For a few days early in August 2019, Apple took down their category classifications because they were making an update. Podcasters waited with bated breath anticipating what the changes could possibly be. Would it be better? Would it be worse?
What’s Changed?
As the podcast wars between Spotify and Apple grow more contentious, content creators like myself were curious what Apple had up their sleeve, turns out they were making their platform a tad more producer friendly. The addition of more categories and even further sub-categories allow podcasts a greater chance to get recognized and listeners a better chance of finding a new show.
The updated list of Apple Podcast Categories read as such:
- True Crime
- Comedy
- Sports
- Fiction
- History
- Business
- Society and Culture
- Kids & Family
- Education
- News
- Religion and Spirituality
- TV & Movies
- Technology
- Arts
- Health and Fitness
- Music
- Science
- Leisure
- Government
In the past, many of these categories were trapped under umbrella terms or even homeless. The True Crime genre exploded, warranting its own top-level category, along with History and Fiction. This provides podcasters a chance to summit a new chart or chart where they otherwise would not have.
Subcategories
If your show is about a topic as broad as “music,” you now can be listen in several subcategories: Music Commentary, Music Interviews, and Music History. This same idea applies to the sports category, which now allows you to specify exactly which sport you are covering. There is now an opportunity to be recognized as the “Best Rugby Podcast” or to be recognized as a “Standout Wilderness Podcast” under the sports umbrella.
The following categories now have lists of sub categories available on the majority of podcast hosting sites:
- TV & FIlm
- Sports
- Society & Culture
- Science
- Religion & Spirituality
- News
- Music
- Leisure
- Kids
- Health & Fitness
- Fiction
- Education
- Comedy
- Business
- Art
If any of your podcasts fall underneath these umbrella terms, go to your host sites and see how granular you can get. It may be worth taking a shot in the dark, if you host a sports podcast that has a movie segment, use one of your three subcategories for a chance to be seen by movie fans. It’s hard to get noticed in a sea of content, Apple is doing podcasters a solid and giving producers a chance to be found.
If you’re unsure how to specifically define your podcast series, we covered that in the last article we published. Otherwise, stay updated to Apple & Spotify’s ever-changing platforms. As the podcast space grows, content becomes more valuable. Stay optimized to ensure that you’re reaching the largest audience possible!
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