Podcasts capture an engaged audience, and Paddock Offices Melbourne can help you get started in the game
2004 seems like a long time ago. The Sydney Olympics had run a few short years before, and the debut of the iPhone was still three years away. But it was in 2004 that the first podcast debuted, a collaboration between Dutch MTV VJ Adam Curry and software developer Dave Winer.
The pair wanted to find a way to download non-music audio content onto the then-popular iPod, and so they developed a program called iPodder which allowed people to access audio files from RSS feeds. RSS feeds, although not as popular as they once were, are a way for websites to let people easily aggregate and access their content.
But Winer and Curry didn’t coin the term ‘podcast.’ That honour goes to Ben Hammersley, a journalist at The Guardian, who came up with the name, also in 2004, and predicted podcasts would be the next big thing for audio.
He was right. By 2005 the term podcasting had caught on, and thousands of podcasts had become available. Fast forward to 2023, and there’s an estimated two million podcasts for people to listen to, covering every imaginable topic.
Podcasting in Australia
In Australia, podcasting is on a tear, with 33 per cent of Aussies listening to podcasts on a weekly basis in 2023. That’s up from 26 per cent in 2001, meaning over 7 million of us listen to podcasts every week.
The average Australian podcast listener spends nearly two hours a week listening, which makes them a great avenue for businesses wanting to capture a specific, engaged audience. Because podcasts cover so many topics, you can find a niche speaking specifically to the market you want to capture without worrying about spending money on media which doesn’t address the target market.
In fact, it’s estimated the Australian podcast industry is worth an estimated $100 million per year and growing. Young people are also willing to pay for podcast content, with nearly half of consumers under the age of 34 indicating they would spend money on content.
Creating a podcast doesn’t have to be hard, which is why at Paddock Offices Melbourne we’ve created a dedicated podcast studio with state-of-the-art equipment. If you’re new to podcasting, or just want to lift your production game, our podcast studio is available for bookings on either a casual or regular basis. There are real benefits from having a podcasting suite available when you need it. Paddock Offices Melbourne’s podcasting set up makes it easy for staff, customers, or clients to take part in the recording, while the professional-standard equipment means you’ll get the high-quality results you want, first time, every time.
Paddock’s podcast studio is fully equipped with the latest gear
Podcasting is the perfect medium for engaging with your target market. Listeners actively seek out new material to listen to, material catering to their specific interests and needs. If you’re keen to capture a new market for your business, drop us a line at Paddock Offices Melbourne, and we’ll help make your podcast dreams a reality.