Everybody Has a Podcast? Nope, Not Even Close

I am approximately two months away from hitting the eleven-year mark of my weekly “Now Hear This Entertainment” podcast.  That’s a new episode delivered on-time, every week since February 2014.  Interestingly, I recently read that “of the 24,464 podcasts started in January this year, 7,388 – 30.2% - haven’t posted a new episode since the end of February,” (according to Podnews).

That’s something that is called podfading, although to me that’s more disappearing than fading.  Or to use a popular expression nowadays, ‘ghosting.’  Your audience never even saw it coming.

Over the last week, Podnews reported this morning, 197,708 podcasts published at least one new episode.

Let’s compare all the above to some other media.

Do you really think that “everybody has a podcast”?  Maybe you’ll reconsider and instead decide that everybody has a book.  After all, as I pointed out one week ago today when I spoke out west at the Las Vegas Writers Retreat, there are currently over 44 million book titles available globally through Amazon.

While that number dwarfs the aforementioned almost 198 thousand podcasts, how about that as of the start of this calendar year there were 51 million channels on YouTube (although “only” 38 million of those are considered ‘active’)?

As of the start of January 2022 there were over 600 million blogs in the world, furthering the point that being a creator doesn’t simply equate to podcasting.

In fact, if you’re doing original music, you are also in an overcrowded space.  As of a year and a half ago, the number of new songs released to music streaming services each day in 2023 was around 120,000.  So, the number of songs put out in one DAY is nearly two-thirds of the total podcast episodes in an entire week.  (Do the math, by the way.  One hundred twenty thousand per day equals 43.8 million songs per year.)

So, clearly, it’s time to stop leveling the charge that “everybody has a podcast.”

And even if they did, so what?  For openers, as seen in the podfading number above, the cream will rise to the top.  Meaning, those who are just tire kickers will quickly walk away.

Moreover, isn’t that an example of freedom of speech?  Now granted, there are some people out there saying some things that lots (and lots) of people will disagree with.  Putting the "controversy sells" argument to the side, I have to believe that they too will have a short life to their show.

But isn’t choice, variety, a great thing?  Don’t you want to find someone who’s talking about something that matches a specific interest of yours?

Have you looked at – and I mean really looked at – the menu on your smart TV these days?  Whether they’re cable channels or apps, there’s a list that has really gotten out of hand.  I’ve heard guests come on my “Now Hear This Entertainment” podcast and talk about a movie or show that they or their music were on and when they say the carrier I feel ignorant because I’ve never even heard of it.  That’s how many there are!

Don’t think it doesn’t apply to the small screen either.  I’m sure by now you’ve heard the expression, “There’s an app for that.”  Creators are constantly coming up with new offerings for us to interact with on our smartphones and yet for some reason people just want to attack podcasting as the place where everyone has tried their hand.

To come at this a different way, the major TV networks can only hire one host for the limited number of shows they need such talent for.  Meanwhile, there are tremendously talented folks who have some really good insights to share.  Until podcasting (and yes, I’ll include YouTube channels here) came along, those folks had nowhere to go, for all intents and purposes.  (I realize that standup comedians, for example, could still ply their trade on-stage at countless clubs throughout the country.)  I’ll bet there’s a large percentage of people who watch (or listen to) someone through, say, Spotify or YouTube, but don’t watch a major network talk show!

When I go out and speak, I recognize that the audience could be somewhere else (meaning, in another session or not even in the building).  I also express my gratitude on “Now Hear This Entertainment” and in the weekly e-newsletter because I know there are so many other podcasts that the audience could be listening to.  It just turns out, though, that there’s not as many others to pick from as you think.

For twenty years I have been helping indie music artists, authors, actors, entrepreneurs, podcasters, filmmakers, small business owners, and more.  What challenges are you having in your creator career that I can lend some insight to?  Let’s get on a short call together so you can take advantage of all my experience, and I can help and keep you moving forward.