What a podcast is, how it works and what it is for (including for a business)

What a podcast is, without the jargon

A podcast is a show published in episodes. It can be audio only or, more and more often, audio and video at the same time. The difference from radio is that there is no broadcast time: the episode is uploaded once and each person listens or watches when it suits them, in the car, at the gym or on the sofa.

The word comes from combining "iPod" and "broadcast", from the days when people listened on music players. Today they are mostly heard on phones, in apps such as Spotify, Apple Podcasts or Amazon Music, and watched on YouTube, which has become one of the places where most podcasts are consumed.

Technically, a podcast works through a file called an RSS feed. Think of it as a list that updates every time you publish an episode. You upload the episode to a hosting service and the feed tells every platform at once. That is why you do not need to upload the same show to ten different places: you upload it once and it appears everywhere.

What defines a podcast is not the technology but the format: a conversation, an interview, a story or a lesson that repeats with some regularity, and that people come back to because they like the way it is told.

What makes a podcast different

If you are looking for the characteristics of a podcast, these are the ones that actually matter.

It is on demand. There is no fixed time. Listeners decide when and how much: they can stop halfway and carry on tomorrow.

It is long. An episode can last twenty minutes or two hours. No other format gets someone to pay attention to a person or a brand for so long. We explain it in how long a podcast episode should be.

It is intimate. People listen with headphones, alone, often while doing something else. The host's voice ends up feeling familiar, almost like someone you know.

It is regular. A podcast lives on consistency: one episode a week or every two weeks. Regularity is what builds the listening habit.

It has a niche. The podcasts that work talk about something specific to a specific audience: economics, health, parenting, employment law, cooking, lower-league football. The clearer the topic, the more loyal the audience.

And it is increasingly video. Many shows are recorded with several cameras and also published on YouTube, with short clips for social media. That is what people call a video podcast, and we cover it in what a video podcast is.

Types of podcast, with examples

Not all podcasts are the same. These are the most common types, with examples so each one is clear.

Interview shows. A host talks to a different guest each week. It is the most common format. Aladetres, one of the reference podcasts in Spain, brings together economists, historians and business people to talk at length about economics, business and society. We handle its post-production and have edited more than a hundred episodes.

Conversation between regular hosts. Two or three people discuss a topic with real chemistry between them. The value is in their relationship.

Educational shows. Someone who knows a lot about something explains it step by step. There are educational podcasts on languages, history, science and health. BioHack-It, for example, brings health science to a wide audience.

Narrative or storytelling shows. Scripted episodes, with music and editing, that tell a true or fictional story. They take more production, but they hook people like a series.

Literary shows. Readings of texts, short stories or poetry, with voice and sound design.

Branded or corporate shows. A company creates its own programme to talk to its customers, its industry or its team. We look at it in detail in corporate podcasts: examples and how to use them.

None is better than another. You choose the type based on what you want to say, to whom, and how much time you have each week.

What a podcast is for

A podcast does different things depending on who makes it.

For a person, it is a way to teach what you know and be known for it. A lawyer, a nutritionist or a consultant who talks about their subject every week ends up being the person people turn to when the problem arises. It is one of the fastest ways to build a personal brand, because people spend hours listening to you think.

For a brand, it earns the audience's trust without selling in every sentence. An ad lasts thirty seconds; an episode, forty minutes of attention. And every video episode provides clips, posts and copy for weeks.

For a company, it is a way to talk to its industry, attract talent and communicate internally. Some companies use a podcast to interview clients, partners or their own team, and others use it as an internal channel. We explain it in internal podcasts for companies.

In education, it is used for revision, language learning and speaking practice. That is why so many searches about what a podcast is come from students and teachers: recording one is a good class exercise.

And for the listener, it makes dead time useful: the commute, cooking, walking the dog. It is content that keeps you company without asking you to look at a screen, although more and more people watch as well.

How a podcast is made, in a nutshell

Making a podcast has four parts, like any production.

First, the idea. What topic, for whom, in what format and how often. This part decides almost everything and is usually rushed. A good exercise is to write ten episode titles before recording anything: if it is hard to reach ten, the topic is not clear yet.

Second, recording. For audio, a good microphone per person and a room without echo is enough. For video you also need cameras, light and a set that looks good. You can record at home, in your office or in a prepared studio. We explain it in what you need to produce a podcast.

Third, editing. Silences and mistakes are removed, the sound is levelled, the best camera angle is chosen at each moment if there is video, and the intro, captions and music are added. It is the part that takes longest and the part people notice most.

Fourth, publishing and promotion. The episode goes up with its title, description and thumbnail, and short clips are cut for social media. Without this part, a good episode reaches almost nobody.

Many podcasts stop at episode seven because the person making them burns out between recording, editing and publishing. That is why it pays to decide from the start which parts you will do yourself and which you will hand over.

When it makes sense to work with a production company

You can make a podcast on your own with a microphone and patience. It makes sense to bring in a production company when the podcast is an important part of your business or your brand and you cannot afford for it to look average or to stop after two months.

What a production company brings, above all, is consistency and quality that holds week after week. On Aladetres we handle all the post-production: editing the full episode, intros with motion graphics and original music, which are our signature, clips for social media and thumbnails. With our partner Dull Light in Miami, we also edit shows recorded in the United States, such as The Sage Steele Show, which has more than 220,000 subscribers on YouTube.

You do not have to hand over everything. Some clients record on their own and send us the files to edit, and others prefer to come and record in our studio in Viladecans, twenty minutes from Barcelona, and forget about the technical side.

At Bostak Films, Albert Murillo's production company, we do video podcast production for people, brands and companies across Spain and Europe, in person or remotely. If you have an idea and do not know where to start, in a half-hour call we can work out which format suits you and what you would need. Book a free diagnosis and let's talk.

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