The $1,000 Podcast Listing, Podcasting’s 2025 Predictions, & More

The Case for Making a Case for Spoken Word in 2025

This Wednesday from Tom Webster at Sounds Profitable: To end out the year’s newsletter, Webster looked back at how audience media habits appear to be changing. The 5,071 respondents to The Podcast Landscape 2024 were asked to rank which of fifteen major types of media they’ve consumed less of over the past 12 months, as well as that which they’ve started consuming more of.

In the more category, unsurprisingly, TikTok takes first place (53%), followed by YouTube (49%) and Podcasts (45%). A quote from Tom:

“The good news, of course, is that podcasting is in the top three, and it has a very healthy score. The top two should also not surprise you because online video has devoured the world, our little corner included. And I am not going to call the 45% figure for podcasting a “mixed bag” (it’s a really good showing, considering the sample is the general population and not just podcast consumers); however, there is no doubt that number two on the list had a lot to do with number three.”

The top three less-consumed list is topped by X/Twitter, AM/FM broadcast radio, AM/FM streaming radio, Facebook, and Instagram. When filtered for respondents aged 18-34 the numbers for AM/FM radio options jump 10%, and Network/Cable TV takes third spot. Looking at media from a holistic perspective as three categories (video, audio, text), audio is slipping. Spoken word content is losing ground to video as video gains more traction overall, leaving behind the strengths of spoken word that made podcasting viable in the first place.

Webster reflects on his attempts to talk his son into listening to podcasts and considers his core failing to have been trying to sell podcasts instead of the virtue of spoken word overall as a concept. Therein lies the message for 2025: Podcasting, if it wants to retain its podcasting DNA, needs to loudly and proudly celebrate spoken word. A quote from Webster:

“It’s selling audio that is really crucial for us in 2025, and I think podcasters of all stripes need to talk about it, even if your show is a video show. We can build better audio podcast clients, but asking people to migrate to audio AND change podcast clients is too many behaviors to change at once. We can sell audio better first, and I think we have to because podcasting is never going to “own” video.”

The $1,000 Podcast License from Italy

This Sunday from James Cridland at Podnews: A company in Italy has been sending out invoices totalling over $7,300 to multiple podcast directories and apps, citing they are licensing fees for six Italian podcasts. Most notable is the fact these six shows are freely available open podcasts.

According to Cridland’s reporting, a company by the name of Licensync is behind the legal-looking payment requests. The argument made by the company being podcasts, like other forms of media, require “appropriate licensing” to ensure the creators receive compensation.

A claim refuted by the last twenty years of how RSS-based podcast distribution has operated.

The article offers a deep dive into what Licensync claims to be, their behavior and legal-looking missives, and how to spot a member show of their organization. By the end, Cridland calls for a trade association to tackle issues like this as an industry. Beyond that, though, the existence of this piece proves what has been built with Podnews: a way for journalists to hold bad actors accountable and bring visibility to what they’re doing.

This isn’t the first time Podnews has covered a bad actor, but it is a fresh example why Sounds Profitable is a sponsor of Podnews and why we encourage others to subscribe and consider becoming a financial supporter. With support, journalists like Cridland can continue tackling important work in the industry.

Industry Experts Predict Podcasting in The New Year

With the end of the year upon us, quite a few outlets are looking forward to discuss what’s to coming over the next 12 months. First up, CoHost gathered 28 industry experts together to make predictions for the new year. Sentiments include anticipating a rise of video and accompanying analytics, multi-channel podcasts by executives, and a return of narrative and hybrid format podcasts as the traditional interview chat show reaches oversaturation.

This week’s episode of Media Roundtable brings together Amplifi Media CEO Steven Goldstein, Podscribe CEO Pete Birsinger, Sounds Profitable Partner Tom Webster, and Oxford Road/Veritone One CEO Dan Granger to discuss the future of the industry.

And finally: Right Side Up has written up five predictions for podcast advertising in the new year

Finally, it’s time for our Quick Hits. These are articles that didn’t quite make the cut for today’s episode, but are still worth including in your weekend reading. This week: