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

  • hperrin@lemmy.worldEnglish
    1003·
    2 years ago

    Advertising has become much less profitable after many countries have passed stricter data protection laws. It’s a good thing. Paying for services should be the norm.

    • ubermeisters@lemmy.worldEnglish
      453·
      2 years ago

      Agreed. Hate it, but agree. I too, want free things, but I also want content that is not trash and not financially influenced by people who want to influence me. So if I want something nice, that means I gotta pay for it, or get it gifted to me.

      • clearleaf@lemmy.worldEnglish
        4·
        2 years ago

        It always felt like the entire podcast industry was running off the money of like three companies but it was such a weird idea I couldn’t believe it. I guess it was true.

    • Pratai@lemmy.caEnglish
      1810·
      2 years ago

      Downvoted by kids who don’t understand that content creators don’t do it for free.