5 Hot Topics for Podcasts by Radio Hosts

While radio still reaches a large number of Americans every week, many listeners are choosing to get their audio entertainment elsewhere these days. Podcasts have exploded in the internet age, becoming something of a cultural phenomenon, and an opportunity for content creators to give their audiences even more of what they love. A recent study found that nearly 51% of American adults listen to podcasts, so it’s a great opportunity to take advantage of a fast-growing platform! There’s definitely a market for podcasts by radio hosts.

Radio shows are quite different from podcasts, but radio show hosts can still engage with audiences and increase their listener base by creating a podcast. It’s not necessarily as simple as converting an unedited radio show to an online format, however. Podcasts can run into licensing issues by playing copyrighted music, but savvy radio hosts can find plenty of topics to utilize in a podcast.

Here are a couple of our top ideas for topics for podcasts by radio hosts!

1. Artist Interview

If you have a specific genre or quite the following as a radio host already, you may have some music industry connections that you can utilize for an online podcast segment. Reach out to artists, producers, and other music industry personalities and ask to conduct an interview for an episode of your podcast!

Most podcasts tend to draw more engagement with more than one person speaking, so interviews with special guests are a popular format for the solo podcast host. Ask the artist guest questions about their upcoming projects, about their history in the industry, or ask them to speak on a special topic for the episode. Whatever you decide, the sky is the limit!

2. Top Track Roundup

Another idea you can use for a podcast topic is a roundup of your top favorite tracks of the week. You can theme your list around any topic you want, but here are some of our favorite ideas:

• Top recently released tracks
• Top tracks in a particular genre of all time
• The WORST tracks in your genre
• Top tracks by decade
• Top tracks by one artist
• Top tracks that use a particular technique or style

Make sure you check the licensing requirements and “fair use” laws if you’re going to play clips of the tracks in your roundup. But even if you don’t play clips, you can still create an engaging podcast based on your top music picks.

3. Music Industry News/Topics

Many popular podcasts have a narrow niche, unlike most radio programs that try to appeal to a broader audience. An easy podcast topic for a radio host to deliver is an episode about the latest news or topics in the music industry. You can talk about artists’ personal lives, tours, controversies, scandals with record labels, and more! Grab a co-host or a guest for an engaging back-and-forth dialogue about the topic at hand and let your personality and opinions shine. Your audience wants to hear what you think, so be honest!

4. Edited Versions of Prior Radio Shows

Something else you can do to pad out your online content and keep your listeners engaged is to record your live shows and cut it down to a podcast format to post online later. Many radio shows often have interviews, or include the hosts talking about relevant topics, which would be fantastic podcast material. Take some time to modify your previous shows in post-production and upload the edited version to your podcast platform. This is a great strategy to increase engagement and keep your podcast schedule on track if you don’t have new content to upload.

5. Whatever You’re Passionate About!

Finally, podcast audiences love unique content that the hosts are passionate about, so don’t be afraid to get creative! Talk about your experiences in the music industry, pet peeves about recording, your honest opinions about instruments, musical styles, genres, whatever! The sky is the limit, and even if you think a topic might be too narrow, it might be a good idea to talk about it anyway. Podcasts don’t have to be very long, many are around 15-30 minutes in length, so you don’t necessarily need a ton of material to create an engaging episode. Think about what your ideal audience would like to listen to you talk about and use them as your guide.

Podcasts Vs. Radio Shows – Things to Keep in Mind

Now that you have your topics for podcasts by radio hosts, there are a few things you should keep in mind about the different formats.

1. While radio shows are live, podcasts are pre-recorded. You can take some time to make sure your voiceover is perfect, and the narrative of your script flows together in a way that makes sense.  You can cut audio clips and move them around, add transitions between topics, and more.
2. Podcasts are an on-demand format, meaning that your listeners will be accessing them at different times, and be able to come back to them again and again. Radio shows are usually broadcast in a predetermined time slot, and if someone misses it, they miss it, unless it’s uploaded online later. Your audience can discover you at any time and go back through your catalog, as well, which can increase your overall visibility as a host.
3. Podcasts aren’t as heavily regulated by the government, unlike most radio shows, so you’re freer to speak your mind and choose topics you may have to steer away from for broadcast radio. You can also run a podcast for as long as you want, or as short as you want, instead of having to stick to predetermined time blocks.

Choose Virtual Jock for Radio Hosts for Podcasts

If you’re looking for a podcast co-host or just some killer on-air talent for your radio show, Virtual Jock is where you can find hundreds of talented on-air DJs for your show. We also can help you with finding radio topics, broadcasting techniques, and a whole lot more. Get in touch with us today if you have questions!