“Podcasts are the music for the mind…”
The present revolutionary digital age makes the availability of information at our fingertips. Nowadays, getting yourself up-to-date with the trending news and current affairs is just a single click away. But before I take you in the depths of a modern way of communication, let’s talk little about our past. It’s the matter of common observation that since the beginning of time storytelling has been the most effective form of sharing information. It was and still, it is the most effective and successful way for us to learn, relate and connect. From religious services to books, lectures, movies or theater, oral storytelling served as a vital role as the sole means of abstracting emotion in a narrative form. The storytellers of ancient time were thought of as the keepers of knowledge, tradition, and history in their communities.
But now in this swiftly moving world, the storytelling methodology has been changed greatly. This is where Podcasts comes in and now, I reckon, we must talk about it. A Podcast is something that you most probably know, but for the ones who don’t, it is basically an episodic series of audio (or a video) files which a user can download and listen to. Recently, Podcasting has become one of the most popular ways of telling stories, because of its ease of use and widespread reach. In fact, 2017 was a quite successful and phenomenal year for podcasting. Millions and millions of downloads of different serials have been seen. It has been estimated that approximately, 70 million people are listening to the podcasts every month, and that number is growing swiftly. Listeners can download the podcasts in the car, or on their computers or phone with few clicks as a digitally recorded audio. It is engaging thousands of people across the globe, expanding the reach and growing brands like never before.
Now, based on this statistical growing data, it’s quite natural to have a question about the future of the podcasts, like will it continue to grow in popularity? Will podcasts dominate the future in storytelling and sustains its growth? Or these high numbers of listeners will soon revert back to the mean?
Well, in my opinion, podcasts are here to stay and I am pretty much sure about it, for the reason that, there is no denying that podcasts are an important storytelling medium. Here are few reasons why!
- THE INVESTMENT IN PODCASTING IS INCREASING
Earlier in 2017, significant investments were made in podcast studio Gimlet Media (Approximately $15 million); (PNDM) podcast network Digital Media (About $9.7 million-plus) podcast distributor Art19 (PDA) (About $7.5 million) and HowStuffWorks, the spin-off network from System! ($15 million). All of these are ensuring and translating to a greater investment in content.
- CONTENT IS IMPROVING
The significant and high number of on-going investments is quite a clear indication of Podcasts’ fantastic growing future. Actually, it’s not only the investment that’s ensuring the quality content, the ease of use and the freedom from the traditional broadcast schedule is making the difference. They can be as long or as short as you want, unlike unicast media forms.
- EXPANDING TALENT BASE
Presently, Premier talent is interested in more than ever with such a curiosity around Podcasting. Over the past two to three years we’ve seen a few savvy celebrities stopping by to Podcast world to tell their story. So, it’s convenient to find a more meaningful audience with the idea of creating ambitious content.
- DISTRIBUTION IS INCREASING RAPIDLY
We talked about Content and Talent, why not to quote some facts and figures now. It has been estimated that 57 million Americans listen to podcasts on regular basis! This might sound a lot but really it is. In these listeners, most of the people are tuning in via Apple’s “Podcasts” app. 80% of the total podcast is done on iOS devices. However, in contrast to that only 16% of podcast listening takes place on Android devices. But, I believe that this percentage is about to change soon because presently Google is also thinking of promoting its own podcasting app.
- PODCASTING BUILDING INTIMACY
Podcasts are tremendously Portable, they go everywhere with you, literally anywhere! And by that I mean on your bed, sofa, on the toilet, in the tub, you name it. A massive change has been brought about within the face of content marketing for the reasons that it brings a real human voice into your most cherish daily activities. Unlike Video, an audio podcast doesn’t want you to look at it. You can clean, do laundries, drive, paint your nails, do your hair, whatever you want and still be connected.
- CONNECTED CARS
The dashboards of the cars are also advancing with the advancements in the modern techniques and systems. According to the reports, 76 million new vehicles shipped in 2015, the 13% of them were having the option to connect to the internet. This will help provide easy access to streams.
In short, “Audio is one of the most intimate forms of media because you are constantly building your own images of the story in your mind and you’re creating your own production,” Rodero says. One study also illustrates that using sound effects, sounds that represent objects and sound shots increases the level of mental imagery of the listener.
Podcasting has been around for about 12 years now and today, it’s really coming into its own now.
This week, Sara , Jye Smith and I released episode on sex and fitness – “Better in Bed” Podcast – Episode 11 – “Getting fit for the bedroom”. I urge you to listen to it because there’s a lot in that episode which you shouldn’t miss.
ONLINE DOWNLOAD:
https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/better-in-bed
https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/better-in-bed/
https://www.sarasense.com/podcast/