For many podcasters, monetizing their shows can be one of the more difficult aspects of podcasting. With Value for Value (V4V), the ability for listeners to support their favourite podcaster(s) is increased. Additionally, podcasters can also reward listeners for their support, as well as guests on their show.

V4V is part of the Podcasting 2.0 initiative, and uses bitcoin to allow listeners to send payments to podcasters, and vice versa. With V4V, the listener chooses the “value” of the content they’re listening to, and sends that as a payment to the podcaster (hence the “value for value” part).

In its simplest form, V4V is a payment from podcast listener to podcaster, using bitcoin to transfer payment directly from supporter to recipient. Each unit is usually known as a “satoshi” (or SAT), named after bitcoin founder Satoshi Nakamoto.

While these are a currency, they work a little differently than transferring money between bank accounts. For example, currently 1 SAT is equal to about $0.000224 USD - so, when you hear someone say they’re sending 1,000 SAT, it’s only 22 cents. It’s this conversion rate that can be confusing to both podcasters and listeners and that can put them off this monetization option. It is, after all, still rather technical for the “normal” listener.

Transactions are carried out between bitcoin platforms like Alby, bitcoin wallets, Lightning networks, and use a public key address (this is needed to complete the transaction). While it is more technical than typical online payments, the idea is the same - someone sends payment; someone receives it. This includes listeners and guests - if you have listeners who always leave feedback on your episodes, or guests who drove more downloads than others, you can choose to reward them by sending payments to them. It’s a great way of encouraging loyalty and support around your podcast.

At the moment, V4V is geared more towards creators already familiar with, and using, the technology - for the average podcaster, your usual forms of monetization and revenue will probably remain your preferred options. For a more detailed breakdown of V4V, check out the V4V site.

As with any feature we release, Captivate makes it super easy for you to enable and use V4V. Since we support it at host level, you can choose which options you want to enable, perfect for existing V4V users on podcast apps that support the feature. That way, payments are then sent and received the way you already have V4V set up.

Method: how you want to send payment.

Type: what type of payment.

Suggested amount: how much you’d like to receive as a minimum.

Value Recipients: how you want to reward listeners/guests or create splits for co-hosts.

Note: you can have as many recipients as you like, but the overall percentage split must equal 100%.

Since Captivate is supporting V4V at host level, we don’t get involved with payments. Instead, you’ll need to choose what option you use.

For more details, check out this guide from Podcasting 2.0 co-founder Adam Curry.

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