The consumption of podcasts is increasing in France. Each week, no less than 5.8 million French people listen to these shows. The growth in the number of listeners is happening at the expense of FM radio, which has already lost more than 3 million listeners in 4 years.
How can you listen to podcasts that are increasingly popular in France? What apps can you use to listen? Who are the entrepreneurs diving into the world of podcasts? We'll answer all these questions here.
The cool thing about podcasts is you can listen to them anywhere, especially on your phone. You just need an app, which is exactly what we'll be talking about in the next section.
To understand why you need to use an app, it's important to know how podcast distribution works. You're probably familiar with streaming, which involves a data stream being sent to a large number of listeners.
Podcasts are the exact opposite. To listen to a podcast, you need to subscribe to the podcast you want so you can access the multimedia files, which are also available for download. This is the RSS feed technology. Here, the listener actively seeks out the podcast content, rather than having it 'pushed' to them as with streaming.
So, when an individual or company records a podcast, they put the content on a host's servers. The host gives their client the link to their RSS feed, which they then have to submit to specialized podcast distribution platforms.
Thus, each time a recording is published on the server, it is automatically available to distributors.
💡 That's why, to listen to a podcast, you need to go through specialized platforms that distribute them via hosting services.
There are many podcast distributors. The main podcast reading applications are:
- iTunes (Apple),
- Google,
- Spotify,
- iHeart,
- Juice (Windows).
To use them, simply visit their website and choose the theme for which you want to access podcasts. These themes include topics such as Business and Finance, Political Science, Sports, and Comedy.
Here, it's necessary to distinguish between English and French speakers. We're going to present five for each of these categories, starting with the English speakers.
1. The Tim Ferriss Show
In the Business category, The Tim Ferris Show is simply the number 1 podcast on Apple. Being number 1 means having beaten more than 500,000 other podcasts. A tour de force that makes Tim Ferris a man worth listening to.
The author of the 4-Hour Workweek breaks down, with artistry and flair, the techniques used by successful men and women. Whether chess players, business leaders or top athletes, Tim Ferris makes the tools for success accessible to all his listeners.
2. Entrepreneurs on Fire
John Lee Dumas is the host of Entrepreneurs on Fire, a podcast that brings together more than one million listeners each month. In over 2,000 episodes, he gives a voice to entrepreneurs who have a burning passion.
To stay motivated, inspired, and fired up, Entrepreneurs on Fire is the podcast you need to listen to in order to stay focused on your goals. This former U.S. Army captain is excellent at conducting interviews and is the one to turn to when you're feeling down.
3. Smart Passive Income
Here's the podcast for digital entrepreneurs. Those who dream of passive income but are still struggling to figure out how to do it. From renowned YouTubers to entrepreneurs who have made a fortune in e-commerce, this podcast reveals the strategies to follow.
Rich with the stories of digital entrepreneurs, from their setbacks to their successes, Smart Passive Income knows how to unlock the secrets of these brilliant minds. To be inspired and follow in their footsteps, this is the podcast to listen to.
4. Startup Stories - Mixergy
This podcast, hosted by Andrew Warner, gives a voice to small businesses that are rarely, if ever, heard from. These are start-ups that are really taking off in their market and know how to do business.
This podcast is for entrepreneurs looking for answers to the hundreds of questions they might have. From how to run your business from a war zone to when a start-up should hire a COO, Andrew Warner has all the answers.
5. How I Built This
Guy Raz is a journalist and one of the greatest podcasters of all time. With his podcast "How I Built This", Guy Raz gives a platform to entrepreneurs who have succeeded in building successful companies.
What makes this podcast one of the best is the journalist's ability to turn them into real stories. So, if you also like hearing stories, especially true and inspiring ones, this podcast is for you.
6. Generation Do It Yourself
Hosted by Matthieu Stefani, this French podcast is for those who understand that you have to fend for yourself to succeed. Through interviews with business leaders, Matthieu Stefani reviews their most painful failures, but also their greatest successes.
Génération Do It Yourself is a podcast that reminds us that failure is an integral part of success. If you still doubt it, listen to a few episodes of one of the best entrepreneurship podcasts in France.
7. Tech Off
The French-speaking version of the famous American podcast How I Built This, Tech Off is hosted by another journalist: Guillaume Bregeras. As a member of the editorial team at Les Echos, he uses his address book to interview the leaders of the best start-ups in France.
The format of his interviews, often intimate, allows us to enter the lives of these extraordinary business leaders. From their way of working to the way they approach business and company creation, Guillaume Bregeras and his guests plunge us into the heart of French entrepreneurship.
8. The Digital Doers
If you're looking for a French-language alternative to the Smart Passive Income podcast, Les Digital Doers is definitely the one to check out. Focused on e-commerce, this podcast tells the stories of those who have exceeded all expectations in this type of business.
Whether you've decided to start dropshipping, open your own online store, or do business on Amazon, Les Digital Doers is a podcast full of great advice.
9. Growth Makers
It's yet another English name for a very French podcast. Growth Business focuses on marketing to grow your business. If LinkedIn doesn't mean much to you, if a 30% response rate to a cold-mailing campaign seems like a myth, as does going from 0 to 3,500 customers, then this podcast is for you.
Led by some of the greatest French advertisers of all time, this podcast aims to open your eyes to extraordinary marketing campaigns. Sales techniques, canvassing, advertising – it's all covered to help you become an expert in the field.
10. Can't, I'm busy with business
Hosted by Aline Bartoli, "Je peux pas, j’ai business" (I can't, I have business) offers you the chance to learn how to get your business off the ground so you can finally achieve financial independence. From the mindset needed for success to the organization required to ensure it, Aline Bartoli covers everything.
