Podcasting is in its Golden Age, Here’s Why it’s so Popular

Podcasts have been around for a while, but there’s been an astronomical rise of them in recent years. Why have they suddenly become so popular now?

A recent study has shown that the estimated number of people listening to podcasts in the UK has grown by the millions and that around 30 million people will tune into podcasts by 2026 making it one of the fastest growing types of media in recent years.

As of writing this article, around 3 million podcasts are active within this year alone and 30 million podcasts were launched just last year. Virtually everyone from Instagram influencers to political commentators have created podcasts to talk about topics that mean the most to them. I, myself, have also dabbled and thrown myself into the wonderful world of podcasting.

The thing is, podcasting isn’t a new trend that influencers and celebrities have adopted. It’s been around since the 80’s; before the internet was born and it was called ‘audio-blogging’. However, it was short lived as there was a lack of platforms for podcasts to distribute themselves at the time.

So why is it so big now and why did it take a second resurgence for it to take off?

The content is simple to digest

Listening to podcasts is completely free and you can listen to them wherever you are, due to having audio listening platforms on your phone, such as Apple Music, Spotify and Soundcloud. You can listen to them while you’re at home and also when you’re out for a walk or driving to work. It’s also perfect for passive listening and multitasking as it doesn’t require your full attention as you don’t have to watch a screen.

It’s easy to create

Podcasts are time-consuming but very inexpensive to start up. All you need is a working microphone, such as your headphone mic and a recording software. There are also free podcast distributors you can post your podcast to such as Anchor.fm which is partnered with Spotify which is what I personally used when creating my own.

It is extremely easy to distribute your podcast to several different platforms as one distributor can do all that work for you with an RSS feed which creates massive reach for your brand.

Engagement

Many listeners feel like they’re part of the discussion and the podcast. The conversational basis that podcasts have are different to watching TV or Radio; there’s a level of intimacy that’s between the podcast host and listener.

Also, listeners can curate their own feeds and pick podcasts that suit their interests, as niche to their hearts desire, such as their favourite show or someone dissecting a murder case and provide extra depth that a regular TV programme or radio show couldn’t.

Figure 1: Statistics Credit, Exploding Topics

For the reasons listed above is why podcasts have thrived, especially in times such as the COVID-19 pandemic where there was limited social contact and productivity and daily life came to a screeching halt.

So, what’s in the future for podcasts?

Podcasts have been increasingly used as a marketing tool to merge social media and podcasting together to add on to an already established brand to further its reach. Such as TikTok influencers having podcasts (‘Saving Grace Podcast’) or TV shows having a ‘behind the scenes’ type podcast such as ‘The Wizards of Waverly Place Podcast’.

Podcasting is a medium I’m glad to see flourish and since delving into it myself, I have established a respect for the craft. The exponential growth of podcasts is extremely exciting and can change the way we consume media in the future.