The renaissance of audio

We are in the golden age of audio. This is a curious development. Many would have thought that in a time where most citizens have acces to a screen, TV and streaming would be king. But with the podcast, audio has experienced a renaissance.

In a time where serious political debates are held on a medium that only allows 280 characters per post, it seems inexplicable that the podcast medium is thriving. Shows such as “The Joe Rogan Experience” last as much as 2–3 hours and has an audience of several millions.

Why is the podcast a succes? The first reason must be the conveniency and meaningfulness of the medium. Most people don't wish to waste all of their time in the subway scrolling through cat-videos on Facebook. Listening to podcasts is a very meaningful and entertaining way to spend one's time.

Furthermore, the high accessibility to quality is a great virtue. At the moment, most podcasts are free (they run ads or are crowd funded).

Low cost allows high creativity

And for creators, it's a cheap medium to create a quality product. I've made my own podcast, and the photo above is an interview from 2017. It costs only a few hundred dollars to buy the proper equipment, and from there the only limitation is creative. It's a whole other world to try to film an interview.