Mohamed observes this: “Talking about a crisis in podcast production companies has become a daily topic in the industry. Over the past two years, it has become routine to see news about layoffs at one of the largest podcast production companies, or the bankruptcy of a major podcast network for the second time, or to see friends suddenly out of work after an unexpected early-morning message.”
She asked podcast experts from all continents whether the podcast industry is facing a real threat, and whether podcast production companies “are at risk of complete collapse.”
The responses range from “They offer nothing but laziness” to more placid observations (“The industry is overextended”). “AI” comes up again and again, mostly as an agent of pressure on podcast production services.
Skimming the response text conveys a vivid sense of crux — the podcast industry is at a change-or-die moment. Culling a few statements provides a bracing sense of mood:“Podcast companies? They offer nothing but laziness.”
- “Clients are not naive!”
- “Clients leaving? The promises were unrealistic and overly optimistic.”
- “Decline? No, it’s a reset of the podcast market.”
- “A temporary situation? No, it’s a permanent shift.”
- “Things are moving much faster than it takes to build sustainable systems.”
Nearly all participants acknowledge challenges, even if they package those challenges into a general optimism. “Layoffs? They don’t mean anything,” according to Matthew Ernest Filler, a U.S. production expert and one of two American podcast professionals who participated in the survey.
The other American is Paul Riismandel (President, Signal Hill Insights), is blithe about industry stress (“Layoffs? We shouldn’t exaggerate”) and characterizes what others call a podcast decline “a period of correction and development.”
Abdallah Mohamed’s survey is good weekend reading. Find it HERE.