Half the podcasts in my queue have suddenly become paid subscriptions. Meanwhile the overall industry is losing listeners. Seems like a lousy business model to not offer a free with ads feed. What a bizarre trend.

https://www.deseret.com/entertainment/2023/2/9/23592684/decline-of-podcasts#:~:text=Monthly listenership to podcasts seems,podcasts has fallen as well.

https://www.marketingbrew.com/stories/2022/03/28/monthly-podcast-listening-is-down-for-the-first-time-in-almost-a-decade-according-to-study

  • El Barto@lemmy.worldEnglish
    101·
    9 months ago

    You don’t need bitcoins to do that streaming thing. It’s been done before with actual money. For example, pay-by-the-minute phone plans.

    • magic_lobster_party@kbin.social
      211·
      9 months ago

      As soon someone mentions cryptocurrency, I know their suggestion of solution can be disregarded. The problem is rarely the medium of payment.

      • bearded_zero@lemmy.worldEnglish
        12·
        9 months ago

        Yeah the damn crypto bros destroyed any credibility that Bitcoin has, but I did say this is one the few good uses for Bitcoin I use.
        I’m not saying this is for everyone, but it can be helpful to help sustain podcasting on its fans. Honestly look at how much Twitch takes from streams for bits, subs, and transaction fees kill the streamers revenue. Here is a YouTube video that express how much goes into everyone’s else’s pocket when you sub on Twitch.

        https://youtu.be/WIjlDLkrTjE?si=AM9_Lh3GfEkMQdO3

        Using podcasting 2.0 features Jupiter Broadcasting has been able to completely cover production cost for its podcasts with funding provided from fans of the show alone. And that’s the important part. Helping podcast people love alive.

    • bearded_zero@lemmy.worldEnglish
      12·
      9 months ago

      Standard credit card processing fees are anywhere from 1.5% to 3.5% and then there’s more on top of that. Here is an article that runs down typical credit card processing fees.

      https://www.forbes.com/advisor/business/credit-card-processing-fees/

      In addition to that pay by the minute foam plans are quite costly, but it is an option. Podcasting 2.0 may not be the 100% answer for everyone but diversifying your income is a good thing.