Podcasting Facing Identity Crisis as Growth Slows and Advertisements Decline
The podcast industry is facing a slowdown with a decrease in listener growth and a decrease in the number of new podcasts being created
- Staff Reporter
A 80% drop in new podcasts created was reported by Listen Notes, and a 5% shrink in listener growth was reported by Insider Intelligence.
The shrink in numbers can be attributed to a rebound after the pandemic inspired a boom in new shows and gave people more time to listen. Podcasting's show and listener slowdown has coincided with a larger reckoning for the tech industry's advertising business.
A 27% growth in podcasting advertising is forecasted by Insider Intelligence, down from 55% in 2023.
However, podcasting appears to be entering a new phase, rather than phasing out. There were 74 million weekly listeners in the US last year, according to Edison, and over 25 million new episodes were released in 2022, according to Listen Notes.
Spotify has become a bellwether for all of podcasting as it incorporated networks and multiplied the number of shows on its platform.
Despite spending billions and drawing in podcast listeners, Spotify has struggled to monetize its investment and recently laid off a number of workers in its podcast arm.
Podcasting is also suffering from a lack of innovation and new blood, with the top 10 most-listened-to podcasts last year being shows that have been around for years. Most podcasters have not benefited from the boom in podcast advertising, leading to a shift towards paywalls and subscriptions from the biggest platforms and producers.
Smaller, niche networks and individual shows have moved to user-backed sites like Patreon for revenue. Despite the decline in new podcasts, the CEO and founder of Listen Notes, Wenbin Fang, remains bullish on podcasting and believes the ratio of high-quality shows is increasing.
