Podcast revolution 🎙
Ka-ching! 🤑
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🎶 Video Killed the Radio Star... 🎶 This banger from 1978 by The Buggles is still relevant even after more than 40 years. But recently it seems like we need a new hit called Audio Killed the Video Star.
Audio is the new video. This phrase is floating in the marketing and business air for a few years now. I vividly remember when I started to listen to podcasts - it was the year 2018 and in my home country, Slovakia, it wasn't a thing at all. And ironically, I was still late to this game. The first experiments with audio talk programs happened in the early 90s. But "the first official podcast" has its origins in the 2000s.
According to Wikipedia, in September 2003 these guys - Dave Winner and Christopher Lydon - had developed a portable recording studio conducted in-depth interviews with bloggers and political figures, and posted MP3 files on Christoph's blog. It wasn't a podcast immediately. This name was firstly used in February 2004, when The Guardian reporter Ben Hammersley suggested this term for this on-rise technology.
One year later, Apple added podcasting to its iTunes Music Store. You will never guess who was also one of the first podcasters - former US president George W. Bush! In July 2005, his weekly radio addresses were added as an RSS feed to the downloadable files.
But the absolute boom happened in 2014 when the "Serial" podcast was launched. The crime series was a record success with more than 68 million downloads by the end of season one.
It's hard to tell how many podcast shows and episodes are out there right now. Some sources are referring to the number 30 million, some even more than that. Seems like who doesn't have his own podcast doesn't even live on this planet? The Insider estimates the number of US podcast listeners will increase 16 % year-over-year, reaching 106.7 million. Statistics show that consumers spend about 34 minutes daily with podcasts.
With these numbers comes money. Currently, creators can monetize on ad breaks (unless you're Joe Rogan, Prince Harry, or Obamas), but that's not enough. We were missing some kind of paywall for this huge area, but that wait is over! 💰
Spotify launched the podcast creation tool "Anchor" and podcasters will be able to choose which episodes should be subscriber-only content. They are opening paid subscriptions only to the U.S. creators for now, but it should be an international feature in the next months. The cost to subscribe is determined by the creator but will be one of thee tiers: $2.99, $4.99, or $7.99 per month.
Another one of the top 3 biggest podcast players, Apple, uncovered "Apple Podcast Subscriptions", a global marketplace for listeners with premium subscriptions offered by their favorite podcasters. From this May, users can subscribe to a variety of benefits, including ad-free listening or early/exclusive access to new episodes.
I wrote an article about podcasts back in 2019 mentioning it's only a question of time when we start to pay for podcasts - and it seems like the time has come. 💸
Latest Digi Snacks 🍩
🍪 TikTok for kids
Remember the name "Zigazoo", it could be another big thing. Zigazoo is a new social media app for kids ages three to 12. Kids can create 30 sec. video challenges created by zoos, museums, teachers, or artists. Even Jimmy Kimmel and Serena Williams are investing in it. 🧒
🍪 Hello, Zoom fatigue again
I wrote about the feeling of exhaustion from online meetings in the first edition of Digi Snacks - now, new Stanford research discovered that "Zoom fatigue" is even greater for women. 🥱
🍪 Unlocking your phone with a face mask
Apple will now let you unlock your iPhone with a Face ID while wearing a face mask, but you need an Apple Watch. Your iPhone should detect if your Apple Watch is nearby to unlock it if you have a mask on. 😷
🍪 The future is here
The company called Wing, a subsidiary of Google's corporate parent Alphabet, uses drones to deliver Girl Scout cookies to people's doorsteps in a Virginia community. 🍪
🍪 No more swear words
Instagram will introduce a new tool allowing to filter out certain words, phrases, and emojis from direct message requests. ⛔
🍪 3D printed ivory
Ivory is one of the most extremely valuable commodities and highly threatens the living population of elephants. Researchers from Vienna developed an artificial ivory-like material "Digory" which can be hardened in a 3D printer. 🐘
🍪 Precious Frodo
The upcoming Amazon’s “Lord of the Rings” TV show could be one of the most costly television series ever made. Season one will cost around $465 million. 💍
One recommendation 👌
The restrictions and lockdowns seem to lower almost everywhere and we are starting to see our friends again - if you feel like you suddenly forgot how to talk and be social, you’re not the only one.
Here’s a guide “How To Make Small Talk When You Haven’t Seen Anyone In A Year “ with 15 strategy points.
One Fun Fact 😎
Don’t believe everything you see on the internet! Read a fascinating story about a popular motorcycle rider known as a pretty young woman in Japan who has been revealed as a 50-year-old man with great hair! He was using a face-changing app with the aim to become a Twitter influencer.
One Random Fact 🤓
Consumers worldwide spent $900 billion more at online retailers in 2020 compared with the prior two-year trend. E-commerce made up about $1 out of every $5 spent on retail globally. That’s an increase from about $1 out of every $7 spent in 2019. 💲
That’s a wrap for edition no. eight! Did you like it? Feel free to share and your feedback is more than welcome.