This morning I was reading about the growth in podcasting over the past year. Surprisingly (or not), there was large growth in podcast awareness but small growth in use. Why has the growth in use been so small? I think much of it is due to the fundamental way that podcasts are used. In contrast to blogging, where the user determines their speed of consumption, podcasting limits the user to consuming the information at one rate. While podcasting cannot be skimmed like a blog entry, it can accompany an article or blog to make the content more meaningful. While there are users that subscribe to their favorite podcasts, most users will selectively pick those podcasts that they want to listen to on an individual basis.
I rarely listen to podcasts because I’d much rather skim through rss feeds. A couple days ago though I was browsing PRWeek and found an interesting interview discussing social media monitoring so I listened in. The segment was around 5 minutes and I listened for the entire duration. I found out about the segment via the article I was reading. This was a perfect example of effectively using a podcast. In this information hungry world we live in, there is no way that podcasting could ever experience the growth that blogging experienced, but it can experience a spike in usage through effective utilization.
I predict that more of the a-list blogs will begin to take advantage of alternative forms of media (video and audio) as they begin to compete with mainstream media for consumer attention. Much of the growth in podcasting will come from single segment users rather than full subscribers. The Edison Media Research report suggests that podcasters begin to sell their content. Not a bad idea. Who wants to work with me to make the podcast e-commerce marketplace?
March 23rd, 2007
One Response to “Effective Podcast Usage”
March 23rd, 2007 at 12:42 pm
Great post, as usual… topical, and top of my mind. Not just because we are heading to PodCamp NYC in a few weeks, but also because of a few other related things that have come up recently…
I was just at this lecture on digital copyright issues via my university’s alumni club, where the presenter – Professor Picker – made a side note to his larger set of heavy-hitting points that I found curious: “I don’t listen to any music on my iPod… only podcasts,” he said. Granted, we University of Chicago types are more the exception than the rule (and with 3 degrees from UChicago, he is an exceptional exception), it does raise an interesting point that you are missing here in your post: well-educated, and older — sorry Picker, you said yourself something about being born in the ‚Äúyear of the Xerox 914‚Äù [1959], but I digress — crowds are actually all about podcasts.
I also think about a good acquaintance of mine that started “MommyCast” with his wife – moms download the show in the HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS. Why? Because they need their hands and eyes free. Scanning a blog as you point out you prefer, while a convenience on the one hand, is also (1) a luxury‚Ķ for those who don’t have the time – what about the person stuck in a LA commute? or a mom tending to twin babies and a three year old? AND (2) an annoyance… I like things read to me… Jesse and I always listen to books on CD in the car when we drive. It is a great way to digest information. I am frankly sick of the computer sometimes and listening is ‚Äì on many levels ‚Äì relaxing.
In fact, I am working with a company right now (Now You Know Media) that has done an amazing job publishing original, top-speaker-produced audio content for busy professionals and parents on topics of interest – like personal finance, parenting in the early stages of life and during pregnancy, understanding Catholicism, etc. They are in the process of going from CD to podcast soon enough because they see the importance of this “hands free” and “eyes free” phenomenon.
And, of course, there is what I am planning for the McLaughlin Group… an update and upgrade on their current approach to the web, which includes their podcast (which was up before I got here, if that says anything about the prevalence).
All of that said, it could be that you are looking at macro-trends and data/facts, while I am in and among the trees pointing to specific issues and instances I have encountered in my world. Who knows, maybe we are both a little right.
VERY interested in seeing how things play out at PodCamp and what folks up there have to say about all of it.
Shameless plugs…
- More from Picker on Digital Copyrights: http://uchicagolaw.typepad.com/faculty/2007/03/what_should_cou.html#more
- More on Now You Know Media: http://www.nowyouknowmedia.com
- Podcasts available from MommyCast here: http://www.mommycast.com/
- Podcasts available on McLaughlin Group Website (pre-upgrade, mind you): http://mclaughlin.com/