Soundbite

Short-Form Video Clips Could Cannibalize Podcasters’ Real Audiences

How effective are ubiquitous, buzzy videos on social media at driving audiences to full-length podcast episodes?

A microphone and a headset in a radio studioPhotographer: Ozan Kose/AFP/Getty Images
Lock
This article is for subscribers only.

Welcome back to Soundbite. In the podcast industry this week, there’s been one story generating a ton of attention. A new startup, Inception Point AI, announced in the Hollywood Reporter that it is already releasing 3,000 podcast episodes a week between its 5,000 shows — and all of the series, from the topics to the voices, are generated by artificial intelligence. Only four humans work on the content. To say there’s been a backlash from the industry would be a huge understatement. The takes on LinkedIn have been fast and furious. Nick Quah over at New York magazine published his thoughts, which are worth a read.

Meanwhile, we’ve got a fun announcement to make this week. Plus, we dive into the short-form video clips business and how this might be impacting podcasters.