About a month ago I asked you about paying for podcast fiction. It might not have been a perfect survey, but it has certainly given me some ideas going forward.
Here are the results
1. I would find this method for generating revenue from podcast fiction acceptable
Short sponsored advertised 96.55%
Small payment per episode 37.93%
I would never pay for a podcast 3.45%
People could choose more than one option here
2. Considering sponsored advertising in a podcast- how long would be too long?
Anything under a minute 65.17%
Under 30 seconds 34.83%
3. Considering paying for a podcast- what is the maximum you would pay?
49c per episode 39.39%
99c 36.90%
I would never pay! 23.81%
4. Would you buy a copy of the book to support the author if they are giving you free podcasts?
Definitely 47.73%
Possibly 47.73%
It’s not part of the contract 4.55%
5. If I was going to pay for podcast fiction I would most likely pay for the following genres
Anything as long as it’s good 69.41%
Science fiction 18.82%
Fantasy 8.24%
Erotica 3.53%
6. If I was paying for podcast fiction I most likely prefer
Serialized novel 77.65%
Custom made stories 11.76%
Short stories 10.59%
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
Hmm… Thanks for posting that, I’d been curious about it myself.
Here’s my opinion. I’d pay for it if I were hooked. That is to say, give the first 4-5 episodes for free then charge 50c per episode. Of course key to this would be two things. First, be candid about the charge. Perhaps even explaining your expenses associated with the production. Perhaps some of the raised coin goes back to the voice talents (if any) for the freely given time and efforts.
Second, let your audience know how many episode there will be as part of the story.
I’ve yet listened to a production that after 5 shows would have passed on hearing the rest. But that’s just me. YMMV and all that.
– Orion
I am a podcast consumer, and podcast creator – Enough that I look carefully at the different models people have taken to make thier product successful. I am surprised at how many people say they would pay for a podcast . Anyway, the reason I am writing this response is that I feel your questions focus on areas of revenue generation that are not realistic for turning a podcasting hobby into a profession –
1 ) I dont particularly agree with the charge-per-episode idea (there is so much pro content for free, why pay extra to listen to the work of an amateur? If you really worked to make your podcast sound good, chances are you are going to lose all the money you make in production costs
2 ) I also dont agree with the advertising (I dont mind hearing it, but I cant see that it makes any of the podcasters any real money – I see how they are all now advertising audible.com and I suspect that they only get paid for referrals (rather than for the actual advertising) – I am not sure a mainstream advertiser is ready to invest in a fairly low-circulation, non-region-specific podcast (compared to radio anyway- although I am sure there are opportunities that will open up for niche advertising – for example websites that sell custom swords advertising on fantasy podcasts, etc).
On the whole there are three models that I consider workable –
1 ) Consumer spin offs (buy the t-shirt/book/cafe-press mug)
2 ) “Please contribute money via paypal if you are enjoying the show”
3 ) the main content is free, but if you become a “premium subscriber” you will get even more / something more substantial
Unfortunately, none of these will work unless you have an enormous fan base already. I suspect you might need 10k subscribers before any of these will make sense
Ok I am waffling – but I just saw your questionnaire and I thought that you were not even touching on the other ways people are likely to make money as podcasters
I should mention my own conclusions. For the time being my podcasts will remain free. There are plenty of changes going down that may change things in the future. (Including http://flattr.com/ ) But right now, launching Geist and getting the sequel Spectre to sing are my main priorities.
That being said, I will be producing higher quality EalC CDs with 2 stories per disc and including ‘directors’ added extras. There is also merchandise available from my store. I may seek out a sponsor for the show sometime in the near future.
Still I found this survey interesting, and I may ask the same questions in another year. That’s a long time on the net
Interesting that I should find this to be your most recent blog post. I was planning on talking to you about this at Balticon. Working with Scott, I’ve found short ad spots to be a triple win for our listeners, the sponsor, and us. The listener saves money, the sponsor gets business, and we make money. Cest la vie. Looks like you’ve already made up your mind.
I think charging for ‘casts is a good way to kill your audience. There’s so much quality content out there now, you are slitting your own throat if you go that route. But that’s only my opinion. Looking forward to meeting you (in only 6.5 weeks now!)
Cheers
I listen to a lot of Podiobooks/serialized fiction, but don’t really have a lot of time to read so the physical books don’t interest me so much, but in a lot of cases I would be willing to pay for a premium recording that cut out a lot of the talk between episodes and just got straight to the story.
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