Jonathan Deamer

Just a quick post: I’ve realised that I’ve not yet put online the research paper I spent much of the first half of the year writing.  As 2008 draws to a close, it’d be a shame not to unleash it on the world under a Creative Commons licence. Maybe someone will stumble across the wise words of one of my interviewees via Google and find them useful, so here’s the full thing in PDF format. Feel free to share or adapt for your own works.

I think the paper’s abstract does a pretty good job of summing it up:

This paper investigates the issue of whether a profitable business model can be applied to the medium of podcasting.  It suggests a variety of potential business models that may be appropriate, and evaluates how they be may applied in this new arena.The literature review explains the parallels between podcasting and other more traditional media, paying particular attention to radio, which is deemed to be the most similar existing medium.  The popularity and adoption of podcasting both among the public and media organisations indicate that now is an appropriate time for an investigation into the economics of podcasting.  An outline is given of existing business models that have set a precedent both on the Internet and in other forms of media, as well as the wider world.  There are a number of examples of how people have previously attempted to apply these business models to podcasting.

The methodology details that the practical research used qualitative research methods. Semi-structured interviews with key producers of podcasts were to be carried out in order to gather data for analysis.  Podcast producers were chosen as the most appropriate interviewees from a large potential research base, although the findings indicate that during the course of research it became necessary to also interview podcasting experts from other related fields.  The most appropriate business models for investigation are selected from the large number detailed in the literature review.

Key topics in the paper’s findings include discussion of whether it is appropriate to monetise podcasts in the first place, as well as whether a single model can be applied to all podcasts across a range of content and contexts.  There is rarely full unanimity among interviewees, and although all were aware of many of the issues affecting the medium, it is shown that more thought is necessary on the topic from those in the industry.

In conclusion, details are given of which have been found to be the most appropriate models, and how the negative impact of monetisation on audience figures can be minimised, thus maximising potential profitability.

Many thanks are due to everyone involved in the paper, especially my interviewees:

• Tony Colman – founder and A&R of drum and bass label Hospital Records.  Produces and hosts the label’s popular podcast, and is a musician in his own right under the name London Elektricity.
• Mark Fox – economics PhD and professor of Management and Entrepreneurship at Indiana University, USA.  Has written a number of papers on broadcasting and the music industry, most notably “Podcasting: a new technology in search of viable business models”, discussed in this Paper’s literature review.
• Ben Hammersley – author of 3 books on RSS, the underlying technology behind podcasts.  Former technology correspondent for The Times and The Guardian, where he coined the term podcasting in 2004.
• Tony Hughes – assistant director of the International Centre for Digital Content, a Liverpool John Moores University media lab, where he works on research and development projects with new media companies.
• Mike Walsh – Head of Music at national radio station X-FM, part of the GCAP Media group which also owns Classic FM amongst others.