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It's difficult to find out how much money podcasts make, so here are some data points about my podcast, which I started in February of this year. I released 5

It's difficult to find out how much money podcasts make, so here are some data points about my podcast, which I started in February of this year. I released 5 episodes of the newly-created Indie Hackers podcast[0] in March and made about $1000 from sponsors. That's one sponsor per episode at ~$200 each. Today new episodes get over 20k downloads within their first week, but back then each episode got about 2-3k downloads, tops. One could make the argument that a business/tech podcast like Indie Hackers can land more lucrative advertisers than a basketball-focused podcast. But on the flip side, I was also completely new to selling sponsorships, editing and promoting the show, etc., and the podcast was just one of many things I was doing on my own. Regardless, if they're doing multiple episodes per week, each receiving 50k downloads at minimum, and each with multiple sponsors, I'd guess they're making a much more comfortable living than their Patreon numbers suggest. [0] https://www.indiehackers.com/podcast https://www.indiehackers.com/podcast

grecy 9y ago
Do the sponsors pay you cash, or free product? Did you actively reach out to them, or did they contact you when you got big enough?
- csallen 9y ago
  Cash, and I reached out at first.
  - ryanx435 9y ago
    How did you reach out to them? Like, did you reach out to their marketing department? Hoew did you get their contact info?
    - csallen 9y ago
      Yep, marketing departments. No one trick to finding the right person: research, asking around, very polite cold emails, etc. I also made it clear in my newsletter and on my website website that I was looking for advertisers. I've written about various parts of the process in a few of my month-in-review posts here: https://www.indiehackers.com/blog https://www.indiehackers.com/blog
  - grecy 9y ago
    Thanks. I'm confused why you don't take sponsorships/payments now.. you mentioned Stripe - what does that have to do with it?
sah2ed 9y ago
What's ad revenue like now for IH?
- csallen 9y ago
  $0, I stopped taking on advertisers after joining Stripe
jm547ster 9y ago
Any chance of this going up on Spotify? Apple doesn’t seem to want me to get via iTunes Store, infinite loop of asking for TouchID
- djuralfc 9y ago
  It happened to me too, restarting the phone helped.
  - jm547ster 9y ago
    Thanks, no such luck here unfortunately, direct podcast link worked however, for anyone in the same boat: https://itunes.apple.com/ie/podcast/indie-hackers-podcast-how-developers-are-bootstrapping/id1206165808?mt=2https://itunes.apple.com/ie/podcast/indie-hackers-podcast-how-developers-are-bootstrapping/id1206165808?mt=2 https://itunes.apple.com/ie/podcast/indie-hackers-podcast-ho...
- ClassyJacket 9y ago
  I've heard that the process for getting a podcast onto Spotify is terrible and difficult - i.e. literally email an individual at the company and then they might send you a SurveyMonkey form if you ask enough times.
dsacco 9y ago
> Regardless, if they're doing multiple episodes per week, each receiving 50k downloads at minimum, and each with multiple sponsors, I'd guess they're making a much more comfortable living than their Patreon numbers suggest. So, what do you think? Their Patreon subscribers are only ~$60,000. Are we talking $500k total with ad sponsorships? $1M? More than that?
eighthnate 9y ago
> in March and made about $1000 from sponsors. That's one sponsor per episode at ~$200 each. I've heard that sponsors pay more for podcasts than they do for youtube videos. Any idea why?
- swivelmaster 9y ago
  My guess - captive audience. People listening to podcasts are likely to be driving or exercising, which means they're not able to do anything BUT listen and are far less likely to even be able to pull out their phone and start skipping forwards. Plus, hosts usually read the ad copy, which psychologically connects people to the sponsors in a way that has only really been done in very early TV and radio. By way of example, the Crooked Media podcasts (Pod Save America, etc.) include ads in which the hosts also discuss their private lives, personal disagreements, and pop culture, which creates this weird kind of serialized drama/discussion that carries through either within an episode and between ads, OR in ads for the same product but across multiple episodes. All of that makes listeners more likely to listen to ads instead of skipping them.
  - ClassyJacket 9y ago
    Plus, alot of the time, the ad reads are done live while recording (Rooster Teeth does this), so when they're done reading the copy, the hosts sometimes continue to talk about the product or topic.

grecy 9y ago

Do the sponsors pay you cash, or free product? Did you actively reach out to them, or did they contact you when you got big enough?

csallen 9y ago
Cash, and I reached out at first.
- ryanx435 9y ago
  How did you reach out to them? Like, did you reach out to their marketing department? Hoew did you get their contact info?
  - csallen 9y ago
    Yep, marketing departments. No one trick to finding the right person: research, asking around, very polite cold emails, etc. I also made it clear in my newsletter and on my website website that I was looking for advertisers. I've written about various parts of the process in a few of my month-in-review posts here: https://www.indiehackers.com/blog https://www.indiehackers.com/blog
- grecy 9y ago
  Thanks. I'm confused why you don't take sponsorships/payments now.. you mentioned Stripe - what does that have to do with it?

sah2ed 9y ago

What's ad revenue like now for IH?

csallen 9y ago
$0, I stopped taking on advertisers after joining Stripe

jm547ster 9y ago

Any chance of this going up on Spotify? Apple doesn’t seem to want me to get via iTunes Store, infinite loop of asking for TouchID

djuralfc 9y ago
It happened to me too, restarting the phone helped.
- jm547ster 9y ago
  Thanks, no such luck here unfortunately, direct podcast link worked however, for anyone in the same boat: https://itunes.apple.com/ie/podcast/indie-hackers-podcast-how-developers-are-bootstrapping/id1206165808?mt=2https://itunes.apple.com/ie/podcast/indie-hackers-podcast-how-developers-are-bootstrapping/id1206165808?mt=2 https://itunes.apple.com/ie/podcast/indie-hackers-podcast-ho...
ClassyJacket 9y ago
I've heard that the process for getting a podcast onto Spotify is terrible and difficult - i.e. literally email an individual at the company and then they might send you a SurveyMonkey form if you ask enough times.

dsacco 9y ago

> Regardless, if they're doing multiple episodes per week, each receiving 50k downloads at minimum, and each with multiple sponsors, I'd guess they're making a much more comfortable living than their Patreon numbers suggest. So, what do you think? Their Patreon subscribers are only ~$60,000. Are we talking $500k total with ad sponsorships? $1M? More than that?

eighthnate 9y ago

> in March and made about $1000 from sponsors. That's one sponsor per episode at ~$200 each. I've heard that sponsors pay more for podcasts than they do for youtube videos. Any idea why?

swivelmaster 9y ago
My guess - captive audience. People listening to podcasts are likely to be driving or exercising, which means they're not able to do anything BUT listen and are far less likely to even be able to pull out their phone and start skipping forwards. Plus, hosts usually read the ad copy, which psychologically connects people to the sponsors in a way that has only really been done in very early TV and radio. By way of example, the Crooked Media podcasts (Pod Save America, etc.) include ads in which the hosts also discuss their private lives, personal disagreements, and pop culture, which creates this weird kind of serialized drama/discussion that carries through either within an episode and between ads, OR in ads for the same product but across multiple episodes. All of that makes listeners more likely to listen to ads instead of skipping them.
- ClassyJacket 9y ago
  Plus, alot of the time, the ad reads are done live while recording (Rooster Teeth does this), so when they're done reading the copy, the hosts sometimes continue to talk about the product or topic.