LinkedIn is capitalizing on the growing popularity of podcasts with the launch of its new “LinkedIn Podcast Network,” where it hosts a range of shows focused on key professional trends to provide more professional and career-related content, created by its in-house teams as well as external experts.

Unsurprisingly, the shows target a professional audience, focusing on areas such as technology understanding, mental health management, and explaining the hiring process, among others. LinkedIn co-founder and executive chairman Reid Hoffman will co-host a podcast on entrepreneurship titled The Start-Up of You, premiering this spring, focusing on startup tips from Silicon Valley.

LinkedIn has enlisted a wide range of established creators for the launch of its podcast network, including seasoned tech journalist Alex Kantrowitz (Big Technology Podcast), author Jonathan Fields (The SPARKED podcast analyzing the quest for meaning at work), Morra Aarons-Mele (The Anxious Achiever podcast on mental health at work), and workplace diversity experts Mita Mallick and Dee C. Marshall (Brown Table Talk on diversity in corporate profiles).

According to internal sources at the company, the professional social network claims that the LinkedIn Podcast Network is a pilot project with shows funded by advertising, initially sponsored by Verizon, the former parent company of Engadget.

This podcast network is interconnected with other LinkedIn products, including newsletters, live events, videos, and posts. Moreover, since LinkedIn is a community with a significant number of members scattered worldwide, the primary attraction LinkedIn aims to highlight is that hosts and the audience will be able to maintain conversations outside the shows, thus addressing the experience of passive listening.

All LinkedIn podcasts are available directly on the platform – simply follow each podcast host and subscribe to their newsletter. The shows are also available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and other podcast platforms.

The Power of Audio, of Podcasts.

Joe Rogan, host of the eponymous The Joe Rogan Experience podcast, has approximately 11 million listeners and viewers of his daily show. He recently made headlines by hosting health professionals with varying views, including skeptics, on the virus outbreak and how the government handled the pandemic.

In response, 1960s rocker Neil Young withdrew his music from the Spotify platform, which exclusively broadcasts Rogan’s show, in protest. Several other musicians followed Young’s lead.

For a few weeks, this dominated the news cycle. Here, the question isn’t about being a fan of Rogan or not, but rather it underscored the power of podcasts and how many people have turned away from mainstream media to listen and watch individuals offering unique, different, and sometimes controversial perspectives on a range of topics, from politics to sports, entertainment, and career outlooks.

During the pandemic, in times of isolation and confinement, podcasts managed to accompany people, easing their sense of loneliness and creating closeness simply through listening.

So, Why Is LinkedIn Getting into Podcasts?

LinkedIn wants to be seen as more than just a CV-focused social network and job site. Podcasts are just one of many means it’s deploying to attract more creators and evolve into new horizons in an era marked by digital warfare and profit-seeking under the attention economy.

This step into podcasts is part of a broader focus strategy. Last August, LinkedIn acquired Jumprope, a platform for creating step-by-step practical videos and tutorials specifically for social networks. Already in January, the site launched a beta version of a Clubhouse-style event hosting platform to host live audio conversations. In September, LinkedIn announced its intention to launch a $25 million creation fund to support top content creators to encourage and reward them for engaging its 800 million users.

The LinkedIn Podcast Network is an excellent example of how LinkedIn is investing in creators, equipping them with the tools and guidance they need to build, reach, and engage with their audience. With the podcast pilot project, the social media giant plans to continue partnering with creators to cultivate active communities around engaging content and also connect podcasters with sponsorship opportunities.

Inspired by the success of Hello Monday, the podcast hosted by Jessi Hempel and produced by LinkedIn News addressing the evolving nature of work, LinkedIn hopes to make the most of this potential shown by the new trending format, while giving the platform the opportunity to promote some of its top creators with open distribution on other apps to encourage other broadcasters to join LinkedIn’s cluster of professional podcasts.

By uploading quality podcasts, LinkedIn could explore new segments and cross-promote its other programs, thus boosting its visibility. In-house hosted podcasts produced by LinkedIn teams could potentially be worth listening to by providing new insights into existing and upcoming platform features.