The Voice Village: redefining the podcast in an ecosystem that is bordering on saturation

Ricardo Villa Asensi, director of the production company The Voice Village, analyzes the current situation of the podcast industry, which is going through a moment of change marked by a sector in formation, the saturation of certain types of content, the emergence of video podcasts and the explosion of podcast formats. branded content.

After completing a career in which his roles as director of 20minutos.es, director of interactive media at RTVE, general director of Grupo Zeta, group business development director Lavinia or director of content and digital strategy of the music chains of Grupo Zeta They provided a transversal vision of the opportunities of audiovisual consumption, Villa chose the worst moment to begin its leap into the void: March 2020.

Just a week before confinement, he was born The Voice Village, an audiovisual production company “fascinated by the podcast universe“As you can imagine, when I made the decision to leave the place where I am and embark on that dream of creating my own production company, I said to myself: “My God, what have I done?”,” Villa acknowledges, although he adds that at that moment an “impressive” episode occurred: the podcast burst.

Being part of this phenomenon, in a luck of self-production Given that the formats were being added to the company's activity from different homes throughout Spain, The Voice Village has found its place. Currently, he balances his work between the active field of branded content, working for companies like Movistar Plus+ and progressively delving deeper into this area after becoming part of You First, and initiatives that seek to transform the codes of podcast formats such as One more turn, directed to the Atresplayer visual environment, or 23F, The Great Intrigue, which complements and expands the launch of the series Anatomy of a moment.

Furthermore, it continues to produce a wide content selection that touch on all kinds of thematic lines for the main agents of the industry: Evicted (Soccer), Magobia (Mental health), Geopolis (Docufactual), The story live (History), Dressed in blue: The video podcast (Talk), It's not the end of the world (International analysis), This is a scam (True Crime) o A:M (Daily news).

Ricardo Villa analyzes the current situation of podcast world: a universe still in training in which opportunities are redefined as the months go by, production companies try to find your market niche y consumer habits shape technology itself.

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Differentiation in a hyperactive market

Position yourself in a market in which there is a tendency towards duplicity of content, the one in which the conversational podcast barely shows signs of fatigue as it relies more on charisma and engagement with the interlocutor facing the content, stands as one of the main objectives of The Voice Village. The production company, which defines itself as “audiovisual” despite its specialization in podcasts, finds its identity trait on the invoice for each of your projects.

“Given the great offer that exists, the big difference comes when you make the podcast truly professional and treat the listener, or video listener, as adult people who want a worked product. That is a great distinction: our passion for making careful products,” explains Villa, without avoiding that the podcast industry is still “in formation”: “There are many actors of a single product, but also some production companies that are working on different formats.”

“We are still in that process of professionalization and union. Many times we are small producers that need to be together in many things.”

This market, more early in its monetization and maintenance in the medium and long term than in the invoice formats, throws “formidable” products. The must is found in forming a solid industrial organization that meets all the demands of a market in which amateurism continues to have a marked capacity for influence.

It is not, but a sign of the times: "Both in audio and video podcasts, whether made by the competition or by us, we find high-level productions. Even so, we can take many leaps to reach different audiences. We are still in that process of professionalization and union. Many times we are small production companies that need to be together on many things."

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Podcasts: opportunities in uncertainty

The podcast is today in a moment of “absolute change", in the words of Villa. Since the birth of the company in 2020, at the dawn of the pandemic, the podcast has become an integrated element in the habits of the population of Spain. According to data from the iVoox Observatory 2025, eight out of ten Spaniards listen to podcasts, consuming an average of 10.5 hours per week.

“Audio has an essential element when it comes to transferring credibility to the person listening to it. Its ability to tell stories is unique, and if the video podcast variable is added, it provides many other tools. In addition, it can travel through social networks,” explains the head of The Voice Village about a medium that, he points out, is beginning to approach a “maturity of approach” that allows the reach of new audiences and clients.

“Audio has an essential element when it comes to transferring credibility to the person listening to it. “Its ability to tell stories is unique, and if the variable of the video podcast is added, it provides many other tools.”

In this area, Villa highlights the good form of the branded content applied to podcast; a trend that returns after disappear from company communication plans of all kinds: “The companies that made their own at the beginning of the podcast branded They had very bad experiences. They made the decision, for example, to have the CEO interview the CFO in a fascinating conversation about their company. They realized that, although they put in the means, there was no one on the other side who wanted to listen to it.”

The generational and cultural change in the context of corporate environments explains the resurgence of this type of formats. Villa believes that companies are once again realizing the “potential” of podcasts and video podcasts, both in terms of capacity influence on the recipient, as in “lower” costs than other formulas and that “allow experimentation.”

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Videopodcast: a trend that avoids its limits

64% of podcast consumers via Spotify in the United States prefer the video podcast option over traditional listening. The data, transferred by Edu Alonso, Head of Podcast for Southern and Eastern Europe at Spotify, in this interview, presents a evolution of format codes and the consumption habits.

Spanish production companies usually use a classic three-camera approach, long shot and interlocutors, although more and more frequently the video provides additional information. The experience expands, and the concept audio-first, in the process, weakens. Furthermore, they should not ignore opportunities which involves the dissemination of fragments of the format via social networks.

Where does the formal identity of the video podcast reside if in its evolution it comes closer and closer to the television or digital codes? "There should be no limits to the concept. I believe in people's ability to do what they want. I don't think that anyone who is not a professional in the sector is interested in the concept of what a podcast is or is not," says Villa.

For the person in charge of The Voice Village, the growth of the format accompanies that of the own audiovisual entertainment industry. Barriers are broken down every day: "We have the ability to make products that reach people through formats that had not been considered until now. It is evolving from people who simply sat down to talk to people to much more elaborate products, in which the stories that are conveyed or the interviews that are done are very important. Their capacity to influence is decisive. Let's think that the last elections in the United States have been defined as the elections of the podcast," explains Villa.

“There is a differentiating element: television is a TV product, while I can feel the video podcast in a much closer way.”

It doesn't matter if the limits are crossed. No matter how much the visual bill of podcasts may evolve, it is always will differentiate from television content. The medium, once again, is the message: “There is a differentiating element: television is a TV product, while I can feel the video podcast in a much closer way.”

Even with everything, Villa defends that sometimes the video will be dispensable. The video podcast will not kill the podcast, but will complement it or simply coexist with it. One of the latest formats of The Voice Village confirms this approach: “We have just made a sound documentary after a year of work and more than 20 interviews: 23F. The great intrigue. It wouldn't make sense in video podcast format. (…) If we had done it on video, it would have to be a macro-documentary with a budget similar to that of other major Netflix projects.”

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A 4K production model with the support of other independent companies

To shape its wide selection of formats, both its own and those co-produced with other agents, The Voice Village is committed to a mixed model: has a audio and video recording studio in which they shape some of their projects, while they decide count on third parties when audiovisual production is “much more complex.”

“We always supervise it, but we shape some projects with the help of third parties,” says Villa, who trusts in the benefits of relationships between “independent companies”: “We know how to tell stories very well in different formats, but we still need help when it comes to the technical elements.”

In any case, the audiovisual production company has adapted its fleet of equipment to establish a 4K production standard. To this day, a large part of the content is still distributed in the different windows in HD, although some of his partners They already demand, and distribute, UHD formats: “One more turn is broadcast on Atresplayer in 4K, just like Literal o The Lawyers on RTVE”.

“Quality does not guarantee success. Ensure continuity and that you treat people with the utmost respect”.

He atmospheric audio, however, is far from being consolidated. It provides advantages, but, as Villa comments, it is essential to think about “who is going to listen to it.” "It's a very good thing to say. And really, when you listen to it, it's fascinating. But it depends on what product you're making. It may not be useful. However, welcome are each of the sonic wonders that can produce greater immersion in the product."

He content value governs The Voice Village's differentiation in the market. But it should not be overlooked value of technique. It is a position closer to principles than certainties, in an industry in which there are “podcasts that are a great success and, technically, are a great disaster.” “Quality does not guarantee success. Ensure continuity and that you treat people with the utmost respect”Villa points out.

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The inevitable consolidation of AI

Leaving aside the processes assisted by artificial intelligence solutions in the post-production, the sound industry begins to explore the possibilities of this area in its generative applications. From experiences of speech to text, until the use of AI in the creative process, little by little, workflows with complex ethical implications and a technology still far from offering the best result on the first try.

Villa has no doubts. For the person in charge of The Voice Village, AI is going to be a essential part of the podcast business: "It is indisputable. Thinking that there is something that artificial intelligence is not going to touch and transform is like thinking twenty years ago that the Internet was not going to touch your world."

"In The Voice Village, AI changes our lives. Not to take away work, but to be sure that we are addressing the most appropriate points.”

Surrendering to the evidence of his global impact, Villa questions the most appropriate uses of a technology that, he recognizes, can produce “infinite rejection” in an important part of the population. Where does it make sense to apply it and where does it not? Do AI-generated voices have a place beyond recreating elements of the past that did not exist?

In the absence of responses, Villa has no doubt that these implementations will occupy a increasingly important role: "In The Voice Village, AI changes our lives. Not to take away work, but to be sure that we are addressing the most appropriate points.”

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The crucial union with You First

In October 2023, the representation agency for the sports and entertainment industry You First (Gersh) integrated The Voice Village into its infrastructure, with the aim of creating “the largest podcast production company in Spanish.” More than two years later, Villa feels satisfied with the decision: “It has allowed us to continue maintaining specificity and individuality as a video podcast company, but it also gives us the ability to access brands and harness creative energy that benefits us.”

"There are companies that have even dared to make fiction. The reach of the podcast is extraordinary."

This impulse has led to the current strategy of the company, in which content creation for companies has come to play a crucial role in their growth. Villa and his team approach this field with a double strategy: they work on the generation of intellectual properties with sufficient impact to capture the interest of companies, and generate own product approaches for brands.

"There are companies that have even dared to make fictions. The reach of the podcast is extraordinary. (...) It has a very strong credibility, since whoever is watching or listening to a podcast has chosen that medium to learn and be entertained. At that moment, you have an ability to reach listeners, without deceiving them in any way, which I consider unique,” ​​explains Villa.

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An industry at risk of saturation?

A few weeks ago, information from Daniel J. Ollero for El Mundo it addressed the bubble of facilities dedicated to podcasts in Madrid. “Madrid now has more podcast recording studios than cinemas", read the article, pointing out that in the last two years more than 140,000 episodes had been recorded in the Spanish capital.

Is this data a symptom of a iron health or of a imminent saturation? For Villa, “Both things may be happening at the same time. time”: most podcasts do not last more than three or four chapters, although in the market, given the ease of access to audio aggregators and free access platforms, there is room for “very niche and very big.”

"We are offering conversations beyond our capabilities. But the format must allow for different elements."

“You can't hear 30 different podcasts. Each one listens to their own selection to which they end up getting hooked; those that allow you to entertain yourself or see the world through them,” explains Villa, who recognizes that there may be the feeling that “everything in this world is a podcast,” when the reality is that “We are all a little saturated with interview formats”.

Given this diagnosis, the recipe involves recovering the founding pillar of The Voice Village: creating careful products, tearing down concepts in the process.. Today's podcast is different from what it will be tomorrow. This axiom will allow your industrial fabric survives, evolve according to consumer habits that, with luck and vision, will collaborated in redefining: "We are offering conversations beyond our possibilities. But the format must give rise to different elements. This is what we have done with One more turn for Atresplayer. They are interviews, but we have transformed the framework to reach people in a different way. It goes beyond sitting with a microphone and talking.”

A report by Sergio Julián Gómez