Look Before You Leap: Podcast Networks
In May 2020, when Spotify announced Joe Rogan’s wildly successful podcast, The Joe Rogan Experience, would become a Spotify exclusive show it got the wheels turning in the minds of many about podcast networks. Joe Rogan was offered a lot of money to make this move. Others such as Brené Brown’s, Unlocking Us, have done similar.
So, you may be wondering…
“Should I consider this for my own show?”
“What exactly is a podcast network?”
“Are there pros and cons to being part of a network?”
You’re in the right place for answers.
Is joining a podcast network the right move for your show?
Before you move forward, let’s get clear on what a podcast network really is:
A podcast network is a company or organization that creates a collection of podcasts that are grouped together. The groupings can be assembled by genre or sometimes even by advertisers.
The goal of the network is to deliver a one-stop-shop for shows desiring to simplify the podcasting process and entice brands to sponsor the shows on their network.
For the listeners, the benefit is finding all of their favorites in one place. Networks are counting on listeners tuning in longer…and hearing the advertising messages.
Weighing the Facts
Two Pros to joining a podcast network:
Being invited to join a podcast network validates your hard work and the value listeners place on your show. It’s a podcaster’s dream to be approached by a network and asked to join them. The terms may vary with this invitation to mean the network gets broadcast exclusivity to your show or your episodes release on their platform first and then trickle out to other directories. Deals can be constructed in various ways.
Your market reach and exposure will explode. All the marketing this network has done drives listeners to your episodes. Think about how large and well-known Spotify is and all being part of Spotify’s line-up could do for your show’s exposure.
Several Cons to be aware of:
The odds of your show being picked up by a streaming service or network are small. This typically happens to the shows in the Top 1-5% range. The competition is high when you consider there are at least 1.5 million podcasts and more than 34 million podcast episodes. The numbers are considerably smaller for the total of podcast networks and even fewer for major music streaming services.
A switch to a network will come with some measure of loss to your subscriber numbers. This seems counterintuitive when you consider a network often comes with a larger marketing reach but your longtime subscribers may not transition with you. For some shows making the shift, this can include starting over with your marketing to both maintain your listener base and to attract new audiences. You will need to roll your sleeves up and get down to more marketing work.
Items you MUST retain control of:
When I launched my first podcast, an industry community forum I was a part of asked to be my sponsor. It was very much like how a network is set up nowadays. I had a special section on the sponsor’s forum website which spotlighted whenever a new episode went live. Plus, the forum sent out emails to notify users of my podcast. The forum even rallied around to help me get nominated for a Podcast Award—making the network’s support both desirable and welcome. While my show was a main staple of the industry forum, I still retained intellectual rights and property of my show.
If joining a network feels like the best path for you to take, be aware of these three items you must always retain control of. It’s smart (and necessary) to protect your intellectual property.
1. Your RSS feed. If you move to a podcast network and they make it so they must move your show to their platform and change your RSS feed, it will be difficult to get ownership of this feed if you part ways. The RSS feed is where your subscribers live. Simply put: if you lose control of your feed, you lose your subscribers. The RSS feed is one of the biggest assets of your podcast, period.
Worst case scenario: If you did lose control of the RSS feed, yes, you can create a new feed. You would essentially have to start from scratch with attracting subscribers. My blog post What Every Podcast Should Have: An RSS Feed explains more.
2. Your intellectual property. The podcast is you and your brand. Make sure you still retain all rights to your podcast name and intellectual property. There have been cases in which shows created by big networks, such as Gimlet, where the host was fired after a few seasons of being on the network. This is particularly hard to fathom since the host put all of their blood, sweat, and tears into the show. This example is rare and in many of these incidences the network hired the host to do a very specific job. Whatever the contract you sign says, it’s essential should you part ways, there’s a clause addressing what happens to: the name, content, everything relating to the creation of your podcast, your stories, and the episodes; specifically so it is clear they are owned by you and only you.
3. Your email list. It is very likely one of the ways the network will promote your show and episodes is through an email list. Which is great! But you may also have an opt-in on your site to grow your own list. Make sure there won't be any confusion that the email list that you grow, nurture, and engage on your site is owned by you, and should you part ways, it's yours and yours alone. I wrote more about this on my blog, Turning Fans into Subscribers.