We live in very interesting times for podcasts, and obviously LinkedIn is very aware of this. It is really curious, if we think about it, what has happened with this communication format over the last few years, and it is that after some beginnings that ventured an enormous popularization of it, in the middle of the first decade of this century, shortly after the interest seemed to drop substantially and, although they continued to be present, they did not become a type of mass consumption content.
However, in the last two or three years, they have experienced a second renaissance in which they have regained focus, and have even become one of the battlefronts in the open war between Apple and Spotify, which for some time have been competing to get the largest offer of this type of content, also offering creators a way to monetize them or, even, in the case of Spotify, some more than succulent contracts to certain stars… although, in many cases, they end up in borage water.
And LinkedIn has chosen this moment to launch its own network of podcasts, LinkedIn Podcast Network, a complete selection of channels, some newly created and others that have been running for some time, and that more channels can be added that request it from LinkedIn and are approved to join the family. In this selection, therefore, we will find both own productions of the social network, as well as external ones but that, by type of content, fit the profile pursued by the service.
A profile that, of course, you may have already imagined, given the LinkedIn profile itself. In its network of podcasts we will find content of a professional nature, with business, entrepreneurship, economics, technology, business operations and, also, a more social approach, with topics such as mental health and labor relations. Reid Hoffman, co-founder and CEO of LinkedIn, will co-host a personal entrepreneurship podcast called The Start-Up of You premiering this spring.
Does it make sense for LinkedIn to create its own podcast network? Personally I think so, that it makes a lot of sense and, furthermore, it seems to me a very intelligent move. If any other social network, of the general purpose ones, carried out a similar movement, I would not see the point of it. However, LinkedIn is a clear success story in terms of segmentation, it has managed to become a reference in the professional environment, and expanding its content offerings to make its ecosystem richer is a sensible move.
At the moment the podcasts of the LinkedIn network can be found on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, and the company does not rule out taking them to other services of this type. Another very sensible option, because instead of “marrying” a single platform or, worse yet, betting everything on their own, they focus on reaching the maximum possible audience. Another great success, in my opinion.