Acast’s Emily Croker: ‘Podcasting is no longer two white men in a room with a mic’

The popularity of podcasting has surged in the past few years with close to a million ‘stories’ now available for consumption.

But until quite recently, it’s the male voice that has dominated the story-telling and the story creation. However, that is starting to change.

More women are listening to podcasts and the rate of active consumption is only 9% behind that of men. However, just 22% of women are hosting podcasts.

Emily Croker is the commercial partnerships director for Acast. She believes the tide is starting to turn and expects to see more women express themselves in the podcasting space.

“Podcasting is no longer ‘two white men in a room with a mic’. There are no barriers for entry to create the medium and it’s accessible to all minorities that have a voice.

“I think that’s what makes podcasting so wonderful. It’s providing an opportunity for a more diverse range of voices, which is what’s going to grow the medium.”

A diverse range of voices will naturally attract more advertisers, further strengthening the podcasting industry. Croker believes the female podcaster remains an ‘untapped’ resource.

“Advertisers are going to follow as there becomes a wider range of content available and more opportunity to reach a range of consumers, particularly within that female ‘space’.

“There’s a real push for advertisers to find their own ‘brand identity’ and show that side of them beyond the product and services. Podcasting allows them to align with those podcasters who have a more ‘raw’ and ‘unscripted’ view of the brand, which is very enticing for the consumer.”

A selection of podcasts from Acast

According to figures from Roy Morgan, more than 1.6 million Australians now download audio or video podcasts in an average four weeks. That’s up from under 1 million just four years ago.

Downloads to mobile phones are driving the growth in podcasts, which have more than tripled since 2015 to over 1.3 million Australians.

But Croker believes we’re only just scratching the surface and listenership will grow as more Australian stories come online.

“There’s a podcast for everyone. I believe we’re going to see a lot more of the local, ‘true blue’ Australian voices and more from women and more from minority groups that haven’t been represented in other forms of media.”

“I’m seeing more and more women embrace the different formats of podcasting. And it’s not really limited to ‘influencers’ or ‘true crime’. We’re seeing more women jump into business and finance, documentaries, activism, story-telling, health and wellness. Women are really starting to ‘own’ the podcasting platform space.”

Ultimately, podcasting is a business and the Australian market is expected to expand at 3% a year over the next four years with revenue expected to reach $110 million by 2022.

Next week, Acast’s Emily Croker will discuss the opportunities for advertisers dipping into the world of podcasting.