The joint investment of the sector (platforms and producers, excludes the production of independent creators) for the production of new original podcasts in Spanish 2022 will be between 10 and 12 million euros, creating around 600 new original podcast programs that will represent an offer about 6,000 original podcast episodes in Spanish.
The podcast sector does not stop growing worldwide. In fact, the current worldwide turnover of the audio industry is estimated to be almost € 5 billion and this figure is expected to rise to € 30 billion by the end of the decade . In this scenario, 2021 has become the great year for the sector at the national level, getting more and more commitment to audio content, especially in Spanish. Under this context, there are currently more than 330 million podcast users worldwide, which represents 16.5% of Internet users.
Similarly, as stated in the Global Podcast Listener Forecast 2021-2025 report carried out by eMarketer, it is estimated that in 2022 the number of podcast listeners will increase by 11% , a percentage that would grow by 32% in 3 years, being Spain one of the countries where this growth will be most noticeable.
In this way, and with a view to 2022, podcasting platforms are investing time and efforts in offering listeners quality and interesting content, demonstrating that audio-entertainment content is here to stay. Faced with this situation, Podimo , one of the main streaming platforms for audio entertainment, shares its vision about the 6 trends that will mark the podcast industry in 2022 .
Investment boom in Spain for the production of new original content
According to Dosdoce.com, one of the main trends that we will see throughout 2022 will be the investment made by different podcast streaming platforms, as well as production companies in Spain, spending between 10 and 12 million euros in audio production -Entertainment in our country, which translates into more than 600 new contents for next year in Spanish, which will represent an offer of nearly 6,000 episodes of original podcasts in Spanish.
Content made by women for women, children’s and entertainment, among the categories that will see the most growth in the coming year
Over the last 5 years, the categories most listened to in audio were aimed at the male audience, as well as genres such as comedy, true crime or personal development. However, next year the sector will produce new content made by and for women, in categories such as personal development, humor and entertainment. In the same way, it will focus on creating content for the smallest of the house.
Not surprisingly, listening to audio improves comprehension by 76% and reading accuracy by 52%, and can help improve test results by 21%, as stated by audiopub.org. Finally, the creation of audio entertainment content (conversational podcasts, interviews, social news, etc.) will continue to grow, covering a category that is increasingly in demand by the audience.
Bet of content creators in audiovisual format for the world of sound
Over the next year, the podcast will help youtubers -more used to making audiovisual content- to connect with new audiences through audio content. This generation of creators has always had their mind set on monetization and have found in the podcast a new market where they can grow their audience, building loyalty to their current subscribers with complementary content to their videos. This situation will lead younger generations -such as Millennials and Z- to pay more attention to these types of platforms.
Arrival of AI to sound content
Artificial Intelligence has been the great ally of digital transformation in recent years. This has led audio content platforms to bet on it when creating content of interest to listeners, such as short newsletters, newsletters or non-fiction books that do not require marked intonation, thus reducing costs in terms content production.
Fusion of audio content and video-trailers
In the next year it is expected that there will be a fusion of both languages, which will help the listener to discover new content, producing the same content or complementary information in both audio and video.
Adaptation of television series to podcast format and vice versa
Finally, the sector points to the transformation of content such as television series in podcast format, a bet that will also be done in reverse, as we have seen in the publishing world with large productions in recent years. “Throughout 2021, the payment model for audio content has been validated by multiple streaming platforms (Spotify, Podimo, Apple, etc.) that have decided to bet on the launch of subscription channels to market their audio content ( podcasts, audiobooks, audio series, etc.). In 2022 we will see an acceleration of the payment model in multiple Spanish-speaking markets, as well as in other languages ”, stated Javier Celaya, Managing Director of Podimo in Spain and Latin America.