How to Create and Launch a Successful Podcast – The Complete Guide

59 percent of people today spend more time on podcasts than they do on social media, and 66 percent spend more time on TV. This audio format has become one of the most relevant marketing tools that doesn’t require a big budget. What it takes to launch a podcast, how to choose a profitable niche and start promoting the product, you’ll learn in this article.

Types of podcasts and marketing potential

A podcast is an online audio format that can be listened to on streaming audio services (such as iTunes and Spotify) or websites. Each podcast focuses on a specific topic and can come in these formats:

• Monologue – one presenter who shares knowledge, experiences, and answers questions;
• Interview – a presenter interviews one or more guests;
• Two or more presenters – discussion of the topic from different points of view, discussions, and exchange of experiences.

Unlike videos or texts, a podcast does not require visual involvement, making it much easier to consume. In a few years, this format has become a trend in the market. As of March 2020, more than a third of American adults (104 million) listened to podcasts monthly. More often than not, it’s on the go, during homework, or in their free time.

Following popularity is the growing marketing potential of businesses. In 2019, 55.6 percent of listeners bought a product after learning about it from a podcast. Analysts predict that in 2021, total advertising revenue from audio broadcasts will exceed $1 billion.

Preparing for Launch – Equipment and Market Analysis

The audio format doesn’t require a large financial outlay, but the marketing analysis is as thorough as any other product launch. We’ve put together a checklist of tasks for the preparatory phase.

Buy specialized equipment

1. Microphone. A good quality USB microphone is a good place to start. Pay attention to models that allow you to customize sound effects. Price range: from $70 and up.
2. Headphones, preferably with a noise-canceling effect. Price range: from $19 and up.
3. Software. You can record and edit podcasts using special programs, among which there are both free (Audacity, GarageBand) and paid programs (Adobe Audition). The price range is $0 to $53 per month.

Find a great niche to develop

What is the purpose of your podcast? What will it be about? Why will people want to listen to it? These are the first questions to ask to decide on a topic and target audience. Your niche is at the point where your personal passions intersect with market demands:

• Write a list of topics that interest you and that you know more about than others: you read trade publications, talk to experts, or are an expert yourself;
• Consider the potential of each topic. Examine forums, blogs, and social networking communities to see how wide a circle of potential listeners is. Find similar podcasts and analyze their popularity;
• Study your competitors’ strategies. Think about how you can stand out: your narrow specialization, your way of presentation, your exclusive information? On this difference you will build your promotion;
• Make a so-called avatar of the target audience, that is, an average portrait of the listener: age, place of residence, education, social status, lifestyle, habits, problems he faces. This will help you choose the format of presentation and style of communication.  

Plan the length and frequency of issues

There is no ideal length or frequency of an episode – it all depends on the subject matter and audience demands. An analysis of 10 million podcasts shows that the average length of each episode is 38 minutes and 42 seconds. Here are the criteria you can use to guide you:

• Audience behavioral characteristics. Statistically, 82.4 percent of those surveyed listen to podcasts seven or more hours a week, and 22.4 percent listen more than three hours a day. Think about where people will consume content? Do they have time for long-form recordings?
• Subject matter. How broad a field have you chosen? How often will you be able to pitch new information and find speakers?
• Competitors. Plan a schedule that sets you apart from others. Do podcasters in your field have accepted in-depth two-hour episodes? Make half-hour episodes to your advantage.
• Whatever schedule you schedule, stick to regularity: releasing recordings chaotically runs the risk of losing viewers. Listen to what they think so you can adjust the length of your episodes.

Come up with a name

The name of the podcast tells listeners what to expect when they click play. Here are some criteria for a name that will draw attention to the product:

1. Short and clear: explains in simple words what the story is about;
2. Contains keywords, by which people can find you;
3. Emphasizes individuality: communicates specifics or differentiates you from your competitors;
4. Easy to pronounce: you’ll be saying the name in issues, so try to make sure it’s pleasant to hear and quick to remember.

Create a cover

The cover art is one of the first impressions of the podcast. It should be unique, eye-catching, and convey the character of the product.

• Use no more than two colors and two fonts. Try to make the shades contrasting and the lettering legible;
• Add a logo, a major brand symbol that will help you be remembered. Not sure which emblem is right for you? Use the online Logaster generator to visualize all the ideas and choose the best one;
• Keep it minimalist so your cover stays recognizable on any medium, including your cell phone screen;
• Keep technical requirements in mind. The cover for iTunes and Spotify should be square with an optimal size of 3000×3000 pixels in JPEG or PNG format.

Prepare a description

Give details about your product, keeping two factors in mind:

• Users interests. Intrigue, communicate the value, show the benefits, tell how you solve the problem your audience cares about;
• Search engines. Spotify and iTunes algorithms rank descriptions based on keywords, so it’s worth using them in the text.

Pick music

Music tracks will be needed for the intro, the conclusion of issues, and interludes between columns in the middle. Remember that the music should be for legal use. Look for recordings with a Creative Commons license:

1. Start with specialized free resources, such as Dig CCmixter;
2. If the choice doesn’t suit you, more tracks can be found on paid services like Wistia, Pond5;
3. Another option is to place an order with freelancers who specialize in writing tracks (exchanges Fiverr, Upwork and others).

Use of music tracks in Canadian casinos

When it comes to casinos, there are a lot of factors that go into making them successful. The games offered, the atmosphere and even the music can all play a role in attracting customers and keeping them coming back. In recent years, Canadian casinos have started to experiment with using different music tracks to create a more unique and inviting atmosphere. While some casino-goers may not even notice the change, others have found that the new music has helped to improve their experience. From Top 40 hits to classical pieces, Canadian casinos are now using a wide range of music to create a more enjoyable environment for their guests. Whether you’re looking to hit the slots or take your chances at the tables, you’re sure to find a Top Ten Best Online Casinos that suits your taste.

What do you need to consider when recording and publishing the release?

You’ve decided on the topic, positioning and prepared the equipment: it’s time to start preparing the first release. 

Planning

The podcast begins with writing the script. Think through each part of the release beforehand so that you can focus only on the communication during the recording:

• Make a plan: outline the main points, arrange them in a logical sequence, and think of smooth transitions between topics;
• Write an introduction in detail to capture the listener’s attention: introduce yourself, name the podcast, tell them what you are going to talk about;
• If you’re expecting a guest, prepare interview questions and think about how you’ll introduce them;
• Plan recurring columns, such as “top industry news” or “listener questions.”
• Think of a wrap-up: summarize, thank guests or colleagues, and announce the next issues;
• Don’t forget about the call to action at the end: subscribe to the podcast, buy the advertised product, leave a review of the issue in social networks, etc.

Recording

The advantage of the podcast is that it’s not live, which means you can practice as much as you want by recording episodes and choosing the best one.

• Choose a quiet place in the room and turn off the sound on your phone to avoid extraneous noise. Make sure by recording a few seconds of silence and listening to it.
• Open the recording software, plug in the microphone, and set the sound settings. Try speaking into the microphone and make sure that the sound amplitude indicator does not fluctuate too much – otherwise there will be sudden volume variations in the audio.
• Start with small excerpts and listen to them right away to make sure of the quality.

Editing

It’s easy to edit the audio track in the same program you recorded it in. Combine episodes, add music, cut pauses, bad phrases, or repetitions. Stabilize the volume and remove background noise with the settings. Then move on to the technical parameters you need for exporting and quality listening:

• Select the bitrate, that is, the sound conversion settings. The higher the bitrate, the higher the quality of the sound, but the bulkier the file. The optimal value is 128 kbps.
• Set LUFS – the volume level of the audio track. It is recommended to choose 16 LUFS for stereo recordings and 19 for mono.
• After you finish editing, save the file in MP3 format.
• Insert ID3 tags that contain additional information about the file and will be displayed on the screens during playback: podcast and episode name.

Publishing

You cannot upload a podcast directly to iTunes or Spotify. To do that, you need to upload the file to a cloud hosting service and create an RSS feed for it.

One of the most popular cloud services for audio files is SoundCloud – upload an episode there, add the title and description, and include it in your RSS feed. Then copy the link to it, go to the service where you are going to publish the recording, click “Add” and paste the link.

Promotion

To make your business a success, think about how to attract listeners and monetize the product. Statistically, people learn about podcasts from these sources (in descending order of popularity): ads on another podcast; friend recommendations; social media or website; mobile app; and recommendations from Influencers. Try to use more than one channel:

• Talk to other podcasters with similar target audiences and arrange for cross-promotion.
• Be active in themed communities on social networks, but don’t advertise openly. Communicate, demonstrate expertise, share experiences, and occasionally mention your product.
• Add a link to your project on your website, in your email signature, talk about it on social networks.

How to use music in film without copyright infringement

Copyrights for music in movies cost a lot. It’s hard to imagine how much it costs to buy songs in American blockbusters, when even some production companies in Canada spend about CA$130,000 on the soundtrack. There’s nothing surprising about that, though. Want to use the music of Adele, Lana Del Rey and The Offspring in a film? Pay 25,000 euros for each track, or even more.

But what do aspiring filmmakers who make money with little or no budget do? How do you legally use music in movies and where do you find it? There are several ways.

Trying to get permission from the copyright holder

At first glance, this may seem like an impossible task. Will artists like the band “HLEB” or Little Big, for example, give permission to unknown artists? It all depends on your persistence and desire. Well, it depends on luck too!

All musical groups and solo artists have agents through whom you can solve all questions. Surely before approval you will be asked to send a script for your project and find out in which part you want to use the music. If negotiations are successful, then sign a written agreement, after which you have a legal right to use music in your film.

By the way, you can negotiate with foreign producers and musicians too. Use ascap and bmi.com to see who owns the rights to a particular song.

Taking music under a Creative Commons license

There are six types of Creative Commons licenses:

1. Attribution – CC BY: As long as the author of the original work is credited, the music can be distributed, edited, used as the basis for other works, and used for commercial purposes;
2. Attribution Share Alike – CC BY-SA: As long as the original author is credited, the music can be distributed, edited, used as the basis for other works, and used for commercial purposes. Important: when using this license you have to put the Copyleft mark, which means that your own work should not be covered by rights either, if you use “copyleft” material;
3. Attribution No Derivatives – CC BY-ND: as long as the original work is attributed, the music can be distributed and used for commercial purposes, but cannot be edited and used as the basis for other music;
4. Attribution Noncommercial – CC BY-NC: as long as the author of the original work is credited, the music can be distributed, edited, and used as the basis for other works, but cannot be used for commercial purposes;
5. Attribution Noncommercial Share Alike (Attribution Non-Commercial – Copyleft) – CC BY-NC-SA: as long as the original author is credited, the music can be distributed, edited, and used as the basis for other works, but cannot be used for commercial purposes and cannot be used to close the rights to use your work;
6. Attribution Noncommercial Noderivatives – CC BY-NC-ND: under this license you cannot use someone else’s work in your project.

Using public domain music

At this point, copyright is assigned to a person during his or her lifetime and for the next 70 years after his or her death. After that, the author’s music becomes in the public domain. Such are the invariable classics of Beethoven, Mozart, Bach, Vivaldi and many others.

It is worth noting separately that it is better to look for the original compositions, rather than a phonogram, which may have been recorded by the orchestra 5 or 10 years ago. There is a neighboring right to use a phonogram, so you have to be careful here: on the one hand, there are dozens of orchestras that are similar to each other, so it is quite difficult to trace infringement of rights. On the other hand, the classics performed by some artists, like Vanessa Mae, are so specific and recognizable that problems can arise.

By the way, it’s not just a classical work that can go into the public domain. Some authors deliberately give up their rights and transfer their music to the Public Domain.

The largest library of tracks in the public domain can be found on the MuseOpen website.

Create or commission your own music

This is the surest, albeit most energy-consuming, way not to infringe on someone’s copyrights to music. There are 2 ways: you can either find a novice composer who is interested in writing music for your film for a small fee or even free (for the sake of your portfolio), or you can work out and record music yourself. You can only find composers so far on stacks like Audiojungle, Deezer, and SoundCloud. To create your own tracks, it is better to use available audio editors: for example, SunVox, NanoStudio or MadTracker.

Conclusion and summary of the review

Hundreds of new podcasts appear on the market every day, but despite the competition, creative ideas continue to resonate. Think through the value of your project to listeners, the difference from the competition, and engaging content – and gain an audience. We wish you interesting topics and loyal listeners.