Independent podcasters and owners/co-owners of small to mid-level podcast networks in Canada

April 19, 2021

On this page

• List of acronyms and abbreviations
• 1.0 Introduction
• 2.0 Sample profile
• 3.0 Overview of findings
  • 3.1 Personnel/functions
  • 3.2 Podcast type, reach and growth
  • 3.3 Promotion and platforms
  • 3.4 Revenue and other financial supports
  • 3.5 Motivations
  • 3.6 Obstacles to success
  • 3.7 Impact of COVID-19
  • 3.8 Planned initiatives
• 4.0 Areas for further exploration
• Appendix

List of acronyms and abbreviations

BIPOC

Black, Indigenous, People of Color

CMF

Canada Media Fund

COVID-19

Coronavirus Disease

CPM

Cost per mille

LGBTQ2S+

Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer or Questioning, and Two-Spirit

SEO

Search Engine Optimization

SODEC

Société de développement des entreprises culturelles

1.0 Introduction

This report presents results of an online survey conducted among a mix of independent podcasters and owners/co-owners of small to mid-level podcast networks in Canada. A total of 24 podcasters/owners participated from February 24 to March 12, 2021.

The survey was developed with results analyzed by The Canadian Podcast Listener partnership (Signal Hill Insights and Ulster Media).

It was commissioned by the Department of Canadian Heritage to support the Department’s goal to gather evidence-based information to better understand how to support Canadian creators of digital media such as podcasts. The specific objectives of this study were as follows:

• Generate qualitative insight on the independent and mid-sized creatives who function within the podcasting industry in Canada;
• Gain a better understanding of podcast industry dynamics;
• To use insights gathered to help inform future research.

Note: This study is not designed to provide a comprehensive or definitive view of Canadian podcast creators. Rather, it is an exploratory study to get an initial understanding of the Canadian podcasting sector by hearing from a diverse mix of independent and mid-level podcast creators on the nature of their work and the challenges they face.

2.0 Sample profile

Targets were set to recruit independent and mid-level podcasters from the following segments: French, English and Indigenous. Efforts were also made to include representation from the Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC) and the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer or Questioning, and Two-Spirit (LGBTQ2S+) communities.

Of the 24 podcasters/owners participating in the survey:

• 12 classified themselves as ‘a podcast creator overseeing at least 2 podcasts’; 9 were ‘independent’ creators, ‘primarily responsible for just one podcast’ and 3 specified other roles;
• 9 were identified as English podcasters; 9 were French podcasters; and 6 represented Indigenous podcasters;
• 2 referred to themselves as Black/African-Canadian; 1 as South Asian; and 1 as Inuit;
• 3 classified themselves as LGBTQ2S+ and 1 as being disabled;
• 11 were from Montreal and environs; 8 from Toronto and the Golden Horseshoe; 2 from Winnipeg; 1 from Ottawa/Gatineau; 1 from Greater Vancouver; and 1 from Iqaluit.

Respondents invited to participate in the survey were largely selected using ‘snowball sampling,’ a recruitment technique in which research participants are asked to identify other potential subjects. While ‘snowball sampling’ is helpful in recruiting difficult-to-find target groups, it should not be seen as broadly representative of those segments. For example, the seed sample for this survey was made up of professional podcasters, so those podcasters who approach podcasts as a hobby are likely under-represented in the survey sample.

3.0 Overview of findings

3.1 Personnel/functions

• Almost none of the podcasters surveyed work by themselves; they almost all need at least one other co-worker. Mid-level podcasters work with an average of 5 people or more on their podcasts; for both groups combined, it is 3 to 5 people on average.
• Indie podcasters almost always host their own podcasts; mid-level podcasters were more likely to be showrunners/producers or even sound designers/mixers/editors.
• Indies hire sound designers/mixers most; mid-level hire hosts most often.

3.2 Podcast type, reach and growth

• Most indie podcasters are just working on one podcast; most mid-levels had at least 3 podcasts or more.
• Several podcasters work in multiple languages. Out of 24 podcasters, 5 said they recorded in more than one language. The rest were either French or English. Indigenous podcasters tended to publish in at least one other language as well.
• Most had a sense of how many downloads they were receiving per episode in a month on average. The answers varied greatly. The highest number of Canadian downloads in a month for a podcast episode was 200,000+, the lowest was 70. There were a couple of indies and a couple of networks with big numbers; a few more on the mid-level side, but there are some indie success stories.
• More than half said their audience base has grown year-over-year. Only one respondent said their numbers were down. Most indies said their numbers more than doubled in the past year. (But it's easier to "double" when your numbers are fairly low to begin with.)
• Most attributed growth to marketing/promotion initiatives, but there were other interesting responses specific to each podcast.
• Almost everyone said they had 50% or more downloads coming from inside Canada. There weren't any obvious correlations when looking at the English/French/Indigenous subgroups, or indie vs mid-level.
• USA, UK, Australia (English); France and Belgium (translated from French) were the countries doing the most downloading outside Canada.
• Most feel it's at least somewhat important to have listeners outside Canada. It was generally more important to indie podcasters than to mid-level networks. (Almost half of the mid-level networks said it was not very important).

3.3 Promotion and platforms

• Virtually all promote via their own social feeds. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) was also a very common practice (almost half). A third guest on other podcasts. A quarter buy ads on social to promote.
• Indies tended to use Twitter most for this; mid-levels mentioned Facebook and Instagram more. Those were the top three social networks across both groups.
• Almost everyone posts their podcast to their website. Half post other content related to their podcast on their website as well.
• YouTube is used for promotion by some in both groups; a third of podcasters said they post their podcast there as well, and a quarter say they use it to post other content related to their podcasts.

3.4 Revenue and other financial supports

• More than half of podcasters said everyone working on their podcasts gets paid something for their services; about 20% said none. Mid-levels were more likely than indies to say people were getting paid something.
• The most common source of revenue was listener donations (almost half, with more on the indie side). Donations were also named most frequently as providing the most revenue for their podcast.
• A quarter reported sponsorship revenue from firms/organizations. Just over one-in-five had ad revenue, split proportionally across indies and mid-level podcasters.
• About 30% said they generate no revenue; this was a little higher on the indie side, but not dramatically so.
• Live shows and merchandise also generated revenue (but the impact of Coronavirus disease [COVID-19] has affected live shows).
• Among those generating revenue (17), just over 40% said they generated less than $5,000 last year. Two were making $100,000 to $250,000 (one indie, one mid-level). The rest reported less than $50,000.
• Podcasters generating revenue were equally split between those who said that it more than covers costs and those who said it does not. A few said it just meets costs. This was consistent across both groups (although we suspect that some of the indies were not including their own time/efforts as a "cost").
• More than a third did not have other financial supports.
• A quarter said they had a government grant of some kind. Only one mentioned federal (PCH). The others were split between Provincial and Municipal grants.

3.5 Motivations

• Podcasters are motivated by a mix of professional and personal interests.
• Half say they are motivated to make podcasts both personally and professionally; just over 10% say they do it mostly to satisfy a personal interest; while just over a third say they see it mainly as a profession.
• Just over half work part time on podcasts, mostly indies. Half of the indie part-timers want to make it full time.
• Most mid-levels are full-time. Among the few mid-level part-timers, none want it to be full time. (Presumably, these are serial entrepreneurs with their fingers in other pies).

3.6 Obstacles to success

• Podcasters offered a wide range of responses when asked to identify the biggest obstacles to greater success for their podcast(s).
• Most commonly, podcasters cited limited resources as a barrier to growth:
  • “Making podcasts outside of a network; the industry's reliance on CPMs and ad revenue as a key determinant of success”
  • “Lack of financial resources; lack of government programs that fund podcasts (for example, CMF does not fund podcasts, neither does SODEC) limited budgets; business models that are not yet convincing…”
  • “Lack of funding to pay myself and my collaborators for their work on the project”
• Discoverability was also frequently cited as an obstacle. Several podcasters found it difficult to punch through the noise and get noticed:
  • “Canada's low population/difficulty reaching American markets with Canadian content”
  • “If I were starting another podcast today, discoverability is a huge issue. Canada is at a disadvantage when it comes to Apple Podcasts because the people making decisions for the homepage are not in Canada, and often will implement elements on the Canadian homepage that came from the US simply because there is no one focusing on Canadian content. Example: that recent time when Wondery took over the entire carousel. It would have been lovely here in Canada to be able to feature a Canadian podcast instead and we have so many! But the amount of US content being promoted is overwhelming. Whenever you look at the top 25 podcasts in Canada, less than five of them are actually Canadian podcasts. The needle on this needs to be moved.”
  • “Lack of knowledge of the product (although this is beginning to change) … the competition from video.” (translated from French)
  • “Public Relations (PR) and Marketing to major brand names - Building the audience”
  • “Media interest, social media apathy…”
• Other obstacles included Human Resource (HR) issues, challenges around building audiences for French-language podcasts in Europe with Quebec content, and accessibility issues.

3.7 Impact of COVID-19

• Only a few podcasters said they produced less content because of COVID-19. A couple even said they produced more!
• Several commented about the impact of COVID-19 on audio quality:
  • “We run a recording studio and can no longer have paid clients inside, which has radically reduced my income and also the audio quality of our shows, since everything needs to be done remotely now.”
  • “More difficult to conduct in person interviews safely. Even with tools like zencastr, it's difficult to control for recording mistakes in remote interviews, and audio is lower quality”
• Others cited how COVID-19 extended the type of content they produced:
  • “It made it possible to produce content to reach people who would otherwise have attended conferences and seminars.”
  • “I received a sponsorship for 5 episodes of 104 New France stories from a festival that used them to offer a "digital" edition to its audience.” (translated from French)
• Interestingly, a few said they developed new skills or got more work/audience as a result of the pandemic.
  • “Increase in our listening (we do a youth podcast ...)” (translated from French)
  • “… we have developed extraordinary expertise for broadcasts via Zoom and other similar platforms. We expect to continue doing this once the pandemic is resolved.” (translated from French)
  • “Able to get guests coast-to-coast which has been a good thing.”
• Meanwhile, some pointed to the lack of ability to hold live events during COVID-19:
  • “Curtailed plans to carry out live in-person events”
  • “Inability to hold a press event to launch and promote the podcast; inability to organize premieres in the communities that participated in the podcast ...” (translated from French)

3.8 Planned initiatives

• When asked to identify new initiatives they have planned for the next year, many of them addressed obstacles they had mentioned earlier:
  • “More episodes, including a spin off series (released in a new RSS feed - I'm interested to see if having two podcasts referring to each other will increase the exposure for each)”
  • “A Patreon incentive push”
  • “We are focused on audience growth, we've created a survey to find out more about our audience and target them better, outreach to media and more cross promotion”

4.0 Areas for further exploration

The findings from this study provide a first step towards understanding how PCH can support creators in the podcast industry. Additional research would be necessary to quantify these findings and probe into additional areas not covered by this study.

Among the areas to consider for future study:

• A more definitive picture of revenue. We captured a variety of different revenue sources from the survey but did not get a clear understanding of the revenue hierarchy. Donations were the most common source of revenue, but other sources were mentioned, including sponsorship, live events, as well as advertising which drives the revenue of the most successful podcasts. Likewise, we have limited visibility into how many podcasters are covering costs; some podcasters didn't appear to be including their own time when reporting costs.
• Access to funding. Several podcasters mentioned getting government grants from municipal, provincial and federal sources. How much does that amount to, by source? What options do podcasters have right now in Canada?
• Size and nature of the industry. Almost all the podcasters in the survey indicated that their podcasts are a group effort, with various individuals filling specialized roles. How many Canadians are working in the podcast industry, and what are their roles?
• The needs of workers in the podcast industry. Many of the people contributing to Canadian podcasts are freelance producers or editors, writers, etc. They work on different podcasts for different employers, and sometimes their work takes them outside podcasting. They generate a good proportion of their annual income from podcasts, but they have no job security. These contract workers were not captured in this questionnaire because they aren’t podcast "creators." Yet the industry needs them. How can they be helped to earn a stable and comfortable living in the podcast industry?
• Discoverability. Podcasters identified discoverability of their podcast(s) as a huge barrier to success. They are competing for shelf space and awareness with popular American podcasts. What lessons can be learned from Canadian podcasters who have managed to find a large domestic and international audience? How can that learning help to create initiatives that will help other podcast creators take their content to market?

Appendix

Top-line survey data among the full sample of the podcasters surveyed are provided on the following pages.

Question 1. Which of the following best describes your role in the podcasting industry?

Response	Count	Percentage
An independent podcast creator, primarily responsible for just one podcast	9	37.5%
A podcast creator, overseeing at least 2 podcasts	12	50.0%
Other	3	12.5%
Total	24	-

Question 2. Including yourself, how many people are working on your podcast[s]?

Response	Count	Percentage
Just me	3	12.5%
2	5	20.8%
3-5	9	37.5%
6-9	5	20.8%
10+	2	8.3%
Total	24	-

Question 3. Which of the following roles do you play on your podcast[s]? Please select all that apply.

Response	Count	Percentage
Host	14	58.3%
Editor/Mixer/Sound Engineer	14	58.3%
Writer	16	66.7%
Showrunner/Executive Producer	19	79.2%
Producer	22	91.7%
Other	7	29.2%
TotalFootnote 1	24	-

Question 4. Thinking of the other people who work with you on your podcast(s), which, if any, of the following represent distinct positions to which an individual is assigned? Please select all that apply.

Response	Count
Host	14
Editor/Mixer/Sound Engineer	12
Writer	10
Showrunner/Executive Producer	8
Producer	9
Other	10
No distinct positions assigned [exclusive]	1

Question 5. Including yourself, how many of the people who help make and distribute your podcast(s) get paid for their services?

Response	Count	Percentage
All of them	12	57.1%
Most of them	2	9.5%
About half of them	1	4.8%
Less than half of them	2	9.5%
None	4	19.0%
Total	21	-

Question 6. How many podcasts do you currently have?

Response	Count	Percentage
Just one	8	33.3%
2	7	29.2%
3-5	5	20.8%
More than 5	4	16.7%
Total	24	-

Question 7. In what language(s) are these podcast(s)? Please select all that apply.

Response	Count
English	17
French	11
Indigenous Languages	3

Question 8. Please list the full name(s) of your podcast(s).

Note: Results have been removed to maintain the privacy of respondents.

Question 9. On average, approximately how many listeners (or downloads) does your podcast have per episode? Please provide your best estimate, and whether that’s based on downloads or some other measure If you don’t know, simply enter ‘don’t know.’

Note: for respondents with one podcast

• 200,000
• 200,000
• 35,000
• 5,000
• 5,000
• 3,000
• 2,000
• 70

Question 10. Thinking of your most popular podcast, approximately how many listeners (or downloads) does that podcast have per episode? Please provide your best estimate, and whether that’s based on downloads or some other measure. If you don’t know, simply enter ‘don’t know.’

Note: for respondents with multiple podcasts

• 100,000
• 33,000
• 23,000
• 12,000
• 3,000
• 2,800
• 2,000
• 1,700
• 1,500
• 600
• 500
• 250
• 200

Question 11. How has that audience base changed over the past year?

Response	Count	Percentage
More than doubled in the past year	5	20.8%
Up, but less than double of what it was a year ago	8	33.3%
About the same as last year	3	12.5%
Down, but retained more than half the audience of a year ago	1	4.2%
Not applicable; the podcast is new in the past year	6	25.0%
Don’t know	1	4.2%
Total	24	-

Question 12. (If applicable) Please list up to three factors that contributed to any change in audience size, in order of importance.

Most Important

• Cross-promotion
• Instagram
• Pandemic
• Cross-promotion
• Niche audiences
• One episode had a guest with a large following
• Promotion on our media platforms
• Word of mouth
• Press
• Lockdown
• Creation of new initiatives
• Increased social media marketing
• Promotional efforts on radio
• Lockdown

Second Most Important

• Profiliing on the Apple homepage
• Change of guest host
• Audience availability
• Rebranding
• Feature on Apply Podcast
• Appearances on other podcasts
• Increased promotion
• Pandemic
• Use of podcast in classes
• Notoriety

Third Most Important

• Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
• Shortened season
• Marketing campaigns
• Being part of the 10 best Canadian podcasts according to Apple
• Social media marketing
• Multiplication of customers and partners
• Notoriety
• Advertising campaigns on Facebook and social media platforms
• Promotion

Question 13. Approximately what percentage of the audience to the podcast(s) you work on is from outside Canada? Please provide your best estimate.

Response	Count	Percentage
0-24%	9	47.4%
25-49%	7	36.8%
50-74%	3	15.8%
75-100%	0	0.0%
Total	19	-

Question 14. (If applicable) Please list, in order of audience size, the top three countries outside of Canada that listen to your podcast(s). If you don’t know, simply enter ‘don’t know’

Country	First	Second	Third
United States	10	3	2
France	7	0	0
United Kingdom	0	8	0
Belgium	0	3	2
Australia	0	1	2
Morocco	0	0	1
Germany	0	0	1
Don’t know	3	0	0

Top Countries Overall

1. United States
2. United Kingdom
3. France

Question 15. How important to your podcast is that audience from outside Canada?

Response	Count	Percentage
Extremely important	1	4.2%
Very important	5	20.8%
Somewhat important	10	41.7%
Not very important	7	29.2%
Not at all important	1	4.2%
Total	24	-

Question 16. How do you promote your podcast(s) to potential listeners? Please select all that apply.

Response	Count	Percentage
Promote on social media through your own feeds	23	95.8%
Buy ads on social media	6	25.0%
Guest on other episodes	8	33.3%
Purchase ads on other episodes	1	4.2%
Apply SEO (Search engine optimization)	10	41.7%
Other	5	20.8%
TotalFootnote 1	24	-

Question 17. Please list, in order of importance, the social media you use to promote your podcast(s).

Country	First	Second	Third
Facebook	9	4	4
Instagram	6	4	4
Twitter	2	8	3
LinkedIn	1	1	1
Reddit	1	0	0
Pinterest	1	0	0
TikTok	0	1	0
Newsletter	0	1	0
ClubHouse	0	0	1
YouTube	0	0	1

Top Types of Social Media used to for Promotion Overall

1. Facebook
2. Instagram
3. Twitter

Question 18. In addition to making your podcast(s) available for download on podcast apps, on which of the following platforms, if any, do you also make your podcast(s) available? Please select all that apply.

Response	Count	Percentage
YouTube	8	33.3%
Broadcast Radio	4	16.7%
A website	23	95.8%
Other	5	20.8%
TotalFootnote 1	24	-

Question 19. Apart from full podcast episodes, do you make other content related to your podcast(s) available on any of the following platforms? Please select all that apply.

Response	Count	Percentage
YouTube	6	25.0%
Broadcast radio	1	4.2%
A website	12	50.0%
Social media (e.g., Facebook, Reddit, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok)	6	25.0%
Don’t make content related to podcast(s) available on other platforms	8	33.3%
TotalFootnote 1	24	-

Question 20. From which of the following sources, if any, do you generate revenue for your podcast(s)? Please select all that apply.

Response	Count	Percentage
Ads	5	20.8%
Sponsorship from firm/organization (i.e., support unrelated to ads)	6	25.0%
Merchandise	3	12.5%
Listener donations (e.g., via Patreon)	11	45.8%
Live shows	2	8.3%
Other	4	16.7%
The podcast(s) generates no revenue	7	29.2%
TotalFootnote 1	24	-

Question 21. Which one of these provides the most revenue for your podcast(s)?

Response	Count	Percentage
Ads	3	17.6%
Sponsorship from firm/organization (i.e., support unrelated to ads)	4	23.5%
Donations (e.g., via Patreon)	5	29.4%
Live shows	1	5.9%
Other	4	23.5%
Total	17	-

Question 22. Which of the following best describe the total revenue you generated from your podcast(s) in the past year?

Response	Count	Percentage
Less than $5,000	7	41.2%
$5,000 to less than $10,000	2	11.8%
$10,000 to less than $25,000	2	11.8%
$25,000 to less than $50,000	2	11.8%
$100,000 to less than $250,000	2	11.8%
Prefer not to answer	2	11.8%
Total	17	-

Question 23. To what extent does your total revenue cover the costs of producing your podcast(s)?

Response	Count	Percentage
Revenue more than covers costs	7	41.2%
The revenue only just meets costs	3	17.6%
The revenue does NOT currently meet costs	7	41.2%
Total	17	-

Question 24. Which of the following financial supports, if any, have you used to help fund your podcast(s). Please select all that apply.

Response	Count	Percentage
Support from family	4	16.7%
Your personal investments (e.g., RRSPs, TFSAs)	1	4.2%
Outside investor(s)	2	8.3%
Government grants	6	25.0%
Other	10	41.7%
None of these	9	37.5%
TotalFootnote 1	24	-

Question 25. What type of government grant(s) have you received to support your podcast(s)? Please select all that apply.

Response	Count
Federal	1
Provincial	4
Municipal	3

Question 26. Based on your experience, what are the biggest obstacles to greater success for your podcast(s)? Please list up to three, in order of importance.

• Insufficient revenue, fact it’s a solo production
• Exposure
• Media interest, social media apathy, brand strategy
• Making podcasts outside of a network, the industry’s reliance on CPMs and ad revenue as a key determinant of success, Canada’s low population/difficulty reaching American markets with Canadian content
• Restricted budgets preventing field recordings, dominance of Radio-Canada’s OhDio, with no real alternative to aggregate content
• Lack of knowledge of the product (although this is starting to change), the pandemic affecting businesses (our customers), the competition from the video
• Advertising, access
• PR and marketing to major brand names, building the audience, recording remotely
• I wish I knew?
• Democratization of platforms like Twitch.tv, people don’t know, every week, new subscribers rediscover me
• Difficult promotion on other social platforms, multiplication of the Accent Québécois offer (French-speaking European development)
• Public operating funding, public funding of projects, help connecting with youth audiences
• An assistant to help me advertise more merch
• Getting more exposure on a marketing budget, inability to release more episodes, lack of funding to pay myself and my collaborators for their work on the project
• Funding
• Human resources, funding, promotion
• Lack of financial resources/limited budgets, lack of government programs that fund podcasts (eg CMF does not fund podcasts, neither does SODEC), business models that are not yet successful
• [Our show] is in a privileged position simply because of early timing and SEO. My main obstacles to success now are becuase of my own shortfalls as the person behind the podcast. If I were starting another podcast today, discoverability is a huge issue. Canada is at a disadvantage when it comes to Apple Podcasts because the people making decisions for the homepage are not in Canada, and often will implement elements on the Canadian homepage that came from the US simply because there is no one focusing on Canadian content. Example: that recent time when Wondery took over the entire carousel. It would have been lovely here in Canada to be able to feature a Canadian podcast instead and we have so many! But the amount of US content being promoted is overwhelming. Whenever you look at the top 25 podcasts in Canada, less than five of them are actually Canadian podcasts. The needle on this needs to be moved.
• Lack of financial resources
• Budget, accessibility issues, lack of support/resources

Question 27. In what way, if any, has COVID-19 affected the amount of podcasts and/or episodes you have produced?

• Increased views, slight decreases in income
• No more in person working or recording
• We started our podcast division during the pandemic so I can't really answer that question
• My work has increased dramatically due to podcasts being made with remote staff and because it's one of the few forms of media that's easy/viable right now
• Everyone works in isolation, work meetings are done by zoom only, recording in the studio is very difficult: the director is at home and gives his instructions to the host and the technician via zoom or skype while the host is alone in the studio. Very restrictive!
• Delay only
• I create the same amount of podcasts as previously
• It's impacted the quality of the content in that my host prefers to record in person - the isolation has taken away the fun of writing scripts and making the show, so we've had to create new ways to keep it fun. The quantity has remained the same. My personal experience as a freelance podcast producer has on the flipside has been quite busy. It seems that COVID allowed people the time to dedicate to a podcast, most of those people who's incomes haven't been impacted.
• It has made it possible to produce content to reach people who would otherwise have attended conferences and seminars BUT remote production is complicated
• I received a sponsorship for […] episodes of […] stories from a festival which used them to offer a "digital" edition to its audience
• It hasn't really, except for dealing with mental health and focus issues
• Mental strain and stress that inevitably goes with living through a pandemic!
• I've been fortunate to be able to continue producing most of my shows remotely, but with maybe a 15-20% decrease in total releases and/or episode length, depending on the show
• It made recording more difficult and delayed a few episodes, in total I think it delayed things for ~3 months
• Augmented, as theaters were looking for new ways to broadcast
• It hasn't
• It hasn't
• n/a
• n/a
• n/a

Question 28. Please list any other ways that the pandemic had affected your podcast activities.

• Able to get guests coast-to-coast which has been a good thing
• Lots of access to studios, precariousness, loss of notoriety
• It’s made more people interested
• n/a

Question 29. What, if any, new initiatives do you have planned for your podcast(s) over the next year?

• More live streams, a Patreon incentive push
• Wholly depends on the pandemic, frankly. That said, hoping to produce transcripts of every episode as added service to audience.
• Not totally clear on what this question means, but we will be releasing the final […] episodes of [podcast name] and the entire series [podcast name]
• Well that's I guess how the pandemic has affected it. I literally can't do anything over and above my current schedule as my children are still being virtual schooled. I even struggle to think up new initiatives right now. So status quo at least for 2021.
• More promotion on social networks
• More Zoom
• I would like to have correspondents, collaborators across the country to be more representative of Canadian diversity
• Joining with Acast platform
• Patreon
• We are going to do a post-mortem financial report to see if the company will continue in this vein, the impact on listeners which has been impressive and the awards won at festivals give meaning to our work
• Hosting of galas and awards ceremony, campaign to promote French, podcast courses
• More episodes, including a spin off series ([…]I'm interested to see if having two podcasts referring to each other will increase the exposure for each)
• Investing in transcription services, promoting on new platforms like Audea, and building relationships between our network and local nonprofits and schools
• Relaunch of past customers to produce [another season]
• We are focused on audience growth, we've created a survey to find out more about our audience and target them better, outreach to media and more cross promotion
• Development of new content, development of school workshops, development of training
• Finding and handling better sponsorship
• I want to resume the regular production of [podcast name] and resume production of audio episodes (in addition to video) of the [podcast name]
• We produce white label podcasts for brands
• No, I am maxed out on my own personal time in terms of writing researching hosting contacting guests editing promoting

Question 30. How many years have you worked in podcasting?

Response	Count	Percentage
Less than one year	2	8.3%
1 to less than 2 years	2	8.3%
2 to less than 3 years	5	20.8%
3 to less than 5 years	7	29.2%
5 to less than 10 years	5	20.8%
10 years or more	3	12.5%
Total	24	-

Question 31. Would you best describe your work in podcasting as full-time or part-time?

Response	Count	Percentage
Full time	11	45.8%
Part time	13	54.2%
Total	24	-

Question 32. Is it your goal to make podcasting a full-time occupation?

Response	Count	Percentage
Yes	4	30.8%
No	9	69.2%
Total	13	-

Question 33. What other industries, if any, do you work in? Please select all that apply.

Response	Count	Percentage
Other media/cultural industries	14	58.3%
Other industries	7	29.2%
No work outside of podcasting	6	25.0%
TotalFootnote 1	24	-

Question 34. Which of the following best describes your compensation, if any, for the work you do in podcasting?

Response	Count	Percentage
Net revenue / share of net revenue, after costs	4	16.7%
Salaried	3	12.5%
Contracted on a project basis	9	37.5%
No compensation, for now at least	8	33.3%
Total	24	-

Question 35. Do you consider your engagement in podcasting to be mainly a profession, or mainly to satisfy a personal interest?

Response	Count	Percentage
I see it mainly as a profession	9	37.5%
I do it mainly to satisfy a personal interest	3	12.5%
Both equally	12	50.0%
Total	24	-

Question 36. Please indicate your age.

Response	Count	Percentage
Ages <24	0	0.0%
Ages 25-39	13	54.2%
Ages 40-54	7	29.2%
Ages 55-69	4	16.7%
Ages 70+	0	0.0%
Total	24	-

Question 37. Please indicate your gender.

Response	Count	Percentage
Male	12	50.0%
Female	10	41.7%
Gender non-binary	1	4.2%
Prefer not to answer	1	4.2%
Total	24	-

Question 38. Do you identify yourself as being LGBTQ2S+?

Response	Count	Percentage
Yes	3	12.5%
No	20	83.3%
Prefer not to answer	1	4.2%
Total	24	-

Question 39. Canadians come from a wide variety of ethnic and racial origins. Please indicate the ethnic or racial origin that best describes you so we can better understand the cultural diversity of those working in the podcasting industry. Please select all that apply.

Response	Count	Percentage
White / Caucasian	18	75.0%
South Asian (e.g., East Indian, Pakistani, Sri Lankan, etc.)	1	4.2%
Black / African-Canadian	2	8.3%
Indigenous / First Nations / Metis	6	25.0%
Other	2	8.3%
TotalFootnote 1	24	-

Question 40. Are you currently disabled?

Response	Count	Percentage
Yes	1	4.2%
No	23	95.8%
Total	24	-

Question 41. Please indicate the city and province or territory where you live.^{Footnote 2}

Response	Count	Percentage
Québec	12	50.0%
Ontario	8	33.3%
British Columbia	1	4.2%
Manitoba	2	8.3%
Nunavut	1	4.2%
Total	24	-