From Free Podcast To Exclusive Podcast & Back Again

Some once-exclusive podcasters are challenging the notion that you can never go home again. They assume their audience will be happy to see them. But reality may not line up with those assumptions.

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Hello, and welcome to another Podcast Pontifications with me, Evo Terra.

We're starting to see movement in the exclusive side of podcasting again. But this time, it's not just shows moving toward exclusivity. We're also seeing shows moving out of exclusivity deals with some single platform, and, once again, becoming widely distributed on all the platforms.

Now, while that's more than a little concerning for those exclusive platforms - Is that business model really working out? - it's quite exciting to podcast listeners and podcasters alike. It's exciting to listeners because they can now freely enjoy what was, for at least a time, exclusive and perhaps off limits. And it's exciting to podcasters because maybe exclusive doesn't mean forever. Podcasters who've gone exclusive are now realizing that, hey, they can always go back to free, right? Either at the end of the exclusive period they signed up for, or by breaking, or better yet renegotiating, their contact on that exclusivity.

Part of the calculus that exiting an exclusive agreement looks like - I think the podcaster makes three different assumptions about their audience and what's going to happen when they go back to wide distribution for their show.

Assumption number one is "Well, the listeners followed me here," wherever that happens to be, "and they're going to stay with me," whether that's here on that exclusive platform or somewhere else. And that assumption is probably true. I can't fault much of that. I do think that some of the existing audience who were listening while the show was exclusive are going to be able and quite happy to switch to a different app. Some will be. And as long as you're still on that app that you moved people to when you went exclusive, podcaster, they'll be happy to listen there, too.

But that only assumes that exclusive app you were on still has your show listed. It might not. What happens if that app itself is exclusive and only exclusive shows can be on that app? Will your listeners follow you off?

Well, hang on, that exclusive app might be, to those listeners, a much better experience. It's curated content. It's better than the other apps that are out there. They may have found that app works really well for them. And, by the way, I think it's way too early to discount tightly curated apps that list a much smaller set of podcasts that are able to present a better listener experience. I know we've had a lot of very early failures on this, but I think those are lessons learned for the next wave of podcast apps coming out. So that's assumption number one.

Assumption two is "Well, the listeners that I lost when I went exclusive," a year ago, two years ago, "they'll all come back to me." Are you sure about that? Some grudges are really hard to get over. There are loads of vitriol that you can see in various online forums every time a show announces going exclusive. And while I agree with Dave that Twitter is not real life, I know that listeners are spoiled for choice already. Many of them, not long after the podcast they used to love to listen to goes exclusive, choose not to switch to that app, even if it's a free app. Many of them will move on and they'll fill the void that you and your podcast left with another host of another podcast.

The more niche your show is the better your chances of gaining those listeners back. But I want you to think for a minute about all the podcasts that you used to listen to five years ago that are still being produced and you don't listen to them right now. It's still great content, but you've moved on. You just don't have the time to listen to those shows that you previously did.

Now, you can mitigate this by keeping in contact with your listeners while you're exclusive, obviously, and then emailing them and saying, "Hey, I'm back to free distribution!" But, of course, that assumes that you already have their email and you have that relationship with them. Also, you need to realize that many of them were very pissed off at you when you moved and have unsubscribed from that email, and your social accounts. So, no, I don't think you can bet on the fact that your listeners that you abandoned will be happy to see you return.

Third assumption, with wider distribution, plus your loyal fans, and the fans who come back who didn't listen to you for awhile, those will all work together to help your show reach a larger audience. Yes, I think that will help you reach a wider audience, but will that audience be larger than the size of your audience when you went exclusive and you lost a lot? I don't know. But do you really need it to be, I guess is the other question? Why do that? Does it matter if you're bigger or smaller? Is it just better to be distributed widely?

If you do need a larger audience, though, coming back is going to mean more hustling from you. And if you've been out of the game for a while, you may see that the hustling game has changed quite a bit and suddenly you're behind. So this is a cautionary tale before you jump to exclusive.

One thing I want to be clear on, I am not opposed to shows taking the exclusive route if that's the right opportunity for them. I don't begrudge anyone that decision that they have made. But when you're thinking about it, just be sure you understand that reality of when the exclusivity is over, when it loses its luster and you want to come back to wide distribution, it may not be the same game you left.

I'm doing a reverse Boostagram today. I'm welcoming all the attendees of She Podcasts LIVE to the Phoenix area. She Podcasts LIVE is a conference that's starting tomorrow, and I will be in attendance. Woohoo! If you're going to be there, I would love to meet up with you. I actually will have on my possession the entire time I'm there some special gifts just for listeners of Podcast Pontifications. So do not hesitate if you see me to step right on up and introduce yourself as a listener, you will get a free little gift.

And if you want to give me a gift, the gift of value for value, please visit podcastpontifications.com/valueforvalue to find easy ways to make that happen.

That's it. I shall be back tomorrow with yet another Podcast Pontifications.

Cheers!

Podcast Pontifications is written and narrated by Evo Terra. He's on a mission to make podcasting better. Links to everything mentioned in today's episode are in the notes section of your podcast listening app. A written-to-be-read article based on today's episode is available at podcastpontifications.com where you'll also find a video version and a corrected transcript, both created by Allie Press. Podcast Pontifications is a production of Simpler Media. Find out more at Simpler.Media.

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