Takeovers of studios, effective launch of an observatory, changes in economic models, mobilization for a more virtuous ecosystem… While the Paris Podcast Festival opens its doors to the public on Friday October 21 for three days at Gaîté-Lyrique, the world of podcasting native (excluding reruns) continues to invent its future, driven by the dynamism of the market, despite the fragility of its economic model.
“The market remains stable in terms of the number of unique visitors, but it continues to grow massively in terms of the number of podcasts listened to”, welcomes Joël Ronez, founder of the Binge Audio studio and president of the union of independent audio producers, PIA. According to the latest CSA-Havas Paris study, in 2022 32% of 18-64 year olds listen to podcasts every month. This figure is down slightly, by one point, compared to 2021: after an explosion in the consumption of podcasts during confinement, it has indeed started up again. However, not all statistics are so pessimistic. Claire Hazan, head of podcasts France and Benelux for the Spotify platform, notes that the number of listeners has multiplied by 2.5 between 2020 and 2022 for the Swedish company. And the number of hours listened to has more than tripled.
Cartography
These quantified findings only build a fragmented vision of the podcast ecosystem. Anxious to share data and sketch a map of the podcast industry by September 2023, all players (independent studios, public and private radio stations, platforms, copyright management companies) have participated in the first meeting of the Observatory of the podcast, Friday October 14. Since 2015 and the birth of the first studios, “the sector has invested 7 million euros in the original creation”argues Julien Neuville, president and co-founder of Nouvelles Ecoutes. “We are the only cultural industry without creation aid or tax credits”he adds.
Questioned on this point, the Ministry of Culture had requested the launch of a mission in October 2019. In a report submitted the following year, it recommended support in two stages. The first phase, that of a support system for podcast authors, opened in 2021 – for the second year in a row, in 2022, an envelope of approximately 500,000 euros was distributed to a hundred projects selected by the Ministry of Culture. The second stage, supposed to open after 2023, “would allow the installation of a more industrial device”.
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