Podcasts are here to stay

On September 30, the International Podcast Day, digital broadcasting that has gone from being an amateur activity to an important source of income for companies and content creators. And the fact is that more and more people decide to listen to this audio format. In the last decade, People's information, consumption and entertainment habits have evolved at a rapid pace as a result of the digital and technological transformation. It is now possible to consult an immense catalog of movies, listen to any type of music or access multiple radio programs only with Internet connection.All of these changes and innovations have been made possible by the accessibility, practicality and versatility offered by the streaming, allowing millions of users worldwide to access an infinite number of online content. However, among the contents that have gained greater strength in recent years, stand out The podcasts.

Why has the podcast become so popular?

Podcasts are acquiring every time more relevance on the global stage because it is a communication format that exercises a great influence on the dissemination of messages in front of millions of listeners. But what do we mean when we talk about podcasts? Un podcast It is a serial program, similar to a radio program but which is recorded in audio and is Broadcasted on streaming through different applications and published online in a downloadable format.This format has gained a lot of popularity in recent years, being considered relatively new, however, the podcast is old (at least considering the beginning of the Internet era). Specifically was born in 2004, but it was not until relatively recently that he considered how the future of radio.As we mentioned, the format is similar to radio programs, but the podcast has some innovations that are essential to consider to understand why it is a Booming trend: anyone can play it anywhere and whenever they want, it can address various topics and its contents are endless.

Advantages of the podcast compared to other formats

Despite being in the image era, the audio format is a market that offers many differential advantages capable of captivating the public.The podcast, thanks to its quality content, its own language and the different themes, has been able to create a community of listeners around him. In addition, being stories told “in the ear”, privacy has become the new tool for innovation in the digital world. One of its main advantages also stands out as one of its main advantages the fact of being able to consider Podcasts like multitasking. Now that we are in the era of Multitasking, the possibility of consuming content at the same time as performing any other task or activity is its great power, adapting to all types of listeners and their daily situations. However, what has truly given the impetus to podcasts has been this new form of à la carte consumption in which the consumer chooses how to enjoy the content. In podcasts, unlike traditional radio programs, the content awaits its listener and not the other way around. The episodes can be listened to weeks or even months after it was published, and the playback can be stopped, retracted, advanced, and resumed, without requiring the user to be available at a specific time and place to enjoy the content. In addition, there is a wide range of podcast applications and software for all types of operating systems that provide listeners with possibility to choose where and how you want to listen to your programs.In short, its success and popularity are due to the fact that it is a format that allows us to listen to what the user wants, at the time and place he wants and on the platform of his choice. That's the magic of the podcast: a form of entertainment and consumption of informational content 100% customizable and portable. Thus, with the wide variety of themes, the enormous flexibility and availability they offer, it's no wonder that the consumption and popularity of podcasts is increasing.

The rise of podcasts in Spain

Although the podcast is a format that has grown to reach 1 billion people around the world, Spain is among the growth leaders in the audio industry. The fact is that, as a result of the changes generated by the pandemic and the lockdown, consumer habits have changed benefiting digital content. [caption id="attachment_17706" align="alignnone” width="828"]

Percentage of people who listened to podcasts between February 2020 and June 2021. [/caption] Thus, data from the iVoox Observatory confirm the rise of the audio format in Spain, whose production and consumption has grown significantly with the pandemic. With about 19 hours of listening per month, listeners choose to use smartphones or tablets for their consumption while doing other activities such as household chores, and they are mostly willing to pay for exclusive content. This increase in demand has caused a 6.8% increase in the production of podcasts in Spanish.According to the study The State of the Podcast Universe made by Voxnest, podcast consumption in Spain increased by 25% in 2020and, according to a recent report from Spotify, 51% of Spaniards already listen to podcasts and 33% do it quite often and they are loyal listeners. This annual report on podcast consumption habits in Spain on Spotify shows the evolution of the format in our country, as well as the latest trends, and reflects through its data that the consumption of podcasts is not a fad, but rather that Has come to stay.

The Future of the Podcast

Podcasting is the first real innovation with regard to the transformation of radio in its relationship with the Internet. It is clear that previous appearances such as streaming or radio on demand changed the way sound content was distributed, but it has never been done in such a radical way as the podcast has achieved. With all this, the growth rate of podcasts has been confirmed by experts on numerous occasions, and a report prepared by Deloitte supports these data: In the next five years, podcast listening could increase between 25 and 30%.But for this to be possible, we must understand that we are faced with a new environment that must be addressed from innovative perspectives that allow us to get the most out of it.Along these lines, companies have not been left behind and many have seen in corporate and brand podcasts a new opportunity to connect with their audience by providing quality content on new channels that allow them to transmit the values they represent.And you, have you joined the podcast trend?