Podcast -- Explore the Unknown…On the Way

Podcast播客

探索未知

满足好奇

Podcasting is a form of audio broadcasting which has become increasingly popular among younger generations in recent years. As a demonstration of such popularity, the number of podcast listeners worldwide has doubled in the last couple of years.

播客是网络上的一种音频广播形式，在近年深受年轻群体喜爱，已经在欧美国家风靡数年。它是一种内容媒体，不需要像视频或博客文章那样吸引所有目标受众的注意力。值得一提的是，在近2、3年播客全球收听人数更是翻倍成长。

Characteristics and Form

特点与形式

The term podcast is a combination of Apple’s "iPod" + "Broadcast", but, in fact, podcasts are programs of sounds, which can also technically be called webcasts. However, a podcast has a few distinct differences from broadcasting:

播客一词是苹果的“Ipod” + 广播“Broadcast”的合成词，但实际上播客就是声音的节目，也可以称为网络广播。不过与广播有几点不一样：

-The audio is uploaded on the Internet, so it is based on an on-demand usage model; you can listen or indeed, stop listening whenever you want.

-With the RSS self-subscription function, new episodes will automatically appear in your watchlist whenever they are updated.

- 音频是被上传在网络上，所以是个随选的使用场景，可以想听就听、想停就停。

- 具有RSS自主订阅功能，在新节目更新的时候会自动出现在你的关注列表里。

An Overview

概况

According to Reuters News Research Institute, in the 5 countries where podcasts seem to be the most popular in terms of the percentage of the population regularly listening to them, such as Spain (41%), Ireland (40%), Sweden (36%), Norway (36%), and the United States (36%), almost 4 out of every 10 people listen to podcasts every month, while in the Netherlands (26%), Germany (24%) and the United Kingdom (22%) close to a quarter of the population also enjoy listening to podcasts on a monthly basis. Spotify, the world's most popular music streaming platform, showed in its financial report for the fourth quarter of 2019 that the listening hours of Spotify podcasts have increased by 200% over the same period of the previous year.
在路透新闻研究所调查的20个国家中，西班牙(41%)、爱尔兰(40%)、瑞典(36%)、挪威(36%)和美国(36%)这5个国家几乎每10人中就有4人每月收听播客，而荷兰（26%）、德国（24%）和英国（22%）也接近四分之一。世界最受欢迎的音乐串流媒体Spotify，2019年第四季财报中显示，Spotify的播客收听时数比前一年同期成长了200%.

The potential of the podcast market has pushed Spotify to not only spend hundreds of millions of dollars last year to acquire a start-up podcasting company but also to sign an exclusive deal with the well-known American talk show comedian and podcast celebrity Joe Rogan for US$100 million in May of last year. The contract became the largest podcast commercial transaction in history.

播客市场的潜力，让Spotify不但在去年斥资上亿美元收购新创播客公司，并在去年五月以1亿美元与美国知名脱口秀喜剧演员、播客网红乔罗根（Joe Rogan）签下独家合约，成为史上最大播客商业交易案。

Why are podcasts so popular?

为什么播客如此受欢迎?

1

#A first-hand means of acquiring knowledge and information, and to satisfy the curiosity of an audience.

获取知识、讯息的第一手途径，满足听众好奇心

Generally speaking, podcast episodes focus on knowledge, debates, and interviews, with an average duration of 20-30 minutes. According to the Podfest China '2020 Chinese Podcast Audience and Consumption Survey", nearly 90% of users listen to podcasts to 'widen their horizons, explore the unknown, and satisfy curiosity‘.

一般来说，播客节目以知识分享、访谈和观点输出为主。时长平均为20-30分钟。根据Podfest China《2020中文播客听众与消费调研》调查，接近90%的用户听播客是为了“开拓视野、探索未知、满足好奇心”。

2

# People nowadays are not so into static media and text anymore

现代人对影片、文字感到疲劳

The way in which audiences can easily access podcasts and get the information out of the medium makes it a lot more approachable compared to pictures or texts, which are not so easy to focus on while going about our hectic modern schedules. For example, there is a rising number of podcasts dedicated to sharing the news – both locally and globally – making podcasts a valuable replacement to classic newspapers or magazines in some cases.

观众可以轻松收听播客并从其中获取信息，与阅读图片或文本相比，这个方式使其更加平易近人。而在我们忙碌的现代日程安排中并不那么容易集中注意力在图片或文本上。更何况，越来越多的播客致力于分享本地与国际新闻，在某些情况下，播客成为了报纸或杂志的宝贵替代品。

3

# Listeners can listen while dealing with other things at the same time

听众可以同时处理别的事情

Just like the radio in the past, many people like to drive and listen while commuting or driving. The same now applies to podcasts, which allows people to have a voice to accompany them in their busy lives and handle other things at the same time. The most common podcast listening scenarios seem to be during commuting, exercising, or doing housework. When you are too busy to focus on a screen, it is the best time to listen to a podcast!

就像过去的广播，很多人喜欢在通勤、开车时听，现在的播客也是如此，能让现代人在繁忙的生活当中，有个声音陪伴，又能同时处理别的事情。最多的就是通勤、运动健身与做家事时，手忙脚忙的无法专心注视一个画面时，就是听Podcast的最好时候。

An Overview in China

中国播客现状

Podcasts are indeed popular in European and American countries, but it is a different story in China. Although the number of users in China's online audio market has reached 425 million, China's podcast content and users are still a relatively niche group. According to "PodFest China 2020 Chinese Podcast Audience and Consumption Survey", the core audience of Chinese podcast users are between 22 and 35 years old, mainly living in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Hangzhou and other new first-tier cities with highly educated singles.

播客在欧美国家受欢迎程度十分火爆，然而在国内却是另一番景象。尽管中国在线音频市场用户规模已达到4.25亿，但是中国的播客内容和用户仍然是一个相对小众的群体。据《PodFest China 2020中文播客听众与消费调研》给出的中文播客核心听众用户画像：国内播客的主力消费人群年龄在22~35岁之间，主要生活在北京、上海、广州、深圳、杭州及其他新一线城市的高学历单身人士。

According to statistics from the podcast search engine Listen Notes, as of May 2020, there were merely 10,000+ Chinese podcasts, which is a far from the total number of English podcasts of 830,000. However, from 2020 to 2021, China's podcast market has undergone huge changes. There are two reasons for that:

1.      On the one hand, due to the pandemic, people have spent a lot of free time at home, therefore, many people began to listen to or start their own podcasts.

2.      On the other hand, platforms and channels for listening to Chinese broadcasts have also been increasing.

 根据播客搜索引擎Listen Notes的统计数据，截止到2020年5月，中文播客才超过1万个，与总个数为83万个的英文播客相去甚远。但在2020年到2021年，中国播客市场有着翻天覆地的变化。一方面是归因于疫情，因为有许多空闲时间呆在家里，于是很多人开始听播客，做播客。另一方面，收听中文播客的平台与渠道也在增加。

The 5 listening channels most frequently used by Chinese podcast listeners are Apple Podcasts (49.7%), Himalaya (37.9%), NetEase Cloud Music (35.0%), WeChat official account embedded audio (21.9%), and Pocket Casts (19.5%). In March 2020, an APP tailored for Chinese podcasts, the Xiaoyuzhou APP, was also launched. Many users have praised its cute avatar, simple interface design, and high-quality program content.

中文播客听众最常使用的5个收听渠道是：Apple Podcasts (49.7%)、喜马拉雅(37.9%)、网易云音乐 (35.0%)、微信公众号内嵌音频 (21.9%) 和Pocket Casts (19.5%) 。而在2020年三月，更有一款为中文播客量身打造的APP——小宇宙APP也上线，由于其小清新的头像和界面设计和优质的节目内容，受到了广大用户的好评。

At the same time, in order to attract Chinese listeners to podcasts in the Chinese market, a little bit of celebrity endorsements has been required. Celebrities such as Xiao S (Taiwan Hostess), Huang Lei (Chinese Actor), and Ma Jiahui (Hongkong Columnist) were invited to do exclusive podcasts on Himalayas. It is also worth mentioning that Xiao S’s "Mother of the mother老娘的老娘" topped the list of Xinzhibang—2021 (The physical and mental health list). Professional media and publishing organizations such as Kanlixiang, Xin Shi Xiang, GQ, etc. have also launched their exclusive programs. Content creators have joined this trend one after another, with Weibo Jiang Sida, Weibo bloggers Xiong Xiaomo, and Shi Lifen all creating their own podcasts.

同时，播客在中国市场上为了让中国听众爱上播客，也是需要一点名人效应。小S、黄磊、马家辉等明星名人都受邀在喜马拉雅做独家播客。并且值得一提的是，台湾主持人小S的《老娘的老娘》荣登新知榜知识付费2021年中榜单——身心健康榜榜首。媒体人看理想、新世相、GQ等专业媒体、出版机构也纷纷推出自己独家的节目。内容创作者也陆陆续续的加入这个潮流，奇葩说的姜思达、微博博主熊小默、史里芬等都已创建了自己的播客节目。

Conclusion

结论

In the past, a content creative program could only be produced by official channels, but podcasts have allowed us to see a new direction. As podcasting is a creative medium, there are no major restrictions on content creation and listening and with the vigorous development of the podcast market, more creators are bound to devote themselves to the podcast market, which is also a marketing channel for creating brand identity and brand image.

以往做一档内容节目，只能通过官方渠道，而播客的诞生让我们看到一个新的方向。因为播客作为创造载体，在内容创造和收听方式上没有很大的限制。并且随着播客市场蓬勃发展的趋势下，势必会有更多的创作者都投身于播客这市场，也是一个打造身份认可、品牌形象的营销渠道。

No matter the platform or discussion topic, podcast programs that share high-quality content and meet the needs of listeners can be successful. However, creating a successful show does not happen overnight. You have to do a lot of experimentation and modification to create your own show. Start small, use the resources you already have, and pay close attention to your audience’s feedback to create a podcast that your audience loves.

但是无论是什么在平台，什么主题，分享高质量内容、满足听众需求的播客节目才能取得成功。不过，打造一场成功的节目并非一蹴而就。你必须做大量尝试与修改来打造属于你自己的节目。从小处着手，使用你已有的资源，并密切关注听众的反馈，以制作的听众喜爱的播客。

If you want to learn more about podcasts or how to start a podcast of your own, please feel free to contact us at [e-mail].

如果想要了解更多关于播客的信息，或者你也有着手一档播客的想法，请欢迎联系[e-mail]

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