Joyride Looks To Monetize In-Car Podcasts

Joyride Looks To Monetize In-Car Podcasts

SAN FRANCISCO-based JOYRIDE, which launched as a voice-activiated service that made navigating through mobile apps in your car easier, has now turned its attention to podcasts and their monetization, according to VENTUREBEAT.COM.

JOYRIDE allows users to search over 100,000 different podcast shows in a variety of categories, and is seeking to convince podcast listeners to donate a monthly fee to their favorite programs.

“What we’ve found is that podcast listeners are very willing to pay for the shows they love, but the key is finding the sweet spot for what kind of additional content to offer,” said JOYRIDE Co-Founder/CEO JEFF CHEN.

The new podcasting search platform was made available on FRIDAY (12/26), with a beta site which includes a test of its crowdfunding capability. The idea is to get people to pay for the shows they enjoy, while getting access to a special RSS feed of ancillary content in return. CHEN said one of JOYRIDE’s podcasting partners is already seeing upwards of $250 per month in crowdfunding-based revenue.

The goal is to be able to pay podcast creators $500 to $1,000 for every 10,000 episode downloads, according to CHEN.

JOYRIDE is one of several companies GOOGLE is using for its developer program for ANDROID AUDIO, a version of the operating system developed for smart cars.

JOYRIDE is currently available only on ANDROID, but podcast content found through its search service is accessible via a mobile website. It’s expecting to roll out an iOS app in early JANUARY. Founded in 2012, JOYRIDE has raised a total of $1 million in funding to date from COWBOY VENTURES and FREESTYLE CAPITAL, among others.

« see more Net News