Podcasting has been around for a while, serving as a way to democratize the audio medium for each of us. Today, you can produce audio content and have an audience listening in a matter of hours. Before podcasting, gatekeepers at radio stations prevented diverse content offerings by limiting the number of shows fit into their schedule and model. Whether a podcast focuses on the migration patterns and life cycles of penguins or something equally specific and niche or a show that serves as a place to perform long-form interviews with celebrities, they all bypass the conventional audio medium of radio and radio stations.
If you listen to podcasts like Hustleburg, you probably know enough about podcasts to be able to find the shows you’re interested in, as well as how to listen to them when a new episode is available. If you’re new to listening to podcasts or have found them by clicking a link on Facebook or another social media platform, here’s a bit of information to bolster your podcast awareness:
Podcasting Background
- Podcasts really aren’t that new. They date back to the 1980s, but it took Apple’s introduction of digital audio content to iTunes in 2005 that helped to kickstart their popularity among the masses.
- Did you know that President George W. Bush was among the first “podcasters?” In 2005, WhiteHouse.gov made his weekly radio addresses available for download on the White House’s website.
- It didn’t take long for traditional broadcast media to jump on board, with newspapers, radio stations, and tv networks creating shows based around the content they were already creating. As a result of their first-mover advantage and locating terrific audio production, NPR is one of the most popular podcast publishers of all time. Their smash podcast hit This American Life, publishing weekly since 2006, and the top downloaded podcast of all time, Serial, give it serious clout in the podcasting world.
“How Do I Listen?”
This is frequently the biggest hurdle for most people. Obviously, there are ways to publish directly to the web to listen on a phone or computer through the web browser and be found, but phone makers have made it REALLY easy to jump right into listening to podcasts on their devices. Since separating podcast content and making iTunes music-only last year, Apple Podcasts has been the dominant force in connecting podcasts with listeners. With a similar timeline, Google Podcasts entered the scene in 2019 as well, taking podcast content from their Google Play Music service that shutters later in 2020. With both of the major operating systems now offering a built-in app specifically for finding and listening to podcasts, getting started as a podcast listener has never been easier.
You may have noticed Spotify jumping into the podcast world, making quite a splash in hopes of being a disruptor in the industry. They previously featured popular podcasts within its streaming app, but recently opened up their platform to podcasters of any size. In 2020, they also gobbled up exclusive content from Joe Rogan, whose Joe Rogan Experience podcast is one of the world’s most popular, and Michelle Obama, who launched her podcast in July 2020. Additionally, Spotify purchased a podcast creation and hosting platform, Anchor, to also make waves on the production side of podcasting.
There are plenty of podcast players available to match just about any taste when it comes to layout, features, etc. We LOVE the cross-platform Castbox player for listening to shows, as it does a fantastic job of managing them across both an iPhone and an Android.