Podcasting Truth & Myths Learned Over 500 Episodes
- Matt Cundill
- Apr 29
- 2 min read
Updated: May 5
This week, I’m celebrating the 500th episode of the Sound Off Podcast by turning the spotlight on why so many shows underperform—and what you can do about it.
Truths & Myths in Podcasting
After nearly 10 years and 500 episodes, I’ve seen the same mistakes again and again, so I break down 10 big ones: blaming a vague “discovery problem” instead of doing the work of promotion, skipping a proper trailer, tolerating shit audio and lazy editing, and relying on weak interview structures that don’t respect the listener’s time. I also get into overlooked essentials like artwork that actually stands out, using metadata wisely, putting your show everywhere listeners expect podcasts, and not obsessing over video at the expense of audio. Finally, I tackle the myth that you need 10,000 downloads to monetize—reminding you that you don’t monetize a podcast, you monetize an audience.
Thank You
No one gets to 500 Episodes with out a little help from their friends. If I left you out, I apologize. I might have had a cocktail when writing this.
The people who work on this every week including producer Evan Surminski (Who has been on board since episdoe 4), Aidan Glassey, Mary Trazie Paulo, editor Taylor MacLean, and Santiago Bedoya.
The people who have worked on it in the past including Courtney Krebsbach, Lauren Siddall, Kendra Magnus, and Chloe Emond-Lane.
Also Shawn Smith and Connie Thiessan from Broadcast Dialogue for their unwavering support.
Jeff Vidler, the late Todd Cochrane, Rob Greenlee and the late Greg Simpson for including me in their events.
Sarah Burke, at the Women In Media Network
The organizations who have supported the podcast over the years including Rocco from Promosuite, Anya and Sue at NLogic, Ileana and Ron from Megatrax, and Christian at Podder.
I made mention of Fred Jacobs from Jacobs Media Strategies and his released their TechSurvey for 2026 and I took a picture of the slide I liked the most. Do not waste an opportunity to make your Metadata matter. Your listeners care.
Here is the Full Techsurvey event.
And yes - some people like video - but all this is - is a audiogram with a bouncy line. This is a listening experience.
Been competing with friends for high scores in Eggy Car recently. Everyone thinks they can beat it easily until the egg rolls off right before a checkpoint.
Really enjoyed the insights on what makes a podcast thrive after 500 episodes—great reminders about consistency and storytelling. It got me thinking about scheduling future shows, so a weeks from now calculator would be handy for planning.
Really enjoyed the podcasting insights—great to hear what works after 500 episodes! It made me think about how picking the right story matters, just like choosing Spicy Books for the perfect heat level in your next read.