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The battle for your ears is heating up: Apple, Amazon, Spotify, Twitter, and The New York Times are all trying to get in your earholes.
The audio landscape (ex-music) in 20 tweets:
The battle for your ears is heating up: Apple, Amazon, Spotify, Twitter, and The New York Times are all trying to get in your earholes.
The audio landscape (ex-music) in 20 tweets:
Things looked bleak for podcasts at the beginning of the pandemic.
Demand plummeted as we all stopped commuting, and at the same time, so many people stuck at home without anyone to talk to launched podcasts that Amazon sold out of mics.
Demand plummeted as we all stopped commuting, and at the same time, so many people stuck at home without anyone to talk to launched podcasts that Amazon sold out of mics.
In a world of audio abundance, @joinClubhouse created scarcity. In April, a small group of people started tweeting Clubhouse screenshots, and everyone wanted in. By May, @a16z led a $12mm Series A at $100mm.
8 months later, they just did $100mm @ $1bn. https://a16z.com/2021/01/24/investing-in-clubhouse/
8 months later, they just did $100mm @ $1bn. https://a16z.com/2021/01/24/investing-in-clubhouse/
Podcasts rebounded too. According to @ChartableDotCom, after that early blip, podcast downloads rose 189% between Jan and Oct 2020.
The Infinite Dial report from @edisonresearch & @TritonDigital found that 155 million Americans, or 55% of the 12+ population, had listened to a podcast by 2020.
Report: http://www.edisonresearch.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/The-Infinite-Dial-2020-U.S.-Edison-Research.pdf
Report: http://www.edisonresearch.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/The-Infinite-Dial-2020-U.S.-Edison-Research.pdf
The average 6.7 hours that podcast listeners spend listening to podcasts every week is still peanuts compared to TV (28 hours) and even good ol' fashioned radio (6.7 hours).
The difference in ad revenue is even more stark:
- Podcasts: $800mm - $1bn
- Radio: $35 bn
- TV: $166 bn
But @PwC projects podcast revenue to grow at a 22% CAGR through 2024, to $1.7 billion. Still peanuts!
- Podcasts: $800mm - $1bn
- Radio: $35 bn
- TV: $166 bn
But @PwC projects podcast revenue to grow at a 22% CAGR through 2024, to $1.7 billion. Still peanuts!
One of the drivers behind podcasts' growth is the fact that AirPods have exploded in popularity, putting high-quality audio in everyone's ears, all the time.
AirPods are on pace to become Apple's third highest-grossing product this year.
AirPods are on pace to become Apple's third highest-grossing product this year.
Still, podcasting is relatively small and nascent compared to other media. The biggest players - Spotify, Apple, Twitter, Amazon, The New York Times, and Sirius XM - are all betting big that that's going to change.
Spotify is leading the way w 9 deals over the past two years.
Spotify is leading the way w 9 deals over the past two years.
The promise of podcasts is behind much of $SPOT's stellar performance this past year. It's added $35bn in market cap since I wrote about the company in March, based largely on the promise that it will win what is currently a $1bn industry.
https://notboring.substack.com/p/per-my-last-e-mail-41
https://notboring.substack.com/p/per-my-last-e-mail-41
One of Spotify's big acquisitions, @anchor, has become the de facto podcast publishing platform.
Anchor powers 80% of Spotify's new podcasts, and 70% of the total catalog. More than half of the podcasts on Spotify, 1mm out of 1.9mm, launched in 2020 alone.
It's what I use.
Anchor powers 80% of Spotify's new podcasts, and 70% of the total catalog. More than half of the podcasts on Spotify, 1mm out of 1.9mm, launched in 2020 alone.
It's what I use.
According to @PodcastInsights, there are now ~1.75 million podcasts, up from 700k when @a16z published "Investing in the Podcast Ecosystem in 2019." https://a16z.com/2019/05/23/podcast-ecosystem-investing-2019/
But podcasts face a huge challenge: discovery is awful.
Finding a good new podcast is like trying to find a good new website back in the Yahoo! days of the internet.
Finding a good new podcast is like trying to find a good new website back in the Yahoo! days of the internet.
As a result, 99% of listens (and corresponding dollars) go to 1% of podcasters.
The median podcast gets just 124 listens!
Some of it is garbage - it's so easy to record a podcast that a lot of people can try with little effort - but there is also a ton of great knowledge lost.
The median podcast gets just 124 listens!
Some of it is garbage - it's so easy to record a podcast that a lot of people can try with little effort - but there is also a ton of great knowledge lost.
In the launch post for @joincolossus, @patrick_oshag wrote:
In sixty minutes, you can capture what might take years to capture in a book. Everyone gets writer’s block, but no one gets talker's block.
Bad Discovery = Lost Knowledge
https://joincolossus.com/blog/posts/introducing-colossus
In sixty minutes, you can capture what might take years to capture in a book. Everyone gets writer’s block, but no one gets talker's block.
Bad Discovery = Lost Knowledge
https://joincolossus.com/blog/posts/introducing-colossus
@dougimbruce & @listentopodz are working to fix that. Trained humans train ML models to uncover the best clips from every podcast, and deliver them to listeners in a personalized audio feed.
I've been listening every day, and it's magic.
I've been listening every day, and it's magic.
@listentopodz has been able to find and pull out the best part of the podcasts I've recorded. They legit do a better job than I would. Check out this one from APIs All The Way Down: https://pdzs.co/02baf4057014427ca1d1fc256636ff0d
Or my conversation with @dougimbruce: https://pdzs.co/2f1139af8daf4dfa8789a73776b21118
If @listentopodz is successful, it will become the Quality Winner in audio, the Instagram to Clubhouse's Snap.
And it keeps getting better.
Strong recommendations --> more listeners --> better, more personalized recommendations --> more creators get discovered in more niches --> more creators --> attracts more listeners, and so on.
Strong recommendations --> more listeners --> better, more personalized recommendations --> more creators get discovered in more niches --> more creators --> attracts more listeners, and so on.
Podz has a ton of interesting applications beyond its initial product:
- Power Spotify Stories
- Clubhouse Partnership: highlights you missed
- Twitter Spaces Tweet to Share
- New York Times In 10 Minutes
- Meeting Highlights
- Power Spotify Stories
- Clubhouse Partnership: highlights you missed
- Twitter Spaces Tweet to Share
- New York Times In 10 Minutes
- Meeting Highlights
Try it for yourself, and experience the future of audio:
https://listentopodz.com/app
And fill out the survey to help them improve the product. @dougimbruce is donating $10 to @alzfdn for every person who does.
https://listentopodz.com/app
And fill out the survey to help them improve the product. @dougimbruce is donating $10 to @alzfdn for every person who does.
