Electric Underground Podcast stuck around 150 listeners

[Mark_MSX]

Hey everyone,

This is a weird post for sure, but I thought I would give it a try. So, since the 4th episode of the podcast, the one with Eaglet, the show has been stuck around 160 plays for each episode. I have tried cross promoting with other podcasts (which cost $$$), networking, bringing on a variety of guests, and all kinds of other stuff, but that play count just will not move.

This could be a situation where the target audience of the show, people who like shmups AND podcasts, is extremely tiny. I'd say that the problem could possibly be that I'm not that interesting to listen to, but I feel like the quality of my guests alone should have people tuning in.

Anyway, I'm making this post in the outside shot that, maybe, people get the impression that my podcast is exploding with plays when it isn't. I've tried everything I can think of at this point to get more listeners, so I will now resort to a final desperate tactic: begging.

PLEASE, if you have any remote interest in shmup-related podcast content, check my show out.

https://soundcloud.com/user-306325657

In the end though, it is more likely that I will just need to accept that 150 - 200 might be this show's ceiling.

Cheers!

[Kollision]

Well, believe it or not I had just started to listen to the latest podcast before you started this thread.


Unfortunately everything that's shmup-related will always be as niche as it gets, including your podcasting efforts or any dedicated Youtube or similar shmup show. This kinda echoes what Ser Flash said about Bullet Heaven's audience at the start of the podcast.

Thing is this is mostly a labour of love, and people's interest in shmups comes and goes.

[KaizaCorp]

The shmups community on twitch has ~250 followers, so it might just be the current ceiling.

[Mark_MSX]

Thanks for the feedback guys. I'll keep at it and see how things shake out.

[poptart]

Honestly i think your best bet is branching out to arcade in general, stg doesn't doesn't carry the kind of weight as a community to get any kind of consistent large viewership.

[Mark_MSX]

Honestly i think your best bet is branching out to arcade in general, stg doesn't doesn't carry the kind of weight as a community to get any kind of consistent large viewership.

That is an interesting idea. I think you are onto something, but for now I still want to focus on shmups. I can see where you are coming from though. Retro video game podcasts and stuff are huge. Too bad that audience isn t invested enough to really sink their teeth into hardcore gameplay.

[poptart]

well a transition would certainly be easy as many great beatemup players are also part of this community aswell as arcade racer, rhythm game and fighting game players all at very competent levels so you'd essentially be shopping from the same shelf. The real thing though is promotion and marketing, the eternal task of getting your podcasts existence really out there and seen as a worth whilst thing among all the saturated internet options nowadays.

Have you ever thought of maybe taking it the twitch route? ie like a skype call with ability to add clips and such with music overlays etc?

[mrmccormo]

I think shmups are ripe for an explosion in popularity when it comes to online content. Problem is, the community is pretty set in its ways. Pretty clear parallels can be drawn between what the fcg has done to grow and what the shmup community hasn't done. There are listeners/viewers out there.

Keep doing shmups for the sake of shmups.

[SMC]

Yeah 160 is really good for anything shmup related, it's a genre that's constantly on life-support after all.
And I download the episodes instead of listening on soundcloud, and probably a few other people do so we might not show up.

[Shepardus]

This could be a situation where the target audience of the show, people who like shmups AND podcasts, is extremely tiny. I'd say that the problem could possibly be that I'm not that interesting to listen to, but I feel like the quality of my guests alone should have people tuning in.

Anything focused on shmups simply isn't going to command much attention; when it does, chances are it's not actually about the shmups. For comparison, STG Weekly episodes usually number in the several hundred views range.

You might get more viewers if you branch out into other arcade genres because plenty of people are suckers for anything retro, or you might not because it'd be hard to stand out in that crowd. You'd also be diluting your focus, which isn't good for people (such as myself) who care about shmups but not rhythm games, fighting games, beat-em-ups, etc. Also, friendly reminder that many shmups aren't arcade games. Ultimately I'd leave it up to you to decide what sort of niche you want to fill and what you enjoy doing.

[schnuth]

If you'd like more listeners outside this forum, I'd suggest submitting your feed to the iTunes Store. I've been loving the show, but I've been getting it via RSS and not from visiting SoundCloud.

[Mark_MSX]

Hey everyone thanks for the feedback! I 'll keep at the episodes and try what I can to get the show out there. I 'll stay true to shmups

[Mark_MSX]

If you'd like more listeners outside this forum, I'd suggest submitting your feed to the iTunes Store. I've been loving the show, but I've been getting it via RSS and not from visiting SoundCloud.

Sound cloud keeps track of the plays through the rss feed very glad to hear you re enjoying the show!

[pegboy]

I've listened to almost all of them and enjoy them. Shmups is a niche thing that is unlikely to ever grow beyond that at this point, so I'd consider those sort of numbers a success, especially since it's only been a few months.

[FRO]

Yeah 160 is really good for anything shmup related, it's a genre that's constantly on life-support after all.
And I download the episodes instead of listening on soundcloud, and probably a few other people do so we might not show up.

I listened to the first few episodes on Soundcloud, but now that you're on iTunes, I subscribe to that, and it auto-downloads to my device to listen to. I'm a couple episodes behind, at the moment, due to my podcast backlog, but I suspect if you're going strictly based on Soundcloud numbers, you're not seeing the full picture. Does iTunes/Apple provide any analytics for a podcast?

[Strider77]

but I feel like the quality of my guests alone should have people tuning in.

Who are they? If they aren't developers that's not a big hook for me.

[Pedro Lambrini]

To be honest, I think around 160 is pretty impressive, especially for such a niche market.

Just out of curiosity, does anyone know how many listeners the Shmup 'em all show gets?

[schnuth]

I left an iTunes review for the show. Hopefully this will help you out. Let's throw Mark a bone and give him some much deserved five star reviews!

[FRO]

I left an iTunes review for the show. Hopefully this will help you out. Let's throw Mark a bone and give him some much deserved five star reviews!

Good call! Sadly, I don't think I've left a review on a single podcast I listen to, so I should probably rectify that

[Pedro Lambrini]

Anyone know how to leave a review from my iPod? I don't use Apple software and when I go to the iTunes site one can't really do anything other than download their stuff...

[GSK]

Considering how long you've been at it and the topic you're covering, those numbers aren't bad at all.

I don't know how large a listener base you can realistically hope for but there are plenty of basic, low-cost things you can do to cultivate an audience: be active on social media (not just posting but actively participating in and driving conversation), put up a dedicated page for your podcast with individual, searchable listings for each episode as well as contact/social media links (ie not a page that just links to this thread), preparing excerpts or clips that uninitiated listeners can easily consume without having to commit to an hour+ podcast, etc.

I will say that, with all due respect to your guests, the vast majority of people probably have no idea who they are beforehand and thus aren't going to be overly swayed by their presence and, with this genre being what it is, you may struggle to find guests with the sort of pull you're hoping for.

[dan76]

Just started listening because of this thread. I'm two in so far, the Jaimers interview and Exa arcade interview. Both really interesting, and unlike a lot of interviews you let them speak!

It was good to listen to Shou talk about the realities of the arcade business. Stuff that I'm sure most of us don't consider when playing games and moaning on about the death of arcades. Also, the emphasis put on the design of arcade games verses console games. This is something that becomes apparent when you make your own game. After listening to this I feel that Exa stands a good chance.

Edit: I guess this isn't the purpose of the thread, but keep on keeping on.

[Mark_MSX]

Just started listening because of this thread. I'm two in so far, the Jaimers interview and Exa arcade interview. Both really interesting, and unlike a lot of interviews you let them speak!

It was good to listen to Shou talk about the realities of the arcade business. Stuff that I'm sure most of us don't consider when playing games and moaning on about the death of arcades. Also, the emphasis put on the design of arcade games verses console games. This is something that becomes apparent when you make your own game. After listening to this I feel that Exa stands a good chance.

Edit: I guess this isn't the purpose of the thread, but keep on keeping on.

Thanks for the feedback man! I am glad you enjoyed the episodes! No worries about the thread, I m always happy to hear positive responses