How podcasting will affect the music industry
Despite being difficult to monetize due to the platforms they’re distributed to, Podcasts have experienced tremendous popularity over the past several years. However, with a mainstream audience now falling in love with this content medium, services such as Spotify have allowed creators to monetize their work. In this article, we’re going to discuss how podcasts and artificial intelligence (such as Amazon Alexa) will affect the music industry.
The nature of a podcast is simple: an audio file (often speech) that is distributed to multiple content platforms. Anyone with a laptop and microphone is able to distribute and record a podcast for their audience. Previously named “audio blogging”, some of the most popular podcasts are simply influencers within their niche talking about their thoughts. Essentially, it’s a blog in an audio format.
As a podcast is often much cheaper to record than a video, the popularity of podcasts has surged throughout the entertainment industry. Notable names such as George Ezra and Defected Records host their own podcasts on a regular basis. But with the ability to quickly learn live interview techniques and audio production, it’s certainly a great way to get into journalism (or related areas).
Over the past few years, the music industry overall has been heavily investing in podcasts in order to integrate them into future content strategies. For example, Spotify now has a section dedicated entirely to podcasts. Meanwhile, Sony Music is creating short podcast episodes based around their music catalogue as a method of promotion.
Likewise, Podcast distribution platforms such as Anchor FM are allowing users to integrate songs from Spotify and Apple Music directly into their podcasts – thus having a direct impact on streaming numbers for a release. At the end of the day, podcasting is still in its embryonic stages. However, as time goes on, there can be no doubt that we will see podcasts become a part of our daily lives within the music industry.
Large music publications such as EDMSauce are also creating “Flash Briefings” for the likes of Amazon Alexa in order to be at the forefront of this audio revolution. Due to the majority of society consuming content from audio and mobile sources, it’s only natural that blogs and music industry platforms have dedicated strategies in order to extend their content to a larger audience. Featuring interviews, music production tips, and much more, the EDMSauce flash briefing is a great way for users to be informed about important events within the music industry. As a passive form of audio consumption, consumers are now able to listen to interviews and undergo music production tutorials whilst performing other activities.
Using the example of EDMSauce again, aspiring journalists are able to use podcasts as a way of distributing their talent to a large audience. With podcasts becoming a form of popular content amongst a wide demographic, the people at the forefront creating content in these early stages are undoubtedly the ones who will go on to succeed at the top tiers of the music industry. After all, it is just a simple case of understanding and adjusting to new platforms and forms of content.
By creating a podcast within your niche, there is a possibility that you will become the evergreen source of content for people who want to know about the topics you talk about (if your content is good enough). That said, it would have been impossible for podcasts to take off without the influencers already succeeding in the space. If you’re considering creating your own, pay attention to the tone of voice, content, and length so that you can optimize your offering. After all, listening & learning is certainly the best way to improve your own content – and thus potentially become an influencer yourself.