Partner With The What Podcast
Reach a passionate, hard-to-find audience of festival diehards and live-music superfans.
Since 2018, we've been the show festival culture actually listens to: the stories, the secrets, and the people who make Bonnaroo and the live music world what it is. If your brand wants in front of people who travel for festivals, camp four days in the Tennessee heat, and plan their whole year around the next festival lineup, you're in the right place.
6,000 Subscribers
319 Episodes
4.9 Stars
6,400 Downloads/mo.
55,100 Streams/mo.
2,000 Hours/mo.
Average rating from 397 ratings. Downloads are IAB certified. Streams and hours are monthly averages across all platforms.
Our Audience
Our listeners and viewers are a concentrated, hard-to-reach group that festival- and music-adjacent brands spend a lot of money trying to find:
- Adults 28-44 - 77% of our audience (40% are 28-34 and 37% are 35-44)
- Frequent live event attendees - YouTube classifies our audience's interest in attending live events as Very High. These are people who buy tickets, travel, and spend on the experience.
- Rock, indie, and alternative music fans: passionate, engaged, and loyal
- Predominantly US-based (87%), concentrated in the Southeast and festival markets nationwide. Other top countries include Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, Germany, and Ireland.
- Our audience is 77% men and 20% women.
Demographics are aggregated across YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts over the last twelve months.
Our Reach (The Full Picture)
We're a cross-platform media ecosystem, and our largest audience is on video, not traditional podcast apps. The show is released weekly as a video podcast on YouTube and Spotify, and as an audio podcast through an RSS feed to Apple Podcasts and every other podcast app. A partner reaches people across every surface we publish on:
| Platform | Reach |
|---|---|
| YouTube, our largest platform | 2,800+ subscribers · 4,500+ unique monthly viewers · 24,000+ monthly views |
| Podcast Feed | ~6,400 downloads/month (IAB certified) · 6,000 subscribers across podcast platforms |
| Social (Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, X) | ~11,200 combined followers |
| Email list | 683 subscribers |
| Discord community | 559 members |
How we measure: download counts come from our podcast host (IAB certified); YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts figures come from each platform's own analytics; social figures are follower counts.
- Across all platforms combined: ~55,100 streams, views, and plays and ~2,000 hours consumed per month.
- 319 episodes (259 video, 60 audio) across 9 seasons since 2018. About 40 new shows per year, 56 minutes average episode length.
What Listeners Say
Rated 4.9 out of 5 stars on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Podchaser (397 total ratings). A few of their reviews:
“Bryan & Barry always give great updates on everything Bonnaroo. They keep their podcasts engaging & keep me coming back for more!”
— RadTammy, Apple Podcasts
“I started listening 3 years ago when searching for Bonnaroo tips! This podcast has great information and gives year around news about Bonnaroo. Happy Roo!”
— tyleryates3030, Podchaser
“This podcast is where I get my fix all the days of the year that I'm not on The Farm. I love the in-depth discussion on logistics and behind-the-scenes mechanics of the festival, as well as the artist interviews and lineup discussions. Such a fun listen!”
— bannebo, Apple Podcasts
In the Press
- Bonnaroo canceled for 2027. Heartbroken fans worry about its future (The Tennessean, Diana Leyva, August 2026)Rumors of a cancellation gained traction after hosts of "The What Podcast," a show dedicated to the festival, said they were closely monitoring developments surrounding Bonnaroo.
- Why Bonnaroo was canceled for 2027 and what happens next (The Tennessean, Audrey Gibbs, August 2026)Speculation about a potential Bonnaroo hiatus intensified following a recent episode of "The What Podcast," a Bonnaroo-focused show.
- Bonnaroo 2027 is canceled as music festival takes a year off (Knox News, Afton Pratt, August 2026)"The What," a Bonnaroo-centered podcast that has become a source of insider information since launching in 2018, discussed the lack of 2027 dates during a recent episode.
- Bonnaroo canceled in 2027? Rumors are swirling amid a lack of festival dates (Knox News, Afton Pratt, August 2026)"The What" podcast, which centers entirely on Bonnaroo, music festival culture and live music, discussed why there were no 2027 dates yet during a recent episode.
- Bonnaroo Taking ‘Much-Needed Year Off’ in 2027 (Rolling Stone, Charisma Madarang/Joseph Hudak, August 2026)Earlier this month, Barry Courter, one of the hosts of Bonnaroo-centric The What podcast, shared an update with fans amid swirling rumors that the beloved fest had been canceled.
- From The Farm to the pod, meet Bonnaroo's dedicated podcasters (The Tennessean, Lauren Blake, June 2026)For the hosts of podcasts like "The What Podcast" and "RooHamm," the show continues year-round.
Who We Talk To
The conversations are the draw. We've covered 38 festivals and featured 177 artists and bands, interviewing 156 of them, along with the festival organizers, bookers, and community members behind the weekend. A sample of the people who have been on the show:
*repeat repeatArtist
Tim "Tuba" SmithC3 PresentsBehind the scenes
Noah KahanArtist
Jack AntonoffArtist
Ken WeinsteinBig Hassle MediaBehind the scenes
Ashley CappsAC EntertainmentBehind the scenes
GWARArtist
Caleb AriasBonnaroo YearbookCommunity
First Aid KitArtist
Danny ClinchPhotographerCommunity
Church BonersCommunity
RooHammCommunityBrowse all artists · Browse all festivals · Browse all guests
Ways to Partner
Every partnership is built around your goals, your audience, and the festival calendar. Common starting points:
Host-read sponsorships
A personal endorsement from the hosts in the audio and video versions of the show, in the voice our listeners already trust.
YouTube integrations
Your brand in front of our largest audience, built into the video episodes and the channel.
Website placement
Banner placement across thewhatpodcast.com, where fans come for episodes, festival pages, and artist interviews.
Email and social
Features in our email list and on our social channels, including giveaways and promo codes for our community.
Festival-season campaigns
Timed around lineup announcements, on-sale dates, and the weeks leading up to the festivals we cover.
Something custom
Have another idea? Event coverage, product features, and long-term partnerships are all open for discussion.
Packages and rates are available on request. Tell us about your brand and we'll put together options for you.
Why Podcast Advertising
Podcasting is a mainstream habit. 58% of Americans age 12+ (about 167 million people) listened to a podcast in the past month, and 45% (about 130 million) in the past week (Edison Research, The Infinite Dial 2026). Edison also finds that 84% of Americans 12+ use YouTube monthly, which is where most of our audience watches.
The money is following the audience. US podcast advertising revenue reached $2.862 billion in 2025, up 17.6% year over year, according to the IAB/PwC Internet Advertising Revenue Report (as reported by Radio Ink).
Let's Talk
Interested in reaching festival fans through a show they already listen to every week? The best way to start is our email form.
