“Are you there Podd? It’s me, your listener.” En kvalitativ intervjustudie om podcastlyssning och fandom.

Abstract

The following study examines how podcast listeners express a commitment through economic investment, time spent listening and an expression of relation to the creators of certain podcasts. By using Henry Jenkins and Jolie Jenson’s theories regarding fans and participatory culture we will examine and analyse how the individuals interviewed for this research can be defined as a type of fans, who contradicts the stereotypical idea of what fans are and how they act. With the help of theoretical concepts such as prosumers, created by Alvin Toffler, and the engagement pyramid, by Andrea Phillips, we will also show how the interviewees express commitment to podcasts and display strong feelings of deep connections. This analysis is drawn from eight interviews with individual podcast listeners. Recognizing the broad spectra of podcasts available a selection of individuals was conducted which focused on individuals economically invested in Swedish podcasts and who perceived themselves as committed listeners. This commitment is analysed and further explored in regard to the time spent listening to podcasts, how they describe their listening habits and which type of podcasts they consume. This paper concludes how fandoms can be created within the podcast community and how this is expressed through economical and emotional investment by the listeners.