YouTube for Podcasters (But Better)
How to be BIG and Fix/Evolve the Podcast Landscape
Be the YouTube of Podcasts/Audio Content… but dont stop there!
The Podcast landscape sucks right now… I have to go to a bunch of sites to find content. Either the creator’s website, or iTunes, or SoundCloud… maybe even YouTube. There are a bunch of podcast players: Overcast, Acast, Stitcher, Spreaker, TapeWrite, etc… but none of them really solve the podcast problem.
I honestly wasn't all that annoyed by it… I just accepted it as it was. But after finally making my own podcast series… I grew terribly disgruntled.
The wool was pulled from my eyes.
There is no real place for me to become a Podcaster!
I made 20 episodes on Spreaker… only to have them tell me that I needed to pay or delete my episodes in order to publish more!
Let me be clear… Don't get it twisted… I dont think I have any sort of entitlement or whatever to create and host my content for free online. I just think that if these new podcast sites are actually serious about their business, they wouldn't be so myopic. Sure, profits are important. But if you’re building a legacy, a big business.. than wouldn't you want to ensure those profits aren't just a short term grab?
In essence, you want to ensure that you’re actually giving a crap about your creators, (and by extension your consumers) since they are what make your product worth the profit in the first place.
If you focus on extracting value, rather than building a product consumers actually value… you only limit yourself, and therefore your long-term revenue… and growth.
Don't shoot yourself in the mouth… or the ear.. by forcing your content creators to pay just to create on your platform.
With that ‘forward’ in mind… here are some thoughts from a daily consumer and first-time creator of podcasts…
I want something better.
I think it would be awesome if the front page, the first thing you see when going to the site, is a cross between YouTube, Spreaker, and iTunes
I'm talking an ordered grid of card-like podcasts… each of which you can play without going to another page.
I have spent a disturbing amount of time creating some wireframes to illustrate what I, as a ‘power-user’, want to see in an ideal product.
Warning: I am not a designer… But I do enjoy designing cool ideas ;P
This looks a bit messy… but I'm sure a real designer can make it look better. Also, please note that the sidebar (which is just like YouTube’s) is indeed only supposed to be shown when you click the little icon at the top (can be replaced with your company’s logo OR just a hamburger menu).
I think the comment bubbles pretty much explain everything, so I’ll move on to the Podcast Page.
Now… I know this looks like an absolute mess. But there is quite a bit of method to the madness :P
Borja Rojano with Tapewrite makes a good point of having visuals and notes presented right alongside the podcast. However… I think they are missing a major point about podcasts… They are audio, first and foremost.
A focus on visuals is a misplaced priority.
I think it would be better to keep it simple, display visuals when that moment comes, if the creator happened to include visuals, but the focus for having show notes… should be its own section! This way, people can more easily scroll through this section to find the relevant info, rather than trying to scrub through the podcast.
Remember: Many people listen to podcasts in the background, they may only go to the actual podcast page after the fact.
Another really interesting and unique aspect are the ‘Reactions.’ This is of course inspired by Facebook. When making this wireframe… originally I was going to suggest having cool waveforms… but then I realized that it'd be much more useful to be able to engage via emojis for podcasts… just like you would during a Live Instagram or Periscope feed!!
This would be fun for users (I think) and extremely useful for creators! Seeing when, what, and how users react to different parts of your content would be an incredible analysis tool. The range of emojis would allow creators to see much more powerful and nuanced engagement metrics.
Notice that the whole comments section pops up over the ‘About’ section.. which is where you would put all other info that doesn't apply to the current podcast.
Also, note that you can share your comment! Huzzah for engagement! And having timestamps in this format is way better than how SoundCloud does it… *shivers*
Finally, check out those unique emojis! Not only can people react, but they can support their creators via a quick $ emoji (amount would be set the first time its used) AND via custom emotes (inspired by Twitch).
That pretty much gives a good idea of what I want… I was about to do two more pages, one for what the Creator Studio page should look like, and another for what the Money page could look like. It would have two sections: one for donating to the platform (while being able to vote for what should be prioritized in terms of features and updates), and the other for learning how to monetize your own work.
But I’ve taken too long to get this out… so maybe later. For all I know, nobody will even like or move on this… so this would all be recreational…
If you would like to read more about my thoughts as a consumer and a small-time creator, feel free to read on… Otherwise. Thank you for reading thus far, and please let me know what you think about those mockups!
I hate going to a podcast site only to see some stuff about the company… dont get me wrong, I appreciate what you’re doing… but I have no reason nor inclination to really care until after I see how good your platform even is… so why put all that in my face? Put it in the bottom or off to the side… let the real important stuff, your work, the content, show itself.
Now…. dont just stop there! The great thing about having choice is finding *great content*…. I dont want to have to guess too much about the quality of what I am listening to.
Give me some quick numbers/markers indicating the quality:
- Listens… and please make sure you calculate that by how long they’ve listened… like if someone listens at least 60% then it's likely good, any less and you’re probably tryna facebook me
- Downloads/favorites… If it was so good somebody had to *save* it… I know its worth something (but then again… I couldn't figure out where to put this metric when I was wireframing, lol)
- Ratings… now, I know likes/dislikes is a thing now… but I feel a lot for a good 1–10 rating system (1–5 feels a bit too dramatic/short)… or maybe even a spectrum from dislike/hate to like/love …. if you wanna be fancy and interesting. But ratings tell a lot more about the content then likes (but do include how many ratings please)
- Date created/uploaded… great to know if its current/relevant; but I’ve noticed that it doesn't necessarily matter all that much unless we’re talking tech or science breakthroughs, and those can still be valuable when ‘old’
- Names (duh) Unlike video, podcasts are almost always in a series/episodic type format, and thumbnails dont really matter (they dont tell much about what the podcast is about). So put the podcast name over where the thumbnail is… And underneath (or over?) put, not just the channel/studio name, but the actual creator’s name too!
Though many just put the podcast name, I do like to see both and it helps to quickly recall and attribute the praise (or critique)to creators. Perhaps make it optional for the creator to put either their name, the podcast name, or both. - Summary>Visuals… believe it or not, visuals dont matter a whole lot when listening to podcasts… Idk about other people, but I dont decide what to listen to like I do with video. I dont care for interesting thumbnails or even titles as much. I first look for a category I'm interested in, then I look to see if they’re going to talk about anything I'm interested in or that may be interesting to me. And a ‘catchy’ title can be anything from ‘What is quantum physics’ by the Infinite Monkey Cage to ‘Arnold Schwarzenegger’ on a Tim Ferriss podcast to pretty much anything about VR, haha…
I suppose the point is that you dont have to setup the playing field for clickbaiting… it either wont work, or I will quickly opt to just stick to the people I already listen to. SO… it would be even better to allow for a summary/description of the podcast! (maybe even could have audio summaries for podcasters who want to go the extra mile) - Finally, *Previews*… I may be wrong on this… but many people like to listen to longer podcasts (granted, you better be good to have a whole hour). At least I do. My first experience with podcasts are science-based hour+ long fiestas… and I still prefer long podcasts to throw on while I work and do other stuff (thus dont have to worry about what to listen to next or half my brain being distracted from rote tasks). But, in order for me to find new podcasts, I have to take a leap of faith… sometimes that stops me from steering too far from what I know I like (science, tech, tim ferriss, etc… ). SO… it would be awesome to be able to click/tap on a podcast on this home screen and get either a highlight or just for it to start playing so I can get a good idea of whether or not I like their voice, cadence, and content.. and of course, when I click another, the first should automatically turn off. Just.. please…. stop taking me to their page as soon as I click!… maybe I want to keep browsing and was just curious.. I dont want to have to go back… AND… if I'm already listening to something, simply pause it and resume when I click off (or just let me resume easily)
In regards to the rest of the page…
Have a big ‘For Podcasters’ or ‘Create now’ button or something at the top.. maybe top right (because all the important things are in the top right).
If I want to become a creator on your platform… why would you make me jump through hoops… why would you make me pay money??
Don't just have some ‘upload here’ crap either… Rip off Youtube… but one up them too…
Make it *easy* and *intuitive* to start… Allow me to click ‘record’ and let me start talking…
When YouTube and many video services started, there was no easy way to create and upload content… now we can easily shoot a vid, edit (a bit) and upload it all on one device. Thus why Instagram, Snapchat, and even Facebook gives us the ability to record a video on their app… There is absolutely NO reason why I can't do so with podcasts.
Ideally, have a little studio like Spreaker’s … I cant even tell you how much I was able to hype myself by pressing those applause and laugh clips and acting like I was in front of a massive crowd! Although all that is not necessary, having an in-app (but I suppose a different app is acceptable… but not preferable) studio of some sort would be Awesome.
Also, please include more studio options, like a waveform customizer… and also real audio tools that can help manage and clean up your audio, no matter how crappy your mic… (ehm, or if you’re like me and dont even have a mic) But please keep it *simple*…
Don't design for engineers!
… that's just another barrier as to why people won't use your platform.
Give me a PLAYER
When I play a podcast, it should pop into its own Player (like Spreaker again)
I *do not* want to go to the dang page for that one episode(or even the podcast series) just to play the audio… give it to me right then and there. I’ll go to the page if I want to learn more or find the notes or make a comment.
Even if you do want to have visual media and notes like TapeWrite, I would say that you would be better off putting the notes in the page like Tim Ferriss does. I just dont want to have to have the podcast app/page in the foreground when I am listening to podcasts primarily while I am doing something else.
Let me rephrase that…
I usually listen to podcasts in the background, therefore having to pay attention to it in the foreground is defeating the purpose of listening to a podcast.
Give me CONTROL!
With Audio:
I want to be able to skip, replay, slow down, and speed up my podcasts by increments.
With Playlists:
When I listen to a series, I want the ability to flip the default playlist so that I can listen in chronological order, from where I am in that list to the most recent (Im looking at you Spreaker). I want to make my own playlists (again, like Youtube), but also be able to reorder things easily as well as share that playlist elsewhere (on the platform or on my own site or social media).
With clips:
I want to be able to take a particular clip in the podcast, not just share from a specific point. Give me the ability to capture a snippet and do with it as I please (save to a playlist, share with others, or maybe even to feature in my podcast either as a callback to my own, or a response to others).
Let me be SOCIAL
I want to share snippets. I want to easily be able to grab a little clip (perhaps I flagged it earlier, perhaps the clip replays for me from the beginning of the clipped session before I share).
I want to share highlights of the episode, (ie multiple clips), so that when i share a long hour-long podcast of awesomeness, I can just direct my lazy friends to the particularly super awesome parts (and hopefully convert them over to the audio-side, the goodness that is ‘mostly’ non-trendy, non-clipbaity, non-attention-consuming media!)
I want to share my thoughts on a particular part of a podcast (like Soundcloud) through the comments while still having a clean/easily followable comments section.
And I want EMOJIS!! Let me share my range of emotions like they do on Facebook or even Twitch with custom emotes!
Let me make MONEY
Never underestimate the power of aesthetics… of lucrative monetization opportunities.
I want to be able to make money giving people value with my podcasts. But I dont want to bow down to the Tyranny of Advertisements!
There are way more ways to make money than slapping ads, or even sponsorships on your content.
I think a great example of that is gaming. Cash shops and microtransactions. And no, you dont have to and really should not go the ‘Pay-to-Win’ route… or even the ‘Pay-to-Enjoy’ mess. That means dont put a paywall in front of the features or functions one needs to succeed as a content-creator. Instead, focus almost wholly on the feeling.. the experience… the aesthetics.
People, especially businesses, are far too close-minded in assuming what customers want or dont want. They dont let the customer actually tell them, or better yet, express themselves.
Allow people to create their own (completely ‘trivial’) room… dont just give them a boilerplate user-page! Allow them.. Allow us to trick out our pages however we want.
The trick to making money on a game is not to monetize on the gameplay, but on all the cosmetics and peripheries that make the game pretty and personal!
I really dont want to give specifics here, because that will limit you to think those are the only things… I would rather you use your imagination… but if you’ve read this far, and really want to change the game as a company with user-generated content, than I welcome you to contact me:
Shameless plug!!
Otherwise… thank you so much for reading!
I suppose that covers most everything… Let me know what you think!
