What Spotify and the President Do for Podcasting

Guest, Rob Walch, Vice President of Podcaster Relations with Libsyn

There was a time when E-mail was the new kid on the block. America Online (AOL) was a major player, then anyone could get their own free hotmail.com address. As Erik Qualman mentioned in our recent episode, Customer Service Goes Social, contact with others went from mainly over the phone, to via E-mail. And along came websites—everyone in business, as well as non-profits and governmental offices, incorporated having a website into their normal expectations. It opened up e-commerce, as you could “hang up a shingle” on the world wide web and be open for business. To keep followers apprised and educated, many added channels such as blogs, video on one’s website or on YouTube. And of course, social media now includes a myriad of tools to choose from. Today you will be treated to an update on another medium, one that may become as standard as a website in the coming future and as personal as a video message, but with fewer demands on you, the source, and the consumer. Because, let’s face it, if video is nothing more than a talking head, is it really worth not only your time to produce, but the visual attention it asks for from your audience?

I used to call what we do online radio, but technically, that refers to “terrestrial radio stations”—those that broadcast over the air waves from big towers—that are increasingly adding Internet streaming of their live programming so they can be accessed live, in real time, over the Internet instead of on a radio, or they are uploading broadcast programs to be listened to later, upon demand. That would be “Internet radio.” Whereas the episodes of this show are expressly created to be uploaded to the Internet where you can listen to them at your convenience and on any device. This is a podcast.

So I am embracing the label podcasting. I am a podcaster, and proud of it. There will be many more of us soon. I’m your host Jane Karwoski, and today you will be hearing from Rob Walch, the Vice President of Podcaster Relations with Libsyn/FAB Universal and co-author of the book Tricks of the Podcasting Masters. He loves to help businesses and individuals launch their podcast and teach them how to become successful Podcasters. In addition, he is the host of several podcasts himself! Including podCast411, and Today in iOS. He also co-hosts Today in Podcasting and The Feed: Podcasting Tips for Everyone. You know, I think Rob has found his calling, it is podcasting!!

Congratulations to Libsyn on their new partnership with Spotify. I remember asking one of my college students where teens today hear new music, if not on the pop-music radio stations of yore. And her answer was Spotify. What made partnering with Spotify attractive to Libsyn? Exactly that, the millennials. Libsyn definitely wants to introduce podcast listening to the younger generation and make it a habit throughout their life. Millennials are usually described as born before 2000, or between 15 and 35 years of age—late teens through early adults. During the current beta stage, Libsyn content is now available to about 10% of Spotify listeners in the US, UK, Germany, and Sweden.

Spotify has its own podcast and opened a Libsyn account to get their podcast into Spotify! Although focusing on podcast content especially of interest to millennials, they will eventually open up to virtually all podcasts. In that way, listeners will stay on the Spotify platform rather than go “where everything is.”

Currently, listeners from 35 to 55 seem to generate the majority of podcast downloads. Spotify’s audience is primarily 12 to 35. With an average of 75 million monthly users, the partnership between Libsyn and Spotify doubles the number of potential podcast listeners. Libsyn makes it easy for podcasters to release their content to various destinations such as iTunes, SoundCloud, TuneIn Radio, etc. Although the beta Spotify is for iOS, the Android access will soon be available, which is important since to date, Android has no native (built-in) podcast app allowing users to search for a podcast.

The number of female podcasters is still quite small, giving women, who account for at least 52% of bloggers, an opportunity to set themselves apart by podcasting.

The big news, though, is that President Barack Obama visited the source of the popular podcast WTF, Marc Maron’s Pasadena studio, his garage! Rob believes the interview has definitely put podcasting in mainstream media; he whets the appetite for not only Marc’s interview with “the pres,” but for the following episode in which Marc details the extended preparations needed to host the president.

“Is podcasting for me?” you might be asking yourself. Rob explains what approach usually leads to success, and what approach he has usually seen fail.

More about Rob Walch Rob Walch, Vice President of Podcaster Relations with Libsyn (liberated syndication), is with us to share with YOU more about whether podcasting is for you. Maybe you currently blog and wonder about adding an audio dimension to your communication with the great beyond, that global village at our fingertips. Rob has consulted with New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson and Senator John Edwards, and Jack Welch of GE fame, among others, on podcasting. He has written for Blogger and Podcaster Magazine as well as App Developer Magazine, he organizes the Kansas City Podcaster Meetup, and participates in another live event, Podcast Movement held in Dallas, Texas.

You can reach Rob at Rob@Libsyn.com