Top podcasts are selling off guest spots

The Future. Influential podcasts are charging guests thousands of dollars for an interview spot in order to open a new revenue stream, creating a shadow market for exposure that may not be known to audiences. For what it’s worth, the FTC is not thrilled with the practice, so expect regulation to be the next influential guest in podcasting.

Pay-for-play
Bloomberg reports that on some top podcasts, the only criteria you need for a guest spot is to be interesting and have up to $50,000 to spare.

• The practice of charging guests for a podcast appearance happens mostly in shows related to business, crypto, and wellness.
• The Skinny Confidential Him and Her Podcast charges guests $20,000 to $40,000 per interview, while business-focused Entrepreneurs on Fire charge an average of $3,500 per appearance.
• Online podcast-guest marketplace Guestio has paid more than $300,000 to podcasters since launching in 2020, advising them to charge guests $100-$150 per every thousand listeners.

And on rare occasions, some guests even charge to be interviewed, such as pro boxer Manny Pacquiao, who charges $15,000 per podcast appearance.

We’re just commercializing here
While paying for coverage is commonplace in any media industry, the unique low-key and conversational nature of podcasting (a big reason why agencies don’t like dynamic ads) doesn’t seem like it would have payola happening behind the scenes.

And audiences aren’t usually aware it’s happening. Disclosures in an hour-long conversation are purposely fleeting and buried. That’s dicey.