Beware Bad Content

Sometimes, it's a slog to produce a podcast. Coming up with new content is hard. And most studies say consistency is key - listeners should know when to expect new content. But today I'm going to give you a different angle.

Don't.

People have such limited attention spans - don't ask them to spend time with content that, as a creator, even YOU aren't confident in. Case in point - yesterday's press conference from Michigan's governor, Gretchen Whitmer. The CDC was pressuring her to shut the state back down, since we lead the nation in COVID numbers right now. Governor Whitmer, who, full disclosure, I'm a fan of, initially refused but called a presser yesterday afternoon. Rumors swirled about the announcement of a 45 day lockdown and more.

What did the Governor do? Nothing. She emphasized the importance of vaccines, and new COVID treatments, but she changed nothing. I was expecting news, and I got none. Just more jokes about governments having meetings to decide to have a meeting. When delivery doesn't meet expectation, you turn people away. The same is true of your podcast. Which reminds me, no JAG Show next week due to some scheduling conflicts.

Onto this week's news- more from Steve Goldstein and James Cridland's look at Apple's 2 million podcasts. Only EIGHT PERCENT have over 10 episodes AND have released in the last week. Competition is not as stiff as you thought. https://www.amplifimedia.com/blogstein/m7ei93yk38uivdv5llgbfkv7li87xw

On the other side of the device divide - Google Podcasts is now at 100 million installs, that's up from only 50 million 4 months ago. Podcasts hosts now say Google Podcasts is the CLEAR #3 platform behind Apple and Spotify so make sure your podcast is listed there. Theoretically, Google will crawl your podcast like a website, but you can help it along my claiming your show at https://podcastsmanager.google.com/

From two of the biggest podcasters around. Mark Maron will take home the first ever Governors Award from the Podcast Academy - their highest honor . Meanwhile Spotify quietly deleted 42 more episodes of the Joe Rogan experience. I won't get into a debate about censorship here, but when you take $100 million from a company, you gotta play by their rules. Speaking of Spotify, they've debuted their own charts for top podcasts and top episodes. Beware Apple - objects in your mirror may be closer than they appear. https://newsroom.spotify.com/2021-04-14/5-fast-facts-about-spotifys-new-podcast-charts

If you're looking to record a podcast with multiple people in the same room, Rode Microphones announced the Rode Connect, which will allow you to connect 4 of their NT USB Mini microphones to one computer with its own mixer. Definitely better than putting a Blue Yeti in the middle of a table, but I'd say beware of mic bleed. Press release, via Podnews: https://podnews.net/press-release/rode-connect Also, there is new software for the Rodecaster Pro mobile studio in Beta - I haven't tried it yet. Let someone else work out the kinks.

Podcasting continues to be a silver lining in the pandemic - UK podcast host producer AudioBoom tripled their revenue in 2020 - to $26.8 million, according to Podcast Business Journal.

The New York Times has it's 4th annual student podcast competition: it's open to ages 11 to 19. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/18/learning/our-fourth-annual-student-podcast-contest.html

Libsyn buys podcast monetization platform Glow, and Vox Media has acquired Cafe Studio, founded by former United States attorney Preet Bharara.

And finally, a big piece of news in the evolution of podcasting. Gimlet Media and Bill Simmons' The Ringer, both owned by Spotify, have ratified a union contract with the Writers Guild of America, East. It establishes job security and paid vacation for writer, and get this, a starting salary of $57,000, or, roughly, three times what I made in my first radio job in 2004.

If you need help getting started with your podcast, contact me via my website: https://jagindetroit.com/

Find jag on social media @JAGPodcastProductions or online at JAGPodcastProductions.com

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