In the podcasting world, the year 2019 might appear like it took place in a parallel universe. Vulture‘s Nicholas Quah considered it the start of the “huge podcasting age,” indicating the countless dollars that Spotify purchased developing out its podcast operation– and the anticipated cause and effect as other business do the same. “There was podcasting before 2019, and there will be podcasting after 2019. What podcasting will appear like in 2024 stays quite up for grabs,” composed Quah.
And although 2024’s outlook still isn’t totally specific, it’s quite apparent that the golden years are over. There were a shocking variety of layoffs in podcasting and the audio world at big this year, striking every entity from public radio to subscription-based outlets to business leviathans. Spotify went through 3 different layoffs this year, laying off 2,300 individuals in overall, consisting of a substantial piece of Spotify’s podcast labor force and executives. The business is now practically a 3rd (27.5 percent) smaller sized than the 8,300-plus labor force it was just a year earlier. The Swedish audio giant likewise exterminated and taken in the podcast business it purchased for almost $400 million in 2019 (the podcast studios Gimlet and Parcast, and the hosting platform Anchor). SiriusXM laid off 475 workers throughout all departments and sundown Stitcher, the podcast app it purchased for $325 million in 2020. There were podcast task cuts at CNN, the Los Angeles TimesMalcolm Gladwell’s podcast studio Pushkin Industries, Vox Media (The Verge‘s moms and dad business), The AthleticESPN, TWiT, Sony Music, Barstool SportsFuturo Media, Marvel Entertainment, PRX, iHeartMedia, and others.
The exact same public radio organizations that leaned into podcasts as a method to reach more youthful, more varied audiences invested 2023 cutting their podcast departments and canceling programs. NPR cut 10 percent of its labor force in order to offset a $30 million space in its budget plan, and it stopped production on Invisibilia Louder than a Riot Rough Translationand Everybody & & Their MomWNYC laid off 6 percent of its personnel, with a lot of cuts affecting their podcast vertical. It likewise canceled the podcasts More Perfect and La Bregaand provided the almost decade-old podcast Death, Sex & & Money up until completion of the year to discover a brand-new home or source of financing. Southern California Public Radio, which owns the radio station LAist, removed 21 personnel positions.
Perplexingly enough, all these cuts are occurring at a time where both podcast advertisement earnings and podcast listenership are growing progressively. Moving on, the podcast market will need to continue to grow– with a much smaller sized labor force.
2024: the year of much better analytics?
2024 is likewise the year that the podcast market might concern a reckoning about its metrics. The worst concealed in podcasting is that podcast analytics sort of suck and are puzzling.
