The September issue of online research publication First Monday features a paper entitled Podcasting: A new technology in search of viable business models by coauthors Sheri Crofts, Jon Dilley, Mark Fox, Andrew Retsema, and Bob Williams.

The paper includes a bit of history and an overview of podcasting technology followed by the social, commercial and legal context for podcasting before getting into issues related to business models.

The authors focus on business models for “nanocasters” or folks doing podcasting for niche audiences with commercial intent. They identify and discuss a variety of possiblities for generating revenue:
Sponsorships
Advertising
Listener donations
Cooption
(Paid) subscription models, for aggregators
(Paid) subscription models for individual podcasters
Infomercials
The star maker machinery

In their conclusions, they add this note regarding independent podcasters:
“Given the ease with which podcasts can be created, the only true barrier to entry — or at least a barrier to generating a sizable listener base — is product differentiation. Given the ease with which podcasts can be subscribed to and discarded, consumers are only going to tolerate podcasts that appeal to them. This creates a challenge for new podcastsers — how to differentiate their podcast from the thousands of others already on the Internet. Clearly focusing upon a niche area in which one has significant expertise is one means of doing this. However, as with traditional radio, insightfulness, entertainment, and creativity will be necessary to create audience interest and a listener base of any significant size”

Overall I’d say the paper’s a solid effort at sketching out some of the basic issues in professional podcasting with a relevant bibliography that includes live links. It should be particularly useful for those needing an introduction to podcasting or for those who are thinking through issues related to making money via podcasting as well as other forms of online publishing.

In related news, two recent research studies had conflicting views of who’s actually listening to podcasts.