The Platforms of Podcasting: Past and Present

Abstract

This article explores the role of digital platforms in podcasting (both past and present) and their impacts on the emergent podcast industry structure, content, and governance. Nieborg and Poell’s theoretical framework for understanding the impacts of platformization on culture is leveraged here to better understand the changes underway in podcasting. Like other forms of media, podcasting is being profoundly reshaped by platformization, though these transformations are distinct from other media in several key ways. Because podcasting emerged as a technology at the beginning of the 21st century before the advent of social media and the cloud, its decentralized architecture is structured around RSS, also known as “Really Simple Syndication.” When Apple added RSS aggregation into their iTunes Music Store in 2005, their market dominance in digital audio sales shaped early popular conceptions for the medium. I then outline how platformization is reshaping podcasting today by exploring how the three primary functions of media-related platform services—storage, discovery, and consumption—are shaping producers’ and audience experiences. Market imperatives for audience consumption data, as well as the structural features of platforms, are currently fueling industry consolidation. Even though podcasting is built upon the open architecture of RSS, commercial pressures and the desire of market players to capitalize on the “winner-take-all” features of platforms are shaping the trajectory of the medium’s current development.