Keeping Podcasting Independent: What It Really Means for Creators – PCI 448
At Blubrry, we love independent podcasting.
The heart of what makes podcasting so unique — independence. As corporate platforms grow louder in the space, it’s more important than ever for creators to understand how to retain control of their voice, content, and audience. From choosing the right tools and hosting partners to marketing yourself as a creator-owned brand, we explore what podcasting independence really means and how it benefits both your creativity and your business. Whether you’re just getting started or rethinking your podcasting path, this episode is packed with insights to help you stay true to your vision.
Today’s hosts: Mike Dell, Todd Cochrane, MacKenzie Bennett
1️⃣ Why Podcasting Independence Matters More Than Ever
Podcasting has always been a space where creators could own their voice and their audience. But as big media continues to move in, it’s important to understand what independence really looks like — and why it’s worth protecting.
Why it matters:
- You control your content and message.
- You own your brand and audience — no platform can lock you in or dictate your direction.
- You decide how you monetize, whether that’s ads, premium content, listener support, or all of the above.
- Independence builds trust — listeners value authenticity and transparency.
💡 Tip: If a service or platform limits where your podcast appears, who can access it, or how you can monetize, it may be undermining your independence.
2️⃣ Marketing Yourself as an Independent Voice
Being independent isn’t just about technical decisions — it’s also something you can use to stand out in a crowded podcast landscape.
How to do it:
- Embrace transparency — tell your audience you’re an independent creator.
- Use language like “creator-owned,” “listener-supported,” or “independent podcast” in your show notes, social media, and marketing materials.
- Build a direct relationship with your listeners — through email newsletters, community groups, and your own website.
- Share your story — why did you choose independence, and what does that mean for your content?
💡 Tip: Independent creators often have the strongest listener loyalty — lean into that and invite your audience to be part of your journey.
3️⃣ The Business Case for Independence
Choosing independence isn’t just about creative freedom — it’s also a smart business decision.
Why it makes sense:
- You control your revenue streams — no forced ads or revenue splits unless you choose them.
- You maintain flexibility — you can adapt as your podcast grows, without being locked into a platform’s terms.
- You protect your brand — your podcast name, logo, and audience remain yours, not the property of a host or app.
💡 Tip: Diversify your income — host-read ads, dynamic ads, premium content, and direct support can all fit within an independent strategy.
4️⃣ Technical Choices That Support Independence
The technology behind your podcast plays a huge role in maintaining your independence. Make intentional choices about where and how you host your show.
How to do it:
Own your RSS feed — don’t let a platform control it. Blubrry ensures you can always take your feed with you.
- Own your website — use a domain you control, ideally with a full site (Blubrry offers WordPress integrations to make this easy).
- Host your media independently — not on a free platform that inserts ads or locks your content.
- Own your analytics — use IAB-certified stats (like Blubrry provides) so you have a true picture of your audience, not a platform-filtered view.
💡 Tip: Be cautious of “free” hosting solutions — if you’re not paying with money, you may be paying with your content or audience access.
Thanks for listening to Podcast Insider, you can subscribe to new episodes out every Monday.
The best place for support with any Blubrry product or service is our ticket system. Tickets give the whole team access vs. direct emails or calls. General podcasting discussions and more can be shared on the Blubrry Podcasting Facebook group.
Fill out our listener survey at surveys.blubrry.com/podcastinsider
Hosting customers can schedule a one-on-one call with Todd or a tech checkup with Mike at todd@blubrry.com and mike@blubrry.com
Stay tuned for more episodes and visit our website for the latest updates and resources.
00:00 - Introduction to Independence in Podcasting
01:50 - The Importance of Creator Independence
03:45 - Monetization and Maintaining Control
05:20 - Building a Relationship with Your Audience
08:35 - The Definition of Independence in Podcasting
11:00 - Embracing Audience Loyalty
12:45 - Technical Choices for Independence
15:10 - Owning Your RSS Feed
17:20 - Final Thoughts on Independence
18:45 - Closing and Resources
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Everyone. I'm Mike Dell, VP of customer relations
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here at Blueberry. And I'm Todd Cochran, founder
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of Blueberry.
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And I'm Mackenzie Bennett, marketing specialist.
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Welcome to Podcast Insider.
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And today, we're diving into a topic that's
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core to podcasting
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and to Blueberry's mission, keeping podcasting
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independent.
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And we're gonna explore why independence matters,
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what's at stake for creators today, and what
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technical and business decisions
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help you stay in control.
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And we'll also share how to market yourself
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as an independent voice in a space that's
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seeing more and more influence from big media
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companies.
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You're listening to Podcast Insider hosted by Mike
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Dell, Todd Cochran, and Mackenzie Bennett from the
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Blueberry team,
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bringing you weekly insights, advice, and insider tips
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and tricks to help you start, grow, and
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thrive through podcasting.
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With all the support of your team here
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at Blueberry Podcasting,
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welcome. Let's dive in.
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You know, this is,
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a topic I've been thinking about a lot
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lately,
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especially with the
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you know, everyone is just basically saying, oh,
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you have to do video. And the realization
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is that, no. You you don't have to
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do video. And
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I hear from our new clients and potential
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clients that,
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you know, they're concerned about this and, you
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know, think they have to put in a
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big production and be one of the
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the big boys or girls. And, you know,
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and,
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you know but I in my response to
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those podcasters is, you know,
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this this has always been a space where
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where creators can find their own voice and
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an audience and share their
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message.
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But what a lot of the big media,
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you know, narrative is
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that, you know, you just it's they're trying
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to change a narrative and it's and then
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in effect is, in my opinion, kind of
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suppressing
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some folks considering becoming a creator. So I
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think that,
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we need to make folks understand what independence
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really looks like
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and
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why it's worth protecting.
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And,
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you know, we've been on
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this bandwagon
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for twenty years now, so
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we can probably talk about a 100 things
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in this regard only. When the podcasting first
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started, it was, hey. There's no more gatekeepers.
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There's no more you know, you don't have
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to be with a radio or TV to
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get on you know, to broadcast your show,
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your
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thoughts, your whatever.
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And now they're trying to get it back
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to having gatekeepers,
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and that just isn't what podcasting is all
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about or at least in my opinion, it
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shouldn't be. You know, being independent
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lets you control what you say. You don't
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have to ask permission. You just do it.
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And if it takes off, it takes off.
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If it doesn't, it doesn't, but it's on
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you. It's your thing. It's you're not a
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broadcaster on Spotify. You're a podcaster that can
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also distribute to Spotify and all these other
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places. And I think a lot of those
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platforms
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are people are very cognizant.
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They're very careful in what they say because
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of the, you know, the the moderation constraints.
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Constraints. And this is one of the beauties
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of podcasting is there's really no moderation constraints.
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Now, you know, this not very many shows
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have ever been deplatformed
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in the podcast sphere because they can't be
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because they go into some things we're gonna
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talk about here in a minute. But,
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again, I think it's important that you understand
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as a potential listener that, again, as Mike
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said, you control your content and message. My
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biggest thing is the way that you monetize
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Because when you are deciding how you're gonna
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monetize, whether that is, you know, with with
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traditional ads that we're used to hearing at
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this point, doing premium content that a select
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user group is paying for,
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asking for listener
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donated support or all of the above, Signing
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with specific companies will limit what you are
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allowed to say. That's just that's just how
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some advertising goes.
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You know, you're not gonna gel with every
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company out there that is looking to do
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an ad deal specifically with podcasting too. There's
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dozens of companies I wouldn't go near or
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touch,
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and there are companies that would do the
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same to me if I was putting out
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my own podcast with my own content. And
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that is one of the things that is
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solely your choice. And even if you are
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joining something like a network,
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that is also something that you are
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letting go.
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You can still be in control of it
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somewhat if that's unprivileged enough to be able
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to to negotiate in your own contract for
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your show. But if not, that is something
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that you were just acknowledging that this is
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gonna be different. You know, for me,
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having done this for so long,
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it's really truly about controlling my brand, controlling
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my not controlling, but building my audience on
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my own terms
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where no one can dictate to you the
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direction of the show, the content of the
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show.
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And I and I think that sometimes is
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often lost
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is that
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you you have have to be able to
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do that. If you're gonna put your creative
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effort, your blood, sweat, and tears
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into something,
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you know, you you wanna build your brand
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and you wanna build it your way and
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do it and do it as you so
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please.
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And I think that's the power of being
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independent, power of being a a true podcaster.
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And, you know, it goes a long ways
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when it comes to audience.
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They crave it. People wanna find independent creators,
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across all mediums at this point.
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And with podcasting,
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you know, that's something that they're absolutely used
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to and expecting
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that you might be an independent creator and
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not, you know, part of a news network.
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Because so often nowadays, it's
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these things are a monopoly,
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and there's the exact same rhetoric going from
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one thing to the other.
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So they are looking for something that is
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going to stand out to them. That is
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someone expressing and giving them, you know, what
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they want
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without just blending in. Yeah. I think listeners
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can detect when you're being
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non authentic
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and and not being transparent.
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I I think they can smell that a
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a mile away. So being able to be
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yourself and saying what you wanna say and
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how you wanna say it
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literally,
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I think that is
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the power of this medium.
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And I go back to stories about different
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organizations and stuff that started a podcast largely
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because
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their words were being manipulated, and they wanted
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to make sure they put out media
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so that they heard their voice and that
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their message couldn't be
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misconstrued.
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So it's not just individuals, it can be
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companies or organizations too that are trying to,
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to put it out there. Mike, if there's
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a tip you can give someone, what would
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be the tip would be?
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Just be, you know,
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if a place that you're gonna be podcasting
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from limits
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where your podcast can appear, who can access
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it, or how you can monetize it, it
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may be undermining your independence. If they have
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rules
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that go against what you wanna do, or
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you may not wanna be there. Now if
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they write a big enough check, you might
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want to. But I think,
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I, you know, I think being independent isn't
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just about the
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AKA technical decisions, you know, control your feed,
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control your brand, all this.
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It's also anything that,
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that's gonna allow you to stand out in
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a crowd.
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And there's a lot of podcasts out there,
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you know, probably around 400,000
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that are currently active.
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So,
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you know,
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you being that independent voice,
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again, it goes back to that transparency
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telling your audience you're an independent creator that,
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you know, you basically,
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even if you have a sponsor, you can
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even say how I am not my message
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is not controlled. And if it is controlled,
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make sure you divulge that. If your sponsor
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doesn't let you talk about
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someone else in your same category, then you
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say, hey. I'm kinda obligated not to talk
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about this. I'll let you guys make up
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your own mind on a specific topic that's
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come up for me even in my own
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show in the past where my sponsors
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well, someone on my sponsors team did something
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really dumb and,
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you know, I kinda had to address it.
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And I had to be you know, find
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that line, but, again, that transparency is super,
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super powerful.
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Yeah. It did just you know, being independent
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also helps you, you know, build a direct
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relationship with your listeners, viewers, whatever, if you're
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doing video.
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And the beauty of that is that they
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know you.
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They don't need to know that you're on,
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ABC network, and I don't mean ABC the
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broadcaster,
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but, you know, just as a generic network
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or generic platform. I'm not speaking for say,
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you're on Spotify as your your platform.
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You know, you you don't speak for Spotify.
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You look at Joe Rogan. He was he's
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exclusive to to Spotify. I mean, now he's
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out there
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more open, which is good,
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and they don't mess with him as much
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as they would the the average person. But
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the
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the beauty of,
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of not being tied to one platform is
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you've got if you got something bad to
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say about a platform, well, you can say
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it.
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And, you know, but but keeping that relationship
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with your listeners directly helps. I I have
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listeners that have been listening to me for
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twenty years. I know them by name, you
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know, and sometimes I'll call them out on
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the show and say, what do you think
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of that, Wes? And, you know,
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I'll get an email back. And you you
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just can't get that
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if you're not truly independent. I think this
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this definition of independent needs to be a
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little more refined. I think independent means you
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are just not constrained by someone. You don't
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have to answer
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to someone.
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I would say Rogan has to answer someone.
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Yeah. So he's not independent.
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So if you don't have to answer someone,
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this show, we're really not
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independent because what do we answer to? We
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answer to the company, but we also are
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pretty
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free flowing in our thoughts and ideas on
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here too. Yeah. So as as an independent
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creator,
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you you got that real like you said,
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you have that ability to build a relationship,
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and I think using you know, there's lots
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of language you can define yourself by.
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Yeah.
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Yeah. So much of that relationship that you
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are
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setting and really
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defining is saying that you are independent, you
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are listener supported.
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That that go goes across the board. That's
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on your website. That's on your social media.
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That's on your show that's in your show
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notes. That's in the content that you were
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speaking out into the world. It's it goes
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into the newsletters that you're putting out. The,
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you know, the Reddit channels that you're in,
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all it's everything.
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And, you know, I go back to the
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early days and, you know, there really wasn't
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this everyone was pretty independent in the beginning.
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And why did why did they choose independence?
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It was pretty simple because we could for
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the first time.
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We didn't have to get on a radio
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station very easily. No. Or or you couldn't
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be distributed. That was the thing. That's that's
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what I mean. You know, you couldn't
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you couldn't get on a a network,
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a a radio network or even a radio
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station without, you know, going through a whole
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bunch of stuff, and there's lots of rules.
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And when podcasting first came out, like I
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said before,
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the big thing was you don't have to
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worry about the gatekeepers. You don't have to
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worry about the FCC rules. And there was
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a a saying that that we won't say
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here about the FCC.
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But I think That was a big thing
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in podcasting back then. But I also think
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that most of us had no desire
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to be on the radio.
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And but at the same time, if you
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wanted to be on the Xbox or you
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wanted to be on the sites of the
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day,
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there was a gatekeeper there. And, you
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know, I think independent creators often have the
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strongest listener loyalty too.
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So lean into that and invite your audience
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to be part of that that journey.
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There's also more reason
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to be independent
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as a business than just your own personal
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preference, maybe. You know, it it might be
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best for your
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for you as a whole, for your podcast
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as a whole, if you're doing this, because
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you're in control of your revenue streams
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and how you're functioning and structuring and
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and overall the brand.
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Yeah. No forced ads, no revenue splits,
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all that kinda goes into
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into that play.
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And You are the you are the one
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designating whatever is in that contract. Whatever,
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you know, legal stuff is happening, you are
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the force behind it. Yeah. And a 100
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Go ahead. And as, you know, as you
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as you grow or something, you know, you
355
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could always,
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you know, flip it around, do do something
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different. You maintain that flexibility
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if you're not under
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some contract,
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you know, and remaining independent. You've got that
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you know, I look at, Dave Ramsey. Okay?
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It's a big company. He's a big company,
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but he is an independent
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podcaster creator.
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He's not beholden to these big companies. Now
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he does have an ad sales team and
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all that stuff, but a lot of that's
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in house.
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And so you can get really big and
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still be independent.
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You know, he protects his brand. He protects
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his company's name,
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protects his IP,
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and his audience
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remains
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under his umbrella.
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And, you know, and Dave has actually added
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shows to his network, so those shows that
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grow
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may have to follow the rules of Dave
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Ramsey.
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Yeah. But They own.
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But at the same time,
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that's a choice they made. And I think
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for most
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businesses out there,
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you know, by default,
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you're largely gonna be independent unless you're doing
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00:14:12,664 --> 00:14:13,164
a
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00:14:13,544 --> 00:14:16,745
legal, finance, some sort of showing you join
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some network that has that type of content,
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then you may not be as
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as independent because you have to follow the
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rules of whatever that network has set forth.
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And I think too there's the ability to
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00:14:29,039 --> 00:14:29,539
diversify.
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00:14:30,399 --> 00:14:32,355
You don't have to run ads. You can
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00:14:32,355 --> 00:14:35,075
run ads. You can do premium content. You
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00:14:35,075 --> 00:14:38,434
you really can do whatever you want. Value
400
00:14:38,434 --> 00:14:39,735
for value, you know.
401
00:14:40,514 --> 00:14:42,914
I'm treasure and talent, you know, that whole
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00:14:42,914 --> 00:14:43,414
thing.
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00:14:43,875 --> 00:14:45,495
One of the things that you can do
404
00:14:45,554 --> 00:14:48,009
by yourself as opposed to working for a
405
00:14:48,009 --> 00:14:50,509
network or a business or whatever the case,
406
00:14:50,889 --> 00:14:53,769
this allows you to be incredibly creative and
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00:14:53,769 --> 00:14:55,929
try whatever it is that you want to
408
00:14:55,929 --> 00:14:56,429
monetize.
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00:14:57,049 --> 00:14:59,209
It can be a little scary if you
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don't have that backup
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00:15:00,985 --> 00:15:03,384
of, you know, whoever is finding this for
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00:15:03,384 --> 00:15:05,865
you, finding ways to monetize, but it does
413
00:15:05,865 --> 00:15:08,024
mean that you are able to try whatever
414
00:15:08,024 --> 00:15:09,785
it is that you want. Some of the
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technical choices
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that, can support independence,
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00:15:13,545 --> 00:15:15,884
and, you know, the technology behind your podcast
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plays a huge role in maintaining that independence.
419
00:15:19,049 --> 00:15:20,350
So you wanna make intentional
420
00:15:20,730 --> 00:15:23,929
choices about where and how you, host your
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show.
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00:15:24,809 --> 00:15:26,330
And one of the big things here at
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00:15:26,330 --> 00:15:29,745
Blueberry is owning your own RSS feed. You
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know, don't let a platform control it. Of
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00:15:32,225 --> 00:15:34,225
course, here at Blueberry, we ensure that you
426
00:15:34,225 --> 00:15:34,884
can always
427
00:15:35,264 --> 00:15:37,105
take your feed with you. So that you
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know, that's one of the the biggest things.
429
00:15:39,504 --> 00:15:41,365
I just had one today where
430
00:15:42,370 --> 00:15:45,169
somebody was working with a consultant and, didn't
431
00:15:45,169 --> 00:15:46,769
own all her stuff. And,
432
00:15:47,329 --> 00:15:49,009
so there's a little bit of a fight
433
00:15:49,009 --> 00:15:50,069
going on there, and
434
00:15:50,370 --> 00:15:52,449
and you don't wanna get into that. Make
435
00:15:52,449 --> 00:15:54,449
sure you own the stuff. You you can
436
00:15:54,449 --> 00:15:55,909
hire people to help you, but
437
00:15:56,565 --> 00:15:59,605
you keep control of your RSS feed, your
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logins to the different accounts, and so on.
439
00:16:02,804 --> 00:16:04,325
At the same time, I think, you know,
440
00:16:04,325 --> 00:16:06,245
this you know, we've we've pushed this for
441
00:16:06,245 --> 00:16:08,024
years as, you know, having your own domain.
442
00:16:08,820 --> 00:16:09,300
And,
443
00:16:09,620 --> 00:16:12,100
that's ideally with a full site a full
444
00:16:12,100 --> 00:16:13,860
site that we offer, you know, either with
445
00:16:13,860 --> 00:16:15,960
the WordPress or or one of your own.
446
00:16:16,420 --> 00:16:18,420
So, you know, owning your website is super,
447
00:16:18,420 --> 00:16:21,080
super critical to having that origin of content.
448
00:16:21,779 --> 00:16:22,920
But, of course,
449
00:16:24,115 --> 00:16:25,735
you host your media independently,
450
00:16:26,434 --> 00:16:27,714
so you don't have to be on a
451
00:16:27,714 --> 00:16:30,195
platform that inserts ads or or locks your
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00:16:30,195 --> 00:16:30,695
content.
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00:16:31,154 --> 00:16:33,554
Hosts like Blueberry, it's your choice on what
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00:16:33,554 --> 00:16:36,615
you what you participate in and do.
455
00:16:37,110 --> 00:16:39,269
So, you know, we're we're just kinda here
456
00:16:39,269 --> 00:16:41,269
to get that media up, get it hosted,
457
00:16:41,269 --> 00:16:42,409
get it delivered,
458
00:16:42,870 --> 00:16:44,870
but it's your decision then. Okay. Do I
459
00:16:44,870 --> 00:16:47,509
wanna run ads? Do I wanna run Go
460
00:16:47,509 --> 00:16:50,409
Premium? Do I wanna have, programmatic advertising?
461
00:16:51,195 --> 00:16:53,674
You know, we, we don't touch that audio
462
00:16:53,674 --> 00:16:55,134
file. You make that decision,
463
00:16:55,915 --> 00:16:56,415
independently.
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00:16:57,274 --> 00:16:59,595
We stay a 100% out of your content
465
00:16:59,595 --> 00:17:01,134
unless you ask us to.
466
00:17:01,514 --> 00:17:02,154
And then,
467
00:17:02,795 --> 00:17:04,555
we don't touch your content, but we will
468
00:17:04,555 --> 00:17:06,095
analyze crap out of it.
469
00:17:06,509 --> 00:17:09,250
We will we have a lot of analytics
470
00:17:09,309 --> 00:17:12,109
going on, for your Blueberry stats that are
471
00:17:12,109 --> 00:17:14,609
gonna give you a actual real true picture
472
00:17:14,830 --> 00:17:15,730
of your audience.
473
00:17:16,430 --> 00:17:18,509
And I think one thing that's really important
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00:17:18,509 --> 00:17:20,450
too of free hosting solutions,
475
00:17:21,045 --> 00:17:22,184
If you're not paying,
476
00:17:23,365 --> 00:17:25,305
you're basically probably the product,
477
00:17:25,684 --> 00:17:27,924
and you may be paying with your content
478
00:17:27,924 --> 00:17:30,884
or audience success. And as we see here
479
00:17:30,884 --> 00:17:31,625
every day,
480
00:17:32,085 --> 00:17:35,365
we graduate podcast into Blueberry that have been
481
00:17:35,365 --> 00:17:38,980
on platforms that either limited their success, limited
482
00:17:39,039 --> 00:17:40,259
the amount of analytics,
483
00:17:41,519 --> 00:17:44,500
limited their freedom to be more diversified.
484
00:17:45,119 --> 00:17:47,700
It just runs the full gamut of decisions.
485
00:17:48,000 --> 00:17:49,940
So as we kinda wrap this independent
486
00:17:51,125 --> 00:17:53,524
discussion up of being an independent podcaster, which
487
00:17:53,524 --> 00:17:56,264
I feel in my personal shows I am,
488
00:17:57,044 --> 00:17:58,105
any last thoughts?
489
00:17:58,565 --> 00:18:02,264
Again, just be careful of who you partner
490
00:18:02,325 --> 00:18:02,825
with
491
00:18:03,365 --> 00:18:04,264
for your podcast.
492
00:18:05,125 --> 00:18:05,625
Just,
493
00:18:06,039 --> 00:18:08,380
you know, the the the more you control
494
00:18:08,440 --> 00:18:10,440
yourself. And, yes, it's a little more work.
495
00:18:10,440 --> 00:18:12,539
We do our best here to help
496
00:18:12,920 --> 00:18:14,759
you, you know, get through the technical stuff,
497
00:18:14,759 --> 00:18:16,519
and then you create the content. You get
498
00:18:16,519 --> 00:18:18,839
to choose what you wanna say, when you
499
00:18:18,839 --> 00:18:20,920
wanna say it, how often you wanna podcast,
500
00:18:20,920 --> 00:18:23,294
how long the episodes are. Everything about it
501
00:18:23,294 --> 00:18:24,035
is yours,
502
00:18:24,494 --> 00:18:26,174
and we stay out of your way. My
503
00:18:26,174 --> 00:18:28,755
last thing is there's really no podcast failure.
504
00:18:28,815 --> 00:18:30,255
You know, if you wanna start this up
505
00:18:30,255 --> 00:18:31,714
and remain a 100%
506
00:18:32,414 --> 00:18:34,575
independent and not move on to a big
507
00:18:34,575 --> 00:18:35,714
platform or network,
508
00:18:36,029 --> 00:18:38,590
then that is your choice, and there's there's
509
00:18:38,590 --> 00:18:40,590
really nothing that can go wrong. So that's
510
00:18:40,590 --> 00:18:42,910
a wrap on today's episode. I hope this
511
00:18:42,910 --> 00:18:45,070
gives you some practical ideas to keep your
512
00:18:45,070 --> 00:18:46,369
podcast truly
513
00:18:46,830 --> 00:18:47,330
independent.
514
00:18:48,045 --> 00:18:49,805
And we do want you to remember that
515
00:18:49,805 --> 00:18:52,684
independence isn't just about the technology itself, but
516
00:18:52,684 --> 00:18:54,525
it's about how you build your brand, your
517
00:18:54,525 --> 00:18:57,244
business, and the relationship that you have with
518
00:18:57,244 --> 00:18:57,904
your audiences.
519
00:18:58,285 --> 00:18:59,565
Yeah. Of course. We always have to put
520
00:18:59,565 --> 00:19:01,404
this in here. Don't forget to follow or
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subscribe
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Podcast Insider. Never miss anything that we put
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00:19:05,519 --> 00:19:08,000
out here from the Blueberry team. We'll see
524
00:19:08,000 --> 00:19:09,680
you next time. Go check us out at
525
00:19:09,680 --> 00:19:11,779
podcastinsider.com.
526
00:19:12,880 --> 00:19:15,605
Thanks for joining us. Come back next week.
527
00:19:15,605 --> 00:19:19,125
And in the meantime, head to podcastinsider.com
528
00:19:19,125 --> 00:19:20,105
for more information,
529
00:19:20,484 --> 00:19:21,224
to subscribe,
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share, and read our show notes.
531
00:19:24,404 --> 00:19:26,424
To check out our latest suite of services
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00:19:26,644 --> 00:19:29,277
and learn how Blueberry can help you leverage
533
00:19:29,277 --> 00:19:29,430
your
534
00:19:30,309 --> 00:19:32,890
podcast, visit blueberry.com.
535
00:19:32,950 --> 00:19:34,890
That's Blueberry without the e's.
536
00:19:35,190 --> 00:19:36,730
We couldn't afford the e's.
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