I love Radio headspace and all the hosts and meditation teachers. I am not going to single out but one host always has a vocal fry whenever they host an episode. I wonder if this can be improved..

Great podcast Been a part of my daily routine for over a year now Really helped me after leaving a bad job

As above

Literally half of it is just ads

A 6–8 minute podcast, with two minutes of ads at the beginning? Additionally, it totally disregards podcasting standards, with no chapter notes or information pages. How hard would it be to have a 15 second introduction, listing the sponsors, and then include links to the sponsors in the show notes? That way, paying advertiser and the audience are better served. Then run the ads at the end, with a reminder that there are links in the show notes. I subscribed to get bite-size insights that will help my meditation practice. And I do not fault anybody for trying to make a living. But at this point, we should be able to chew gum and walk at the same time. I keep repeating myself, but if everybody producing a podcast would check out Accidental Tech Podcast, your product would be better. ATP happens to be hosted by somebody who built a podcast app, so they pay attention to all of the details. You don’t have to listen to the podcast. Just look at it and see how it’s organized. I hope this helps.

I understand you need advertising for revenue but when over half the episode is a commercial it’s just too frustrating.

This podcast used to be great but headspace grew too big and too greedy. 3 minutes of ads and 2 minutes of barely insightful content. What a waste.

Y’all I have loved and greatly appreciated this podcast for years. The episodes being short make it easily digestible and a good way to help me start my day on the right foot. I am so thankful for everyone at Headspace and all of the guests they bring in. BUT.. lately it’s been a whole 3+ minutes of ads in the beginning of every episode and sometimes the podcast itself isn’t more than 4 or 5 minutes long. I kind of feel like that’s a bit annoying and I miss the days when the episode would just start with the “swish, click!”

Used to be incredible but now the ads take up almost half of each episode. Worse, the episodes that are available within the actual headspace app are not user friendly and don’t let you binge listen like you can do in Apple Podcasts. It’s a lose-lose and event bough it used to be hugely important for my mental health, I have to unsubscribe as it’s honestly unbearable these days.

Headspace is billion dollar company, maybe it should not try to squeeze out every last dollar by having these many ads in the podcast

I really used to love this podcast and was a daily listener. I would play it first thing, to start my morning. I don’t want to lay in bed listening to several minutes of ads. Have to unsubscribe. It was great while it lasted.

I listened to an episode that was 9 minutes and almost 4 minutes were an ad. This is ridiculous. That defeats the point of giving space for thoughts.

Podcast episodes are already quite short, and now commercials make up a third of the length of the podcast.

Beautiful episode about burnout by Kessonga. Thank you for sharing your experience. It was incredibly helpful .

Like most businesses these days the quality seems to diminish as they start making more money. Headspace and this podcast in particular were really beneficial through the pandemic. But now on the other side they have loaded up with commercials and poor editing. Disappointing because this used to be a really high quality podcast

This could be so much more but the commercials are really distracting and by the time the real talk comes on, you forget why you even wanted to listen to the short podcast.

It’s hard to get into a good headspace when I have to sit thru 5 minutes of ads before the episode begins.

Lately there are 3-5 minutes of ads and then 2-5 minutes of actual content. Seems like the ratio is off.

Just a thought: When you replay episodes from years ago, label them “Re:Minders” or something so we know it’s a repeat. We can go into it reflecting instead of surprised or what have you. Thank you! I’m a big fan of the Headspace app and podcast. They’ve helped me tremendously throughout the past few years. Mindfulness and meditation can be transformative to say the least.

I love the actual content of its short podcast episodes. But too much of the beginning it taken up by commercials. I just heard the latest episode and there were only 2 commercials but the reading of the first commercial (for Quince) was done so slowly, it ate up way too much time. Unfortunately, that caused me to unfollow. Most of the time, I’m in my car or in the shower listening to podcasts, so I can’t easily fast forward through the commercials. With so much content out there, I figure why waste time on a podcast that’s too difficult to listen to.

I remember the first time I listen to Radio Headspace when I first launched… And it was an absolute life saver in the midst of Covid. fast forward to after Andy sold the business they decided to monetize the podcast, which is well within their right. The issue that I have is that over 60% of the podcast is an advertisement for one business or another and it’s hard to get 4 to 5 minutes of content without leaving the feeling of being sold to and not a feeling of calm. This podcast has been ruined. But the content is still good.

The programmed content is only a few minutes each episode, and the ads are a few minutes. That’s a terrible ratio. It feels like basic content, nothing brilliant or new. Not worth it.

It’s super annoying how many ads there are in the beginning of the show.

The show has a lot of potential, but they are heavy in ads which is distracting. Overall enjoyed the 3 episodes

The content of this podcast is fine. Lovely. Good. But more and more this value has been eclipsed by lengthy, tonalkg-discordant ads. Four minutes intro. One minute outro. The whole episode is only 8-9 mins! And these aren’t ads for products consistent with the Headspace mission (unless the mission is just bringing in cash from whoever will pay for spots). Podcast used to be 5 stars. Now down to 2 because the discordant ad placement is making the small amount of real content feel phony and cynical. What really matters seems to be selling selling selling.

Good morning guys! I'm a daily morning listener and I understand the need to advertise but the almost 5 minutes long set of ads makes me not want to listen to the 7 minute session. As a member on the headspace app I thought I would share that with you. Less ads please.

Is this a podcast about ads because it’s like 40-50% of the content. It’s annoying.

I love this podcast so much. I found it long after it had started and would just listen to one episode after the other. I hate that I can’t do that now because of the ads. The ads take up just as much time as the podcast. It feels like a sellout move in my opinion.

The show itself is great, but the amount of time listening to ads makes it impossible to keep this as part of my daily routine. I’ve been naturally avoiding listening to the show, dreading it because of the ads. And it has fell off from being my daily practice instinctively even though I value the actual content of the show. With the way things currently are, I will probably move on soon, a shame because I’ve listened to almost every episode since the show started, and I really would like to keep it as part of my morning. Please consider something like adding a premium podcast channel linked to the headspace subscription like Apple News is, or an ad-free podcast channel that I can pay for separately. I pay for headspace, but prefer the Apple podcast player since it automatically works with HomePod and can ask it to play while I’m going through my morning routines.

I can’t say enough good things about Headspace, and their podcast is no exception. Smart, thoughtful content that is well-produced. The length is perfect for my morning commute. It’s the only podcast I listen to regularly, multiple times a week. I’ve recommended it and the app many times. Only recently they started running ads. Because of the short format, I feel like the ads are just as long as the show. But the worst part is some of the ads feature the hosts of the show peddling products and apps that feel salesy and insincere. Headspace has done a great job building high levels of trust with their meditation teachers and audience, and the ads compromised that for me. I’ve used the Headspace app almost everyday for nearly ten years. As a subscriber to the app, I can get the podcasts ad-free in the app, but it’s a few extra steps, and I can’t access it alongside other podcasts I listen to. I acknowledge the reality of financially sustaining a company like Headspace. Now that Apple offers subscriptions to bypass ads, I might consider paying a small price for no ads, in my normal podcast app—the content is that good. But please don’t underestimate the credibility the hosts have with a very loyal audience—and how easily that’s lost by inauthentic ads selling inane products. For a company changing the world through mindfulness and meditation, it feels icky and self-serving.

I used to listen every day. It was great bite-sized mindfulness content and I loved starting my daily commute with it. Then I had to skip past 2min+ of ads. Now I don’t listen anymore. Need to balance the commerce with the content or it starts to feel like a cash grab.

Amazing content, teachers, and production but, literally, a third of each episode is ads. It’s really frustrating

I finally had to unsubscribe since at this point nearly half the content is ads. The actual content is great, but I’ve never heard another podcast with so much ad time relative to content.

I love the content on the app, but I become hesitant to listen due to the lengthy ads at the beginning. It seems silly to push through 3-4 minutes of opening ads for five minutes of content. I understand the need for sponsorship, but I worry that most lsteners will not want to work so hard for the content and will immediately be turned off. I encourage your creators to give more attention to the content creators and work to find a better balance between ads and content. It is a great podcast and I am hoping listener numbers are high so it can continue.

Seriously, this is a lot for a podcast that is generally only 6-ish minutes long.

Great content. I don’t want ads to stress me out.

Great pod, bite size mindfulness and just great. BUT the editing has been off a few times lately where the pod will skip back to the middle of the episode. Love the content, guest hosts, regular hosts.

I found Liz Fosslein to deliver such great content this week. Great insight, wonderful topics and well delivered! More please 🙏🏽 . ❤️

It’s genuinely heartbreaking and sad to see what this podcast has become. OVER HALF the podcast is ads, which is already unacceptable, but these include ads for prescription drugs, junk food, gambling, casinos, and the border patrol. I understand that Headspace is a for-profit business but they need to take their own advice: pause, take a deep breath, and examine what really matters to them. What really is this podcast for? What is Headspace for? Are they really going to succumb to all the worst tropes of capitalism and deteriorate their brand to something hollow, vapid, and even harmful? I’m a 5 year subscriber to Headspace but in light of all these boneheaded changes I will not be renewing. What a shame 💔

Why am I 2:44 in to this episode and I am still in ads😩😡( episode are good tho)

Even before starting the episode?? For a mindfulness podcast, that’s a bit much.

I have loved Radio Headspace for a long time. It’s been a great addition to my morning drives. But I noticed recently there’s suddenly 2 or more minutes of ads at the beginning of the episodes, which is a real bummer and just makes me frustrated, which seems counterintuitive for a podcast advocating for meditation and peace of mind. I understand it takes money to run a podcast, but 2 minutes of ads for a 4 minute message is excessive. If it’s not possible to have this one thing be ad-free, a 30 second ad would be more reasonable than 2 minutes.

Used to be great, but now with 2-3 minutes of ads at the start of every 6-7 minute podcast…terrible for my headspace! I guess the VC funds couldn’t monetize mental health well enough without them

Now it’s 2:45 mins ads in 6 mins podcast? Seriously???? Very disappointing!

As an 11 year old with ADHD it is a challenge to go to sleep so easily. I need to listen to something to fall alseep. Headspace has made falling asleep possible. Thank you and also ur show is great!!! Go to Netflix and you should watch and listen to their show “A Guide To Meditation”! And others. Bye - Ava Christensen ✨🤌

Although I loved the silence at the end of each episode when this podcast first started I had a feeling it was just a placeholder, so when they started throwing in promos for Headspace subscriptions and other Headspace podcasts I was disappointed but I get it - catch some new paying subscribers to help fund the podcast. As other reviews have mentioned though, the commercial ads that were recently introduced are a step too far and ruin the entire experience. If they can’t support this podcast without ads then they should drop it all together. It’s entirely inappropriate to listen to a sincere discussion on death and loss and have it bookended by goofy Kroger and AT

The app was great. Now it’s filled with capitalist self-help gurus offering affirmations that don’t work from people like Mel Robbins. Big disappointment from where this company started. I really loved Headspace and am so disappointed in where it has gone. I find it actually excruciating to listen to the the privileged hosts they talk about struggle outside the context of what is happening in society. It’s just foolishness which I guess is why they have the worst advertisers now too.

This WAS my favorite podcast until they started running ads. It seems very counterintuitive to the whole mindfulness atmosphere. Are we going to start getting intrusive ads on our daily meditations now too? This is so against the culture of Headspace. How very sad. I’ll start listening again once the ads are gone.

Recently, headspace started to add commercial ads to this series. Today, I head a Toyota, McDonald’s and Carl’s Jr ad. Surely these types of commercials are counter to the whole purpose of headspace.

Hey Headspace, Please tell me why the advertisement are now here prior to the Headspace session. The commercials affect the Zen atmosphere of the Headspace experience! Please remove the commercials. Thanks Carol