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How do you see the audio industry changing over the next 5-10 years? originally appeared on Quora - the place to gain and share knowledge, empowering people to learn from others and better understand the world.
Answer by Michael Mignano , CEO and CO-founder , Anchor, on Quora:
We’ve already reached the brink of a cultural shift where everyone is creating and consuming content all the time. You see so many services with videos, photos and even text that provide a way for people not only to create and consume content, but to interact with it (and each other) — on Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, YouTube. But while other mediums have become democratized where anyone can create their own platform for writing, photos or video, audio has historically remained out of the loop in terms of engagement and democratization.
That’s all about to change. Audio is actually the most flexible medium for content: it’s fast, it’s easy to multitask, it’s engaging without being so distracting that you have to stop whatever you’re doing to enjoy it. Podcasts, which were once a subculture, now reach as many people in the U.S. monthly as Twitter does (around 67 million, to be exact). This is still a burgeoning industry, but it’s growing fast, and audiences are looking for ways to express their thoughts on what they’re listening to - not to mention getting involved by becoming creators on their own, and ultimately making money from their work. As more people gravitate toward creating and monetizing, I honestly expect Anchor to have a lot of competition in the coming years - which is a good thing. So for now, we’re focused on developing the foundation for people sharing audio like they share the rest of their lives online: creating the best ways to record, distribute and monetize so we can build upon those features in the future.
