In the first half of 2019, the overseas podcast circle was deep.
Editor’s note: This article is from WeChat public account “All Media Party” (ID: Quanmeipai).
As one of the most popular forms of content media, the podcast market has accumulated a large number of users in just a few years, and has successfully attracted cross-border participation from multiple media. According to the 2017 Nielsen report, the number of US podcast users has accounted for half of the total population.
In China, with the rise of the Himalayan FM, 蜻蜓FM, Litchi FM and other podcast platforms, more and more celebrities have entered the podcast market, and ordinary people have begun to create their own independent niche stations on these platforms.
Reviewing the first half of 2019, there were two sensational events in the overseas podcast market: First, Spotify acquired a large number of podcasting companies, and second, vowed to become a podcast market for Luminary, a startup of the podcasting industry Netflix. These two complicated events will have a series of effects on the podcast circle, but the follow-up, I am afraid, can only let the long time to reveal the answer one by one.
According to the latest reports from Edison and Triton Digital, in the first half of 2019, an average of 90 million people listened to podcasts per month in the United States (32% of the population aged 12 and over in the US), a large scale compared to last year (57 million). Upgrade. This is also the largest increase in audience size to date.
The Interactive Advertising Association (IAB) and PricewaterhouseCoopers report that the 2018 podcast advertising revenue was $479.1 million, far exceeding the 2017 estimate of $313.9 million. According to reports, podcast advertising revenue is expected to exceed $1 billion in 2021.
These data all indicate the huge potential of the podcast market. However, the 2019 podcasts are not just as glamorous as they seem. In the first half of 2019, what happened to the podcast market? In the second half of 2019, where will the wind blow?
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The gold rush of podcasts,Get on the “pay for content” ride
Luminary is in a rush, and it is imperative to push the podcast market into a new phase of growth. Since its release, Luminary has completed a series of transactions, building a strong portfolio matrix and striving to create a better product experience for its competitors. Listeners can pay a $7 monthly membership fee and enjoy an ad-free service. Of course, difficulties and challenges are also coming.
The battle for the audio startup seems to be telling people that the increasingly crowded podcast market is not easy, especially for companies that hold large sums of money and are eager to find a world. The overall ecology and incentives, the proper expansion of the scope of business and the establishment of meaningful cooperation are all necessary. Only in this way, the strength can be worthy of ambition.
However, as an emerging paid subscription platform, Luminary does not seem to be worried about fierce market competition. The founder, Mr. Sax, is very confident that the exclusive original content makes Luminary different.
Luminary triggers the influees to think about what kind of “content value” can make the audience volunteer to pay for it? This is a common headache in the press, media and podcast circles.
Although this issue is a cliché, Luminary did produce a convincing answer. This startup has assembled a group of celebrities and high-end podcast players in China. It has launched the “Ad-free membership model” and launched the “High-end Exclusive Column”, which is also accompanied by the editorial programs of some other media companies. This series of practices has not only brought risks, but has produced very gratifying results.
It’s worth mentioning that creativity is just one of the factors that Luminary drives users to pay for, and the appeal of its exclusive content cannot be ignored. This may be one of the highlights of Luminary’s flagship, but once users have more freedom to choose, they may no longer be so obsessed with exclusive content.
Besides, the lively and interesting cultural hotspots are also a magic weapon for Luminary. However, at present in the podcast market, no one has done exceptionally well in this regard. Of course, the special attributes of the program are also very important. For example, listeners who are particularly keen on sports content are naturally more willing to spend money on a program that can satisfy their preferences.
The above factors are enough to explain whyPeople are willing to pay $7 a month to support this “value-oriented” podcast platform.
If streaming media giant Spotify, for example, the relationship between paid value and the podcast market becomes even more interesting. Spotify adopts the “free value-added” model, which first attracts users through free services, and then guides users to upgrade through the ad-free experience and diversified payment functions, thus successfully converting a large number of monthly users into paying users.
Although Spotify has not started to promote exclusive audio content, the rapid acquisition of multiple podcast platforms is enough to show that Spotify’s exclusive program is just around the corner. In addition, this well-founded media platform has removed the main barrier to the “content payment model” – getting enough money to consolidate the platform while attracting users to pay.
Celebrity effect in the podcast market,Light flow is not enough
Not long ago, the top creator of the podcast, Guy Raz, announced that he would leave TED Radio Hour at the end of the year and leave the position as moderator and editor-in-chief. One of his current programs, called “Podcast about Ideas,” was produced by the United States Public Radio (NPR) and TED, and was broadcast simultaneously on 600 public radio stations across the United States. This program is currently ranked first in the NRP podcast downloads, which is the most popular radio program of NPR.
With regard to the departure of Guy Lars, NPR responded in a recent statement that “we will quickly begin a carpet search across the United States, targeting the next outstanding host.” Guy Lars said he will continue to work with NPR on two popular programs – the popular commercial talk show “How I Built This” and NPR’s first children’s show “World Wow in the World.”
Gay Lars