When I first started listening to podcasts they were a creative outlet for people who had no access to other means of broadcasting and seemed to be more of a hobby. At that time I don’t recall many of the podcasts blighted by adverts, if any at all.
Once the adverts came they ruined many a podcast. The ads were never thoughtfully placed, cutting across dialogue time and time again. Then came Patreon. Now you get the near begging that the listeners need to subscribe “so we can keep the lights on”, with good content put behind a paywall. As
@Sharon Hill wrote
and what started as a hobbyists creative outlet became the potential for an income stream. I subscribed to tens of podcasts prior to Patreon and honestly couldn’t afford to pay a subscription to all of them, so one by one I have unsubscribed and now have only four that I listen to on a regular basis, and as they are inevitably jumping on the Patreon and or advertising bandwagon I expect I will eventually give those up. That is the reason I have been trawling through the BBC archives for Fortean/Paranormal/Supernatural content, some of which I post a link to here.
I have discussed with my son the possibility of starting a Fortean podcast if I live long enough to retire. Like so many of his age group he has “Media” qualifications and was going to help me get started, focusing on the Paranormal of my youth which precludes a lot of the stuff of today, i.e, shadow man, moth man and the rest of the scary pasta stuff that seems to have been elevated into mainstream Forteana. I am now so disillusioned with the podcast scene I don’t think I would bother.
But, (final whinge of the night), the podcasts that really get my goat are the ones that ask for listener stories which they then broadcast/publish (?) with a shit load of ads, or hide behind a pay wall. Do they distribute their earnings amongst those who give them their material? Do they F**k!
