Podcasts, freemium, and premium services

[phenomlab]

Podcasts are something I’ve tried to get into for a while, but I have to admit, my attention span is somewhat lacking when it comes to this. Either I find them way too boring, or the overall subject matter just doesn’t interest me.

Very interested in what others are listening to

[JAC]

I’ve listened to many football podcasts over the years but I must admit I tend to switch off from them for a bit and come back to them, like you I tend to get a bit bored.

[phenomlab]

@JAC yes, that’s my problem. Some have content which I find engaging, or I’ll listen just because I heard a preview and that’s what piqued my interest, but for the most part I do tend to get bored and switch off.

[JAC]

@phenomlab Once they start waffling I get a little disinterested and I sort of make a decision to come back to it later or whether I’ve heard enough .

[phenomlab]

@JAC exactly my issue. Thing for me though is that once the interest starts to decline, so does my enthusiasm. I reminds me somewhat of dull business meetings that are “death by PowerPoint”.

[JAC]

@phenomlab I was listening to a general football podcast last night that’s broadcast live on YouTube, I managed 10 minutes, got through all the into and then for whatever reason the hosts and guests went right off subject talking rubbish for a solid 3 minutes to which point I lost interest and decided there and then because that the podcast wasn’t very good and that I wouldn’t listen to it again.

Now I’m not entirely sure that’s how that works, realistically you’re supposed to give something a try and if you like it you come back for more, and if you don’t you can either try it again or give it a swerve altogether, but I appeared to make my mind up there and then, are we all like that?

[phenomlab]

@JAC I’ve had this happen to me very frequently. It’s difficult to find decent or tailored podcasts, and I’ve personally tuned in to some fairly niche subjects around technology, only to find that they land up going off on some wild tangent and as a result, it’s not what I thought it would be.

This always has the negative effect of turning potential audiences away rather than encourage them to listen to all of it.

[JAC]

@phenomlab exactly Mark, if they’d stick to the subject matter they’d keep people tuned in!

[phenomlab]

@JAC I also really hate the “sponsorship mentions” you typically see a lot of on YouTube. I understand the need to mention, but it’s incredibly irritating to be forced to watch the person you are following endorse the sponsor’s product even if it is at the end…

[JAC]

@phenomlab said in Anyone here listen to podcasts?:

I also really hate the “sponsorship mentions” you typically see a lot of on YouTube

Too right, these are very annoying, I even paid for Youtube premium just to get rid of adverts, but now the vlogger just mentions a sponsor or puts an image on screen, or the famous “You’ll find the link down below in the description” .

[phenomlab]

@JAC yes, I have YouTube premium for the same reason and have noticed exactly that.

[JAC]

@phenomlab I guess it’s a way of them making / attempting to make money, shove both physical adverts down your throat and just incase you’ve swerved them here’s an image of who sponsored today’s upload .

[phenomlab]

@JAC Yes, exactly. That’s the point of monetisation, but it shouldn’t be at the expense of the viewer who may already be paying a premium fee to dodge stuff like that.

[JAC]

@phenomlab Absolutely, I agree, if you’re already paying to not have ads pushed on you then as you say it’s one or the other.

[phenomlab]

@JAC Not sure if you’ve noticed this (if you have an Amazon Prime subscription) but they have also started pushing ads on Prime, so it’s almost “Freemium” and you have to pay an additional cost to remove them

[JAC]

@phenomlab I did hear about this, I have Prime but don’t use Prime video, it’s utterly crazy that you already pay for a subscription with them but then have to pay a further fee to remove ads, drives me mad!!

[phenomlab]

@JAC and me. Literally makes me want to cancel my prime subscription

[JAC]

@phenomlab said in Anyone here listen to podcasts?:

Literally makes me want to cancel my prime subscription

Absolutely! it’s a shame the Amazon delivery service is so handy .

[phenomlab]

@JAC but even that seems to have taken a nosedive recently. Tou can’t get same day delivery anymore (aside from groceries) - even if you have a prime subscription.

At least, that’s been my experience of late.

[JAC]

@phenomlab it has you’re right!

Greed taken over?