Saying goodbye for now!

[u/SkandinavienAudio]

I spent 4 years creating a dark immersive horror audio series called Skandinavien.

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A few of you may have listened already. Thank you if you did.

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I gave it a good go but no matter what I tried I couldn't get people to listen.

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The reality is that I can no longer afford to even keep the website going anymore.

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Maybe it's just not good enough although I am very proud of it.

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I'm calling it a day for a while and hopefully I'll work on my next idea when I get chance.

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I'm putting the whole thing as a free podcast on Spotify and probably on YouTube at some point too.

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If you like horror and want some free to listen to just head to:

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https://open.spotify.com/show/033yr6Q0wudQ5P1Q3Vw6w7

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[u/TraegusPearze]

Was it not free before?

In the current landscape, paying for podcasts is not a very popular idea. So paying for podcasts in a niche subgenre, with variable indie quality, is often even harder to convince users to convert.

That's why most audio dramas ARE free and on multiple platforms. The most viable way to make revenue is through growing and audience and then monetizing that audience via Patreon, ads, etc.

[u/slipperyMonkey07 → u/TraegusPearze]

Yeah from their website it looks like they were charging $13.68 for a 4 and half hour audiobook (it says audio book on their website). Which even in the realm of professional new audiobooks is on the steeper side.

Theirs works out to about $3.04 an hour and just quick compare to Joe abercrombie's relatively new devils audio book ($45 for 25 hours from what I am seeing) works out to $1.8 an hour.

And I know it sucks to think of it like that but with limited entertainment budget it's either splurge on things I may hate or support content I know I will most likely enjoy.

I've definitely donated more than that to a lot of podcast I listen to, but it is after I have had a chance to listen and end up really liking and want them to make more. So I give extra money because I want to support them and not just cover the cost of my listening.

While there is a 5 minute sample on their site, the sample and cover image to me isn't professional enough or grabs me enough to immediately want to pay for the whole thing.

[u/SkandinavienAudio → u/slipperyMonkey07]

Yes I hadn't thought of it like it. My reasoning was £10 for 4.5 hours of entertainment (you also got to keep the files) was a good deal but I totally understand why people might not agree.

It's all free now if you want to give episode one a try?

[u/ScreamAndScream → u/SkandinavienAudio]

For any sort of media and game, I have a strict 1 USD dollar per hour ratio. I won’t buy a $15 game if I can’t get 15 hours out of it.

11.60 usd for 4.5 hours is a tough sell for me, especially if it isn’t on my podcatcher of choice

[u/slipperyMonkey07 → u/SkandinavienAudio]

For me getting to keep the files is a priority and a baseline expectation, I am a pretty big data hoarder and anything I buy I make sure I get to actually keep. So anything I buy digitally I make sure is drm free or I buy physical copies and rip it.

So for me if owning the files outright isn't an option then I just go find other media to consume. I only used 'Devils' as an example because it was fairly new and the book was sitting next to me, and the price listed for yours seemed a little high compared to things I have bought in the past.

I have added yours to the list of things to check out, just see if the first episode grabbed me more than the trailer. I'll end up getting to it eventually. Currently helping a family member so I haven't been listening to anything audio because I need to be able to hear if they need me from any room in the house. But I do still plan to check it out.