The evolution of podcast hosts ...

You've surely heard about Call Her Daddy and its $60 Million deal with Spotify.

How did this happen? They're betting on the host and her relationship with her audience. 

But this has changed … 

According to Spotify, Call Her Daddy has expanded upon it’s original focus and the host's priority is now to “uncover the importance of therapy, self-care, and personal growth by sharing her own mental health journey with her listeners.”

I hope so, for her sake … and for the sake of Spotify. Most online content, including the first few years of Call Her Daddy, follows trends—like a boy band, it hits hard for people at a certain age, but soon gets stale and is ultimately ignored as the audience moves on with other aspects of their lives.

In short, your audience is evolving, just like you are.

What happens when the content you create no longer works for you and want to change directions as a host?

This happened in 2021 with Nashville-based radio host Phil Valentine. After months of posting anti-vaccination information and conspiracy theories about COVID-19, he got the virus. 

Unfortunately, his “new message” had to be spread by other people. After fighting for his life in the critical care unit of a local hospital, he ultimately died.

It's a situation that we've all been in—we believe something (and act on it), only to have that "reality" flipped on its head.

People change, which means podcasts should change too. If you’re doing a podcast that no longer works for you, don’t be afraid to try new things that are more in alignment with who you are now than who you were when you started. Remember, your listeners are also changing, so the only way to keep them listening is to evolve with them.