The datafication of podcasting: RQ: how does datafication shape commercial podcasting in the age of platforms?

This paper explores how datafication shape commercial podcasting and argues that the challenge of making podcasting financially sustainable is connected to the rise of platforms such as Spotify and Podimo. On the one hand, such platforms are investing heavily in the podcast industry; on the other, they impose on it their logics of curation, commodification, and datafication (van Dijck, Poell & de Waal, 2018).
The paper draws upon theory of datafication: the process that all informational aspects of the world become data points, and that these data are captured, stored, mined, and processed (Lycett, 2013). Two different perspectives exist within datafication research: on the one hand, the critical perspective that focuses on questions of structural power and on how “big tech” colonizes the lifeworld of individuals (van Dijck, Poell & de Waal, 2018); on the other hand, the business-intelligence perspective focuses on numerical “big data” as a resource for organizational decision-making (Lycett, 2013).
While notions of datafication are ubiquitous in current media studies, the intersection of datafication and podcasting is unexplored. This is surprising as podcasting – even though it started out as a decentralized DIY-medium (Bonini 2015) – is generally considered to be a platform medium (Adler Berg 2021; Sullivan, 2019).
On this background, we ask exploratively: How is commercial podcasting shaped by datafication? This entails answers to these sub-research questions: How is data perceived among different types of podcast media? What kind of data is collected? And how is data put into use?
To answer these research questions, we focus empirically on commercial podcasting in Denmark. Here, the recent launch of a data-driven podcast platform (Podimo) provides an opportunity for investigating how different types of podcast media react under such disruptive influence. Methodologically, we are conducting semi-structured qualitative interviews with new podcast media and legacy media companies with in-house podcast divisions – and the platform of Podimo.
The paper expects to contribute with knowledge about how a relatively new but rapidly growing medium struggle with changing something formerly free into an industry with financially sustainable business models. And despite various attempts to capture user and behavioral data, both new and legacy media actors are challenged in converting any such data to a valuable resource – the exact strength of the platforms. This suggests that new media industries such as podcasting are both shaped and challenged by datafication.

References:
Adler Berg, F. S. (2021a). Independent podcasts on the Apple Podcasts platform in the streaming era. MedieKultur (70).
Bonini, T. (2015). The ‘Second Age’ of Podcasting: reframing Podcasting as a New Digital Mass Medium. Quaderns del CAC, 41(18)
van Dijck, J., Poell, T. & de Waal, M. (2018). The Platform Society. Public Values in a Connective World. Oxford University Press.
Lycett, M. (2013): ‘Datafication’: making sense of (big) data in a complex world. European Journal of Information System, Vol. 22.
Sullivan, J. L. (2019). The Platforms of Podcasting: Past and Present. Social Media + Society. Vol (Oct.-Dec.).