The ‘Second Age’ of Podcasting: reframing Podcasting as a New Digital Mass Medium

This article will attempt to analyze the history of podcasting as a cultural practice of producing and consuming digital sound content. After a review of previous studies examining this technology, the case will be made that podcasting has entered a new phase of its evolution, one where it is beginning to generate a market that is no longer simply complementary to radio, but an alternative; one that is moving towards the professionalisation of production and the normalisation of consumption. This phase, which I will call “the second age of podcasting”, is distinguished by the transformation of podcasting into a commercial productive practice and a medium for mass consumption, and began in the United States in 2012, with the launch of the first business models that were able to support the independent production and consumption of sound content distributed through podcasting.