Paid Podcasts: Traditionally Free Content Steps Softly Toward Subscription

As podcasts grow in popularity, podcasters are exploring ways to monetize them. Increasingly, podcasters are on the cusp of moving from a free or advertising-only business model to paid subscription.

The era of the podcast began with Apple's original iPod and continues as smartphones have become ubiquitous accessories. However, while smartphone saturation has begun to peak, the popularity of podcasts continues to grow unabated. Take a look at some hard data on U.S. podcast audience size through 2017, with forecasts out to 2022:

(Source: Activate; Edison Research; PwC, via Statista) As a new medium, part of the room for growth in podcasting is simple awareness. Many consumers have not even...

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