This week, a feed drop from friend of the Squad, Evo Terra’s podcast, Podcast Pontifications. In this episode, learn about the future of podcasting. Evo does a great job sharing his hopes and dreams for podcasting, backed up by years of experience in the space. Podcast Pontifications is a short, digestible show, released four times a week! We hope you enjoy this episode. PP is produced by Simpler Media.

More from Between Two Mics next week!

Episode extras:

Credits

  • Written & produced by Arielle Nissenblatt
  • Mixed & designed by Vince Moreno Jr.
  • Music by Shawn Valles
  • Logos/website by Alex Whedbee
  • Transcripts by Ian Powell
  • Hosted by Zach Moreno & Rock Felder

Episode Transcriptions

[00:00:00] Lisa: Before we get to this week’s episode Between Two Mics, we want to tell you about another show we know you’re going to love.

[00:00:07] Terry: Check out our podcast, Unfiltered Limin’ w/ BLT. It’s all about Caribbean culture versus American culture.

[00:00:15] Bertide: You can find it on your favorite podcast platforms. Like I Heart Radio, Spotify, and the list goes on.

[00:00:25] All right, let’s get to Between Two Mics.

[00:00:33] Rock: Hello SquadCasters. We’re taking a beat with Between Two Mics this week, and sharing with you an episode of one of our favorite podcasts. Today, you’ll hear from friend of the Squad, Evo Terra. His podcast is called Podcast Pontifications. Evo’s podcast does a great job posing insightful questions and thoughts about the present and future of podcasting through short episodes, four days a week.

[00:01:00] In this episode, you’ll hear about the future of podcasting. And I think that fits well with this being the beginning of the new year. We’re looking forward, looking ahead towards possibilities and Evo does a great job sharing his hopes and dreams for podcasting backed up by years of past precedents.

[00:01:22] You’ll hear about where money is being spent in podcasting, which players to pay attention to and how you should spend your time as an Indy podcaster. And that’s all in only seven minutes.

[00:01:34] Evo: Nearly 20 years in, and many podcasters still have trouble thinking of podcasting as an industry, but our problem does not plague the cash flush brands, looking to enter our industry whose perspective will win.

[00:01:55]Hello, and welcome to another Podcast Pontifications with me, Evo Terra.

How big is the podcasting industry? Go ahead. Answer that yourself. Now, if you have an answer, it’s probably something like a billion dollars. That’s the number the IAB gives out for U.S. advertising sales in 2021.

 Now you can make that a little more than 1.4 billion.

[00:02:22]if you factor in the entire global advertising estimates, which is probably a good idea for us to do. But that’s just revenue podcasting sees from advertising. That’s not the entire podcasting industry. So it’s rather missing out, if you will, on everything that you and I spend money on, things like microphones and hosting providers and content creation and podcast conferences.

[00:02:51] Now, second question, who would you say are the big players in the podcasting industry? You probably said Apple, Spotify, maybe Wondery out there. But you probably didn’t bother to consider TuneIn or SoundCloud, did you? Yeah, me neither. But that’s because we’re inside podcasting with all the baggage, and the

[00:03:15]history,and punditry that comes with that. But big brands and industries on the outside of podcasting looking in need a different perspective.

So, how shocked would you be if I told you that the total size of the podcasting industry is somewhere north of $14 billion? Fourteen. Not one.

That’s an estimate of the total size of our industry, and that estimate is projected to grow to nearly $95 billion in 2028 – six years. That, my friends, is a healthy growth curve. And when big brands look at podcasting, they absolutely look at the companies we’ve collectively dismissed or decided to poo-poo like TuneIn, like SoundCloud. It doesn’t matter that we podcasters feel those companies aren’t worthy of being in the podcasting space,

[00:04:18] if we feel anything at all about those companies. Both of them, and probably lots of others we are ignoring, are clearly part of the industry of podcasting, not just a part, actually a large portion of the machinery behind the total podcasting industry.

Let’s go back to our perspective for just a moment, the jaded podcaster, if you will. We’re going to see more of these outside-looking-in reports as this decade progresses

[00:04:52] And when we jaded podcasters read these reports from people outside of our industry, we’re going to dismiss them just completely out of hand. How can we take seriously a report that says, for example:

“Advertising…[is] the only revenue-generating method for podcasting… [but] it has failed to gain traction as the audience refrain from listening to advertisements between ongoing content.”

[00:05:18] Well, fine, but we know that’s not true. Podcast advertising has grown greatly. Or what about blood-pressure raising statements like:

“[T]he solo podcast format [has] advantages such as ease of use and minimal investment, which mainly include a microphone and basic editing tools.”

Once again, propagating the “podcasting is cheap and easy” myth.

[00:05:44] So, yeah, reports like this are utter bullshit when looked at from the inside. But they’re also quite beneficial for us, even as we hate-read them. And in fact, that is exactly what I recommend you do. Hate-read the report that I have linked in the episode details of this show. Then, once your anger has subsided, or your mirth has subsided, read it again.

[00:06:10] This is what our industry looks like to the outside world. It’s a very appealing look, which is bound to bring in more interest, more money, more content, and more listeners.

 

I can hear you saying it right now, “What about the indie podcasters Evo?”

Well, here’s what I think about that. I’m not worried about the indie podcaster in all of this.

 

[00:06:36]That’s not to say I don’t care about the indie podcaster. I do, deeply. Hell, I am an indie podcaster. I’ve always been an indie podcaster. I just don’t much buy the whole “corporate podcasters are ruining podcasting and excluding indie podcasters” argument.

I do agree that corporate-backed podcaster networks can often out-compete a lot of indie podcasters. But you know what?

[00:07:05] JJust like corporate-backed movies, TV shows, books, movies, documentaries, news outlets, education centers, restaurants, pet supply stores, and every other corporate-backed entity often out-competes their under-monied indie counterparts. But there are also plenty of indies in every one of those categories

[00:07:30] I just mentioned doing well. And I do, they struggle. Sure. Are they afforded the same access as corporate back properties? No, not always, but do they make it? Yeah, some do and some really thrive and so will indie podcasters. And with that, I shall be back tomorrow with yet another podcast. Pontifications cheersI just mentioned doing well. Do they struggle? Sure. Are they afforded the same access as corporate-backed properties? No, not always. But do they make it? Yeah, some do, and some really thrive. And so will indie podcasters.

And with that, I shall be back tomorrow with yet another Podcast Pontifications.

Cheers!

.[00:08:02] Podcast Pontifications is written and narrated by Evo Terra. He’s on a mission to make podcasting better. Links to everything mentioned in today’s episode are in the notes section of your podcast listening app. A written-to-be-read article based on today’s episode is available at podcastpontifications.com where you’ll also find a video version and a corrected transcript, both created by Allie Press. Podcast Pontifications is a production of Simpler Media. Find out more at Simpler.Media.

[00:08:46] Rock: Thanks for listening to this week’s episode of Between Two Mics, which contained a free drop from Evo Terra’s Podcast Pontifications. We’ll be back next week with another episode of our show. We’ll be back at it with interviews, with experts, conversations between us founders and much more. This show is hosted by us, Zack and Rock. It’s written and edited by Arielle Nissenblatt. It’s mixed and designed by Vince Moreno Jr.

[00:09:13] Our logo and website are by Alex Whedbee. Our music is by Shawn Valles. Our transcripts are by Ian Powell. Make sure you’re following us on social media. Were at SquadCast FM on all platforms. And we love hearing from you. Until next week. Happy SquadCasting!