Something is happening in the “unstoppable” business of podcasting: the creation of programs fell 70% last year

Over the past decade, podcasting has experienced enormous popularity jump. just review consumer studies such as those produced by Statista to check this trend. More and more we choose this alternative to inform or entertain ourselves.

But in recent times, not all the figures have been increasing, data that according to Bloomberg and independent analysts may be synonymous with the fact that this proposal is entering a stage of “maturity”, the step prior to a possible decline in consumption in the future.

Creation of new programs plummets

As we said, the number of podcast listeners has not stopped growing. In 2020, 332.2 million were recorded, in 2021 just over 383 million and in 2022 about 424 million. The creation of new podcasts, for its part, has left behind its sustained growth.

According Listen Notes podcast search engine data, more than a million new programs were published in 2020. In 2021, the numbers had dropped to 730,345. The most surprising thing has been that of 2022, where only 223,902 new programs were registered, that is, a pronounced drop of 70% in relation to the previous year.

In Listen Notes they point to the fall as something positive. According to specialists, many people released their first episode amid the podcasting boom. But the thing was there. After that first episode there were no more. This may be changing, as there are technically fewer people willing to start a program and then leave.

But not everything seems so positive. Let’s remember that audio giants have spent millions of dollars to cement their catalog of exclusives. Spotify, for example, which has spent some $225 million to win over creators, has just cut its budget for this sector, a decision that Amazon Music has also taken, Bloomberg says.

The podcasting advertising market is also lowering its expectations. Insider Intelligence projected a 55% growth for this year, in relation to the previous one. The reality is that now their projections estimate that the market will grow by 27%. Of course, it is not an isolated fall, as the ad market in general looks set to slow down this year.

One of the questions that remains on the table is whether the number of listeners will actually continue to grow steadily despite the fact that many other metrics show irregular behavior. Podotpods.com co-founder Nick Hiltonm points out in a blog post that while the current outlook is challenging, 2023 could prove to be a strong year for the industry.

Images: Co Women

In Xataka: If You Don’t Have Enough Listeners, Buy Them: How Fraud Is Distorting Podcast Numbers