Day 1 of our Exclusive Feature, The Future of Podcasting. Today's writing comes from Michael Butler, creator of The Rock and Roll Geek Show.
The tagline of Michael's blog says it all: The Greatest Rock and Roll You Have Probably Never Heard. Interviews and Geek Talk from a Rock and Roll Geek.
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The Rock and Roll Geek Show
http://www.rockandrollgeek.com
The Future of Podcasting
When Todd contacted me about doing a guest blog entry about the future of podcasting, obviously I was honored to be included in his list of 'experts'. But I should start out by telling you that I am not an expert on anything except Rock and Roll, but I certainly appreciate the compliment!
As you may or may not know, I started podcasting in September of 2004. That makes me a podcasting dinosaur. When I started, there were probably 10 podcasts. Now it has grown to hundreds , or more likely, thousands of podcasters and growing more each day. You can hardly open a newspaper without finding an article about podcasting now.
Ok, here is what I think is the future of podcasting:
1. As it grows in popularity, there will be more and more people doing podcasting and, consequently, a lot of people will start copying other peoples podcasts. But that is pretty much what happens in any medium, I guess. Hopefully, originality and innovation will prevail.
2. A lot of other mediums will hop on the bandwagon as they are now. More and more commercial radio stations are starting up podcasts. I think this is a good thing. The more choice the better for all of us listeners.
3. As more shows come on and the amount of choices grow and grow, a lot of shows' listenership will drop. Because of this, a lot of podcasters will get discouraged and stop doing it. While I don't want to lose listeners, this could also be a good thing. It will give those of us who are really into doing these things the incentive to make their shows better. Also, as more people start doing these, the expenses involved in making a quality podcast (ie, nice microphones, mixers, etc) will discourage some.
4. Advertising: as this thing gets more mainstream, there are some who will get real advertisers and start to see some income from this. I have been trying to get sponsorship from several beer companies for sometime now (with not much luck, btw). The reason I am doing this, other than to get some free beer, is because I think this will be a major coup for podcasters and it will show that real companies (not that tech web sites are not real companies) are hopping on board and once one real non tech company signs up, others are sure to follow. This will be a good thing for all of us. I will continue my quest for sponsorship from beer companies, record stores, clothing companies, etc. This being said, I don't ever expect to make a living off of this. Like anything that is well done, it is a labor of love.
5. Up until now, there has been a real positive , community feel among all podcasters. Every one is pretty supportive of each other. But as the battle for listenership grows, I expect to see some podcasters talking bad about others on their shows pretty soon. I hope this doesn't happen but I think it is inevitable. (although it could make for some interesting listening!)
There you have my thoughts on the future of podcasting. Take these with a grain of salt because I am pretty much talking out of my ass. :)
Michael Butler
http://www.rockandrollgeek.com
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tags: podcasting | radio | advertising
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