Can Podcasters Get Paid For Their Attention?

Can Podcasters Get Paid For Their Attention?

Podcast Pontifications

If you've ever snail-mailed a friend, you've paid to get someone's attention. In the future would you allow your listeners to pay you to get your attention, podcaster? Spoiler alert: you probably already do.

More often than not, podcast tech always seems to be looking for a way to get podcasters paid. And many podcasters are keen to try out new monetization options.

But the idea of monetizing a podcasters attention, if you will, tends to be a pretty polarizing topic. If you see this as an additional revenue stream, it's a positive thing. Yet if see this as just one more consequence of late-stage capitalism that further divides the world into the haves and the have nots, it's a negative thing.

I think both are valid positions. It's an ethical conundrum, to be sure. But one we're already wading into. Most social sites have some sort of a badge or icon identifying the special-ness of a select group of users and marking them as "better" than the rest, giving their posts and even direct messages extra heft. 

More specific to podcasting, listener-support services like Patreon, BuyMeACoffee, and myriad other similar services are used by podcasters allow for special tiers, some of which give members-only rights to those who pay enough. Like a members-only message board or assigning priority status to messages sent from members who pay for the privilege. 

Seen in that light, allowing someone to boost a voicemail message to the top of a queue with a contribution of funds doesn't seem all that nefarious.

But I am not naive. I know that there are huge opportunities for abuse and asshattery. My hope is that the developers that implement services like this are taking that into consideration and working to shut down as much as they can. 

Yet even with the risks and uncertainty, I think the idea of listeners paying for a podcaster's attention is a space worth keeping our eye on.

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Support For Abortion Rights

While Americans overwhelmingly support the right of an individual to make their own decisions about abortion, unfortunately, that right is no longer protected everywhere in the U.S. The Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade on June 24th. Abortion is a basic healthcare need for the millions of people who can become pregnant. Everyone should have the freedom to decide what’s best for themselves and their families, including when it comes to ending a pregnancy. This decision has dire consequences for individual health and safety, and could have harsh repercussions for other landmark decisions. Restricting access to comprehensive reproductive care, including abortion, threatens the health and independence of all Americans. Even if you live in a state where abortion rights are upheld, access to safe medical procedures shouldn’t be determined by location, and it shouldn't be the privilege of a small few. You can help by donating to local abortion funds. To find out where to donate for each state, visit donations4abortion.com. If you or someone you know needs help, or if you want to get more involved, here are 5 resources: 1. ShoutYourAbortion.com is a campaign to normalize abortion. 2. DontBanEquality.com is a campaign for companies to take a stand against abortion restrictions. 3. Abortion.cafe has information about where to find clinics. 4. PlanCPills.org provides early at-home abortion pills that you can keep in your medicine cabinet. 5. Choice.CRD.co has a collection of these resources and more. We encourage you to speak up! And spread the word.



This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis:

OP3 - https://op3.dev/privacy

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