Podcasts have become increasingly more popular. Around 7 million people in The Netherlands listen to podcast shows (Markteffect, 2023), and globally there are more than 400 million podcast listeners (Marshall, 2023). And also, the number of podcast shows made is ever growing, with a staggering 2 million podcasts worldwide in 2023 (Marshall, 2023). I mean, who does not know any podcast maker? I for one already know two, my boyfriend travels to Amsterdam every week to talk about football in a podcast show made for football lovers, and even my father-in-law records a podcast with his friends. Even I myself have uploaded a few podcast episodes, made for my study association.
For me, it was in Sweden that I discovered the amazing world of podcasts. It was autumn 2021 and I was in Sweden as an exchange student, and because I only had a few classes to attend (mainly online because of covid) and I had no side job, I had a lot of time to spare to do the things I love, such as making long walks. And while walking and listening to the same songs over and over again, I figured I would like to listen to something else, maybe a story of some sort. I must admit that I was skeptical about podcasts at first, I mean, who would want to listen to hours of audio fragments about other people’s lives, to me that sounded very boring. However, I discovered this Dutch podcast ‘Moordcast’ because a friend of mine recommended it to me. She knew I liked detectives and figured I might be interested in crime stories about murders. So, I gave it a shot and was instantly hooked on it. The platform on which the episodes were posted, was Spotify. An app that I have had since I was a teenager. But then, during spring of 2022, the makers of Moordcast announced that they would switch to the new podcast platform Podimo, which was to be launched on 15 April 2022 (Blom, 2022). Sadly enough, I discovered that this platform did not offer a free version. Thus, no freemium strategy for me to take advantage of. The choice was thus either to stop listening to Moordcast, or to get a subscription on the podcast app Podimo. As I listened to Moordcast on a weekly basis, it had become sort of a ritual for me to listen to the murder stories during my weekly activities such as cleaning my room and doing my laundry. I did not want to give up this weekly portion of crime and decided to get a subscription to Podimo.
Now, with the knowledge gained on the subjects of versioning as a price discrimination strategy, freemium models used by platforms, and the long tail strategy of offering niche products, this made me rethink my actions in relation to the Podimo app. And, how Podimo has used these topics to get a rather successful result. Since the introduction of Podimo in The Netherlands, the app has invested money to get more and more podcasts on board. Popular podcasts, such as ‘Man man man’ and ‘Zelfspodcast’ were there from the beginning to attract new customers to pay for their exclusive podcast platform (Blom, 2022). These and some more other very popular podcasts which were added later such as ‘Geuze & Gorgels’, can be seen as the head of the tail of all the podcast titles that are offered by Podimo. But once a customer is on the platform, he or she can discover a world of podcasts with very specific subjects, which might by themselves only attract a few listeners. For example, the app even has a section for fantasy sports podcasts (Podimo, 2024a). This long tail of niche podcast titles that are offered by Podimo attract very different customers than the popular titles do, possibly making up an even larger part of the total number of subscribers. It might be that this strategy of offering all these less popular shows, led to Podimo becoming profitable already within two years after being introduced in The Netherlands (Kleijngeld, 2024).
It is the online environment with infinite shelf space and the electronic delivery of podcasts on an app that enables this long tail strategy to work for the podcast market (Elberse, 2008, p.1-2). And it seems that this concept of podcasts is attractive to a large group of customers, because the popularity of podcasts in The Netherlands has increased considerably. The number of podcast listeners in The Netherlands has doubled in four years’ time from 25% of Dutch people in 2019 to 49%in 2023 (Markteffect, 2023). However, the same research also pointed out that while 40% of the podcast listeners in 2023 knew about the podcast app Podimo, only about 5% has a subscription on their platform, and around 11% considers getting a paid subscription (Markteffect, 2023). For Podimo, there is still some work to do to get these and more customers to actually join their platform. They seem to already be working on this by having introduced a podcast event called ‘Podimo at the park’. Last September the second edition of this free event took place, and it is designed to attract customers to come listen and watch the podcasts being recorded live and meet the podcast makers (Podimo, 2024b). This event is a way for Podimo to get to know their customers better, by offering them both an online and offline experience of podcasts. To me the introduction of this event looks a bit like Podimo wanted to implement (a light version of) an omnichannel business model (Weill & Woerner, 2015, p. 29-30). But with only one yearly event, I doubt it will get them a considerable number of new customers.
To attract more new listeners, Podimo might consider introducing a free version of their app. As of now, Podimo offers only two versions, namely the premium version for €6,99 per month, which gives unlimited access to podcasts and 20 hours per month of audiobooks, and a premium plus version for €11,99 per month which offers podcast and audiobooks both unlimited (Podimo, 2024c). By offering a free version, new listeners could be attracted, and while listening to (a subset of episodes of) some of the shows, they can experience the app with all its features and get a taste of what lies beyond the free version. However, such a freemium business model does not always guarantee success (Panda, 2020, p. 6). Only when Podimo has a solid strategy for innovation and knows its customers well enough to be able to offer them what they want in the paid version, will it help them get more loyal listeners that are willing to pay for the service (Panda, 2020, p. 6). For me personally, however, it wouldn’t make much of a difference, as I am already on board. So, I will just keep on listening to the weekly Moordcast episode when doing my laundry.
References
Blom, R. (2022, April 15). Podimo start betaald podcastabonnement in Nederland. Adformatie. https://www.adformatie.nl/media/podimo-start-betaald-podcastabonnement-nederland
Elberse, A. (2008). Should You Invest in the Long Tail? HBR, 86(7/8), 1-10.
Kleingeld, J. (2024, August 23). Sander Schimmelpenninck’s Tonny Media gekocht door Podimo. M&A. https://mena.nl/artikel/sander-schimmelpennincks-tonny-media-gekocht-door-podimo/
Markteffect (2023, July 18). Weer meer podcastluisteraars in Nederland (7 miljoen), ook live events steeds populairder. https://www.adformatie.nl/data-insights/aantal-podcastluisteraars-4-jaar-tijd-verdubbeld
Marshal, N. (2023, January 17). Podcasting Is Growing For A Reason—Don’t Miss Out On That Growth. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/councils/forbesagencycouncil/2023/01/17/podcasting-is-growing-for-a-reason-dont-miss-out-on-that-growth/
Panda, B.K. (2020). Application of business model innovation for new enterprises: A case study of digital business using a freemium business model. Journal of Management Development, 2020, 1-8. DOI 10.1108/JMD-11-2018-0314.
Podimo. (2024a). F.S. Podcast – The Fantasy Sports Podcast [one of many fantasy sports podcasts]. Podimo. https://podimo.com/nl/shows/f-s-podcast-the-fantasy-sports-podcast
Podimo. (2024b, August 13). Podimo at the Park, hét podcastfestival van 2024, is terug! Podimo. https://podimo.com/nl/blog/podimo-at-the-park
Podimo. (2024c). [Homepage]. Podimo. https://podimo.com/nl
Weill, P., & Woerner, S.L. (2015). Thriving in an Increasingly Digital Ecosystem. MITSloan Management Review, 56(4), 27-34.
