Last month, Apple announced that they have over 2 million podcasts in their database.
If there are 2 million podcasts, should I start a podcast?
Absolutely! Your ‘why’ (i.e. why do you want to start a podcast?) should be the driving force you need to start a podcast: not the number of podcasts Apple or Spotify have on their databases.
Research conducted by Podcast Industry Insights reveals that almost 1/4 of those shows have only published one episode, suggesting that many content creators immediately went out of business as a result of the financial implications of the pandemic. Or else never intended to continue creating beyond their opening act.
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What is considered a podcast?
If the benchmark of a “real podcast” is set as a series of at least four episodes, then the total number of shows on Apple Podcasts is closer to 880,000.
The statistical breakdown suggests that “once-and-done” podcasts clutter up the Apple Podcasts library meaning not all 2 million podcasts are actively releasing episodes.
Podnews.net’s James Cridland, 63% of single episode podcasts came via Spotify’s Anchor and another 16% came from iHeart’s Spreaker, both of which are free-to-use hosting providers that appeal to new podcasters who are still experimenting with the medium.
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It is worth noting that not all podcasts are supposed to be longlasting but the ‘2 million podcasts’ mark is somewhat misleading because you’d imagined all 2 million podcasts are actively releasing episodes.
