
A Brands-Eye View Of The Podcasting Industry
01/05/22 • 11 min
3 Listeners
Nearly twenty years in, and many podcasters still have trouble thinking of podcasting as an industry. But our problem does not plague cash-flush brands looking to enter our industry. Who's perspective will win out?
Image credit: Grand View Research
Do you know the value of the podcasting industry?
You heard people talk about the $1 billion U.S.-based podcasting is projected to earn from advertising income this year. Make that almost $1.4 billion if you look at the rest of the world too.
But that's just advertising income. What about the money podcasters spend, from buying new mics or other equipment, paying our hosting providers, hiring staff or contracting with freelancers, or paying our way to attend a few podcast conferences.
Who do you consider as the big players in the podcasting industry?
Apple, Spotify, maybe Wondery...the usual suspects. But not TuneIn or Soundcloud, right? You, like me, probably don't consider them influential in the "true" podcasting industry, right?
Our answers to both of those equations are incomplete because we're on the inside looking in.
For big brands and industries on the outside looking to invest heavily in podcasting need a more complete perspective.
When they look at the size of the opportunity in podcasting, they see our industry with an estimated value of $14 billion. Not $1.4.
They absolutely consider many companies we've collectively decided to poo-poo, like TuneIn and Soundcloud, as integral parts of the $14 billion podcasting industry.
So...should we care? Does it matter that fat-cats are basing the value of our industry off a handful of reports thick with cringe-inducing statements written by analytics with little understanding of what it means to be a podcaster?
Hell yes, we should!
We need to know what those outside looking in find so appealing about podcasting. Because as the podcasting industry appears more appealing, we'll see more interest, more money, more content, and yes, even more listeners.
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Links
- Getting more than 10K downloads per episode? Talk to Gumball.fm!
- 2021 IAB podcast advertising revenue $1B
- 2021 global podcast advertising revenue $1.37B
- 2021 overall podcast industry marketing size $1.4B
- Over 100K active podcasters trust Buzzsprout.
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Podcast Pontifications is a production of Simpler Media. New episodes are released four times a week, providing ideas and questions every serious podcaster should be thinking about.
It's created and hosted by Evo Terra. Follow him on Twitter for more podcasting insights as they come. Allie Press assists with the production and transcription of the show.
If you received value from today's episode of Podcast Pontifications, return some of that! We call it value-for-value, and there are many ways to show your support.
Mentioned in this episode:
Support For Abortion Rights
While Americans overwhelmingly support the right of an individual to make their own decisions about abortion, unfortunately, that right is no longer protected everywhere in the U.S. The Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade on June 24th. Abortion is a basic healthcare need for the millions of people who can become pregnant. Everyone should have the freedom to decide what’s best for themselv...
Nearly twenty years in, and many podcasters still have trouble thinking of podcasting as an industry. But our problem does not plague cash-flush brands looking to enter our industry. Who's perspective will win out?
Image credit: Grand View Research
Do you know the value of the podcasting industry?
You heard people talk about the $1 billion U.S.-based podcasting is projected to earn from advertising income this year. Make that almost $1.4 billion if you look at the rest of the world too.
But that's just advertising income. What about the money podcasters spend, from buying new mics or other equipment, paying our hosting providers, hiring staff or contracting with freelancers, or paying our way to attend a few podcast conferences.
Who do you consider as the big players in the podcasting industry?
Apple, Spotify, maybe Wondery...the usual suspects. But not TuneIn or Soundcloud, right? You, like me, probably don't consider them influential in the "true" podcasting industry, right?
Our answers to both of those equations are incomplete because we're on the inside looking in.
For big brands and industries on the outside looking to invest heavily in podcasting need a more complete perspective.
When they look at the size of the opportunity in podcasting, they see our industry with an estimated value of $14 billion. Not $1.4.
They absolutely consider many companies we've collectively decided to poo-poo, like TuneIn and Soundcloud, as integral parts of the $14 billion podcasting industry.
So...should we care? Does it matter that fat-cats are basing the value of our industry off a handful of reports thick with cringe-inducing statements written by analytics with little understanding of what it means to be a podcaster?
Hell yes, we should!
We need to know what those outside looking in find so appealing about podcasting. Because as the podcasting industry appears more appealing, we'll see more interest, more money, more content, and yes, even more listeners.
-----
Links
- Getting more than 10K downloads per episode? Talk to Gumball.fm!
- 2021 IAB podcast advertising revenue $1B
- 2021 global podcast advertising revenue $1.37B
- 2021 overall podcast industry marketing size $1.4B
- Over 100K active podcasters trust Buzzsprout.
-----
Podcast Pontifications is a production of Simpler Media. New episodes are released four times a week, providing ideas and questions every serious podcaster should be thinking about.
It's created and hosted by Evo Terra. Follow him on Twitter for more podcasting insights as they come. Allie Press assists with the production and transcription of the show.
If you received value from today's episode of Podcast Pontifications, return some of that! We call it value-for-value, and there are many ways to show your support.
Mentioned in this episode:
Support For Abortion Rights
While Americans overwhelmingly support the right of an individual to make their own decisions about abortion, unfortunately, that right is no longer protected everywhere in the U.S. The Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade on June 24th. Abortion is a basic healthcare need for the millions of people who can become pregnant. Everyone should have the freedom to decide what’s best for themselv...
Previous Episode

2022: The Year Podcasting Says "Hold My Beer!"
My Long Winter's Nap is over, and the podcasting landscape has never looked brighter. And maybe a little different? No, a lot different. I'm convinced the changes are just getting started. Hold onto your butts!
I'm back, baby! As happens some significant changes have happened to my relationship with podcasting while I was been away. All positive!
Let me start with the one that has the biggest impact on more than just me: I am no longer an advisor to Captivate.fm because Captivate was acquired by Global, a leading UK media company!
Podcast Pontifications shall remain hosted on Captivate, as it's a great service with phenomenal UX and a forward-thinking leadership team. But that does mean I'm now free of conflicts if you're seeking out a new member to join your podcast-related company's advisory board. Brad.
Next is that I'm hosting yet another podcast about podcasting! No, I'm not building a publishing empire like Dave Jackson. But I am taking over hosting duties for 3 Clips, a role previously filled by the person who started the show back in late 2019, Jay Acunzo. Thanks to the fine folks at Castos for choosing me to handle Season 2.
3 Clips is a lot of fun and a very different show from Podcast Pontifications. 3 Clips and Podcast Pontifications are complimentary shows, I think. Subscribe/follow at 3ClipsPodcast.com and see if you agree.
Finally comes some changes to how I produce and publish Podcast Pontifications. Starting now, I'll no longer write, record, produce, and release each episode, article, and issue promotional shares in a real-time, four-hour block four days a week.
Yes, that's insane. No, I don't recommend it.
Instead, I'm working ahead, like a sane person. Sadly, that means no more live recordings. Sorry to disappoint Betty, Arlen, Kevin, and maybe three or four other regular watchers who enjoyed my daily live tapings. Hopefully, better episodes will make up for it!
Those three really big changes for me personally are indicative of what's to come for all of us in 2022. Expect more acquisition and consolidation this year. Expect your favorite podcast hosts to launch or host additional podcasts.
Those factors, plus the huge influx of advertising dollars, new namespace changes, and creative people clawing back from two years struggling with a pandemic that just won't go away... 2022 is going to be a wild year for podcasters. I hope you're ready.
-----
Links
- Getting more than 10K downloads per episode? Talk to Gumball.fm!
- Captivate.fm
- Captivate was acquired by Global, a leading UK media company!
- Brad Tirpak, CEO of Libsyn
- James Cridland
- Daniel J. Lewis
- Jordan Harbinger
- 3 Clips, a Castos Original podcast
- Jay Acunzo
- Betty Dannewitz
Next Episode

Writing Your Way To A Successful Podcast
Your podcast is more than just your audio file. And as podcasting continues to mature, the not-just-audio parts of your show will become more important factors that influence your podcasting success.
https://podcastpontifications.com/episode/writing-your-way-to-a-successful-podcast
Did you make a resolution to get more serious about your podcast? If so, I've what may seem like an odd place to focus: copywriting.
Why writing? Because we collectively need to "grow up" when it comes to making our podcast episodes. We need to be less lazy and stop propagating the myth that all we have to do is get the audio right and everything else will take care of itself.
That's not enough anymore.
To help illustrate the point I'm making, consider the performance of the last episode I released before I went on my Long Winter's Nap at the end of last year. That episode outperformed my "average" episode performance by about 15% or so. So far so good!
But why stop there? If you only have a Pod.link or LinkTr.ee to give out, you're kinda stuck. But if you have a webpage, you're not.
My webpage for that episode was viewed nearly as many times as the podcast episode was downloaded. That's great! You could argue that some of those webpage views were also listeners. Maybe. But the average time on page for that page was 4.5 minutes. That's more than just a quick click-through.
But why stop there? Why not let people subscribe to your webpages? I do it with a newsletter.
The newsletter edition I sent out for the episode we're talking was opened and read by about half of the number of people who read the webpage. But that's a good thing, because it likely means those views are all additive.
But why stop there? Why not condense that article down to a couple hundred words and format it social shares? Copy/paste if you can get away with it. Or use a nifty service like Chirr App to break it into a Twitter thread.
For the episode we're talking about, the social reach was in the thousands and the engagement numbers in the hundreds, easily tripling the combined reach of the audio, article, and newsletter.
Let me be explicit: serious podcasters take all aspects of their podcast seriously, including copywriting.
If you want your podcast to be taken seriously, then get serious about the entirety of your podcast production process. That includes excellent writing.
-----
Links
- Getting more than 10K downloads per episode? Talk to Gumball.fm!
- Almost 4.5 billion podcast feeds
- The episode of Podcast Pontifications under review
- Use Chirr App for cool Twitter threads
- Over 100K active podcasters trust Buzzsprout.
-----
Podcast Pontifications is a production of Simpler Media. New episodes are released four times a week, providing ideas and questions every serious podcaster should be thinking about.
It's created and hosted by Evo Terra. Follow him on Twitter for more podcasting insights as they come. Allie Press assists with the production and transcription of the show.
If you received value from today's episode of Podcast Pontifications, return some of that! We call it value-for-value and there are many ways to show your support.
Mentioned in this episode:
Support For Abortion Rights
While Americans overwhelmingly support the right of an individual to make their own decisions about abortion, unfortunately, that right is no longer protected everywhere in the U.S. The Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade on June 24th. Abortion is a basic healthcare need for t...
Podcast Pontifications - A Brands-Eye View Of The Podcasting Industry
Transcript Summary
In this episode of "Podcast Pontifications," host Evo Terra challenges the notion that the podcasting industry is not taken seriously as a proper industry. With the estimated revenue from podcast advertising being $1.4 billion globally and the overall industry size projected to hit nearly $95 billion by 2028, podcasting is clearly becoming a force to reckon with. Despite some dismissals by podcasters, big brands are showing interest in the industry, considering companies like TuneIn and SoundCloud. While corporate-backed podcast networks may pose a challenge to indie podcasters, there is still room for independent creators to thrive. This thought-provoking episode urges listeners to explore a specific report linked within, highlighting the various opportunities, growth, and potential that the podcasting industry holds.
Transcript
Nearly twenty 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 out?
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
A Brands-Eye View Of The Podcasting Industry Top Questions Answered
How much revenue is the podcasting industry projected to generate in 2021?
The podcasting industry is projected to generate $1 billion in advertising sales in 2021, according to the IAB.
What is the estimated total size of the podcasting industry?
The estimated total size of the podcasting industry is over $14 billion.
How much is the podcasting industry projected to be worth by 2028?
The podcasting industry is projected to be worth nearly $95 billion by 2028.
Which companies are considered by big brands when entering the podcasting industry?
Big brands looking to enter the podcasting industry often consider companies like TuneIn and SoundCloud.
How are reports about the podcasting industry from an outside perspective beneficial?
Reports about the podcasting industry from an outside perspective can bring more interest, money, content, and listeners to the industry.
Do indie podcasters face competition from corporate-backed podcast networks?
Yes, indie podcasters may face competition from corporate-backed podcast networks.
Are there successful indie podcasters in the podcasting industry?
Yes, there are examples of successful indie podcasters in the podcasting industry.
What challenges do indie podcasters face compared to corporate-backed properties?
Indie podcasters may face challenges and limited access compared to corporate-backed properties.
Can indie podcasters still thrive in the podcasting industry?
Yes, despite challenges, indie podcasters can still thrive in the podcasting industry.
Why is the podcasting industry often underestimated by podcasters?
Many podcasters do not consider the podcasting industry as a full-fledged industry.
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