Our predictions for 2019

January 8, 2019 / 59:02/E40

Why we're not drinking booze this year, and some new year's predictions for tech, podcasting, and startups

Jon Buda and Justin Jackson make predictions for the tech industry, the podcasting space, and the startup ecosystem.

Predictions for 2019

There will be a global economic downturn. Companies will be looking for more affordable marketing spend. Brands that don't have a strong relationship with their audience will lose.
- This could be increase the number of companies who invest in podcasting. Audio is still a "good deal" compared to other communication channels.
- Related: will we see the big “5” (Squarespace, etc) advertising less?
2019 will be the year of non-gaming livestreaming. More programmers, business people, podcasters will be livestreaming. Plus: more audio-livestreaming.
Related: Podcasting without editing will become more popular. No intro music. Just recorded live with an outline, and published immediately.
Podcasting will grow to 800,000 shows. (Currently ~619,000 in Apple Podcasts)
In 2018 Spotify went from 10-25% marketshare of the podcast player market. I think it will grow again to 35%. (Justin admits he was wrong about this tweet).
Continued focus on "mindful technology." Very possible that iPhone will have a "dumb phone" mode: only texting, phone calls, and GPS. All other apps will disappear from your homescreen when enabled.
Smart speakers will not have a big effect on podcast consumption. I think they will become more popular, but I don’t see people using them to listen to podcasts. (These folks think it will be big, I disagree. Currently 1% of listenership)
Apple is going to make a big media move to challenge Netflix and Amazon Prime Video. It will finally break iTunes apart on desktop. Maybe we'll see a standalone desktop Apple Podcasts app?
More branded podcasts and production companies. (example)
Dynamic content (outside of advertising) will be bigger.
More traditional media brands will buy podcast related IP. Podcasts turning into → TV shows. For example: Homecoming on Amazon Video.

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