Podcasts, Radio & Audio
Always got your headphones on? Love listening to things - audiobooks, radio shows or podcasts? Think have a voice for recording? Or think you have the creativity to produce and direct an audio experience?
Podcast, Radio and Audio has been a long-running area, with podcasts recently dominating the audio sector.
There are plenty of roles behind the scenes in podcasts and radio as well as speaking into the microphone - and the audio industry is heavily part of many of the other creative industries, such as Film & TV, so there’s no shortage of roles! In radio, you can find roles like scheduling executive, broadcast journalist, social media executive, presenter, producer and many more. In podcasting, roles feature titles such as executive producer, audio engineer, outreach manager, host and others!
If you think either of these career paths might be up your street, give the links a read!
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A podcast is… an audio experience, just like Radio, but it’s pre-recorded instead and you can listen to it whenever you want 👀 The main way podcasts make money is through sponsorship and advertising and there’s lots of money to be made e.g. The Diary of a CEO made $1.2 Million in 2021 as revealed by Steven Bartlett himself!
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Radio is typically a live show that anyone can listen to, but they are usually scheduled at a certain time. An example of a few popular radio stations are; BBC Radio 1, BBC Radio 2, Capital, Heart, Baeur, Kiss and Absolute Radio.
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🔥 Over the past decade, podcasts have become one of the most popular forms of audio in the UK. Podcasts are still most widespread among young audiences, with close to 40 percent of UK listeners aged 26 to 35 listening to podcasts on a weekly basis.
📈 It’s growing FAST: In Dec 2021, there were 2,000,000 podcasts available. Compare that to the number of podcasts in June of 2018, which was 550,000.
🎧 More listeners mean more jobs: 4 in 10 Brits are now following, downloading, and consistently listening to podcasts as part of their everyday routine.
⌨️ The opportunities expand beyond creating: A huge number of jobs are also available in the tech brands that host podcasts, such as Spotify, Deezer, Simplecast and dozens more.
👏🏻 The UK Radio Industry has grown by 40% since 2008, with a further 10% projected growth by 2028.
📈 According to an Advertising Agency report released in 2018, radio was the fastest growing medium, with its 12.5% growth putting it ahead of the entire market including the internet.
🎙Ofcom shows that the reach of live radio remained high throughout 2020; over the three-month period through March 2020, 88.8% of the UK population listened to the radio at least once per week.
😱 Statista research states that there were over 16.9 million podcast listeners in the UK in 2020. The number is expected to scale up close to 25 million listeners by 2024.
🎧Currently, the industry is made up of over 13,500 employees and freelancers
🎤There are 4,058,150 total podcasts registered, around the world
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📈The market size of the Radio Broadcasting industry is expected to increase 4.6% in 2022
⚡️ Demand for radio broadcasting is likely to rise over the next five years, as the effects of COVID-19 fade out.
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Some trends you can look out for in the podcasting world:
🎙 Improved content quality - this is fairly simple, if you're not pumping out top-quality content like other competing podcasts, you're not going to get the same level of traction. Some considerations here feature; audio quality, content or topic choice, video quality, marketing and promotion and branding.
🎤 Hosts who are influencers: Influencers are huge in today's market, whether large or micro. As well as this, podcasting and social media are a vital link in creating a successful podcast. The host's brand matters, and many podcast hosts are starting to capitalise on this e.g. Steven Bartlett, Sophie Habboo, Fearne Cotton, Grace Barry etc. Podcasts are likely to see more influencers using their online space to market and collaborate with brands - therefore expanding the potential for monetisation and sponsorships.
🎧 Podcasts as marketing tools: Would you be more likely to buy something after hearing a podcast ad? Or more likely to remember brands or products after they sponsor a podcast? Possibly. We can see this becoming a trend on more popular podcasts like Diary Of A CEO & Huel.
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Audio UK have a shortlist of the most common job roles in the audio space
Radiocentre have a great list of jobs available in the radio sector
Radio Academy also have a great list of different careers available!
Like the sound of Podcasts & Radio?
Learn more on the ERIC app through our industry guides. When you’re ready to explore further, you can start browsing the Podcasts & Radio section for opportunities, events, courses and more!