The premise was that very few podcasts actually get any money for making podcasts that listeners enjoy. And that this is because the tools/mechanisms available treat podcasts like radio or newsletters.
They're podcasts! So we talked to more podcast listeners and we talked to more podcast creators about what be meaningful for both sides.
We have version 1 - Lenny.fm.
People behind Lenny.fm
I’m Courtney, a radio/podcast producer in Melbourne Australia.
I make shows at Nearly Media, when I'm not working on Lenny.fm.
Andrew, Dan and Adam in the team are developers and musicians.
Podcast fans too.
I’ve tried so many different ways to get paid for the shows I’ve made — merch, events, bonus content, subscriptions, advertising and more.
Nearly Media shows get 120k downloads a month but we’ve never found a consistent way to get paid for our effort that seems fair.
Ads are a tough sell. They take too long to sell them yourself and agencies take too much to sell them for you.
After working in the music industry I saw how musicians immediately set up multiple effective ways to make money — publishing, streaming, touring, physical sales, merch and sync deals. Sometimes more!
Podcasts don’t do this.
Lenny.fm doesn't hinge on making more content or organising heaps of other adjacent stuff.
Giving listeners an easy and effective way to contribute is something we’ve been working on for a few years now.
Podcasting needs more money distributed across shows that aren’t in the top tier. Building a podcast middle class is something that’s possible.
Lenny.fm is live and working with podcasts collecting money from listeners who want to support them.
You can do the same! Just tell your audience to support your show on Lenny.fm.
We’re currently on version 1 of Lenny.fm, and with more people using it we can add features, make it look better and offer support to help podcast creators make money.
It'd be great to hear about your experience, get in contact - hi@lenny.fm
Happy podcasting!