History of Podcasting

Google Ngram of the appearance of the word "podcast" in their English language database of texts.

History of Podcasting, or How Audiophiles Revolutionized the World with Audio Files

Bryan Banks, PhD

Are we in a “Golden Age” of podcasting? While scholars of the audio medium debate exact periodization, most seem to agree that since 2014, when Apple included the “Podcasts” app on every iPhone and the phenomenal launch of the podcast Serial, podcasts became a fundamental vehicle of expression for brands and grassroot movements, for governments and international organizations.

Podcasting offers unique advantages to classroom instructors as well and understanding the historical trajectory of podcasts can help instructors fully embrace those benefits. In particular, issues related to the material form, composition, and transmission of podcasts throughout its recent history can help students critically think about their own material form, composition, and transmission of projects produced in the classroom. What follows is a brief history of the rise of podcasting, which strips back a lot of the technical jargon, which may confuse students. (A further reading section is included at the bottom for those interested in taking a deeper dive into the literature.)

Before they became branded as podcasts, asynchronous audio recordings came in all different forms. Distinguished from physical recordings in the form of records, 8-tracks, cassette tapes, or CDs, recorded audio transmitted digitally has been around since the 1980s, pre-dating the invention of the Internet. Digital audio recordings were largely used by radio stations and not public individuals who found the benefits and costs significant barriers to entry. In the 1990s, Internet radio emerged for niche audiences, but already the idea of “audioblogging” or “asynchronous radio programming” began to float around. One only needs to listen to excerpts of Carl Malamud’s Internet Talk Radio from the early 1990s to get a sense of the emergence of podcasting or the program The Computer Chronicles. The late 90s saw a proliferation of audio recording and storing software make audio sharing easily accessible. Some rocked the boat of traditional dissemination models considerably. Napster made the biggest stir, undercutting the entire music industry. The simultaneous development of MP3 players and easily transmittable content made for asynchronous digital audio consumption accessible for the general public.

Podcasting as a medium began to take off as the Internet became more and more integrated into households, which coincided with the creation of iTunes, which allowed people to make their podcasts more available. In 2004, Ben Hammersley coined the term “podcasting” in a Guardian article. Podcasting left the realm of audiophiles and technophiles and became a truly revolutionary technology.

With the material costs so low and the ability to store so much digital sound increasing so rapidly, the costs to enter this new audio world were diminishing fast. If ever there were a technology that allowed for the democratization of sound, podcasts seem to be it.

Where the most considerable barrier still stood was in the realm of advertisement or spread. Content matters, but making people aware of your content remained an issue that immediately split the field of podcasts. Established people (e.g. famous comedians), brands (WNYC), or other positions of power found it and still find it far easier to make soundwaves. This does not mean that grassroots podcasts or breakout successes do not happen, but it required/requires innovative approaches to the medium, which include niche-community building, social media, …etc. Sometimes referred to as GuerillaMedia, podcasts do maintain an underground audio aesthetic, which can be developed deliberately into the recording of the podcast itself through more conversational approaches as well as their guerilla marketing strategies.