can read how large companies in the Netherlands and abroad opted en masse for audio in 2020 and what we can expect in 2021.
Podcasting and the media
In October this year, NRC launched their new app NRC Audio. This app contains journalistic podcasts from the Netherlands and abroad, in addition to NRC's own podcasts. These podcasts have been expanded considerably in 2020, from a daily and political podcast to audio stories, columns and podcasts on crime & technology.
So NRC sees that audio is conquering the market and therefore went full throttle in 2020. Apart from the commercial importance as a reason for this, NRC also sees the importance of qualitative journalism now that the Big Tech has an increasingly larger market in its hands. For NRC, it is clear that the podcast is no longer a niche is.
NPO also continued to focus on audio. It also launched an app: the NPO-listen app. In order to maintain its position as an audio provider, NPO developed this app.
NPO wants to go a step further with audio by adding a new dimension in which interaction is also possible. The playground that it created with the NPO app should make it possible to experiment with playing along with a quiz, for example.
Spotify unveiled in 2020
Spotify has also invested heavily in podcasts. We already told you about the much-discussed Joe Rogan dealwith which Spotify bought the rights to this podcast for 100 million. But deals were also made with Michelle and Barack Obama and Prince Harry and Meghan.
These are just a few well-known podcasters with whom Spotify made a commitment in 2020. Because several podcast-oriented companies were also acquired by Spotify. Think of Anchor, Gimlet Media, Parcast and Megaphone.
And Spotify did not make these investments for nothing. In 2020, they already conducted market research into support for a separate podcast subscription. Whether this will happen, remains to be seen. But it is certainly not excluded.
For example, Spotify may choose to offer a subscription in the future in which podcasts can be listened to free of advertisements. This is certainly a need that exists among listeners. Time will tell if Spotify will make this move or perhaps another in 2021.
Twitter starts 2021 with acquisition
Twitter very recently took over the social podcast app Breaker in January 2021. Twitter wants to focus more on audio. The creators of Breaker will work for Twitter. With this takeover, Twitter is buying Breaker's expertise in the field of audio in order to work on Twitter Spaces.
This is an audio-based social service. In Spaces, users can talk to each other directly instead of chatting via text messages. Twitter engineer Michael Montano expects that, among other things, Spaces will help improve the climate for public discussion.
The podcast trends for 2021
So what are the podcast trends for 2021? Our partner Mirjam Hegger wrote a great article about it on Frankwatching. In it she talks to authorities like Igor Beuker, Tonny Loorbach and Stefan de Groot about the developments and opportunities in the podcast area.
She explains how in the Netherlands there is still plenty of chance to reach "number 1 in the podcast ranking" and how it is likely that there will be a shift towards listening to podcasts on demand. Her article in which she 10 interesting podcast trends shares, is definitely a must read.
Good intention: more podcasts!
If you already have your own podcast, then it is a very good intention to start podcasting even more. Audio is taking over the market and you or your company can benefit from this.
And you haven't started yet? You can do it free 30-day trial.
