For many, podcasting is an end goal. But many creators are using podcasting as a way to reach more people — people who prefer listening to podcasts — by reformatting their previously created content.
Today’s episode is brought to you by the Advancing Podcasting community. It’s a special community just for listeners and readers of Podcast Pontifications and it’s populated by like-minded working podcasters just like you who also want to make podcasting better. You’re already listening to the show or reading the articles, so why not extend the conversation and your influence on the future of podcasting? Join us today!
Black Widow killed it at the box office last week. No big surprise there: it’s a Marvel movie! But what is surprising is that it also killed it with revenues from streaming, as it was simultaneously released as a pricy add-on for Disney+ subscribers. Also simultaneous but not sanctioned were the hundreds (or more) of illicit copies of Black Widow that were uploaded to various torrent servers within hours of the movie’s premiere.
Movie watchers had near unlimited choices to watch this film. For many, it marked a return to in-theater movie watching. Nearly as many streamed the movie from the comfort of their own homes, and an untold number opted to jump through a small number of hoops to download a pirated copy.
And people did all of those in rather surprising numbers. But you’re probably wondering what that has to do with podcasting.
A Podcasting Idea Before Its Time Reemerges
Last week, I learned that Macmillan Publishers-an early supporter of podcasting-was trying something new. Well, new to them, at least. They’ve repurposed their Stories from Among the Stars podcast feed and are now releasing full audiobook versions of some of their most popular titles on that feed.
They’re doing it one chapter at a time in serialized podcast form. That should sounds familiar to those of you who’ve known me for more than a decade. Way back in 2005, I helped a few hundred underpublished authors release podcast versions of their own books with a service called Podiobooks.com. That was acquired by Scribl in 2015, and a few authors like Scott Sigler, Cory Doctorow, and Paul E. Cooley are still releasing their books one chapter at a time in podcast form.
McMillan is the first (at least the first I can think of immediately) big publisher to officially adopt this model and use it with their expansive catalog. They’re currently releasing The Three-Body Problem, which remains one of the best stories I’ve ever read. Getting the chance to listen to the professionally produced audiobook in serialized form is a treat!
The Power Of The Container
What these two examples demonstrate is a drum I’ve been beating for years: The container often matters as much as the content.
People will naturally gravitate towards and select the container that best fits their needs at that time. But they also will, and oftentimes do, select a different container-a container that holds the same content-at a different time to fit their changed needs at that time.
This isn’t new. People my age remember watching movies on broadcast TV that we’d already watched in the theaters. And yes, we sat through the commercials and dealt with the truncated and censored “formatted for TV” realities. We listen to audiobooks we’ve already read in print-form. We’ll watch stage, movie, and television series adaptations of shows we’ve seen in their original form. We do this partly because we love the source content, for sure. But we also do this because we want to see or hear someone else’s take on the original content in that new container.
And as has been proven time and time again, digital containers aren’t cannibalistic to other forms of content.
You Need More Containers For Your Content
If you’re more than just a podcaster, you should ride this again-trending wave. If you do in-person consultations, consider putting out a few online, self-serve courses. Try your hand at a video series of you walking people through a process you’ve mastered and are well compensated for. Or make an audio-only version that doesn’t require visual elements and release it as a podcast. Record yourself making your podcast and put it live on TikTok or the next new thing.
Do whatever it is you do, customized for as many containers as you can, to give your source content the legs it deserves. Because you’re much more than just a podcaster. Assuming you want to be.
I think we’re seeing the reemergence of a trend of using podcasting as a vehicle to spread content, but not the only vehicle to spread that original content.
Podcast Pontifictions is written and narrated by . He’s on a mission to make podcasting better. Links to everything mentioned in today’s episode are in the notes section of your podcast listening app. A written-to-be-read article based on today’s episode is available at PodcastPontifications.com, where you’ll also find a video version and a corrected transcript, both created by Allie Press. Podcast Pontifications is a production of Simpler Media. Find out more at Simpler.Media.
I’d love to get some more examples of how podcasts have been repurposed to hold different content in a new container. Talk it over with your friends if you like, or share with us in the Advancing Podcasting community,
And if you love the content you heard in this container, please go to BuyMeACoffee.com/evoterra and show me your support.
I shall be back tomorrow with yet another Podcast Pontifications.
Cheers!
Transcript
For many, podcasting is an end goal. But many creators are using podcasting as a way to reach more people — people who prefer listening to podcasts — by reformatting their previously created content.
Today’s episode is brought to you by the Advancing Podcasting community at advancingpodcasting.xyz. Because why would I do anything normal? It’s a special community just for listeners and readers of Podcast Pontifications and it’s populated by like-minded working podcasters just like you who also want to make podcasting better. You’re already listening to the show. So why not extend the conversation and your influence on the future of podcasting? Join us today at advancingpodcasting.xyz.
Hello, and welcome to another Podcast Pontifications with me, Evo Terra.
Black Widow killed it at the box office last weekend. No big surprise there. It’s a Marvel movie. But what is surprising is that it also killed it in streaming, as a very expensive 30 bucks ad-on for Disney+ subscribers, of which I am. And to add on to that surprise, just the sheer number of illicit copies of Black Widow available as soon as it came out on various torrent servers.
Basically, if you wanted to watch that movie, you could buy a ticket to your local theater, you could stream it for free — sorta — on your home, whether you paid for it or did not pay for it, and you can even download a copy. You can do all those things. And people did to crazy degrees. As I mentioned, it’s killing it in all of those places.
And what’s all this have to do with podcasting? Well, I draw your attention to something I noticed last week. And that is that Macmillan Publishing, big book publisher, what they’re doing with their repurposed Stories from Among the Stars podcast feed. Macmillan is currently releasing full audiobook versions of some of their most popular titles on that feed. But they’re doing it one chapter at a time in serialized podcast form.
Now, if that sounds familiar to those of you who’ve known me for more than a decade — yeah, yeah, this is a familiar thing with new life. Back in the day I helped, oh, let’s say a few hundred underpublished authors, we’ll call them, do that same thing. Way back in 2005 is when we got started, when we launched a company called Podiobooks.com, which is now folded into another company.
But a few authors like Scott Sigler and Cory Doctorow and Paul E. Cooley, they’re still doing this same thing today, releasing the full version of their books in audio form, in podcast form for the listeners. Macmillan is just the first — at least the first I can think of immediately — big publisher to adopt this model.
Now, they’re currently releasing Three-Body Problem, which is amazing, one of the best stories I’ve actually read a few years back. And yes, yes I am actually listening to the professionally-produced audiobook in the serialized form on that feed.
Now, what these two examples, Black Widow’s massive release, even though it was available in lots of different places, as well as what Macmillan is doing right now with their Stories from Among the Stars feed, what these two examples show us is, basically, a drum I’ve been beating for years now. And it’s this: The container often matters as much as the content.
People will naturally gravitate towards the container that fits their needs best at that time. They may also, and often will, also select another container, a container that contains the same content at a different time when their needs change.
People my age remember watching movies they’d already watched in the theaters when those movies were shown on TV, broadcast TV. And we’d sit through the commercials and we’d deal with the edited-for-TV changes they made.
We listen to audiobooks we’ve already read in print, book form. We’ll watch stage, movie, and, I guess, television series adaptations of content we’ve already consumed. Partly because we love the content, but also partly because we want to see, and, in some cases, hear someone else’s take on that same content as they put it in a new container. And digital containers, it’s been proven time and time again, and Black Widow just proved it this last weekend, aren’t cannibalistic to other forms of content.
So here’s what that means to you, podcaster that has more than just a podcast. Put your courses online. Do a video series where you walk people through the exact same content that you have in another form, but you do it with a video. Or, make a podcast version of that. Same thing, except now it’s not requiring the visual element and works in the podcast form, which you know how to create.
Beyond that, record versions of you doing your podcast for things like TikTok and YouTube and live videos. Do whatever you can do, whatever you’re able to do, to get and let your content spread as wide as you possibly can because you’re much more than just a podcaster. If you want to be. There’s rationale for just doing the podcasting thing, but I think what we’re seeing is a growing trend because it’s been 17 years or 20 years, depending on how you count, a growing trend of using podcasting as a vehicle, but not the only vehicle.
Now, I’d love to get some more examples of podcasted repurposed content, so come on over to the Advancing Podcasting community, advancingpodcasting.xyz, and share any that you might know of. And if you love the content I had to say, please go to buymeacoffee.com/EvoTerra.
I shall be back tomorrow with yet another Podcast Pontifications.
Cheers!
Podcasts Pontifications is written and narrated by Evo Terra. He’s on a mission to make podcasting better. Links to everything mentioned in today’s episode are in the notes section of your podcast listening app. A written-to-be-read article based on today’s episode is available at podcastpontifications.com where you’ll also find a video version and a corrected transcript, both created by Allie Press. Podcast Pontifications is a production of Simpler Media. Find out more at Simpler.Media.
Originally published at https://podcastpontifications.com.
