Is Distribution King? Or is Audience King?
Thoughts on a recent podcast mixed in with some pop culture evidence
Oh podcasts. I’m so glad I started listening to more of them. Since the summer I’ve inducted myself deeply into this growing market. It started with a few audio books and then a few podcast listens here and there. By late September I was consuming as much as possible to the point I even have my list of favorites (which has grown since I posted it). I’ll explain in another Medium post as to what took so long for me to jump on this wave, for this entry I’ll be focusing on a recent Recode Media podcast which I had the pleasure of listening to.
Here’s the podcast:
Peter Kafka is the host and Derek Thompson is the guest. Kafka is the senior editor of Recode and Thompson is the senior editor of The Atlantic who recently published his book Hit Makers: The Science of Popularity in an Age of Distraction. At around the 8:30 mark, Peter and Derek begin discussing whether content or distribution is king:
Derek: And so, what the second half of the book tries to do, is to use all of the wonderful things that a lot of these interesting network scientists have looked at to say this is actually how information spreads online. This is how people pass information to each other. The idea that distribution is the most important part of a product, I think is something that a lot of audiences don’t recognize. But anybody in the entertainment media world knows all too well.
Peter: How it gets to you is just as important is what the thing is …
Derek: Precisely.
Peter: Another way of saying it. It’s an ongoing debate in media, and media economics, about is content king, is distribution king? And your answer basically is both.
Derek: I think distribution is probably more important.
Peter: The way it gets to you is more important than what it is.
Derek: Absolutely. You can say that a song is the best song in the world. You can say that an idea is the best for people’s welfare. Or that a movie is the best documentary of its kind. But without a distribution strategy to reach people, nobody hears it. So distribution, I think, is paramount.
^^you like how I just added some context by including this? ;-)
Derek makes a very interesting point and while I have yet to read (or listen) to his book, I will say that the notion of distribution becoming more important than the content is an intriguing one largely because of the convergence between media and technology. His point is predicated on the notion that if tree falls and no one is there to hear it, did it really fall. More importantly, if the fall was a quality fall, who would really know since there weren’t any witnesses. Part of me wants to dispute this, yet it is the age old chicken-and-egg equation contextualized like this: is it distribution that begets content or is it content that begets distribution?
With media and technology converging, the we are now witnessing the evolution of PLACE in the four P’s, which, in the realm of content marketing, is connected to DISCOVERY. Two other factors that add a layer of complexity are the distribution channels also being digital products themselves and the amount of content being churned out.
YouTube is probably the best example. It’s a channel, a digital product, and is used to broadcast content. Due to its community-oriented position it is an excellent PLACE for anyone interested in creating a video content franchise. It has a wide reach and is excellent for engagement. You can also create playlists with other people’s content or create a profile without uploading any of your own video. It is a bespoke experience and can be used as a social network or portfolio. The downside is that there are so many videos being uploaded and consumed, you may struggle with being noticed but because of its powerful algorithm, you may still be able to get noticed based on account settings.
Conversely, if you are interested in making video that is lengthier in nature, renders in HD and does not have advertising, than you may want to distribute on Vimeo. Vimeo may have a smaller reach but it’s community is much more visual artists focused and has become a go-to video product for filmmakers. Whether you are a YouTube person or a Vimeo person, you are looking to have your content DISCOVERED, and the channel which you choose to distribute becomes even more important.
This leads me to my next theory, which might make this a trifecta.
Audience is King
Audience >> Content >> Distribution ?
Major networks are in the audience business. We live in an era when content decisions are made with an audience in mind. High quality content without an audience in mind may become problematic because it can affect the decision making behind the distribution . High quality with an audience in mind is a sure fire win. However, lower quality content with an audience will also win.
Preposterous?
Here’s a micro-example:
- The first season of Insecure averaged roughly 413,750 viewers across 8 episodes (I’m basing it off a calculation I did of some numbers listed on the Wikipedia page).
- The first episode was released a few weeks in advanced of the season on YouTube and generated over 255,000 views. You can watch it here:
- This viral video released last week, known on Facebook timelines as “Hurt Bae” has garnered 16 million views on Facebook.
Sure the tactics, channels, distribution, metric for success and budget and messaging are different. This is not to imply that Insecure failed. Insecure is a critical darling and has resonated with the core audience which it succeeded in attracting. However it wouldn’t be surprising if the AUDIENCE that consumes Insecure also commented on, shared, liked, or texted the link for Hurt BAE, which would indicate there is strong audience overlap despite difference in quality. So while distribution matters in this situation, it’s understanding the media consumption habits of this audience that may count for more.
Other Gems:
- I found Pete and Derek’s exchange about rap music rather funny. You two need to go hit the treadmill and zone out to the Rap Caviar list on Spotify.
- If you’re into contemporary writing about data insights, virality and how things become popular, I highly recommend listening to this podcast and reading the books which are referenced: The Tipping Point and Freaknomics. Fair warning, I’ve only read the former. Both were considered critical successes in contemporary literature when they came out and both incorporate sociology into their analysis. Of course, you should probably consider Derek’s book, but the podcast itself is a plug, so don’t let me influence me you any more or any less.
- This podcast connected with another podcast I listened to just a few days earlier. Somewhere during the convo, Peter and Derek mention the book Hillbilly Elegy, which has garnered even greater interest since the 2016 election. Prior to listening to the Recode podcast, I had listened to David Axelrod’s illuminating interview with the author J.D. Vance. It should also be noted that my brother purchased this book as a Christmas gift last year. As of my time of writing this, I have added the book to my wishlist which would reinforce Derek’s posit that a things become popular over the course of repetition. In this case the consumer journey, led me to consider the possibility of purchasing this book because it was constantly being referenced.
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