Welcome to Podcast Insider!
April 27, 2023

Should I Start or Join a Podcast Network?

Should I Start or Join a Podcast Network?

The Ins and Outs of Podcast Networks

A podcast network is a collection of podcasts, associated to one another via production, distribution and/or monetarily. Chances are, you listen to a podcast involved in a podcast network. Today, Blubrry discusses the pros and cons of joining or starting a podcast network of your own.

Today’s Hosts: MacKenzie Bennett and Mike Dell

We review the pros and cons associated to participating in a podcast network

Joining a podcast network Pros
  • Access to a built-in audience: joining a podcast network can give you access to a wider audience, as the network may already have an established listener base.
  • Advertising and sponsorship opportunities: networks can negotiate advertising and sponsorship deals with brands that would be difficult to secure as an individual podcaster.
  • Professional support: some networks offer professional support, such as sound engineering and editing services, which can improve the overall quality of your podcast.
  • Cross-promotion: being part of a network means that your podcast can be cross-promoted on other shows within the network, increasing visibility and potential listenership.
Cons
  • Limited creative control: joining a podcast network often means adhering to the network’s branding and editorial guidelines, which can limit creative freedom.
  • Sharing revenue: networks often take a cut of revenue generated from sponsorships and advertising.
  • Less independence: being part of a network means being part of a larger organization, which may come with obligations and responsibilities outside of podcasting.
Starting a podcast network Pros
  • Increased revenue potential: by starting a network, you can generate revenue from multiple podcasts, rather than just one.
  • Creative control: as the founder of the network, you have complete creative control over the branding and editorial guidelines of the network.
  • Ability to curate content: as the network grows, you can curate the content to create a cohesive brand and target audience.
  • Collaborative opportunities: by building a network, you can collaborate with other podcasters and build relationships within the industry.
Cons
  • High startup costs: starting a network requires a significant investment in equipment, software, and personnel.
  • Administrative work: as the founder of the network, you will be responsible for administrative tasks such as accounting, legal work, and marketing.
  • No established audience: starting a network from scratch means building an audience from the ground up, which can take time and effort.
  • Risk of failure: as with any opporunity, there is a risk that the network may not succeed.

Got a subject you would like us to cover on the show, Drop an email to mike@blubrry.com (audio, text, video), and we may use it. You can also post a question on the Blubrry Podcasting Facebook group.

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Fill out our listener survey at surveys.blubrry.com/podcastinsider

  • Schedule a one-on-one with Todd (hosting customers only). Email todd@blubrry.com
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Our mailing address: Blubrry – MacKenzie 150 E. Campus View Blvd. #180 Columbus, Ohio 43235

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Is what happens if a show gets really
big, cuz that could happen, you know,

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in fact, that's kinda
what you're going for.

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But what happens to the rest
of the shows on the network?

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You're listening to Podcast Insider
hosted by Mike Dell. Todd Cochran,

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and Mackenzie Bennett from the Blueberry
Team bring you weekly insights, advice,

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and insider tips and
tricks to help you start,

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grow and thrive through podcasting.

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All with the support of your team
here at Blueberry Podcasting. Welcome.

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Let's dive in.

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I'm Mackenzie Bennett, marketing
specialist here at Blueberry.

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And I'm Mike Dell, VP of Customer
Relations here at Blueberry.

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This week we're gonna talk about
networks. Should you start one,

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should you join one?

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And we'll go over some of the pros
and cons of running or being part

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of a network.

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So I think we should start off with one
of the ways that you can be part of a

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network, whether it's
running it or joining one.

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And we work with customers every day
and podcasters that are on both sides

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of this, uh, situation. So how,

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what is your experience with this
helping customers, Mike? Well.

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Some of the time with networks,

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and we'll go into some
pros and cons of course,

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but some of the time with networks is,

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you gotta be really clear how the
network is going to be organized.

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I'm part of the tech podcast
network with one of my podcasts,

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and that's a very loose
formation of a network.

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It's basically an affiliate
sort of agreement that

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we're, we're gonna be
affiliated with the network,

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but we're not run by the network and
we're not owned by a network. And, uh,

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and all that. That's, that's one way.

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There's other ways where it's
a little more formal. You know,

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someone approaches you and says, Hey,

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we'd like your show to
be part of our network,

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and as part of that we wanna share
revenue with you. We want to, you know,

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we wanna host your show on
our platform or a platform of

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our choice. And, you know, and
then there's everything in between.

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It could just be an
agreement between podcasters.

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Sometimes a network is a good idea and
sometimes it's a bad idea. ,

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you know, that it all
depends and, you know,

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if you're thinking about
starting a network,

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you gotta think about how you're
gonna administer that network.

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And we'll get into the weeds a
little bit here, but, you know,

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there are some benefits and there's some
negatives and there's a lot of things

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you gotta look out for.

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Absolutely. That's.

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The the biggest thing, you know, you
know, some of the benefits, uh, you know,

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you can go into that Mackenzie.

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Yeah, let's get into that.

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So one of the benefits is
that with any podcast network,

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people understand that the
shows are associated together.

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That they're all coming from
the same, you know, association,

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whatever you wanna call it.

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Whether it's something like the
Conan network where he's like, okay,

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I wanna actually start like
a media company for this.

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And it's really only like his
show or if it's a collection. Um,

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but there's just a larger audience
pool. That's the biggest one.

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Certain shows are gonna have
a bigger poll than others,

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but more likely than not,

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one of the reasons that you're doing
the network is because there's gonna be

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crossover listeners there. If
you're listening to one show,

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you're probably gonna listen to
another associated to that network.

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Yep. That's part of it. And then, you
know, of course there's cross promotion.

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You know, one of the, the rules of,

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of the network that I'm on is that
at some point in your show you say,

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we're affiliated with the tech
podcast network and, you know,

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give the network address or at least
have a, a a link on your site about it.

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That's not strictly enforced,
but you know, it's a good idea.

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And the benefit of that is, you know,

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other shows on the network may
talk about your show or may

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promote your show, maybe
run promos. There's,

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there's lots of collaborations that can
happen when you're associated with a

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network.

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Oftentimes whenever a
new show is coming out,

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they'll give you a,

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a preview play a trailer,

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or even sometimes they'll do like the
first pilot episode, they'll just,

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they'll launch that
episode on a existing r s s

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feed for a show and they'll be like,

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this is just a bonus episode of if
you're interested in this. Like,

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here it is, it's going to be its own show,

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but here's a great first
introduction to it.

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Yeah. W Wondery and Pushkin
or, or Famous for that,

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when they come out with
a new show, they'll,

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they'll put the pilot episode
or a sample episode up on

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every other feed on the network.

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It's a, it's a reliable
way to do it. Yeah.

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That's.

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Cross promotion.

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Now, you know,

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a smallie network might not
benefit as much from that as

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it would is if the,

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the host of those shows talk
about the show or maybe have the

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hosts of the new show on the
show. You know, , there's,

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there's ways to do this that,
uh, that make sense. You just.

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Gotta get creative.

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Yeah. And, and of course a
lot of, a lot of times, uh,

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group of shows will get together
so they have more advertising

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opportunities because instead of your,
instead of buying ad on one show,

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you buy an ad for the entire network,

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which is obviously going to
be more people or should be if

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it's working right. And
that's another way, uh,

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another benefit of possibly
being on a network.

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I'd say that's probably one of the most
popular reasons that people join the

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network in the first place.

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Yeah.

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And it's also a way for like-minded
podcasters to collab, you know,

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not collaborate, but, you know,
just talk amongst each other. It's,

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you know, I, I know back in the Day, tech
podcast was really famous about that,

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you know,

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someone would have a subject on their
show and then another show on the network

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would take that same subject and elaborate
on it or maybe disagree with it. And,

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and it was kind of fun
listening to, you know,

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co two or three shows
that were all reacting to

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the other shows. Mm-hmm.
on the network and, and you know,

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just depends on what your
subject matter is. You know,

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I've seen networks where we're,
we're a network and then, you know,

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and there's a show about, uh,

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knitting and there's a show about politics
and there's a show about the other

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thing, and they just
didn't fit well together.

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So I think in my personal
opinion is you want to keep it

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kind of in a genre of some sort.
Mm-hmm. , You know,

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like you can't be nbc Well, you could,
but, uh, you know, B NBC Network,

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they have shows about,
you know, they have news,

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they have dramas and comedies
and, you know, whatever, you know,

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documentaries, you know, they,

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they have the whole gamut
of stuff on their network.

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So that's not similar. But if
you're like, on discovery, well,

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at least Discovery the way it used
to be, I don't know how it is now,

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but on Discovery or History Channel,

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they always had stuff
roughly in that genre.

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And now everybody seems to
be doing reality. But, uh,

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it's a whole nother .

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You could have a network
about reality show .

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Yes. That's the thing. You can do
a network about whatever, but it's,

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it's gonna be more successful in
our experience if it's all related.

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Yeah, for sure. Uh, cuz you know, I,

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I'm not gonna care if I'm
interested in, you know,

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a particular political show.

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I'm not gonna care that they have a
show about knitting. Just not, you know,

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and so the benefits of the cross
promotions and collaborations and all that

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stuff, or even the larger audience
isn't really gonna happen that way in

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that type of network. But, you know,

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but there's a hundred different ways
to organize it. You know, like I said,

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we gotta have a loose affiliation.
You can have a, uh, just a,

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a basic landing page that has all
the shows on the network on it,

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kinda like a directory, you know, tech
podcast is kind of that way right now.

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It's, uh, it's, it's just a,

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a directory of tech related podcasts. Now.

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We have a really cool network tool within
our Power Press plugin that allows you

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to set up a network really,
really easy on your own website.

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And it is a great way to
kind of have the control

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over what the brand looks like from
the outside, but the functionality,

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you know, the back end of it, uh, it's
very open. Like it can have different,

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anyone can be on a
different hosting company.

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These are all the things that
you need to think of, um,

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for logistics that we'll get
into, uh, in a little bit.

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But it, there's no one way to do it.

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Right. Right. You know,

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and that tool in Power Press is basically
to make a landing page for the network

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that showcases all of the
shows on that network.

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And as Mackenzie said,

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it's really cool in the fact that not
everybody has to be hosted with blueberry

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or, you know.

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It allows for anyone to
be involved. It's great.

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Yeah. So that's really good for, you
know, a loose collaboration or, you know,

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or just making sort of a directory
of that genre of shows. Now,

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I would say, and I'm sure our, uh,

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legal counsel would also say that it's
probably not a good idea to add shows

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that don't belong to you or
have you have their permission.

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You know,

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you don't want to add just any random
show to your network landing page. You,

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you wanna make sure you have their
permission to, to have those on there.

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Yeah.

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That's a whole other situation
of assuming a show will want to

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work with you and not actually
collaborating with the
host or the people

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involved with the podcast. That's, um,

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I feel like that's pirating
in a sense.

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It's rude anyway. You know it.

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Yeah. It's rude.

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Yeah, it's a cool tool. Uh, you
know, check it out if you're, uh,

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hosting with us,

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you have to be on the pro level at
this point to use the network function,

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but it's, uh, it's kind of cool.
Uh, check out again, tech podcast,

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keep promoting tech podcasts.
I shouldn't do that, but, uh,

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tech podcast.com has that network tool

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running and that's what causes
that directory to be there.

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But there's other networking
models. Uh, we work with a,

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a network outta New Jersey that, uh,

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basically this network hosts the show, uh,

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on whatever platform that they use.
And, you know, you're pretty much,

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you sign a thing saying
you're gonna do, you know,

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an episode a week and
blah, blah, blah, you know,

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and they share revenue from their
advertising and that's the model.

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Or there's also pay to
play, which, you know,

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where if you start the network,

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they pay you to be on the network and

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you don't, you know, they do
their own advertising or whatever.

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And you could structure that any which
way you want to for sure. But, uh,

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you know,

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you gotta be a little careful if you're
joining a network that you definitely

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understand what the rules are.

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There's quite a bit of responsibility
on both ends of joining a network

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or, you know, starting the network.

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00:11:51,680 --> 00:11:54,450
Right. You know, and there's nothing,
nothing wrong with starting a network.

205
00:11:54,460 --> 00:11:59,240
And there's nothing wrong with
any way that you wanna set it up.

206
00:12:00,020 --> 00:12:03,360
And there's nothing wrong with
joining one as long as you,

207
00:12:03,380 --> 00:12:06,560
you understand what the
rules are, what, you know,

208
00:12:06,750 --> 00:12:11,240
some of the negatives is you get a
little less creative control, you know,

209
00:12:11,240 --> 00:12:15,880
depending on the rules of the network.
Like, uh, the one I'm involved in, uh,

210
00:12:15,950 --> 00:12:18,920
they don't want, uh,
cursing on the network. Now,

211
00:12:19,180 --> 00:12:23,920
in podcasting you can curse all you
want, but with this particular network,

212
00:12:24,100 --> 00:12:28,280
one of the rules is they wanna be
family friendly, which, you know, it's,

213
00:12:28,280 --> 00:12:32,280
I guess it's reasonable. And if you
know that going in, then you know,

214
00:12:32,500 --> 00:12:36,160
go for it. But if that's not something
you can live with, that might be a,

215
00:12:36,400 --> 00:12:37,400
a deal breaker.

216
00:12:37,660 --> 00:12:38,040
You know,

217
00:12:38,040 --> 00:12:42,920
I kind of view it as similar
to living in a neighborhood

218
00:12:42,950 --> 00:12:46,440
with an HOA and ,
you're exactly, you're,

219
00:12:46,440 --> 00:12:50,840
you're going in with a certain set of
expectations that you have to uphold

220
00:12:51,260 --> 00:12:53,960
and work around and, you know,

221
00:12:54,010 --> 00:12:58,080
still create a product that
you're happy and proud of. And,

222
00:12:58,860 --> 00:13:01,400
and that could be something
that is, you know,

223
00:13:01,620 --> 00:13:06,560
you can make your podcast network like
legal aspects and guidelines as strict

224
00:13:06,560 --> 00:13:09,880
as you want them to be, um, or
as loose as you want them to be.

225
00:13:10,410 --> 00:13:14,600
Right. For sure. And one of the
other negatives is profit sharing.

226
00:13:15,540 --> 00:13:19,600
And it may be not a negative,
cuz you may get more that way.

227
00:13:20,150 --> 00:13:23,480
Yeah. That, that one, um, can really,

228
00:13:23,800 --> 00:13:28,280
is really dependent on how things
are structured between the different

229
00:13:28,290 --> 00:13:30,320
shows. Um, whether it's, you know,

230
00:13:30,320 --> 00:13:35,080
based on downloads or ad deals or some

231
00:13:35,080 --> 00:13:39,360
type of, you know, signing bonus, that
type of thing. It really just depends.

232
00:13:39,500 --> 00:13:42,720
But in general, there will be
some type of profit sharing.

233
00:13:43,410 --> 00:13:44,480
Right. And then of course,

234
00:13:44,480 --> 00:13:48,360
you gotta think about
intellectual property and
there's a lot of legal aspects,

235
00:13:48,360 --> 00:13:50,600
which we won't dig into too deeply here,

236
00:13:50,740 --> 00:13:55,520
but make sure that you check out
what is owned by the network,

237
00:13:55,710 --> 00:14:00,120
what is owned by you, you know, because
if you're creating your own podcast,

238
00:14:01,020 --> 00:14:04,520
do you own that podcast or
when you join the network,

239
00:14:05,470 --> 00:14:09,280
does it become the property
of that network? You know,

240
00:14:09,280 --> 00:14:14,200
we've had some famous examples in the
past where somebody joined a network and

241
00:14:14,200 --> 00:14:17,040
then later wanted to leave.
Well, they could leave,

242
00:14:17,180 --> 00:14:20,040
but they didn't get their show
name, they didn't get their show.

243
00:14:20,390 --> 00:14:25,040
Unfortunately. I feel like I've
seen quite a few shows from some,

244
00:14:26,310 --> 00:14:26,940
some, you know,

245
00:14:26,940 --> 00:14:31,760
big level music platforms that
we are all familiar with that

246
00:14:31,860 --> 00:14:36,840
the podcast ends up
leaving hosts are fired or

247
00:14:37,330 --> 00:14:40,120
moved to something else. And this,

248
00:14:40,600 --> 00:14:43,960
that has been working on this show this
entire time is no longer associated to

249
00:14:43,960 --> 00:14:47,600
it whatsoever. And they really
have no legal claim to it.

250
00:14:47,660 --> 00:14:48,960
And that's just really unfortunate.

251
00:14:49,490 --> 00:14:52,640
Right. So, you know, you
just gotta be careful,

252
00:14:52,650 --> 00:14:56,760
especially if you're joining a
network that already exists mm-hmm.

253
00:14:56,800 --> 00:15:00,120
, you know, look, look,
look back at their track record and see,

254
00:15:00,300 --> 00:15:03,880
you know, are they decent
when the breakup happens?

255
00:15:03,990 --> 00:15:07,880
Make sure you have that written down.
That's the thing too, is you know,

256
00:15:07,880 --> 00:15:10,160
what happens if the host wants to leave?

257
00:15:10,630 --> 00:15:12,880
What happens if the
network wants you to leave?

258
00:15:13,380 --> 00:15:14,880
Always have an exit strategy.

259
00:15:15,470 --> 00:15:15,780
Yeah.

260
00:15:15,780 --> 00:15:19,560
Or at least have it written down so you
know what's gonna happen so you don't

261
00:15:19,560 --> 00:15:21,400
have to fight over it later.
Mm-hmm. ,

262
00:15:21,580 --> 00:15:24,600
and that's one of the other negatives
that aren't listed here in our,

263
00:15:24,620 --> 00:15:26,120
our little pre-show notes,

264
00:15:26,980 --> 00:15:31,360
but one of the other negative aspects
is personality conflicts. I mean,

265
00:15:32,070 --> 00:15:33,840
it's just because you're, you know,

266
00:15:33,840 --> 00:15:38,000
you're podcasting in the same
genre as the rest of the network

267
00:15:38,750 --> 00:15:40,680
doesn't mean that that a you,

268
00:15:40,700 --> 00:15:43,880
you all agree on everything and b,

269
00:15:43,880 --> 00:15:46,520
there there may be some
personality conflict,

270
00:15:46,520 --> 00:15:50,840
you might just can't stand this other
person , you know, that happens.

271
00:15:51,180 --> 00:15:52,560
Or the people running the network.

272
00:15:53,680 --> 00:15:56,600
I mean, for example, like we
do a podcast about podcasting,

273
00:15:56,820 --> 00:15:59,240
but there are so many other
people that do that as well.

274
00:15:59,540 --> 00:16:03,840
But we're not gonna necessarily
work with them because,

275
00:16:03,980 --> 00:16:07,440
you know Yeah. We have our
own experience to share.

276
00:16:07,890 --> 00:16:10,960
We're not trying to share
someone else's with that.

277
00:16:11,630 --> 00:16:12,360
Yeah. You know,

278
00:16:12,360 --> 00:16:16,000
and then we have nothing against the
other shows that are podcasting about

279
00:16:16,000 --> 00:16:16,833
podcasts. In fact,

280
00:16:16,840 --> 00:16:21,520
I listen to most of them and
I always learn something and

281
00:16:21,520 --> 00:16:24,000
sometimes I'll, I'll contribute, you know,

282
00:16:24,160 --> 00:16:28,440
a comment or something and we get comments
from other podcasters that podcast

283
00:16:28,650 --> 00:16:31,880
about podcasts. Gosh, that's
a lot of words. You know,

284
00:16:32,020 --> 00:16:35,880
so you're not necessarily in
competition. That's the thing.

285
00:16:36,540 --> 00:16:37,360
And again,

286
00:16:37,360 --> 00:16:42,360
a network is a way to kind of
cement that deal if, you know,

287
00:16:42,600 --> 00:16:46,440
if you don't wanna be in
competition, we know that, you know,

288
00:16:46,440 --> 00:16:49,560
if you're listening to this show
about podcasting, either you're a,

289
00:16:49,720 --> 00:16:54,600
a blueberry customer or user and or

290
00:16:54,660 --> 00:16:58,600
you may, uh, just be listening to all
sorts of podcasts about podcasting.

291
00:16:58,780 --> 00:17:02,840
You know, and you, you pick that. So
we're not competing, we're not, you know,

292
00:17:02,930 --> 00:17:07,240
every day at 11 o'clock is the,
is this show? No, it's, uh,

293
00:17:07,660 --> 00:17:11,400
it comes out on Thursdays and you
listen to it when you want to.

294
00:17:12,100 --> 00:17:15,800
And you know, a person that's interested
in podcasting may listen to 10,

295
00:17:15,800 --> 00:17:20,400
12 different shows. That's
normal. And if, like,

296
00:17:20,500 --> 00:17:23,160
say you're doing a, a
network about knitting,

297
00:17:23,590 --> 00:17:27,560
well you get five or six knitting shows
and chances are somebody might listen to

298
00:17:27,560 --> 00:17:32,520
all of them on the network, which is
kind of cool. But again, just be careful.

299
00:17:33,430 --> 00:17:34,480
Yeah. I mean it's,

300
00:17:34,480 --> 00:17:39,400
it's definitely that world idea
of teaming up with your enemies,

301
00:17:39,980 --> 00:17:44,600
you know, instead of
trying to front compete just Yeah.

302
00:17:45,280 --> 00:17:47,080
. Yeah. Work with your frenemies.

303
00:17:47,870 --> 00:17:52,160
Nothing wrong with that. That, and of
course, you know, we have some must dos,

304
00:17:52,180 --> 00:17:56,280
we kind of covered some of those already,
but carefully review any contracts,

305
00:17:56,520 --> 00:18:00,440
and make sure you have a
contract. Don't just come and oh yeah,

306
00:18:00,440 --> 00:18:03,240
I'll join and then not have
anything written down because.

307
00:18:03,880 --> 00:18:07,640
, you know, even you can
make 'em as loose as you want,

308
00:18:08,580 --> 00:18:09,520
but we would highly,

309
00:18:09,520 --> 00:18:13,960
highly recommend that you have
something legally written down. Um,

310
00:18:13,970 --> 00:18:16,960
we've had people come to
us over the years where

311
00:18:18,940 --> 00:18:23,490
there is a host breakup happening and
one of them contacts us and they're like,

312
00:18:24,090 --> 00:18:28,890
I can't get into the account, can you
help me? And we're like, I'm very sorry,

313
00:18:29,310 --> 00:18:32,610
but based on, you know, how
this account has been set up,

314
00:18:32,870 --> 00:18:36,930
we can't just hand it over
to you no matter how much
you beg and plead that type

315
00:18:36,930 --> 00:18:37,670
of stuff.

316
00:18:37,670 --> 00:18:41,210
Had a couple of 'em go to court and,
you know, once we got the court order,

317
00:18:41,240 --> 00:18:46,130
then okay, here we'll give it to
whoever I'm on the court case. But man,

318
00:18:46,130 --> 00:18:47,810
you don't wanna pay lawyers to do that.

319
00:18:48,350 --> 00:18:50,490
No. And you, you don't wanna
pay lawyers to do that.

320
00:18:50,490 --> 00:18:55,170
You don't wanna deal with the emotional
aspects of that. It's cut and dry,

321
00:18:55,220 --> 00:18:56,330
keeps it clean.

322
00:18:57,140 --> 00:18:59,570
Right, right. And then
you gotta also, you know,

323
00:18:59,630 --> 00:19:02,170
decide who's paying the hosting. You know,

324
00:19:02,170 --> 00:19:07,010
who's paying the other expenses that
the network, uh, generates, you know,

325
00:19:07,010 --> 00:19:09,770
like if you start the network,
well you figure that out.

326
00:19:09,790 --> 00:19:13,450
But if you're joining a network, also
figure that out. , you know,

327
00:19:13,590 --> 00:19:16,210
you you, you wanna know
who's responsible for what.

328
00:19:17,000 --> 00:19:18,730
Because it can go on
so many different ways.

329
00:19:18,730 --> 00:19:23,530
Like you can all be on one
website together and split the

330
00:19:23,560 --> 00:19:27,530
fees of the website maintenance
and all that comes with that.

331
00:19:27,710 --> 00:19:32,290
Or you can give them a portion of
your profit and not be in charge of

332
00:19:32,570 --> 00:19:35,570
anything and you know,
just pay your way through.

333
00:19:35,790 --> 00:19:40,450
And with the convenience of that,
it's, there's a lot of different ways.

334
00:19:41,220 --> 00:19:42,210
Right. And uh,

335
00:19:42,510 --> 00:19:47,210
of course if there's any equipment
and software involved that is

336
00:19:47,210 --> 00:19:51,370
owned by the network or are
you gonna do that? You know,

337
00:19:51,370 --> 00:19:55,370
everybody's independent for the
recording stuff and you know,

338
00:19:55,370 --> 00:19:58,970
you just have to worry about the
hosting fees. But, you know, we had a,

339
00:19:59,130 --> 00:20:03,690
a big network slash studio
kind of go out of business

340
00:20:03,690 --> 00:20:07,730
because the, uh, guy running
it kicked the bucket .

341
00:20:08,830 --> 00:20:11,330
And that was a big mess because, you know,

342
00:20:11,350 --> 00:20:16,090
he owned all of the studio equipment
that all the podcasters would

343
00:20:16,190 --> 00:20:18,050
use. You know, they had a a,

344
00:20:18,130 --> 00:20:22,810
a physical location and a lot of
these podcasts didn't survive the

345
00:20:23,270 --> 00:20:28,170
the event because that studio was
no longer available and they didn't

346
00:20:28,170 --> 00:20:31,690
have any of their own stuff. So
the whole thing sort of fell apart.

347
00:20:32,310 --> 00:20:36,730
So make sure that's spelled out
who owns the equipment, who owns,

348
00:20:37,270 --> 00:20:41,290
you know, all of this stuff. You just
really gotta be careful with that.

349
00:20:41,720 --> 00:20:46,250
Yeah, same. It's the same idea
with, um, production. You know,

350
00:20:47,060 --> 00:20:47,893
the end result.

351
00:20:47,900 --> 00:20:52,200
Are you guys gonna use a company like
pro production who's they're all gonna

352
00:20:52,230 --> 00:20:55,160
edit the shows or are
you gonna edit your own?

353
00:20:55,460 --> 00:21:00,160
Are you gonna use your own microphone
that you know is this one brand but they

354
00:21:00,320 --> 00:21:02,960
actually want you to use
something different. That's
all just stuff to consider.

355
00:21:03,420 --> 00:21:07,600
But something else that we want you
to consider is the release schedules,

356
00:21:08,010 --> 00:21:09,440
especially the bigger the network,

357
00:21:10,220 --> 00:21:14,080
you can kind of be stepping on
people's toes there where you know,

358
00:21:14,080 --> 00:21:15,040
someone's like, okay,

359
00:21:15,040 --> 00:21:19,800
well we have Wednesday at this
time and we have Monday morning at

360
00:21:19,830 --> 00:21:23,560
this time and it's, you might have
to move it around a bit. You know,

361
00:21:23,800 --> 00:21:28,760
it just depends on do you wanna
make that part of what you're doing

362
00:21:28,900 --> 00:21:32,880
and like part of your marketing strategy
or are you all just kind of marketing

363
00:21:32,880 --> 00:21:35,600
on your own? Are you
working together on that?

364
00:21:35,600 --> 00:21:37,400
These are all things that you
should probably figure out.

365
00:21:37,810 --> 00:21:38,540
Right.

366
00:21:38,540 --> 00:21:40,240
Before you run into problems .

367
00:21:40,310 --> 00:21:44,440
Yeah, for sure. Uh, it's
not bad, but you know,

368
00:21:44,440 --> 00:21:47,480
like say if Wondery, I just
pick on them for right now,

369
00:21:47,980 --> 00:21:51,280
say if Wondery every Monday
they drop all their shows,

370
00:21:51,550 --> 00:21:56,200
well that may not necessarily be
the best for gaining new audience

371
00:21:56,380 --> 00:22:00,200
cuz you know, if I've got 27 new
shows that I'm subscribed to,

372
00:22:00,270 --> 00:22:02,800
I'll drop on Monday. You know,

373
00:22:02,800 --> 00:22:06,600
which ones am I gonna listen to and
which ones am I gonna ignore that week?

374
00:22:07,780 --> 00:22:11,680
And you know, for a, and this, this
is more of a general podcasting thing,

375
00:22:11,680 --> 00:22:12,513
you know,

376
00:22:12,860 --> 00:22:17,560
the day that you release shouldn't
matter a lot except for you wanna

377
00:22:17,780 --> 00:22:20,760
try to be consistent. And
also if you join a network,

378
00:22:20,940 --> 00:22:25,800
you may be expected that every
Saturday you have a show and make sure

379
00:22:25,910 --> 00:22:26,960
that uh, you know,

380
00:22:26,960 --> 00:22:30,160
if you're either running a network
or you are part of a network,

381
00:22:30,310 --> 00:22:34,440
that you understand that now
you've made a commitment to a group

382
00:22:35,490 --> 00:22:40,270
or the network that you're gonna have
x number of episodes per month and

383
00:22:40,270 --> 00:22:41,590
you're gonna have them all, you know,

384
00:22:41,590 --> 00:22:46,390
come out on Saturdays or Tuesdays
or whatever day you're assigned or

385
00:22:46,420 --> 00:22:46,980
pick.

386
00:22:46,980 --> 00:22:49,030
Yeah. That can be a very
big change for some people.

387
00:22:49,650 --> 00:22:53,910
And you know, and again, commitment too
because you know, I, I remember one, uh,

388
00:22:53,910 --> 00:22:56,670
one of the guys that was
on Spotify is an exclusive,

389
00:22:57,500 --> 00:22:58,750
when he signed his contract,

390
00:22:58,810 --> 00:23:02,790
he didn't realize they didn't
allow for any vacations. .

391
00:23:02,860 --> 00:23:05,350
That is difficult. That's
extremely difficult.

392
00:23:05,650 --> 00:23:07,790
He spent two years doing a,

393
00:23:07,950 --> 00:23:12,870
a daily show Monday through Friday
and they were topical shows so

394
00:23:12,870 --> 00:23:16,550
he couldn't pre-record
really. And uh, he, you know,

395
00:23:16,550 --> 00:23:21,550
he was stuck working five days a week
for the entire two years without a

396
00:23:21,680 --> 00:23:25,670
break. He was well compensated,
I have to say. But, uh, ,

397
00:23:27,050 --> 00:23:31,630
you know, I might take that deal
but, uh, , but you know,

398
00:23:31,630 --> 00:23:36,270
you make sure that's spelled
out for sure. You know, cuz Yes.

399
00:23:36,270 --> 00:23:39,310
Never know. Said if you're gonna
start running a network, it,

400
00:23:39,310 --> 00:23:44,070
it's similar to herding cats.
That's the old adage. You know,

401
00:23:44,070 --> 00:23:45,800
everybody's got their, their own agendas.

402
00:23:45,990 --> 00:23:49,480
Everybody's got their reliability
factor, you know, it's,

403
00:23:49,540 --> 00:23:53,640
or or just like running a company.
Cuz that in a sense it is.

404
00:23:55,000 --> 00:23:56,360
I definitely view it as that.

405
00:23:57,100 --> 00:24:01,000
If you're gonna do it, take it
seriously, you know, cross your ts,

406
00:24:01,060 --> 00:24:05,000
dot your I and make sure that
everything is spelled out.

407
00:24:06,070 --> 00:24:11,040
However, you know, however you want
it, but make sure it's spelled out.

408
00:24:11,180 --> 00:24:12,720
If it's not, then, you know,

409
00:24:12,830 --> 00:24:17,760
then you get these fights and
there's nothing worse than a a feud

410
00:24:18,890 --> 00:24:23,780
amongst podcasters on a network. Like
I said, we've seen it so many times,

411
00:24:24,840 --> 00:24:25,673
you know,

412
00:24:26,160 --> 00:24:30,100
so just make sure you get it all spelled
out and it may not be right for you if

413
00:24:30,100 --> 00:24:31,740
you're a, a, a very, uh,

414
00:24:31,850 --> 00:24:36,220
independent person and you wanna control

415
00:24:36,220 --> 00:24:39,180
everything, well you just do that.

416
00:24:41,040 --> 00:24:45,260
Oh, during the network, you
know, and, and in my experience,

417
00:24:45,520 --> 00:24:49,940
and this is just, you know, from talking
to many, many, many customers and, and,

418
00:24:50,080 --> 00:24:51,820
and people in the podcasting world,

419
00:24:52,400 --> 00:24:56,380
the promises that are given
you from a network

420
00:24:57,320 --> 00:25:01,220
are rarely exactly what happens.
Could be better, could be worse,

421
00:25:01,400 --> 00:25:06,340
but it's not, they can't guarantee
the result. They just can't.

422
00:25:06,340 --> 00:25:08,540
There's no way to guarantee success.

423
00:25:09,240 --> 00:25:13,780
And there is a boatload of
responsibility that comes with,

424
00:25:14,370 --> 00:25:17,980
with running a podcast
network. And some people are,

425
00:25:18,650 --> 00:25:21,340
they thrive at it and some
people know it's not for them.

426
00:25:21,610 --> 00:25:23,500
There's nothing wrong with that. Um,

427
00:25:23,500 --> 00:25:27,580
we just are recommending that you look
at the pros and cons, you know, these,

428
00:25:27,790 --> 00:25:29,420
these benefits that we've,

429
00:25:29,890 --> 00:25:33,660
that we've given you and just the
insight that we've had. Mike, you've,

430
00:25:33,660 --> 00:25:33,860
you know,

431
00:25:33,860 --> 00:25:37,420
you've been part of one for many years
now and we've just been involved with

432
00:25:37,660 --> 00:25:40,340
customers doing this
for a long, long time.

433
00:25:40,520 --> 00:25:42,820
So make sure you have
all your considerations.

434
00:25:43,480 --> 00:25:47,060
Yep, for sure. And, and you know, and
I've known lots of network people,

435
00:25:47,200 --> 00:25:47,500
you know,

436
00:25:47,500 --> 00:25:51,580
people that start networks and they
run them for a few years and then they

437
00:25:51,580 --> 00:25:55,980
decide they don't wanna run 'em
anymore and, and they go away.

438
00:25:56,280 --> 00:25:59,340
Mm-hmm. and not
necessarily a bad thing. It's, you know,

439
00:25:59,340 --> 00:26:00,780
everything has its time.

440
00:26:02,030 --> 00:26:03,410
We love seeing a network thrive.

441
00:26:03,950 --> 00:26:04,783
Oh for sure.

442
00:26:08,350 --> 00:26:13,330
Think about what happens
if one of the shows goes

443
00:26:13,380 --> 00:26:16,410
viral, for lack of a
better term. You know,

444
00:26:16,410 --> 00:26:19,290
if you get a show that
is just a super mega hit,

445
00:26:20,080 --> 00:26:22,930
what is that gonna do to the
rest of the shows on the network?

446
00:26:23,630 --> 00:26:25,730
You know, it can also go
viral for bad reasons.

447
00:26:26,010 --> 00:26:29,570
, that's true too.
you know, one example,

448
00:26:30,310 --> 00:26:31,850
one of the networks I was dealing with,

449
00:26:32,150 --> 00:26:37,090
one of the shows had probably 30 times
the audience as any of the other shows

450
00:26:37,110 --> 00:26:40,010
on the network. And of
course that person was,

451
00:26:40,160 --> 00:26:44,880
felt that they were being held back mm-hmm
by the network because

452
00:26:46,260 --> 00:26:46,560
you know,

453
00:26:46,560 --> 00:26:51,240
they didn't have full control anymore
and they didn't have a very robust

454
00:26:51,760 --> 00:26:54,720
contract figuring, you know, figuring
out what to do. If that happens,

455
00:26:54,720 --> 00:26:58,920
that's something you may want to think
about is what happens if a show gets

456
00:26:58,920 --> 00:27:01,880
really big. Cuz that
could happen, you know,

457
00:27:02,060 --> 00:27:04,160
in fact that's kinda
what you're going for,

458
00:27:04,820 --> 00:27:07,040
but what happens to the rest
of the shows on the network?

459
00:27:08,020 --> 00:27:12,200
Cuz that person that
has this huge audience

460
00:27:12,820 --> 00:27:14,000
should be paid more.

461
00:27:14,790 --> 00:27:18,760
They're the ones bringing the most in
and so they should get the most out,

462
00:27:19,540 --> 00:27:23,650
or at least that's how I would
set it up if I was to do it.

463
00:27:23,790 --> 00:27:27,890
But I'm not gonna run a network
anytime soon. How about you Mackenzie?

464
00:27:28,510 --> 00:27:29,850
No, I don't think so. .

465
00:27:30,280 --> 00:27:35,250
It's a lot of work. It's a lot of
messing around and it could be worth it.

466
00:27:35,990 --> 00:27:39,730
It really could, but I don't wanna
get into a business anytime soon.

467
00:27:39,910 --> 00:27:43,650
So All right, well
I think we got this, uh,

468
00:27:43,700 --> 00:27:48,410
horse beaten pretty well, so,
uh, do you have any final, uh,

469
00:27:48,410 --> 00:27:49,243
comments?

470
00:27:49,950 --> 00:27:51,570
No, just, uh, you know,

471
00:27:51,590 --> 00:27:55,690
do your research and look up some of your
favorite networks of your own and try

472
00:27:55,690 --> 00:27:58,210
to get it a good idea
of how those function.

473
00:27:58,350 --> 00:28:03,050
And of course if you guys have any
questions about how we can help with

474
00:28:03,810 --> 00:28:07,090
creating one or, you know, using
our tool to create a network, uh,

475
00:28:07,090 --> 00:28:08,490
just let us know.

476
00:28:09,430 --> 00:28:12,570
All right, well, we'll uh, catch
you next week with another episode.

477
00:28:13,470 --> 00:28:16,970
Thanks for joining us. Come back
next week and in the meantime,

478
00:28:17,360 --> 00:28:22,290
head to podcast insider.com. For more
information, just subscribe, share,

479
00:28:22,430 --> 00:28:23,490
and read our show notes.

480
00:28:23,940 --> 00:28:28,290
Check out the latest suite of services
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481
00:28:28,730 --> 00:28:31,090
leverage your podcast.
Visit blueberry.com.

482
00:28:31,630 --> 00:28:35,970
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