When looking at a chart, whether it be the top songs in a given year or the highest-grossing films of all time, one understands that first place is objectively the best. To earn that top spot they put in the most effort and reached higher than all others.
What the number of streams, the final dollar amount at the box office or the number of tickets sold on a tour cannot convey is the amount of strategy dedicated to realizing that outcome. Our culture is one that prioritizes numbers, the higher the better. More, more, more.
But what happened to quality over quantity?
Similar phenomena — that is, prioritizing metrics in a way that aims to pad revenue and establish some form of predominance — have rippled throughout television, gaming and, more recently, podcasting.
Some networks have shown the lengths they’ll go to in order to maintain their audience numbers, and simultaneously have built up rosters of hundreds of shows for the sole purpose of creating large audiences.
Marketers and advertisers use data to evaluate potential partnerships, and tactics that create a false impression of traffic are not only dishonest but also adversely affect advertising ROI. When did cheating become the best practice?
Diminishing returns for advertisers, or weakening trust in podcasting as a channel worth investing in ultimately impacts creators, and creates an entryway for a more commercial culture in a space born of rich storytelling and integrity.
Digital Platforms & Tools
