We see a continuing trend developing in the monthly podcast metrics published by Listen Notes. (See the data HERE.) As was the case last month July’s new podcast launches dropped, to 9,564 new shows from the previous month (13,655), showing the lowest new-show production in a year:
(It must be noted that Listen Notes monthly data continues trickling in after the month ends, so the June bar above might rise a bit.)
In the whole-year view, the post-Covid trend of lower production appears to be continuing for 2023. The chart below shows rounded to 120,000 for 2023, reaching for 2022’s total of 239,000 new titles launched. If podcast launches continue through 2023 at the current pace, the 2023 total would be 206,285 new shows.
Alongside these reductions, a certain creative stability is being asserted, where “dead podcasts” (deleted RSS feed and/or iTunes:complete tag is set to “Yes”) is low for 2023 at this point. Only 15,000 (rounded) shows are certifiably abandoned, projecting to 26,000 for all of 2023. If that number holds, it will be the lowest number of podcast quits since 2015.
We also note that Society and Culture podcasts top the category list for July (as in past months), followed by Education, Arts, and Business (also as in past months).
Spotify-owned Anchor continues to be the most used hosting platform, with a staggering 56% of that business. Dozens of alternatives split the remainder; Buzzsprout leads that long tail with nearly six percent.
