Some once-exclusive podcasters are challenging the notion
Evo Terra:that you can never go home again.
Evo Terra:They assume their audience will be happy to see them.
Evo Terra:But reality may not line up with those assumptions.
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Evo Terra:Hello, and welcome to another Podcast Pontifications with me, Evo Terra.
Evo Terra:We're starting to see movement in the exclusive side of podcasting again.
Evo Terra:But this time, it's not just shows moving toward exclusivity.
Evo Terra:We're also seeing shows moving out of exclusivity deals with some single
Evo Terra:platform, and, once again, becoming widely distributed on all the platforms.
Evo Terra:Now, while that's more than a little concerning for those exclusive platforms
Evo Terra:- Is that business model really working out?
Evo Terra:- it's quite exciting to podcast listeners and podcasters alike.
Evo Terra:It's exciting to listeners because they can now freely enjoy
Evo Terra:what was, for at least a time, exclusive and perhaps off limits.
Evo Terra:And it's exciting to podcasters because maybe exclusive doesn't mean forever.
Evo Terra:Podcasters who've gone exclusive are now realizing that, hey, they
Evo Terra:can always go back to free, right?
Evo Terra:Either at the end of the exclusive period they signed up for, or by
Evo Terra:breaking, or better yet renegotiating, their contact on that exclusivity.
Evo Terra:Part of the calculus that exiting an exclusive agreement looks like - I think
Evo Terra:the podcaster makes three different assumptions about their audience and
Evo Terra:what's going to happen when they go back to wide distribution for their show.
Evo Terra:Assumption number one is "Well, the listeners followed me here," wherever
Evo Terra:that happens to be, "and they're going to stay with me," whether that's here on
Evo Terra:that exclusive platform or somewhere else.
Evo Terra:And that assumption is probably true.
Evo Terra:I can't fault much of that.
Evo Terra:I do think that some of the existing audience who were listening while the show
Evo Terra:was exclusive are going to be able and quite happy to switch to a different app.
Evo Terra:Some will be.
Evo Terra:And as long as you're still on that app that you moved people to when you
Evo Terra:went exclusive, podcaster, they'll be happy to listen there, too.
Evo Terra:But that only assumes that exclusive app you were on still has your show listed.
Evo Terra:It might not.
Evo Terra:What happens if that app itself is exclusive and only exclusive
Evo Terra:shows can be on that app?
Evo Terra:Will your listeners follow you off?
Evo Terra:Well, hang on, that exclusive app might be, to those listeners,
Evo Terra:a much better experience.
Evo Terra:It's curated content.
Evo Terra:It's better than the other apps that are out there.
Evo Terra:They may have found that app works really well for them.
Evo Terra:And, by the way, I think it's way too early to discount tightly curated
Evo Terra:apps that list a much smaller set of podcasts that are able to present
Evo Terra:a better listener experience.
Evo Terra:I know we've had a lot of very early failures on this, but I think those
Evo Terra:are lessons learned for the next wave of podcast apps coming out.
Evo Terra:So that's assumption number one.
Evo Terra:Assumption two is "Well, the listeners that I lost when I went
Evo Terra:exclusive," a year ago, two years ago, "they'll all come back to me."
Evo Terra:Are you sure about that?
Evo Terra:Some grudges are really hard to get over.
Evo Terra:There are loads of vitriol that you can see in various online forums every
Evo Terra:time a show announces going exclusive.
Evo Terra:And while I agree with Dave that Twitter is not real life, I know that
Evo Terra:listeners are spoiled for choice already.
Evo Terra:Many of them, not long after the podcast they used to love to listen to
Evo Terra:goes exclusive, choose not to switch to that app, even if it's a free app.
Evo Terra:Many of them will move on and they'll fill the void that you and your podcast
Evo Terra:left with another host of another podcast.
Evo Terra:The more niche your show is the better your chances of
Evo Terra:gaining those listeners back.
Evo Terra:But I want you to think for a minute about all the podcasts that you
Evo Terra:used to listen to five years ago that are still being produced and
Evo Terra:you don't listen to them right now.
Evo Terra:It's still great content, but you've moved on.
Evo Terra:You just don't have the time to listen to those shows that you previously did.
Evo Terra:Now, you can mitigate this by keeping in contact with your listeners while
Evo Terra:you're exclusive, obviously, and then emailing them and saying, "Hey,
Evo Terra:I'm back to free distribution!"
Evo Terra:But, of course, that assumes that you already have their email and you
Evo Terra:have that relationship with them.
Evo Terra:Also, you need to realize that many of them were very pissed off at you when
Evo Terra:you moved and have unsubscribed from that email, and your social accounts.
Evo Terra:So, no, I don't think you can bet on the fact that your listeners that you
Evo Terra:abandoned will be happy to see you return.
Evo Terra:Third assumption, with wider distribution, plus your loyal fans, and the fans who
Evo Terra:come back who didn't listen to you for awhile, those will all work together to
Evo Terra:help your show reach a larger audience.
Evo Terra:Yes, I think that will help you reach a wider audience, but will that audience be
Evo Terra:larger than the size of your audience when you went exclusive and you lost a lot?
Evo Terra:I don't know.
Evo Terra:But do you really need it to be, I guess is the other question?
Evo Terra:Why do that?
Evo Terra:Does it matter if you're bigger or smaller?
Evo Terra:Is it just better to be distributed widely?
Evo Terra:If you do need a larger audience, though, coming back is going
Evo Terra:to mean more hustling from you.
Evo Terra:And if you've been out of the game for a while, you may see that the
Evo Terra:hustling game has changed quite a bit and suddenly you're behind.
Evo Terra:So this is a cautionary tale before you jump to exclusive.
Evo Terra:One thing I want to be clear on, I am not opposed to shows taking
Evo Terra:the exclusive route if that's the right opportunity for them.
Evo Terra:I don't begrudge anyone that decision that they have made.
Evo Terra:But when you're thinking about it, just be sure you understand that reality
Evo Terra:of when the exclusivity is over, when it loses its luster and you want to
Evo Terra:come back to wide distribution, it may not be the same game you left.
Evo Terra:I'm doing a reverse Boostagram today.
Evo Terra:I'm welcoming all the attendees of She Podcasts LIVE to the Phoenix area.
Evo Terra:She Podcasts LIVE is a conference that's starting tomorrow,
Evo Terra:and I will be in attendance.
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Evo Terra:If you're going to be there, I would love to meet up with you.
Evo Terra:I actually will have on my possession the entire time I'm
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Evo Terra:That's it.
Evo Terra:I shall be back tomorrow with yet another Podcast Pontifications.
Evo Terra:Cheers!
Evo Terra:Podcast Pontifications is written and narrated by Evo Terra.
Evo Terra:He's on a mission to make podcasting better.
Evo Terra:Links to everything mentioned in today's episode are in the notes
Evo Terra:section of your podcast listening app.
Evo Terra:A written-to-be-read article based on today's episode is available at
Evo Terra:podcastpontifications.com where you'll also find a video version and a corrected
Evo Terra:transcript, both created by Allie Press.
Evo Terra:Podcast Pontifications is a production of Simpler Media.