Podcast Pulse

Observations on podcasting: audience trends, insights on podcast growth, new developments, tips, tricks. Hosted by Justin Jackson.

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Episodes

Starting a podcast in 2024: is it worth it?

If you're starting a podcast in 2024, you don't need to start a video podcast. Instead, I recommend you start with an audio podcast. Why? Getting started with audio is simple: a microphone and a phone, tablet, or laptop are all you need. Conversely, video requires a lot of equipment (DSLR camera, lighting, capture card, mixer, microphone, computer). Doing all of that setup is a distraction from what you should be focusing on when you're starting a podcast, which is answering the question: "Can I...

Jan 31, 2024•6 min•Ep. 7

Don't start a video podcast

Video is having its moment right now, but I think that most new podcasters should start with an audio podcast. In the beginning, a new podcaster needs to find their voice, practice, and learn what makes an episode compelling. Video adds a whole layer of production complexity that distracts from that aim. Plus, appearing on video adds a lot of pressure to worry about your appearance. With audio, you can just hit record and focus on your content. Read the full blog post...

Dec 22, 2023•3 min•Ep. 6

Podcast promotion tips (Laravel Podcast case study)

In this episode, Justin Jackson (Transistor) and Matt Stauffer (The Laravel Podcast with Taylor Otwell) discuss strategies for podcast growth. Justin shared a variety of marketing tactics to help Matt grow his podcast audience. I. Setting the Stage: Introducing Matt Stauffer and the Laravel Podcast In the first part of our conversation, we introduced Matt Stauffer, co-owner of Titan and host of the Laravel Podcast. Matt shared his background and the success of the Laravel Podcast, which has gain...

Nov 24, 2023•32 min•Ep. 5

Will Joe Rogan leave Spotify? (The future of podcasting's biggest deal)

In 2020, when podcasting was at its peak boom, Spotify signed a three-year exclusivity deal with Joe Rogan, thought to be worth $200 million. That deal expires sometime near the end of 2023, and Spotify's CEO, Daniel Ek, is under pressure. In her piece for the Verge , Ariel Shapiro says: "Rogan is still the best bet the company has ever made. He remains the top podcaster in the world, and it’s not close." But on the other hand, Daniel Ek is under a lot of pressure to pull back Spotify's investme...

Nov 03, 2023•7 min•Ep. 4

Which podcast app is the most popular?

There's no shortage of podcast-listening apps for Android and iOS users. But have you ever wondered which app listeners use most? Let's dive into the data and find out. Podcast hosting companies have the unique advantage of tracking listener data. Every time a podcast episode is downloaded, it's tagged to a specific application, giving us insights into user preferences. The Data from Transistor: At Transistor, the data reveals some interesting trends: Apple Podcasts dominates the scene with a wh...

Oct 11, 2023•7 min•Ep. 3

Can you use an AI voice generator to create an entire podcast episode?

With all of the excitement around artificial intelligence, many podcasters are asking: "Can you use an AI voice generator to create a podcast episode?" I wanted to put that question to the test, so I generated audio with a few popular AI voice tools. The first experiment I ran was a bot that a local college kid put together. I prompted it to "create a podcast episode for a podcast about extreme rollerblading. Talk about the rollerblading scene in Stony Plain, Alberta," (which is my hometown). (0...

Sep 28, 2023•12 min•Ep. 2

Google Podcasts is shutting down

In today's news, Google Podcasts is shutting down . Google Podcasts users received an email today indicating that the listening app, which was just launched five years ago, will be shutting down in 2024. Google plans to migrate all of these users to YouTube Music. This aligns with Google's recent push to integrate podcasts into the platform, which began supporting podcasts earlier this year. Many Android users were surprised by the announcement. Google Podcasts has been around since 2018 and was...

Sep 27, 2023•3 min•Ep. 1