Podcasts Gone Mainstream

An explosion of user-generated content happened gradually, mainly due to the podcasting medium being based on an open web standard: RSS technology. Podcasts could easily be located and downloaded by the public using various online services and apps.

Another major factor was the proliferation of podcast creation tools, most importantly the Spotify-owned Anchor(a free service), which lowered the entry barrier for creators, leading to millions of new podcasts every year.