Über die Plattformisierung des Podcasting-Ökosystems

Meine Masterarbeit am Department of Science and Technology Studies der Uni Wien beschäftigt sich mit der Plattformisierung des Podcasting-Ökosystems aus der Perspektive von Podcastenden in Österreich. Ich habe sie im Februar 2024 verteidigt, sie ist hier im Volltext nachzulesen.

Beim 29. Podcast Meetup der Podcasterei im Depot am 23.4.24 habe ich meine Forschung vorgestellt. Die Slides dazu finden sich hier.

Abstract:

In the last twenty years, podcasting has been hyped as “the next big thing” several times, most recently in relation to platform actors like Spotify, Audible, YouTube or Podimo. However, enclosing podcasts in such a “walled garden” platform goes against the decentralized architecture of their original distribution mechanism RSS. This has considerable cultural implications and can affect the nature of podcasts themselves. Platformization further poses significant risks to the ecosystem, including uneven or monopolized market structures leading to a disproportionate concentration of power, and a loss of autonomy for podcasters and listeners. In this case study, I explore how podcasters in Austria frame the current podcasting ecosystem through qualitative semi-structured interviews, and develop a categorization of podcasters – hobbyist podcasters, indie podcasters, actors from podcast labels/networks and public broadcasting – as well as distribution platforms. I sketch different forms of hosting and monetization models and give an overview on the history of podcasting and platformization. I argue that podcasting in Austria is currently in the process of platformization (Poell et al., 2022a), and show that the interviewees perceive it as increasingly commodified (Nieborg & Poell, 2018) and, above all, formalized (Sullivan, 2021). Based on my findings, I lastly present four implications for podcasting in practice. With this research project, I want to improve the understanding of the current podcasting ecosystem and podcasters’ stance towards it, in order to provide a nuanced counterpoint to the hype-driven industry enthusiasm that uncritically celebrates platformization.