Everyone has their price. Mine is apparently $120.

This week, I received a series of emails from a booking agency offering me...wait for it... 𝘶𝘱 𝘵𝘰 $120 to interview one of their clients on the Human Risk podcast.

I find the implied economics of this fascinating.

As anyone who has produced a podcast knows, recording episodes is only part of the overall work; research, preparation, editing, production and packaging all take additional time. Why a pod agency would knowingly anchor their client to the bargain end of the market is hard to fathom. 

But that is not the only thing they're bidding for. Every guest I invite onto the show is there because I believe they will bring something worthwhile to the audience. So the $120 is not just paying for my time, it’s buying my judgement.

Which begs further questions: 

If these guests are genuinely as good as the emails suggest, why are they paying to get onto podcasts at all? 

And if I am being offered $120, how much more is the agency taking from their client? More than $120 per placement, that’s for sure. 

When the person doing most of the work to create the content, and taking the reputational risk is the one capturing the least value, something is off.

I’m guessing the agency saw a show without ads and sponsors and assumed ‘𝘶𝘯𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺’. But I see a show whose editorial judgement has never been on the market. And that’s not the same thing at all.