The Advantages and Disadvantages of Pre-Recorded vs Live Podcasting

Podcasting has taken on a lot of different elements today. You are not isolated to just one type of solution, nor are you limited in how you can broadcast, etc. There are people that can publish pre-recorded solutions, and those that go with live podcasting and broadcasts. There are some advantages and disadvantages to this solution, and it’s something that you should know fully about. What are the advantages and disadvantages of pre-recorded vs live podcasting? Well, that all depends on your intent, and a few notes that you may not know about.

Pre-Recorded Podcasting Ups and Downs

The very first thing that you should know is that pre-recorded podcasts come with something that is known as “evergreen” content. What that means is that your audio publishing will be live for people to stream, download, and listen to at any given time. It means that once you record your show and publish it, anyone can find it, at any given time, and will be able to enjoy it for a great deal of purposes.

You also get longer options, and can talk about any number of topics at length. You can record for 2 hours, 4 hours, or longer, it all depends on what you want to say, and talk about. Pre-recording also lets you slice up your recording, edit out dead air, and things you don’t want to talk about, as well as put in breaks, advertising spots, and much more. It lets you adjust the sound design, edit, and do much more with post-production than you would with any other solution.

Live Podcasting Ups and Downs

When you work with live solutions, you can be more “professional” in the way that you sound. You will be able to guarantee that you grow as a producer, and live audio artist. Live podcasting allows for people to get information on the fly, act more like a radio station, and much more. Live broadcasts allow for real world, real time interactions, and can help with establishing an audience that communicates with the program as it is going on. There’s a sense of community that comes with this solution, and it certainly is a stellar option.

However, this can be problematic. There’s no editing after the fact, there’s no way to fix technical errors, pops, hisses, noise problems, and more. The problems associated with live podcasting loom in the variables that you cannot control as a sound engineer. In a live setting, you cannot go back to erase statements. You also cannot go too long, as you’ll obviously grow tired of talking, and people’s time can be wasted.

There are many ups and downs that come with both live and pre-recorded solutions. There is none that is better, overall. You have to really take into consideration the audience that you want to work with, and whom you’re trying to market to overall. This is an important factor that you have take into account as you look at both sides of podcasting. There’s live and recorded, and either option works with audio and marketing in many ways.