The quip “everybody has a podcast” has become less of a joke and almost of an actual statement of fact these days. And in order to podcast, everybody needs the same thing: a place to record. Just as consumers expect easy access to listen to podcasts, they are also seeking convenient ways to become podcasters themselves. In response, we’ve seen the rise of the “Airbnb for podcast studio” model, in which customers can rent studio space on demand via an online portal. But the next hot spot for creators to record are places already overflowing with amenities: boutique hotels.
The Detroit Foundation Hotel is home to one of the better-known hotel studios; a co-host of popular podcast My Favorite Murder recently included a photo of the chic setup in her Instagram story. Meanwhile, guests can book a custom booth next to a library and a private patio in L.A.’s Mayfair Hotel; the Ace Hotels in L.A. and London offer in-room recording gear free of charge via a program called Studio A. Elsewhere in Europe, Stockholm’s very swanky, very modern Hotel At Six has a rentable podcast studio. And perhaps most accessible is the in-house, free-of-charge studio at Marriott’s new Moxy Downtown Chicago hotel, which also hosts monthly live podcast events.
Podcasting’s unstoppable rise is hardly a secret. A recent Nielsen survey found that “self-identified ‘avid’ podcast fans rose from 13 million homes in 2016 to 16 million in 2017.” More Americans than ever are familiar with the medium, which is a comfortable format for many given consumers’ increasing dependence on digital media and entertainment streaming. According to survey results from Edison Research, podcast listeners—“young, educated, and affluent”—are an attractive demographic for advertisers. (That demographic just happens to overlap with those who enjoy boutique hotels.)
Feeding the demand for podcasts, of course, is an ever-increasing supply of podcasters. In June 2018, Apple reported it hosted 550,000 active podcasts, a number that has already jumped 20 percent to 660,000 in less than a year—and that’s just on Apple’s network. “There’s been significant growth not only in just the number of people entering into the podcast space in terms of launching their own shows, but also a huge increase in listenership that’s now driving the advertisers and sponsors and people using podcasts as a marketing vehicle for their businesses,” says Traci DeForge, the founder of Produce Your Podcast, a DIY podcast production service.
DeForge sees huge advantages in the hotel podcast setup. “When somebody is traveling, do they want to pack their carry-on with a ton of equipment?” she asks, noting a client’s recent frustration with trying to interview podcast guests while on the road and without studio access. Instead of lugging equipment around and finagling a suboptimal room solution, the client could have popped into a hotel studio and brought or called in the guests, a far easier and better quality option.
For the hotels, podcast studios provide the added bonus of a new revenue stream. Guests may be able to use the studios for free (or at a discounted price), but they are also available to outside customers at standard studio rates. The Detroit Foundation Hotel’s studio is bookable for free for up to two hours for both guests and non-guests. The Mayfair offers its studio to guests for free and to outside customers for two hours at a price of $60. A quick look at Studiotime, the Airbnb for studio rentals, shows prices ranging from $30-$175 for an hour. (And they don’t come with chic bars within spitting distance.) Hosting a studio also emphasizes the boutique hotel’s position as a creativity hub. “Boutique hotels are so much more than a place to sleep,” says Ariela Kiradjian, co-founder of Stay Boutique and COO of the Boutique & Lifestyle Leaders Association. “They capitalize off of the reality that travelers will invest in unique immersive experiences.” The Boutique & Lifestyle Leaders Association says it doesn’t currently have hard numbers on the growth of the hotel podcast studio market, but that it’s working on compiling numbers during the next few years. Kiradjian expects the trend to grow, but notes that at least for the immediate future, they’re most likely to turn up only in metro areas and upscale boutique hotels, as their target demographic are more likely to be “creatives.”
Are hotel podcast studios about to become as common a hotel amenity as free WiFi? It’s not quite comparable yet, but DeForge sees things heading that way. “I think it’s very forward-thinking to assume that that’s the direction we’re going in,” she says. Whether a hotel has a studio could be a deciding factor for conference and event planners, for example. “The larger podcasting becomes and the more accessible podcasting becomes,” she says, “the more this makes sense.” She says the better metaphor for hotel studios might be fitness centers—a feature that consumers now expect, but wasn’t always so standard.
As far as the “everybody has a podcast” statement? DeForge likens it to the early days of another medium: “I’d compare it to when Twitter launched and everyone was saying you have to have a Twitter account. Now it’s essentially the same gold rush around podcasting—you have to have a podcast.” Hotels are recognizing that gold rush—or at least, the rush—and are happily acting as platforms to accommodate it. They won’t be the only ones to do so; as podcasts are increasingly trumpeted as “the future of storytelling” and “the next marketing frontier,” the addition of studio availability will become only more attractive. Chicago culture writer Alex Nitkin noted that podcast studios are even becoming a feature of luxury apartment complexes.
Today, some podcast studios are upping the ante by offering lounges, bars, and cafes. Perhaps it’s only a matter of time until it’s the lounges, bars, and cafes that are obliged to feature recording booths.