The Podcast Show and the Illusion of Easy Success

Thought I’d mull over my thoughts on The Podcast Show that I visited yesterday at the Design Centre. In Islington. First off while the show was well put together and managed there was something about the exhibitors and the people attending that made me feel slightly uneasy. How to address this….

First, full disclosure. I have a podcast ‘AI Script to Screen’ so you can read this as sour grapes if you choose.

The vast majority of people (95%) who produce podcasts make absolutely no money from them; making money being the principle reason why people start podcasts.  A large slice of those that do make money are celebrities originally (Zoe Ball, Richard Osman) and the podcast leverages that fact. Then there are authors journalists comedians – people who have built an audience in one field and then drawn them onto the podcast. Then there are niche experts, politicians, tech founders or athletes .

Yet my sense of what was on display the Podcast Show was a series of tech providers, monetization and brand deal providers and celebrities cynically promoting the idea that the effective ‘lottery win’ of a successful podcast was within anyone’s reach. If only a person had the right camera or portable studio, posted more regularly (via clip farming), or were more business like in turning casual listeners into a loyal audience from which a massive revenue stream could be extracted.

The clue was in the title of many of the seminars. The events language ‘Turning Listeners Into Revenue’ ‘or ‘The Importance of Authenticity’. Most of the industry seems to play on an individual’s vanity, that they have something unique to say or contribute to the World, to sell something. T’was ever thus of course, just another ‘market’ people making a buck off other peoples dreams.

And technically its becoming more possible to go to air. It is incredible that for a miniscule budget a persons thoughts can be aired to a global audience, effectively for free. Where radio was, podcasts now prevail courtesy of the internet.

Used to be the right ring light now

 And with the advent of relatively cheap cameras these ‘podcast’ can become video clips which can be uploaded to Instagram and You tube. The clips themselves can be ‘magic clipped’ by e.g. Riverside to ensure a continuous digital presence. That technical part of it is incredible. 

 But I did feel very sorry for the sound studio providers who were exhibiting this year, I doubt they will be back next year as AI can pretty much turn anyone with a mic into sounding like they are in a professional studio.  And they know it, very long faces on those stands. It will be the turn of the actual studios next as virtual studios become easier to recreate digitally as alpha channels.