Rob Greenlee

Are Podcasts and Music A Perfect Match?

By Rob Greenlee

The match between podcasts and music has been around since the early days of podcasting at small places like Apple iTunes and Microsoft Zune, the two major distribution platforms for podcasting in its embryonic stage of the mediums development. I worked on the Zune Music and Podcasts team from 2007 till 2014 and saw first-hand the synergies between the two mediums. Then when Apple launched the app store for the iPhone, the craze around apps drove music, video, radio and podcasts into separate apps on mobile. The other historical reference here is the many decades long experience that broadcast radio listeners have had around music, news and talk programming being right next to each other in millions of cars on the radio dial.

“This movement towards separating music from podcasts built for years as each medium felt like they needed to have a unique experience for each area without really thinking about the successful history of music and spoken word riding on the same platform or experience.”

I have been puzzled by the growing separation for years now and saw it happen at Microsoft when Zune was folded into Xbox brand and service. They separated music out from podcasts area because everyone else was doing it, not because it was really better for users to keep them combined like in iTunes and Zune. Over 3 years ago, I pitched the then GM for Xbox Music and told him that users wanted podcasts in the Xbox music app. I never even got a response or a reply.

Competitors in online music services like Pandora, Spotify, Rdio, Slacker, Xbox Music, Deezer, Google Play Music and the new Apple Music streaming music service have and will spent many years battling with music labels and royalties rates making most of those companies teeter on the edge of insolvency.

The market for online radio streaming services like iHeartRadio, TuneIn, Live365 is crowded and some have been struggling with the same type financial issues as the streaming music services. TuneIn and Live365 are making it, but I am sure it is not easy in such a competitive market. The other major players in the market for online audio are offering 360 degree services for content providers at all levels from hosting, live streaming, recording, aggregator and podcasting to the growing on demand audio like AudioBoom, Spreaker and BlogTalkRadio.

Another level of services is just plain content aggregator’s like Stitcher, iTunes, Overcast, BeyondPod and the online radio streaming services Then another level of platform is the basic hosting platforms and streaming platforms like SoundCloud, Libsyn, Blubrry, BuzzSprout and PodBean.

The answer now is that online streaming music services are finally coming around to adding on demand spoken word audio and podcasts to their services? This is now a significant trend line with Google Play and Spotify adding Podcasts.

The question is how will podcasts be integrated into streaming music services and I think the answer is simple. Music and podcasts are like tracks or episodes the only big difference is duration and frequency of plays. Some podcasts are the same duration as music, but most are much longer. You will just create your own personalized playlists or more lean-back radio-like experience in app like Spreaker Podcast Radio. These services offer music and podcast episodes from the artists/podcaster of listeners choosing.

“Personalization is the key to making this all work as we are living in an on demand and take charge of your media culture now. Listeners need to be given more control, but yet enable the platform to help present programs that based on your interests, social graph and history to deliver those options.”

We are living in an exciting and scary time as our devices are going to be taking over more control of our day to day lives and podcasting will be impacted by it in very natural interfaces with yours and recommended content via voice and gesture. The future is interesting and will be full of surprises in our car, homes and devices.

Podcasting business models that work and do not

By Rob Greenlee

The podcasting aggregator model has been flawed since the earliest days of podcasting and cannot be easily monetized; it means that podcast-only distribution aggregator platforms or so-called “Podcatchers” have had difficulty generating revenue and profit to support ongoing development investment. Today, most if not all the revenue in the podcasting space today comes from media file hosting and host-read advertising in podcast content that is paid directly to the content creators and advertising sales groups.

“Podcast only distribution aggregrator platforms or so called “Podcatchers” have had a difficult time generating revenue and profit to support ongoing development investment.”

Redistribution and aggregator-only platforms like Stitcher try to generate revenue from running banner ad-type advertising and audio spot advertising around shows they do not generally have the rights to do without sharing some of that revenue with the podcast content creators. The problem is that the content creator is not getting a cut of that revenue in most cases. Because of this many of those content creators are starting to object to it and pulling content down off of places like Stitcher. Stitcher has had a very flawed business model and had to sell to a large streaming music service based in Europe called Deezer for much less than the amount of cash invested by venture capitalists.

“This redistribution model is coming to Google Play, Spotify in the present and future, but many content providers have pushed back on that practice.”

The other issue with Stitcher has been the cache and redistribution of audio files that caused many issues in the past. This downloading of podcast audio files, re-encoding, and media hosting was done to optimize the playback experience on mobile devices. This redistribution model is coming to Google Play and Spotify in the present and future. Still, many content providers have pushed back on that practice as it degraded the audio quality and caused fragmented or incomplete audience metrics.

I think podcast business models with multiple revenue sources are the key to long-term success. This might be obvious to many, but as we look into the future, this will become very important for new entrepreneurs to understand the podcasting industry. I believe that gone are the days of opening a very narrowly focused podcasting business, and expect it to thrive and survive. The exception to some of this is the hosting-only platform businesses like Libsyn, Blubrry, Spreaker, and Podbean and advertising sales agencies like PodTrac, Midroll Media, and PodcastOne. The companies that focus on media file hosting with metrics services have had a strong history of thriving. The advertising sales-focused companies have recently seen increasing viability and success as the medium grows.

We see content-focused companies like Slate, PodcastOne, Earwolf, ESPN, TWiT.TV and many others are experiencing increased revenue growth. The future of content-focused media companies is strong. The business models for these companies are starting to be built on multiple revenue streams. These streams are rooted in advertising, live events, and television show development.

The other important growth area is with a full spectrum of on-demand audio and podcasting platforms like Spreaker.com, AudioBoom, and Blog Talk Radio. Many will disagree with Blog Talk Radio being an example of the future of profitable podcasting platforms, but think that ease of listening; advertising sales in combination with revenue-generating audio creation tools is a future business model that works.

I have heard for years that many platforms have been working on adding easier content creation to the cloud using app functionality, but many of those have never seen a release. I think that was a mistake and leaves open the door to developing a leading platform supporting all aspects of listening, live streaming, and media file hosting. RSS feed creation, advertising sales, audience engagement tools, and detailed distribution metrics.

Many have thought that SoundCloud could be the leading platform for podcasters, but I wonder about their commitment to content creation and open syndication. Spreaker.com might be that future platform with all the potential to be the YouTube-like platform of the podcasting space that has multiple revenue streams that span media hosting, app development, advertising sales, and other creative services. Spreaker will also share ad revenue. They recently released a new app for iOS that is targeted at content creators to do live shows and record on-demand shows. I believe that to succeed a company must live in all parts of the industry and find many services to offer its listeners and content creators who oftentimes are the same users.

Any Truth to Podcasting Renaissance?

By Rob Greenlee

It seems like podcasting or on-demand audio is in the middle of a burst of media and entrepreneurial interest. This increased interest in podcasting is occurring because of a convergence of events that have been building for a few years now.

Many newer people to the podcasting community, listeners and media all sense sudden fast track growth and profitability. This recent perception has been fueled by many major articles on large media sites like Washington Post and Fast Company. These articles often reference the “Serial” podcast and exuded the renewed birth of podcasting and its profitability stemming from the growth and success of podcast networks. Big podcast shows are getting plenty of advertisers and making lots of money, but smaller shows are still struggling to make solid revenue. Revenue to smaller podcast shows is coming as the overall audience for podcasts or on demand audio grows.

“I hate to pop the bubble here, but podcasting has been on a steady rise in usage, content, content quality and ease of distribution for many years now. Successful and profitable podcast programs and networks have been around for many years.”

What we have been seeing is just a steady increase in all areas around podcasting and on-demand audio as the 10 year old medium matures. We did not get here overnight and the media interest and content we are seeing talked about now has been around for many years. The Adam Carolla Podcast started in 2009 and many of the popular public radio programs started 4 or 5 years ago now as well.

It is easy to be a little cynical about the hype and media coverage of today as we have seen it all before, many times. Even going back to 2004 and 2005, when “Wired” magazine ran a front page cover story proclaiming how podcasting was going to “Kill Radio” and showed a bullet crashing through a table top radio receiver. Like I have said, we have been here and seen this all before. The difference is that back then podcasting was a bunch of smoke and mirrors. It was an upstart medium that no one really understood. Much of that has changed now and we are finally starting to see the broadcast radio industry start to recognize that on-demand audio may actually be the threat that they did not concern themselves with back in 2005.

The suggested renaissance of podcasting is being driven by an explosion of new quality podcast content from every potential source you can imagine. Comedy podcasts are booming as well as every other genre of content, from religious podcasts to shows from reality stars like Snooki and Brandi Glanville. Former Pro Wrestlers are also building a strong new genre in the sports category. YouTube stars are starting to build successful audio podcasts with the launch of the Tyler Oakly’s “Psycho Babble” podcast.

We have also been seeing a steady shift of nationally syndicated talk radio talkers moving to becoming more cross-media brands with TV shows and podcasts. This recognition of the big broadcast radio networks and stations is a huge trend coming for 2015 and beyond.

Podcasting conference events like The New Media Expo (NMX) in Las Vegas next April 13-15, which is going to be co-presented with the huge National Association of Broadcasters annual conference, Podcast Movement in Texas and the recent Los Angeles Podcast Festival that focused on live comedy podcast shows. LA PodFest was a show fan event with educational podcasting sessions.

“Podcasting or on-demand audio is growing fast since the hype of YouTube video and Social Media has subsided somewhat and smartphones have exploded in adoption. This is the opening for a renaissance of spoken-word audio as the medium shifts to become an on-demand medium like video and music has become. It has just taken spoken-word audio and podcasting a little bit longer to develop than broadcast radio.”

The future is bright again for audio with the coming smart car dashboards and head units. Apple is rolling out “CarPlay” and Google’s Android operating system is getting installed more and more into cars of the future. This means that the growth of spoken-word audio apps on your phone and installed into your car smart dashboards will bring a new audio experience to our cars via our smartphones or directly to the car dash via very fast data plans.

Look for podcasting and on-demand spoken-word audio to continue its march up the mountain called “Renaissance”.

Originally distributed in Podertainment Magazine.

Coming Contextualized Podcast Listening

By Rob Greenlee

Many have said, over the past 10 years that podcasts were just too difficult to find and know how to listen to them. I would agree that was the past and that past perceptions like this create a delay in the realization that something new is about to be born that will revolutionize the podcasting or on-demand spoken-word audio market we know today.

“I believe that 2015 and 2016, will bring the most profound improvements to on-demand spoken-word podcast market since iTunes added a podcasts area.”

This next year or so will show us a synergy of some very important areas that in combination will be explosive to the podcasts market.

The opportunity areas are smartphone personal agent technology that we have been seeing slowly develop like Siri, Cortana and Google’s agent technology this is currently nameless. The other areas of important improvement are around in-car dash listening and most importantly the focus on content and the businesses that support at a very high level.

This smart agent technology is deriving out of what is called “machine learning” and is a growing focus in the tech sector that is driving the convergence of inputs from mobile device sensors, location beacons, artificial intelligence and big database stores of personal data. These technology evolutions are driving a more contextualized experience on all of our mobile devices.

You are asking at this point, “What is contextualized mobile experiences and how is this going to impact my podcast listening?”

The answer is fairly simple and when you hear it, that light bulb in your brain will go on and you will say that makes sense.

The answer is that our mobile devices will become more and more aware of what you are doing, where you are and what you like to do and when you like to do it. Then based on all the sensor and personal data these smart agents have access to about you, then they will start to predict and suggest what, when and how we will live our daily lives.

In many ways we are already living this contextual world, but the difference is the predictive nature of the next generation of 8 processor cores and then 12 and 16 core mobile devices that are coming in the next few years. I believe that we will see cloud connected devices with huge processor power that are connected to huge server farms being built by Google, Apple, Microsoft and Facebook. These server farms and future devices will know you like you have never known yourself.

To give a little perspective and real world example of this trend, the recent Apple purchase of mobile app podcast playback platform called Swell had as much to do with machine learning and context as podcasting. Swell was laser focused on obtaining data signals from app usage, social media and device location to help personalize the audio playback experience.

This contextual future in combination with the growing embrace of the broadcast radio side and the increasing quality and variety of content is setting the stage for a huge growth pattern for podcasting and on-demand audio. We have the pending battle between generations of spoken-word audio listeners who mostly span local and national content. We are seeing a significant trend around in-car streaming audio versus broadcast radio listening.

“I believe that car in-dash streaming audio playback is going to be a major inflection point for podcasts with the coming deployment of Apple’s “CarPlay” with 3G and 4G internet connected app experience that will be driven by mobile device and direct to the car wireless data plans.”

Young people today don’t listen to much radio and mostly digital music platforms, but older people tend to listen to more spoken-word radio and on-demand podcasts. The good thing about the younger generation is that they become older and that will help drive the future in-car streaming audio platforms that will increasingly be connected with our devices smart contextual driven user agents like Siri and Cortana.

This means that your mobile device, car, home and office will be places that your device knows the spoken-word podcast content you like and delivers content listening and advertising suggestions that are relevant to your calendar, location, activity and most of all interests that have all been obtained though the world around you and the personal data you have put into your cloud enabled devices. This may or may not be a good development, but it will make listening to spoken-word podcast content much easier then today.

Originally distributed in Podertainment Magazine.