As the podcast market continues to grow, competition is heating up. There are well over 2,000,000 podcasts out there and 60 million American homes are tuning in. In response, podcast technology is moving ahead by leaps and bounds.
As the airwaves are filling with more shows, many podcasters are shifting to a traditional in-studio setting to capture cleaner recordings for their content. This migration back to a professional recording atmosphere is upping the ante when it comes to quality. It’s also impacting listener expectations.
This growth and evolution in the podcasting world are naturally opening the doors to new improvements and innovations. From recording quality to distribution and monetization, here are some of the newest podcast technology tools that podcasters can use to help them make their shows the latest and greatest entertainment the audio world has to offer.
Leverage greater cloud-based recording quality.
Getting a good recording in a podcast is always tricky.
Artists already have to start by overcoming the acoustic challenges of their own recording spaces. This requires finding a suitable space, setting up sound barriers, and getting a good mic and the right recording equipment.
This solves the issue for local recordings. However, as soon as you have a guest on your show, it throws everything off. This is especially true if you’re recording remotely, with someone who isn’t on site. Then, you’re dependent on their own equipment and acoustic setting, which is often nothing to write home about.
That’s where SquadCast comes into the picture. The cloud recording studio (CRS) platform offers online services that enable podcasters to keep their recording in the cloud. Up to 10 people at a time can record a session together and create an end product with impeccable quality.
Along with the CRS’s own premier platform, this level of quality is made possible through its integration of the Dolby.io audio enhancement API. This industry-leading tool reduces noises, hissing, and popping. It also corrects volume levels and isolates voices to make them clearer.
Companies like these are leading the way when it comes to creating clean, professional recordings with user-friendly tools. This combination of ease and quality frees up artists to focus on the content creation process.
Podcast hosting sites are streamlining back-end production.
Hosting a podcast used to be a headache. Uploading files, filling out optimization info, and submitting your podcast to various directories took up loads of valuable time.
With so many individuals and businesses starting podcasts, it’s led to the development of a number of hosting sites that don’t just enable a podcast to go live. They streamline the process, too. For instance, BuzzSprout offers a number of features that can accelerate the production process.
The platform provides hosting and distribution services that make it easy to get a podcast listed on all of the major directories. They also offer up a large variety of analytics that can help users guide their efforts as they create content. Their automatic episode optimization also takes most of the legwork out of things like formatting audio files and publishing them at the right time.
Where BuzzSprout really takes things to the next level, though, is with its dynamic content option. This allows podcasters to add pre-roll and post-roll segments that can be added to other episodes. This eliminates the need for re-recording and enables artists to enhance already recorded content with ease.
Monetization is becoming simpler.
There are many ways to monetize a podcast. You can sell ad space, engage in affiliate marketing, and set up a Patreon page.
The problem is, much like the production process, each of these activities takes up lots of valuable time that could be spent creating more content.
Fortunately, there are podcast technology companies that are developing innovative solutions that speed up the monetization process. For instance, the hosting service Anchor has created its Spotify-powered “Ads by Anchor” option. This allows podcasters with a minimal baseline audience to promote the hosting service as a way to monetize their own podcast.
Anchor’s ads are just the tip of the iceberg, too. There are many other techy tools that are facilitating the easy insertion of ads into podcasting content. Throughout these efforts, the goal is to create easier ways to enable hosts to adopt a “set it and forget it” attitude when it comes to monetizing their work.
The future of podcasting is looking bright.
Podcasting is a vibrant content creation tool that is rapidly growing in popularity. As folks from all walks of life turn to this audio entertainment medium, tech companies are coming alongside them to help their efforts.
From better quality to cloud-based recording to simplified hosting and easy-as-pie monetization, podcast technology is quickly turning podcasting into a seamless experience that gives artists the ability to both create and financially benefit from their work with ease.
