Earlier than Spotify, YouTube, and Netflix disrupted music and video, bundled consumption helped drive profitability. From albums to TV networks, client preferences had been largely dictated by the bundle, permitting document labels and tv suppliers to leverage the truth that customers would pay loads for entry to a bit of. In at present’s unbundled media panorama, customers not solely pay a bit of for entry to loads, however in addition they have the autonomy, nonetheless illusory it’s, to cherry-pick solely the music and movies they need. Podcasts, regardless of having originated within the unbundling period, stay decidedly bundled, particularly on the subject of their presentation on digital platforms. Given the quantity of uncertainty swirling round podcasting in 2023, the brand new yr could also be a very good time for the trade to start experimenting with its format and reconsidering the way in which platforms current podcasts to customers may unlock new potential.

Unbundling got here for albums…. Ought to podcasts be subsequent?

For a lot of customers within the CD period, just a few songs on any album might have been of curiosity, however the one strategy to entry them was to purchase the opposite eight songs as properly. In reality, only a few albums had been truly “all killer and no filler” and much too many may have simply remained singles-only releases. It’s laborious to say whether or not the supply of music via digital audio revealed customers’ true preferences or essentially altered them (probably a mixture of each), however the unbundling of the album actually modified the way in which that the music trade marketed music. Rapidly, a single observe, untethered to a bigger artistic imaginative and prescient, may tackle a lifetime of its personal.

Podcasts are actually completely different from albums, however the character and / or serialisation that tends to tether listeners to a selected podcast title shouldn’t be that far off from the narrative arc of a very good album. The query is whether or not this form of bundling nonetheless serves a format that exists on platforms which are inclined to privilege algorithmic suggestions over considerate human curation. One apparent instance right here is the most well-liked podcast in america: The Joe Rogan Expertise (JRE). Just like the six levels of Kevin Bacon, if you happen to watch YouTube for lengthy sufficient (or depart it on whilst you sleep), you’ll inevitably find yourself on an episode of Rogan’s podcast. There’s even an entire report with knowledge to again this up. Whereas Rogan’s character and the facility of reactionary web tradition actually play a job right here, JRE episodes additionally stand on their very own — not when it comes to mental rigour, however of their means to have interaction audiences no matter chronology. Rogan has performed the unbundling recreation properly, leveraging his personal dilettantism to attraction to podcast customers’ broad vary of pursuits and created content material that lends itself to clip-driven virality.

Podcast playlists ought to capitalise on broad pursuits and context-based consumption

Thanks partly to playlists, music client pursuits have additionally broadened and style agnosticism has turn into a defining attribute of youthful listeners. In keeping with current MIDiA client surveys, podcast listeners additionally are inclined to have complete tastes on the subject of their prime 4 or 5 favorite classes. For each music and podcasts, the selection to pay attention arguably turns into extra about what operate the listening is taking part in in a client’s day-to-day fairly than types or matters themselves. In different phrases, context — what customers are doing (or feeling) whereas listening — is an more and more vital driver of digital audio consumption. These context-based listening patterns provide up a ripe alternative for episode-driven podcast playlists. As an alternative of a YouTube web page organised by class, one may think video playlists organised by exercise. As an alternative of “Songs to Sing within the Automobile”, for example, assume “Podcasts for Highway Journeys” or “Your Morning Routine”. Because it stands, discoverability is without doubt one of the greatest points plaguing podcasts proper now. Not solely would context-based podcast playlists provide listeners an opportunity to find new podcasts (or a minimum of episodes) that they may not in any other case have heard, however it could enable listeners to make new episodes from lesser recognized podcasts a part of their every day or weekly routines.

Nobody likes a intermediary, however this one may assist podcasts develop

There are actually knock-on results to unbundling, not least of which is the potential for content material to rule over the creator. It’s a development now we have seen in music, with labels chasing viral hits as an alternative of growing artists. That additionally places numerous stress on creators to make episodes that stand on their very own. Whereas we must always all be determining the way to mitigate the dangers of unbundling, considering proactively about the way to deliver listeners from top-of-funnel to bottom-of-funnel is an indication of progress for the format. Ideally, bringing a discovery-minded strategy to the format would profit lesser recognized creators whereas enhancing the listener expertise.

Past the improved listener expertise and the enhance to discovery, unbundling podcasts and growing a strong podcast playlist ecosystem would additionally introduce an entire new function in podcasting: the podcast curator. Algorithmic suggestions would certainly nonetheless be part of the podcast discovery course of, however playlists current the opportunity of human curation. Amid heightened competitors within the podcast market, Spotify may seize on this chance as one other strategy to set up their foothold within the podcast world — to turn into not only a prime consumption platform, however an arbiter of style. Human curation creates each demand and loyalty, which in flip creates worth — one thing the podcast trade is desperately making an attempt to type out amidst a tumultuous yr of layoffs and cancelations. The entire items are there to make it occur in 2024, it’s only a matter of turning creativeness into motion.