Why iTunes Makes Podcasters Lazy
By: Shelly Brisbin
My list of podcasts is long. When I add a new one, it’s either because a show or category has gotten “buzz” of late, or because the topic is interesting or useful to me. To find new shows, I usually head to Google, or to a podcast directory like Podcast Pickle. I rarely search iTunes.
I point out my search method here because it illustrates a problem some podcasters have with perspective. Many producers feel that having their show pop up in an iTunes search is enough, because most podcast listeners use iTunes to subscribe. I’m here to tell them that they’re wrong. iTunes search is slow and not very good at pin-pointing the content I want. I won’t find web sites about a topic I’m interested in, but I will find music and TV shows that have nothing to do with my search. So when I’m looking for podcast content, I don’t go there.
Focusing exclusively on iTunes search serves neither seasoned podcast listeners like me, or a potential listener who barely knows what a podcast is. If I’m looking for, say, podcasts about college baseball, coin collecting, or skateboarding, I start on the Web because I know that I’ll have several shows to choose from, and I want to see the producers’ sites and use what I learn there to determine whether your show is right for me. I’m not gonna subscribe until you convince me that I’m going to benefit from what you offer. On the other end of the spectrum, non-podcast listeners who want to learn about a topic may have no idea that they can subscribe to a half-hour weekly update on a favorite TV show. All they know is that they want information. They aren’t going to iTunes to find it. They’re using the Google! If your podcast appears on the first results page, they’ll find you and the podcasting medium, too. If it doesn’t, they’ll be reading fan sites and message boards.
The points I’ve made here will seem painfully obvious to a lot of podcasters, but if my recent experience is any indication, plenty of my fellow producers are guilty of myopic thinking, and perhaps a little laziness. Just because most of your listeners use iTunes to subscribe, don’t assume they all found you that way, or that everyone who would enjoy your show is searching there. You’re a content producer first, and an audio producer second.
August 3rd, 2007 at 7:43 am
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August 7th, 2007 at 11:35 am
I will have to agree. While I am listed in iTunes, it only accounts for about 5% of my downloads. Most of my downloads come via other directories and via syndication with my blogs rss feed. I never really understood why so many people focus on itunes. I would say the vast majority of English speaking internet users either don’t use or even know what iTunes is. This may come as a shock to some, but there is another OS called Windows, and I hear it’s pretty popular.
August 7th, 2007 at 1:41 pm
If it is necessary to install iTunes to get a cast, odds are I won’t.
I use Juice, and MyPodder (via a USB drive), and IM. It’s not that I won’t use iTunes, but don’t know of a cast (free or not) that I am willing to install iTunes for.
I like cross-platform, portable, software…
August 29th, 2007 at 11:33 am
I think this is a perception issue - everyone knows iTunes, and as a pro producer, it’s sexy to point to your client’s work as listed in iTunes. It is something that non-tech people readily understand. You say “Podcast Pickle” to a client, and literally, they look at you like you’re from Mars. So, sure, we submit everywhere we can think of, but iTunes is what people (I mean mass-market people) understand.
Most of our traffic for our clients is not derived from search, but from cross-channel marketing. Email blasts, mail campaigns, web site traffic - we also always work to list everywhere, as it does help with search and I think a responsibility of anyone podcasting (especially if you’re getting paid to do it).
Our download pattern for our clients is different - but we serve a non-geek audience, who couldn’t care less about cross-platform software and they already have iTunes installed, so it’s the easiest path to conversion. We’re already getting folks to take a leap of faith and use podcasting - but what we see is of subscribed people, iTunes is 98% of it, and usually, 50-60% of the total, the rest being direct downloads off a player on their site.