So, one most famous question roaming in every comedy podcaster’s mind is, can you start a comedy podcast without any equipment?
People often confuse themselves with comedy being a genre or not. Comedy is a literary genre whose purpose is to make the audience laugh. To express this genre people have started using podcasting as a medium. Among various types of podcasting, comedy podcasts continue to dominate.
The big question that prevails in our society today is that do we need another podcast? Although there exist nearly 0.8 million podcasts with over 30 million episodes, we still need new podcasts.
The people who follow podcasts are literally hungry for new insights, new storylines, and new speakers. It is hard to satisfy their hunger for podcasts. On the other side, for the creators- podcasts create new revenue streams, create brand awareness for their business, above all it is something that will give you immense pleasure.
Don’t see podcasting as a business. See it as a way to communicate or reach out to people whom you are not able to catch up with. You may be having a different perspective and there is no debate on that. You may recognize podcasting as a hobby, business, or whatever.
Minimum Requirements
Is it possible to start with absolutely nothing? YES, it is possible to start a podcast with no equipment in hand but then you will definitely have to compromise on quality.
Let’s list down the equipments that are required for comedy podcasting:
1. Microphones and Recorders – for recording and editing the audio
2. Hosting – the place where you will host your show
3. Cover art – It includes designing your show, an important aspect as this will represent your show
4. Music – this incorporates the theme song that you will like to put within your show.
Some people who have been in this industry for a long while may start from high-quality equipment but if you tend to be a relative beginner it is advised that you select some cheap and good equipment.
Now, these are the minimum requirement. If you want to be like your idol podcaster then you need real cash. So let’s see how we can work with absolutely no equipment and still create a podcast.
Microphones and Recorders
You must have a laptop right? If your laptop has an in-built microphone you can start working with it. You can compromise on the recorders that we generally use for editing. It will be really difficult to edit your content on your laptop, though it is possible.
No doubt that you can utilize the in-built microphone on your laptop but I will not personally recommend you to do so. Considering that you put in a lot of hard work and have really good content that you can be confident that you will eventually have good results.
Low-quality audio will make any podcast fail so invest nearly $50 buying a decent quality microphone. This investment of yours will lead you a long way ahead.
Audiences generally appreciate a high-quality audio else they skip onto another one. So I think that you won’t want your listeners to move away and not care about what you have to say.
For software, you can go with some free online software. There are plenty of them available on the internet. Here you might face some problems, but if you have money constraints you can start off with it.
Hosting
Coming onto the hosting site. This is again one area where you should give a thought of investing another $15. This is because most of the free online hosting sites are not that credible. You may later regret choosing a cheap site that limts bandwidth or even dowloads.
As you grow you will want to expand and paying for great hosting is something that should not be skimped on. Sure you can host on Soundcloud for the first few episodes but as your listeners grow you should spend money to have a proper hosting platform.
Cover Art
Cover art refers to giving your show a logo and a brand name that will help people refer to your show. This is an area where you don’t have to invest your money initially. You can use CANVA, an extremely good source for designing your show, that to be absolutely free.
You will be able to access some beautiful templates that will not cost you a single penny. Again no need to invest any money. Canva is a trustable and pretty decent website to get your show designed. Consider cutting down your cost here.
Make sure your art explains your show with just the art work. People who make their artwork wordy are usually passed by since the art work tends to show up very small on smart phones and streaming devices for podcasts.
Music
Music is not that essential if you are a beginner. Although if you desire to include some music in your show you can get free music online. You can use music as a theme song for your show. Use it at the beginning and end. Even during transition music becomes crucial.
For music, you should not have to invest any money. You can use music from YouTube’s free audio library to get started. Once your show keeps going then you can give it a thought that you could hire a good music producer to create a custom theme song or intro. But for the moment stick to either no music or some free music online.
Great music and intro theme sets you apart and grabs the audience so down the road a great intro or theme music should be something you invest money and time in.
Conclusion
Though you will be able to make up for your podcast without any equipment, you will feel the need to invest in certain equipment. Quality is one parameter that can make or break your show apart.
So you can see that you can start your own comedy podcast without any equipment too but you may face a lack of quality in your podcasts so it is recommended to spend a little money on setting up a podcast. A professional sounding and looking podcast can be started on a budget but in order for your podcast to grow you will need to invest in better microphones, artwork, hosting, and editing.
The best podcasts have started out with little more than a computer and a host then turned into giant podcasts that get thousands of listeners and downloads every month. Start small and then expand. This is the best way to take on creating a new podcast without breaking the bank.