No, podcasting isn't oversaturated

Was this forwarded to you? Sign up here 🤙 

🧨QUICK FIRE

• Marc Maron, host of WTF podcast announces he’s ending the podcast after 15 years of podcasting 

• Gen Z are going on a “summer detox” according to Pinterest 

• “More than 50 people” are making over $1 million a year on Substack.

“Everyone has a podcast.”
You’ve probably heard this phrase thrown around at least once or twice.

Maybe you even believe it.
No doubt the industry is the biggest it’s ever been.

Only problem is, I’ve been hearing “podcasting is oversaturated” every year since I entered the podcast vortex in 2012.

I’m here to tell you this isn’t a saturation problem.

And while the barrier to entry is low, the number of people who know how to turn a podcast into a business? Still incredibly small.

Podcast Renaissance

We’re in a podcasting renaissance right now.

• Experimentation is at an all-time high.
  Steven Bartlett is a great example he’s built a full production team (rumoured to be 20+ people), supported by investors and revenue from his other businesses outside of Diary of a CEO. There’s no one-size-fits-all structure anymore. People are building their own playbooks.

• Video is changing the game.
  The video wars between YouTube, Spotify, and now Netflix are heating up and it’s opening the door to new formats, new audiences, and better discoverability. We’re not just making audio. We’re building content ecosystems.

• Measurement is finally evolving.
  Spotify recently rolled out “Plays” a metric that tracks impressions, not just downloads (which, let’s be honest, just means the file landed on your phone). It’s a step towards the kind of standardised data brands and creators have been begging for.

• Monetisation is growing up.
  Podcasting is quickly shedding its image of a hobby for passionate amateurs. Creators are building real businesses through subscriptions, brand deals, premium content, live events, and licensing. The pipes are being laid for long-term scale.

• AI is a wildcard.
  No one knows exactly how AI will reshape podcasting but we do know this: it’ll put a premium on human connection. And podcasting is still the most intimate format we’ve got, short of being in the same room.

Problems = Opportunities

Podcasting is only just maturing.

There are still plenty of gaps waiting to be solved

• Better discoverability

• More detailed analytics

• Smarter search and SEO

• Scalable monetisation tools for niche shows

• Stronger infrastructure for cross-platform growth

Which tells us one thing: there’s still heaps of room to grow.

So what’s the opportunity?

You’re not too late.

The opportunity isn’t to be early, it’s to be intentional.

Most people:

• Hit publish without a strategy

• Don’t optimise for discoverability

• Don’t think beyond the audio

• Don’t treat their show like a business

If you can do those things?
You’re not competing with everyone who has a podcast.
You’re competing with the small percentage of people who are playing a different game.

TikTok 

• rolled out a new feature called "Manage Topics," which lets you tailor how often content related to over 10 popular topics is recommended.

LinkedIn

• latest update added paid DMs for Channels, HD photos, and voice message trimming.

READ: “In the age of slop, craft is rebellion” Neal Agarwal’s indie site Neal.fun is a one-man rebellion by combining craft, code, and curiosity to make playful, viral web games that defy convention.

LISTEN: Emma Grede, Skims and Good American and CEO and host of the Aspire podcast, shares her first solo podcast and lists (in detail) how she got to her current position by breaking down the steps.

WATCH: Two weeks of the year, a waterfall in Yosemite Park in California lights up like gold lava. Filmmaker Bernard Yu shares his adventure in capturing the naturally occurring phenomenon.