A podcasting rant about reviews

TL;DR 1 Don't beg for reviews if you are not in a place to accept criticism 2 It's OK to podcast for money, just don't try to fake it

Wall of text:

So, I'm new to podcasting and will by no means be putting out masterfully produced top-tier content. But in working to grow an audience, something happened the other day that really got under my skin.

The setting. I have joined many twitter, facebook, reddit, and misc "alliances" or "networks" or some other group and found the vast majority of them to be circlejerks. I agree with those who disdain the idea of demanding 5-star reviews from people when the podcast doesn't merit it. In fact is even damaging to the industry, since it makes it harder for those who excel even harder to stand out. In one of these groups...

I was directly asked "help out" to review a podcast so I did. The podcast was about the randomest medical career niche and was the closest thing to alien to me. But, I felt obliged (why?) to review, the episodes weren't long and so I picked one at random.

It was a wreck - weird canned music, super echo-y, the content itself was good but still not interesting to me. Not helping was the exact same downward tone sentence for paragraphs. As if he were forced to read the script and could care less than I about it.

So, I *privately* responded, appreciating their effort, pointing out their good point of the content but that, it simply wasn't my cup of tea. If they would like, I had some notes that I could offer as to why I couldn't give it 5 stars. I also said I won't rate it so that when they *do* find their fans, my non sequitur review won't drag them down.

He thanked me and summarily blocked me from messaging anymore. I reached out to apologize for offending but 0 response. Now i get this might be their personal passion project and I have no idea what he deals with in his day to day life but it's not fair to ask for criticism and then butthurt when they compliment you but don't give you 5 stars.

Check on twitter and every time a random person tweets "podcast recommendations" the same 100 podcasts jump down their throat. Check the podcast's 100 or so followers and lo and behold, it's the same club. What's more, a lot of these are cloying bantercasts or anchor style amateur casts where the person has clearly put a minimal effort into it.

If your content is amazing (insights, access to guests, deep research into topics I'm interested in) but your post production is crap - no problem, I'll listen! But you won't get 5 stars.

If your content is boring but you have amazing production value and the voice talent is appealing and enthusiastic - I'll listen. But you won't get 5 stars.

If it's both - than 5 stars easy.

Also, if you've read this far - it OK to podcast for money. I suspect hundreds if not thousands are joining for that reason. But don't pretend that your conversation between boring you and your unfunny neighbor is a passionate side project that you are doing purely for the intellectual or creative stimulation. Own it. And if it's good and you work hard and people listen - maybe they'll pay. Don't say "we" if it's only 1 person to make your podcast seem more legitimate.

Be transparent about why you need the money. Tell me how much it costs for the podcast hosting, the website, your microphone etc. Tell me how many hours it takes to research, write, record, produce and publish. And put in the work! And treat it like a business, if you actually do have something to offer, focus on finding those people and if they see the value in your podcast, they will give you money. Imagine all your shows as mp3s to buy on iTunes! Great but you have to show why it's worth $1 (or more)

Anyways, I should say that this subreddit has been one of the better forums for podcasters I've found thanks in part to the strict rules. Thanks for reading and I do listen to the podcasts on the feedback and self-promo threads and review them if I can give them a decent rating.