July 18, 2022 • 11 mins
Podcasting as grown exponentially in recent years. We talk about what has changed and what hasn't in terms of creators and listeners.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:05):
Hey, this is Annie and Samantha and welcome to Stuff
I Never told you protection Off I Heart Radio, and
welcome to another Monday. Many. We wanted to do a
quick revisit about an episode with them before, which is
(00:26):
what's happening in the podcast world? Who is a part
of the podcast world? All of that, because it is everywhere, y'all,
Like Any and I are just talking about the show
only Murders in the building and the fact that it's
based on podcasts and no one told us until I
watched it. Maybe I probably could have read. But but
you know, that's all I'm saying. But you know, before
(00:48):
we start in the episode and talk about some numbers
and facts, you know, I have to ask you because
Any you've been around this podcast world from almost the beginning,
as we know it kind of grew and got bigger
and bigger. And how Stuff Works, you know, it was
kind of at the beginning of the journey as well,
a no NPR really started it off, but How Stuff
(01:09):
Works was soon to follow. So with all of that,
I need to know from your expert perspective, what are
some of the changes that you've seen in podcasting world
since you started as an intern to today. Woof a lot.
I mean there's a lot I could say, just technologically
and awareness base because when I first started, literally no
(01:30):
one knew was a podcast was. I didn't know what
it was, and our boss was just like, we're gonna
try this thing because Apple really wants it, and I
was the intern, so I did it um but even
I like people to ask me what it was, and
I like, it's sort of like the radio, but for
the Internet, I didn't really know. And the other day
you were there, Samantha. I think maybe you weren't. Maybe
everything's funny, but anyway, somebody reminded me the other day
(01:52):
of we used to have this program that a friend
of ours, a colleague of ours, created and you had
to run all of the audio through this program so
that would be low enough quality to work on Apple
podcast within iTunes. And it was this whole like script
you would run and you type in the title, the description,
(02:13):
the key words, and find the art and it would
just like run it like we had to go through
all these things just to get the audio up. So
that was definitely like technological. We don't have to do
that anymore. Most I find most people are far more
aware of podcasts now than they were, including because of
things like, yes, we're seeing more representation of podcasters in
(02:37):
the media, some great and some not. Start um and
I have I know what we're going to talk about
today doesn't doesn't paint the best picture in terms of
like a lot of diversity. But I will say since
I have started, I was the only woman in the
(02:57):
like producer, editor block. I wasn't a host at the time,
but I was the only woman then, and that has
changed and that has gotten better. It's still like we
could still do a lot better, but that has definitely
improved since I have been there. Uh, and probably just
the amount of this could be just a numbers game,
but the amount of topics we cover has also changed,
(03:21):
and I would say improved. Um yeah, yeah, it's it's
gotten bigger. I guess it's essentially what I'm saying, right.
It's interesting because it is it's gotten giant, which is
probably why the percentage wise hasn't changed as much, not
necessarily the full numbers and h R. It looks like
the numbers are kind of getting better, but it's still
(03:42):
not to the point that I think it should be,
especially with how much this industry is growing. That's a
whole different conversation, I know, because it is a money
making industry for some and we're gonna keep that as
it is. But in the past episode we talked about
women and marginalized people in the podcasting industry and a
recent study was released as in like twenty a month
(04:03):
ago by Sounds Profitable with data coming from the Edison
Research Center with the Edison Podcast Matrix. So we wanted
to do a quick follow up with how things are
going um and again, especially for the marginalized creators within
this ever growing industry. It is a lot, y'all. So
the data was able to write down some specific numbers
(04:25):
when it comes to who is creating podcasts and who
was profiting. So was it started, Yes, yes, let's talk
some numbers. According to the data, the largest age group
for podcast creators actually ranges from twenty five to thirty
four and that makes up followed by the thirty five
to forty five year old range and fifty five plus
still sets at two percent of the age group. Um
(04:48):
and though we had hoped for a bigger growth, the
data for women podcast creators still remains at a low
percentage of twenty with men making up at least sixty
nine percent and non binary and other years at two
percent um. And as of two, women make up forty
six percent of the monthly podcast listenership while men make
up fifty three right um. And when it comes to
(05:11):
race and ethnicity, it's still very disappointing. White people make
up one of the creators, while African American communities make
up four percent, Latino and Asians five percent. And then
we have the six percent who did not say what
ethnicity they were, so very very very massive difference. Mm hmmm.
And why are we disappointed these numbers? Well, it seems
(05:35):
that yes, podcasting can be fairly profitable. If you get
five thousand listens per episode, that can equate to almost
five thousand dollars a month UM. Ten thousand can be
up to four hundred and fifty a month, And according
to the recent creators data, it shows that around fifty
of the creators make an income of seventy five thousand
(05:55):
or more per year. Of course, this may include those
who have a full time job plug podcasting, so not
just from podcasting. And if you're interested, the top ten
(06:18):
podcast topics are actually number one comedy to music three
Technology for entertainment, five sports, six news and info, seven history,
eight politics, nine is true crime, and then the number
ten is science. But it's actually a little different for women.
So let me let you know what those are. Number
(06:40):
one is kids and family podcasts. Number two is true crime,
which is different. Uh, the next would be arts types
of podcasts, and then help and fitness, religion and spirituality,
then social and culture, um education, and then fiction podcasts
and lastly the TV and a film podcast So little
different from that. From the top is it's definitely very
(07:03):
and yeah, there's a lot to be said about what's
happening with the feature of podcasts. Things are changing vastly,
people are unionizing, we are trying to understand what podcasting
can lead to. In that same data, they talk about
the fact that there's more people who would lean democratically
in the US than a Republican who are creating these podcasts.
So that's I found that interesting as well. And I'm
(07:24):
not really sure why, because we have I've seen a
lot of conversations when it comes to conservative podcasts and
conservative hosts. Of course, we know that one of the
biggest moneymakers is Joe Rogan. I don't know if he
has come out and said what political leanings he has,
but there's a lot of right leaning audience members for
(07:47):
his podcast from what I've seen. Maybe I'm wrong, Someone
tell me by evidence of what Twitter is showing me. Yeah,
I don't know, but you know, there's a lot of
room for change, there's a lot of room for growth.
And know, I Heart alone has hundreds of podcasts that
you can choose from. We even have but the good
news is that they also try to do some things
(08:08):
for up and coming podcasts with things like the Next
Up Initiative, which just occurred and it's now releasing podcasts
for those in the marginalized communities to have a voice
in this uh again growing industry. So it's nice to
see you and hopefully we can see more and more
of that. We love. We love our any podcast We
love y'all. Uh And speaking of we wanted to go
(08:30):
come back and give a couple of shoutouts to a
few podcasts that if you haven't heard of or haven't
listened to, you should give them a chance because there's
some amazing content out there. And um, We're gonna start
with Power Not Pity, which is hosted by bree m.
It's a podcast at centers and celebrates the lived experience
of disabled people of color. UM. They're on their second
season now and quote this time around, the show will
(08:52):
spend time exploring the world of people in our community
who dare to interrogate the dominant narrative of what survival
feels like for a able person of color during these
trying times. They all demonstrate what it means to thrive
fully and authentically, and that's from their own description, and
the episodes are phenomenal and really just inspiring in itself,
So take a listen to them as well as UM
(09:15):
a podcast called on Wednesday, We Wear Black and they
are an award winning podcast, but you know, I think
they're still growing with Sophie k and Yes main Summon
UM and from their website, it says the only alternative
music podcast that's about the lifestyle. They talk about everything
from sex, racism and gigs to MySpace emo fashion, which
(09:36):
I love. These are the chats alternative women and non
binary people have behind closed doors, and they will dish
all so, y'all, this is where the hardcore people out there,
y'all need to go there. Yes, Uh, then there's also
girl Ish Just hosted by Gauge Atkins and Olivia Knowl
and from their site trans YouTubers and Iconic Dodo. Gauge
(09:56):
Atkins and Olivia No discuss LGBTQ plus topics and store
raised from their own experiences as trans women of color
in their twenties, the two strive to create a podcast
that speaks volumes by discussing issues like transphobia, coming out
in college, dysphoria, and what it's like being trans in
the twenty one century. And then there is the s
JW Comic book Club, which is hosted by Monte Veronica Melissa,
(10:18):
And here's the description of that one. The s JW
Comic book Club is a weekly book club style podcast
where three friends discussed the story, arc and comics from
a literate and progressive pov. We try to center the
opinions of people of color, women, LGBTQ plus, etcetera, who
are sometimes overlooked in nerd culture. All right, again, these
are your people, Annie, Yeah, so shout out to them
(10:40):
doing some amazing work and so excited to see how
they continue to grow and how this industry continues to
grow with more diverse voices that we really need and
desperately needed here and listen to as well. So cross
your fingers that we get more. And if you're someone
who was interested in doing this, do it. Take a risk.
It might not be profitable for a while, in might
(11:00):
never be profitable. But even if you have like five listeners,
that's amazing you. Maybe you're touching somebody. And if something
that you like or want to do, then do it.
M mmm. And by the way, yeah, if you have
a podcast you want us to shout out, if you
know one we should shout out, if you know when
we should collab with all of those things. You can
(11:20):
email us at Stuff Media, mom Stuff at iHeart mea
dot com. You can find us on Twitter at moms
to podcast or Instagram at stuff I Never Told You.
Thanks it's always to our super producer, Christina. Yes, thank
you for making us sound so good. Yes, thank you Christina,
and thanks to you for listening stuff When Never Told
The detection of I Heart Radio. For more podcast on
my heart radio is the heart Radio app, Apple podcast,
or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.
Hey, this is Annie and Samantha and welcome to Stuff
I Never told you protection Off I Heart Radio, and
welcome to another Monday. Many. We wanted to do a
quick revisit about an episode with them before, which is
(00:26):
what's happening in the podcast world? Who is a part
of the podcast world? All of that, because it is everywhere, y'all,
Like Any and I are just talking about the show
only Murders in the building and the fact that it's
based on podcasts and no one told us until I
watched it. Maybe I probably could have read. But but
you know, that's all I'm saying. But you know, before
(00:48):
we start in the episode and talk about some numbers
and facts, you know, I have to ask you because
Any you've been around this podcast world from almost the beginning,
as we know it kind of grew and got bigger
and bigger. And how Stuff Works, you know, it was
kind of at the beginning of the journey as well,
a no NPR really started it off, but How Stuff
(01:09):
Works was soon to follow. So with all of that,
I need to know from your expert perspective, what are
some of the changes that you've seen in podcasting world
since you started as an intern to today. Woof a lot.
I mean there's a lot I could say, just technologically
and awareness base because when I first started, literally no
(01:30):
one knew was a podcast was. I didn't know what
it was, and our boss was just like, we're gonna
try this thing because Apple really wants it, and I
was the intern, so I did it um but even
I like people to ask me what it was, and
I like, it's sort of like the radio, but for
the Internet, I didn't really know. And the other day
you were there, Samantha. I think maybe you weren't. Maybe
everything's funny, but anyway, somebody reminded me the other day
(01:52):
of we used to have this program that a friend
of ours, a colleague of ours, created and you had
to run all of the audio through this program so
that would be low enough quality to work on Apple
podcast within iTunes. And it was this whole like script
you would run and you type in the title, the description,
(02:13):
the key words, and find the art and it would
just like run it like we had to go through
all these things just to get the audio up. So
that was definitely like technological. We don't have to do
that anymore. Most I find most people are far more
aware of podcasts now than they were, including because of
things like, yes, we're seeing more representation of podcasters in
(02:37):
the media, some great and some not. Start um and
I have I know what we're going to talk about
today doesn't doesn't paint the best picture in terms of
like a lot of diversity. But I will say since
I have started, I was the only woman in the
(02:57):
like producer, editor block. I wasn't a host at the time,
but I was the only woman then, and that has
changed and that has gotten better. It's still like we
could still do a lot better, but that has definitely
improved since I have been there. Uh, and probably just
the amount of this could be just a numbers game,
but the amount of topics we cover has also changed,
(03:21):
and I would say improved. Um yeah, yeah, it's it's
gotten bigger. I guess it's essentially what I'm saying, right.
It's interesting because it is it's gotten giant, which is
probably why the percentage wise hasn't changed as much, not
necessarily the full numbers and h R. It looks like
the numbers are kind of getting better, but it's still
(03:42):
not to the point that I think it should be,
especially with how much this industry is growing. That's a
whole different conversation, I know, because it is a money
making industry for some and we're gonna keep that as
it is. But in the past episode we talked about
women and marginalized people in the podcasting industry and a
recent study was released as in like twenty a month
(04:03):
ago by Sounds Profitable with data coming from the Edison
Research Center with the Edison Podcast Matrix. So we wanted
to do a quick follow up with how things are
going um and again, especially for the marginalized creators within
this ever growing industry. It is a lot, y'all. So
the data was able to write down some specific numbers
(04:25):
when it comes to who is creating podcasts and who
was profiting. So was it started, Yes, yes, let's talk
some numbers. According to the data, the largest age group
for podcast creators actually ranges from twenty five to thirty
four and that makes up followed by the thirty five
to forty five year old range and fifty five plus
still sets at two percent of the age group. Um
(04:48):
and though we had hoped for a bigger growth, the
data for women podcast creators still remains at a low
percentage of twenty with men making up at least sixty
nine percent and non binary and other years at two
percent um. And as of two, women make up forty
six percent of the monthly podcast listenership while men make
up fifty three right um. And when it comes to
(05:11):
race and ethnicity, it's still very disappointing. White people make
up one of the creators, while African American communities make
up four percent, Latino and Asians five percent. And then
we have the six percent who did not say what
ethnicity they were, so very very very massive difference. Mm hmmm.
And why are we disappointed these numbers? Well, it seems
(05:35):
that yes, podcasting can be fairly profitable. If you get
five thousand listens per episode, that can equate to almost
five thousand dollars a month UM. Ten thousand can be
up to four hundred and fifty a month, And according
to the recent creators data, it shows that around fifty
of the creators make an income of seventy five thousand
(05:55):
or more per year. Of course, this may include those
who have a full time job plug podcasting, so not
just from podcasting. And if you're interested, the top ten
(06:18):
podcast topics are actually number one comedy to music three
Technology for entertainment, five sports, six news and info, seven history,
eight politics, nine is true crime, and then the number
ten is science. But it's actually a little different for women.
So let me let you know what those are. Number
(06:40):
one is kids and family podcasts. Number two is true crime,
which is different. Uh, the next would be arts types
of podcasts, and then help and fitness, religion and spirituality,
then social and culture, um education, and then fiction podcasts
and lastly the TV and a film podcast So little
different from that. From the top is it's definitely very
(07:03):
and yeah, there's a lot to be said about what's
happening with the feature of podcasts. Things are changing vastly,
people are unionizing, we are trying to understand what podcasting
can lead to. In that same data, they talk about
the fact that there's more people who would lean democratically
in the US than a Republican who are creating these podcasts.
So that's I found that interesting as well. And I'm
(07:24):
not really sure why, because we have I've seen a
lot of conversations when it comes to conservative podcasts and
conservative hosts. Of course, we know that one of the
biggest moneymakers is Joe Rogan. I don't know if he
has come out and said what political leanings he has,
but there's a lot of right leaning audience members for
(07:47):
his podcast from what I've seen. Maybe I'm wrong, Someone
tell me by evidence of what Twitter is showing me. Yeah,
I don't know, but you know, there's a lot of
room for change, there's a lot of room for growth.
And know, I Heart alone has hundreds of podcasts that
you can choose from. We even have but the good
news is that they also try to do some things
(08:08):
for up and coming podcasts with things like the Next
Up Initiative, which just occurred and it's now releasing podcasts
for those in the marginalized communities to have a voice
in this uh again growing industry. So it's nice to
see you and hopefully we can see more and more
of that. We love. We love our any podcast We
love y'all. Uh And speaking of we wanted to go
(08:30):
come back and give a couple of shoutouts to a
few podcasts that if you haven't heard of or haven't
listened to, you should give them a chance because there's
some amazing content out there. And um, We're gonna start
with Power Not Pity, which is hosted by bree m.
It's a podcast at centers and celebrates the lived experience
of disabled people of color. UM. They're on their second
season now and quote this time around, the show will
(08:52):
spend time exploring the world of people in our community
who dare to interrogate the dominant narrative of what survival
feels like for a able person of color during these
trying times. They all demonstrate what it means to thrive
fully and authentically, and that's from their own description, and
the episodes are phenomenal and really just inspiring in itself,
So take a listen to them as well as UM
(09:15):
a podcast called on Wednesday, We Wear Black and they
are an award winning podcast, but you know, I think
they're still growing with Sophie k and Yes main Summon
UM and from their website, it says the only alternative
music podcast that's about the lifestyle. They talk about everything
from sex, racism and gigs to MySpace emo fashion, which
(09:36):
I love. These are the chats alternative women and non
binary people have behind closed doors, and they will dish
all so, y'all, this is where the hardcore people out there,
y'all need to go there. Yes, Uh, then there's also
girl Ish Just hosted by Gauge Atkins and Olivia Knowl
and from their site trans YouTubers and Iconic Dodo. Gauge
(09:56):
Atkins and Olivia No discuss LGBTQ plus topics and store
raised from their own experiences as trans women of color
in their twenties, the two strive to create a podcast
that speaks volumes by discussing issues like transphobia, coming out
in college, dysphoria, and what it's like being trans in
the twenty one century. And then there is the s
JW Comic book Club, which is hosted by Monte Veronica Melissa,
(10:18):
And here's the description of that one. The s JW
Comic book Club is a weekly book club style podcast
where three friends discussed the story, arc and comics from
a literate and progressive pov. We try to center the
opinions of people of color, women, LGBTQ plus, etcetera, who
are sometimes overlooked in nerd culture. All right, again, these
are your people, Annie, Yeah, so shout out to them
(10:40):
doing some amazing work and so excited to see how
they continue to grow and how this industry continues to
grow with more diverse voices that we really need and
desperately needed here and listen to as well. So cross
your fingers that we get more. And if you're someone
who was interested in doing this, do it. Take a risk.
It might not be profitable for a while, in might
(11:00):
never be profitable. But even if you have like five listeners,
that's amazing you. Maybe you're touching somebody. And if something
that you like or want to do, then do it.
M mmm. And by the way, yeah, if you have
a podcast you want us to shout out, if you
know one we should shout out, if you know when
we should collab with all of those things. You can
(11:20):
email us at Stuff Media, mom Stuff at iHeart mea
dot com. You can find us on Twitter at moms
to podcast or Instagram at stuff I Never Told You.
Thanks it's always to our super producer, Christina. Yes, thank
you for making us sound so good. Yes, thank you Christina,
and thanks to you for listening stuff When Never Told
The detection of I Heart Radio. For more podcast on
my heart radio is the heart Radio app, Apple podcast,
or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.
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