What podcasts looked like in 2024 — literally

In 2024, podcasts have gotten nearer to turning into a video-first medium. Although video podcasts have been round a comparatively very long time, reveals from The New York Occasions, NPR, and lots of different podcast networks which have been audio-only for years have lately began including a video part so as to achieve new listenership. Actually, Spotify, a serious participant in podcasts, is about to start paying podcasters to convey movies to the platform. 

And after years of producers attempting to get audio reveals to go viral on social media, podcasts are actually dominating TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts after video producers realized they will simply movie the expertise speaking. In the meantime, weekly podcasts wish to appeal to youthful audiences who grew up on YouTube. Because of this, video producers are determining tips on how to make podcasts, and audio producers are determining tips on how to make movies.

I’ve observed just a few growing developments on this video-first podcasting format. This isn’t shocking; when one producer discovers a components that works, others are going to strive it. Let’s check out present design and tech developments — after which I’ll speak about what I believe could develop over the subsequent 12 months or so.

A lot of as we speak’s podcast studios appear to be residing rooms and basements. This isn’t a brand new phenomenon with discuss reveals, however a variety of podcasts began out in a residing area, and bigger media firms have adopted that aesthetic. Lamps. Fireplaces. Pretend crops. Bookshelves. This atmosphere provides a extra “laid again” fashion of long-form interviewing, which is often the vibe of most chat-style podcasts.

Couches and cozy chairs present up quite a bit on these video reveals. The spherical desk has been ditched, and leisure is essential — it’s much more snug of an atmosphere for speaking hours at a time. Each hosts and company are sometimes on a sofa collectively or sitting in comfortable chairs individually. 

One other pattern I’ve observed are these wood slats on the wall in podcast studios — our personal Vox Media area has gone with this design as effectively. These work higher for sound absorption whereas nonetheless wanting like a residing area. That is already seeking to be a signifier of mid-2020 video podcasts. 

With wide-shot digital camera angles showcasing all the room, there’s normally one thing in the course of the display, like a TV or an enormous emblem of the present, to create a symmetrical studio look. Neon indicators and coloured lights are very stylish proper now as a result of they add a colourful glow to a extra muted studio area. Plenty of cursive lettering.

Branding is commonly prioritized in video, and most producers suppose which means actually wanting on the emblem for 2 hours. That is additionally a simple option to let a TikTok scroller know what present they’re watching (although this sometimes doesn’t crop effectively for vertical video).

Microphones are sometimes positioned on ground stands that stretch over the couches (these articulating increase stands have been staples in recording studios for many years). Because of this, the stands typically seem from out of the digital camera body and stick up broadly in entrance of company’ faces awkwardly. Poles protruding at numerous incongruent angles look even messier when you’ve got a number of company on separate chairs. 

Although new sorts of mic stands for podcasts have been launched to the market, many reveals are ditching the lengthy, awkward increase poles in favor of getting hosts and company maintain their microphones as a substitute. This feels a bit extra genuine and intimate onscreen, and lots of stand-up comedians favor this methodology. Nevertheless, it could get a bit awkward with inexperienced company who discuss with their palms or who don’t know tips on how to maintain a microphone with a slender polar sample. 

It will possibly get even worse. When podcasts are audio first however with a video part, you typically see awkward practices caught on digital camera, like this occasion the place every visitor is holding their cellphone as much as their face to file their audio whereas wanting instantly on the viewer. This can be a widespread follow for radio interviews however isn’t nice when video is concerned.

The Shure SM7B microphones are nonetheless actually fashionable on this medium in addition to the funds MV7 mannequin. For the needs of branding, cubes with the title of the present are sometimes caught awkwardly on the underside of the microphone. That is paying homage to microphone flags on newscaster stick mics, and they’re now being retrofitted for these basic radio studio microphones. That is seemingly as a result of it’s simpler branding on vertically cropped movies than an enormous emblem on the wall in a studio.

Massive isolating headphones are widespread in radio and podcasts and are nonetheless utilized in a variety of video variations. However when company are distant and are wanting instantly at their webcam, these giant ear cups stick out very awkwardly — extra so than if you happen to’re taking a look at somebody’s profile view. 

In order that’s what a variety of video podcasts have appeared like by 2024. However how about subsequent 12 months?

I consider that, in 2025, podcast producers will ultimately cease following these tropes and attempt to differentiate themselves. Some producers that had been employed to assist make the transition to video will begin questioning the explanation for the big headphones and thick microphones protecting individuals’s faces and go for smaller lavalier mics and in-ear displays. 

New audiences could begin to neglect concerning the phrase “podcast” and seek advice from the chat reveals they watch as simply “reveals.” Media executives will attempt to go for syndication of the packages on linear platforms like Roku, Pluto, or Tubi. The skinny line between podcasts and TV reveals will get thinner. 

Extra consumer-priced instruments for manufacturing have entered the market, mainly turning a easy desk setup and a MacBook into a totally stocked management room. Hosts are already shifting out of the studio and into barber outlets, tennis courts, and on sidewalks. AI instruments like Descript, Hush, and Accentize can flip less-than-optimal microphone recordings into fuller, beefier broadcast-style recordings. Podcasters whose tools is much less able to dealing with uncontrolled recording environments will particularly profit from these postproduction instruments. 

And who is aware of? Maybe the pendulum will swing again once more when budgets for these reveals change into too pricey to maintain a video present working a number of occasions per week with no sturdy following. Possibly they’ll even reduce right down to an audio-only format. And maybe that’s the place they’ll restart a brand new experiment within the audio medium.