Sounds Profitable: Adtech Applied: Recent Episodes
Bryan Barletta
The pace of change the podcast adtech industry is undergoing is staggering. The implications for podcasters, hosting providers, podcast listening app developers, and even advertisers and agencies are enormous. And so are the profits.
Presented as a companion but stand-alone version of the weekly newsletter of the same name, each episode of Sounds Profitable: Adtech Applied will be a fluff-free experience for you. Along with industry experts, I'll help you understand how you can take advantage of podcast adtech to stay ahead of the curve and, well... make more money as more money from advertising pours into podcasting. That Sounds Profitable, right?
Assumptions and conventional wisdom will be challenged. Easy answers with no proof of efficacy will be exposed. Because the thinking that got podcast advertising close to a billion dollars annually will need to be drastically overhauled to bring in the tens or hundreds of billions of dollars podcast advertising deserves.
Here's what you need to know for this week in the business of podcasting: how many ads listeners expect, music groups team up to sue generative AI, and what radio's past can teach podcasting's future.
Find links to every article mentioned and the full write-up here on Sounds Profitable.
Here's what you need to know for today in the business of podcasting: Acast highlights political shows in anticipation of the current UK election season, the effects of Time dropping its paywall one year later, and how publishers are pitching women's sports to interested advertisers.
Find links to every article mentioned and the full write-up here on Sounds Profitable.
Here's what you need to know for today in the business of podcasting: the New York Times plans to paywall its podcasts, Edison Research's new 2024 UK Consumer study, and what to expect at the upcoming VidCon.
Find links to every article mentioned and the full write-up here on Sounds Profitable.
This week Tom Webster shares his favorite insight from the latest Sounds Profitable study, Ad Nauseum.
* Written by Tom Webster
* Audio edited by Newton Schottelkotte
* Hosted by Spreaker
Sounds Profitable: Narrated Articles is a production of Sounds Profitable. For more information, visit soundsprofitable.com.
Here's what you need to know for today in the business of podcasting: Apple TV+'s new dual-language podcast partnership, record labels take music-making AI to court, and a report on streamers' mixed efforts to keep subscribers.
Find links to every article mentioned and the full write-up here on Sounds Profitable.
Here's what you need to know for today in the business of podcasting: how sports podcasts elevate brands, YouTube's new ad tracking service, and 'Office Ladies' podcast plans network move.
Find links to every article mentioned and the full write-up here on Sounds Profitable.
Here's what you need to know for this week in the business of podcasting: podcasting grows globally, Apple's automated transcripts, and bringing podcasts to global devices.
Find links to every article mentioned and the full write-up here on Sounds Profitable.
Here's what you need to know for today in the business of podcasting: podcast ROI outperforms in new study, a Cannes correspondance roundup, and shifting ad dollars as influencers launch their own brands.
Find links to every article mentioned and the full write-up here on Sounds Profitable.
Here's what you need to know for today in the business of podcasting: Amazon unveils Ad Relevance, how Immediate Media is growing its paid podcast audience, and Oracle to end all of its ad products.
Find links to every article mentioned and the full write-up here on Sounds Profitable.
Here's what you need to know for today in the business of podcasting: podcast listenership grows worldwide, how Apple's podcast transcriptions came to be, and Spotify's new in-house creative agency.
Find links to every article mentioned and the full write-up here on Sounds Profitable.
Here's what you need to know for this week in the business of podcasting: the latest research study from Sounds Profitable, podcasts' hidden audience, and Spotify's new video podcast uploads.
Find links to every article mentioned and the full write-up here on Sounds Profitable.
Here's what you need to know for today in the business of podcasting: Sounds Profitable's findings on ad frequency, how advertisers are misinformed about industry misinformation, and Forbes' first creator upfront.
Find links to every article mentioned and the full write-up here on Sounds Profitable.
Here's what you need to know for today in the business of podcasting: a hidden side-hustler audience, IAB's upcoming "Nothing will be thesame" conference, and Kosar sues podcasting company over a ceremonial bet.
Find links to every article mentioned and the full write-up here on Sounds Profitable.
Here's what you need to know for today in the business of podcasting: how the Food and Beverage industry has an opportunity with podcasting, YouTube's pitch to advertisers emphasizes creators' "star power", and the NBA finals create a hot ticket for advertisers.
Find links to every article mentioned and the full write-up here on Sounds Profitable.
Here's what you need to know for today in the business of podcasting: Audacy's new survey on cross-platform podcast advertising, Spotify rolls out video feeds for all podcasts, and how podcast budget cuts are causing producers to pivot.
Find links to every article mentioned and the full write-up here on Sounds Profitable.
Here's what you need to know for this week in the business of podcasting: Megaphone will work recertify its IAB status, Spotify launches a partnership with streaming service Nebula, and a new Canadian legislation is set to tax foreign streamers.
Find links to every article mentioned and the full write-up here on Sounds Profitable.
Here's what you need to know for today in the business of podcasting: how tolerant audiences really are of podcast advertising, a new memo for SAG-AFTRA members regarding AI, and how Gen Alpha kids are sharing brands with their parents.
Find links to every article mentioned and the full write-up here on Sounds Profitable.
Here's what you need to know for today in the business of podcasting: a new Canadian legislation will tax foreign streamers, Discord partners with TuneIn to bring live radio to the platform, and Colgate launches the first ever UK podcast advertising campaign.
Find links to every article mentioned and the full write-up here on Sounds Profitable.
This week Tom Webster breaks down the upcoming Sounds Profitable study Ad Nauseam and what questions it aims to answer about podcast advertising.
* Written by Tom Webster
* Audio edited by Newton Schottelkotte
* Hosted by Spreaker
Sounds Profitable: Narrated Articles is a production of Sounds Profitable. For more information, visit soundsprofitable.com.
Here's what you need to know for today in the business of podcasting: Spotifyâs and Nebula are partnering to bring video essay content to the platform, why retailers hate that you buy big things on your laptop, and the pros and cons of publishersâ AI licensing deals.
Find links to every article mentioned and the full write-up here on Sounds Profitable.
Here's what you need to know for today in the business of podcasting: Spotifyâs Megaphone will return to IAB certification, Triton Digital's 2024 Canadian podcasting report, and publishers and advertisers push back against Apple's new "web eraser".
Find links to every article mentioned and the full write-up here on Sounds Profitable.
Here's what you need to know for this week in the business of podcasting: addressing Spotify's place in podcasting, aging out age demographics, and lessons from the podcasting scene in MENA.
Find links to every article mentioned and the full write-up here on Sounds Profitable.
This week Bryan Barletta takes a step back and looks at Spotify's place in podcasting not as a peer to the industry, but as the global multi-platform corporation it is.
* Written by Bryan Barletta
* Edited by Tom Webster
* Audio edited by Gavin Gaddis
* Hosted by Spreaker
Sounds Profitable: Narrated Articles is a production of Sounds Profitable. For more information, visit soundsprofitable.com.
Here's what you need to know for today in the business of podcasting: Sounds Profitable interviewed several industry leaders on the show floor of Podcast Show London, a look at how podcasting takes on licensing, Spotify debuts new Austalian statistics for podcasts, and the rising problem of over-attribution in advertising.
Find links to every article mentioned and the full writeup here on Sounds Profitable.
Here's what you need to know for today in the business of podcasting: Spotify publishes trend data, Signal Hill Insights looks at the behaviors of business podcast audiences, PMPs are making a comeback in programmatic, and the Hasbro/Audible deal has produced a Peppa Pig podcast.
Find links to every article mentioned and the full write-up here on Sounds Profitable.
Here's what you need to know for this week in the business of podcasting: Spotify gets rid of price floors for SPAN, are political ads a good fit for podcast audiences, streaming's 2024 Upfront mirrors podcasting, and advertisers are under-investing in Hispanic audiences.
Find links to every article mentioned and the full write-up on Sounds Profitable.
Here's what you need to know for today in the business of podcasting: Spotify has debuted a transcript pilot and listen data, RAJAR has Q1 stats for audio consumption in the UK, and Digiday looks at the Q1 revenue of five major publishers.
Find links to every article mentioned and the full write-up here on Sounds Profitable.
Here's what you need to know for today in the business of podcasting: Spotify is removing price floors for SPAN, Digiday finds marketers are more invested in programmatic than agencies, Brian Morrissey argues audio is the last refuge of autheticity in the AI age, and an online hub provides database of podcasts looking to be optioned by audiovisual adaptations.
Find links to every article covered and the full write-up here on Sounds Profitable.
Here's what you need to know for today in the business of podcasting: Several big outlets covered the new IAB Podcast ad revenue report, Julie McNamara to step down from Head of Spotify Podcast Studios, Horizon Next partners with Claritas' ArtsAI on proprietary cross-platform measurement framework, and Adelaide is expanding their AFP platform to include audio attention measurement and activation capabilities.
Find links to every story mentioned and the full write-up here on Sounds Profitable.
Here's what you need to know for this week in the business of podcasting: The IAB debuts 2023 podcast revenue study, the global growth of podcasting, the importance of not ignoring 55+ demographics, and a roundup of podcastingâs Q1 reports.
Find links to every article mentioned and the full write-up at Sounds Profitable.
Here's what you need to know for today in the business of podcasting: The IAB has published the new U.S. Podcast Advertising Revenue Study, Tom Webster talks about shfiting podcast advertising to incldue 55+ consumers, Eric Nuzum writes on the importance of making one's audience the foremost concern from the beginning, programmers hope lower ad volumes will earn more viewer time, and what to expect from this year's TV upfronts (according to buyers).
Find links to every article mentioned as well as the full write-up here on Sounds Profitable.
Here's what you need to know for today in the business of podcasting: The golden age of podcasting is just beginning, Acast 'on track' to full-year profitability, marketers seem optimisitic about advertising budgets, Nickelodeon releasing slate of preschool-targeting kid's podcasts, and You Didn't See Nothin' wins Pulitzer Prize.
Find links to all articles mentioned and the full write-up here at Sounds Profitable.
While podcasting is popular with younger demographics, the biggest growth potential lies in audiences aged 55 and up.
- Written by Tom Webster
- Edited by Gavin Gaddis
- Audio edited by Gavin Gaddis
- Hosted by Spreaker
Sounds Profitable: Narrated Articles is a production of Sounds Profitable. For more information, visit soundsprofitable.com.
Here's what you need to know for today in the business of podcasting: the IAB Podcast Upfront is this Thursday, Veritonic releases new study into the branding potential of phone hold music, audio's brand-building capabilities, and how walled gardens make buying ads harder for both retail media and podcasting.
Find links to every article mentioned and find the full write-up here at Sounds Profitable.
Here's waht you need to know for today in the business of podcasting: New study on podcast listening in the Phillippines, YouGov data on global podcast listening, possible reclassification of marijuana still keeps it off limits for radio and TV (but not podcasts), pharmaceutical companies dip their toes into influencer marketing, and incumbent prime mnister Justin Trudeau is incorporating podcast appearances into his political strategy.
Find links to every article mentioned and the full write-up here on Sounds Profitable.
Here's what you need to know for this week in the business of podcasting: The IAB Tech Lab introduces new guidelines for podcast measurement, Magellan AI publishes the top podcast advertisers of March and a Q1 podcast advertising benchmark, sports advertising is on the rise (and podcasts are a good opportunity), and Tom Webster shares a bounty of useful research to show podcasting is the safe bet.
Find links to every article discussed and read the full write-up at Sounds Profitable.com
Here's what you need to know for today in the business of podcasting: The IAB Tech Lab has finalized Podcast Measurement Guidelines v2.2, brands chase football marketing momentum, news orgs are done begging for ad dollars, Spotify makes its NewsFronts debut, and Audible tests lower-priced plan as a possible response to Spotify's audiobook offering.
Find links to every article mentioned and the full write-up here on Sounds Profitable.com
For brands looking to earn attention, podcasts are proving they can deliver in a media landscape littered with noise.
- Written by Tom Webster
- Edited by Gavin Gaddis
- Audio edited by Gavin Gaddis
- Hosted by Spreaker
Sounds Profitable: Narrated Articles is a production of Sounds Profitable. For more information, visit soundsprofitable.com.
Here's what you need to know for today in the business of podcasting: City Casts and the value of local focus, a new report on podcast listeners in India, Magellan AI's Q1 2024 podcast advertising benchmarks, Right Side Up's guide on measuring success for influencer marketing campaigns, and The New York times covers podcast companies building out their video shooting capabilities.
Find links to every article mentioned and the full write-up here on Sounds Profitable.
Here's waht you need to know for today in the business of podcasting: SiriusXM has posted their Q1 earnings report, Pierre Bouvard covers the 24/18/58% rule, travel advertising is taking flight, brands are looking to stretch beyond TV in sports advertising (and podcasting looks to be a good fit), and a new university has introduced a podcast course into their curriculum.
Find links to every article mentioned and the full write-up here on Sounds Profitable.
Here's what you need to know for today in the business of podcasting: Magellan AI's top podcast advertisers of March, YouTube Shorts advertising revenue is trending upwards, the IAB predicts social video will overtake CTV this year, Visa's global head of content speaks to influencer marketing, and big retail brands get into DTC marketing, opening a new avenue for podcast advertising.
Find the full write-up and links to everything mentioned right here on Sounds Profitable.com
Here's what you need to know from this week in the business of podcasting: Spotify has left the IAB, That Was Us ups the cadence on rewatch podcasts, IAB UK shares data on podcast growth, a new listener habit report from Japan, and GroupM reclassifies a good portion of YouTube as CTV.
Find links to every article mentioned and the full write-up (along with today's Data Snapshot) right here on Sounds Profitable.
Here's what you need to know for today in the business of podcasting: Otonal has published a new survey of podcast usage in Japan, Acast has a new annual report, YouTube's CPO talks video podcasting, and the MRC releases an invalid traffic guideline update.
Find links to every article mentioned and the full write-up (along with today's Data Snapshot) right here on Sounds Profitable.
Here's what you need to know for today in the business of podcasting: IAB UK's new ad spend report shows podcast spend increased 23% y-o-y, Signal Hill Insights debuts new benchmark study for branded podcasts, eMarketer shares five key stats on marketing fatigue, and Campaign covers podcasting's global growth.
Find links to every article mentioned and the full write-up (along with today's Data Snapshot) right here on Sounds Profitable.
What does capturing the existing fanbase of a recently-ended program look like in podcasting? We speak with actors Mandy Moore, Sterling K. Brown, and Chris Sullivan, who are launching as an episode-by-episode rewatch podcast of This Is Us, rapidly upping the normal rewatch podcast cadence of nearly a decade.
- Written by Bryan Barletta and Gavin Gaddis
- Edited by Gavin Gaddis
- Audio edited by Gavin Gaddis
- Hosted by Spreaker
Sounds Profitable: Narrated Articles is a production of Sounds Profitable. For more information, visit soundsprofitable.com.
Here's what you need to know for today in the business of podcasting: marketers underestimate creative's impact on sales effect, podcasters chosen for UK general election coverage, CoHost publishes new report on podcast agencies, Spotify has published their Q1 earnings, and the winners of this year's Webbys are now live.
Find links to every article mentioned and the full write-up here at Sounds Profitable.com
Here's what you need to know for today in the business of podcasting: Spotify is no longer in the IAB, GroupM to reclassify some YouTube ad revenue as CTV instead of digital, Global is launching Dax ID, how video can widen podcasting's footprint, and ARM breaks down how podcast advertising is effective.
Find links to every article mentioned and the full write-up here at Sounds Profitable.com
Here's what you need to know for this week in the business of podcasting: U.S. creator funding surges, advertising space for the opening and closing Olympic ceremonies is sold out, The Sports Audio Report teaser has promising data for podcasting, and Rebecca Lavoie shares tips for reframing podcasting's place in the media ecosystem of a public radio station.
Find links to every article mentioned and the full write-up here at Sounds Profitable.com
Here's what you need to know for today in the business of podcasting: how UK podcasts navigate the country's election cycle, the latest on Sirius XM's upcoming Sports Audio Report, and James Chandler on why advertisers should include podcasting in their media plans this year.
Find links to every article mentioned and the full writeup here on Sounds Proftiable.
Here's what you need to know for today in the business of podcasting: Adam Bowie goes over Ofcom's latest podcast survey, The Information finds US creator funding surges for the first time in two years, NAB panelists say appetite for digital audio advertising is growing, and Lower Street is hosting a Brand Podcast Summit ticket giveaway.
Find links to every article mentioned and the full writeup here on Sounds Proftiable.
Here's what you need to know for today in the business of podcasting: the IAB publishes their 2024 Internet Advertising Revenue Report, Morgan Stanley weighs in on the proposed ARN acquistion of SCA, and Digiday breaks down WTF is the American Privacy Rights Act.
Find links to every article mentioned and the full writeup at Sounds Profitable.com
Here's what you need to know for today in the business of podcasting: what to expect from the 2024 IAB Podcast Upfront, Jordan Harbinger's three lessons to podcast advertisers, Rebecca Lavoie's tips for public radio station podcast success, and NBCUniversal reports they've sold out all digital and linear ad inventory for the 2024 Paris Olympics opening and closing ceremonies.
Find links to every article mentioned and the full writeup at Sounds Profitable.com
Here's what you need to know for this week in the business of podcasting: CBS's success with 48 Hours and how broadcast-to-podcast works best, this week in podcast acquistions with The Roost and Neon Hum, The Breakfast Club flexes podcastings' journalistic might, Signal Hill Inights tests the power of 'talent-read' ads, and Gen Alpha's getting into sports.
Find links to every article mentioned, the full write-up, and subsribe to the newsletter version here on Sounds Profitable.
Here's what you need to know for today in the business of podcasting: Bryan Barletta interviews Gumball CEO Marty Michael about the company's new Campaign Builder, Substack announces new Spotify integration, Radiodays North America to feature a seperately-ticketed podcast summit, the hard numbers on YouTube Shorts, and why women are driving True Crime's growth.
Find links to every article mentioned, today's Database Snapshot, and the full writeup on Sounds Profitable.
Here's what you need to know for today in the business of podcasting: CBS finds podcasting success with 48 Hours, what ID5's fundraising means for podcasting, Signal Hill Insights tests the power of "talent read" ads, and Steven Bartlett teams up with Telling Media co-founders to launch Flight Studio.
Find links to every article mentioned and the full write-up, including today's research database snapshot, right here on Sounds Profitable.
Being overly restrictive of what âcountsâ as a podcast could lead to the medium going the way of the blog. Tom Websterâs keynote presentation from Evolutions by Podcast Movement breaks down how we can embigify the industry.
* Written by Tom Webster
* Edited by Gavin Gaddis
* Audio edited by Gavin Gaddis
* Hosted by Spreaker
Sounds Profitable: Narrated Articles is a production of Sounds Profitable. For more information, visit soundsprofitable.com.
Here's what you need to know for today in the business of podcasting: The Roost has been acquired by Night Talent Management, Podcasting's open internet heritage, the lack of serial in Serial, Gen Alpha's growing sports fandom, and the trouble with trying to change TV upfronts.
Find links toe verything mentioned and the full write-up on Sounds Profitable.
Here's what you need to know for today in the business of podcasting: Podcast Moevment has published the 2024 Evolutions keynotes on YouTube, The Breakfast Club's recent interview with Eric Adams shows podcasting's power for hard-hitting questions, and Digiday looks at the factors that could affect ad tech M&A this year.
Find lnks to everything discussed and the full write-up on Sounds Profitable.
Here's what you need to know for this week in the business of podcasting: Tom Webster breaks down highlights from The Ad Bargain, The Joe Rogan Experience boosts Gary Clark Jr.'s Spotify numbers, retail media networks are starting to see the appeal of audio, and over 50% of surveyed Americans are cord-cutters.
Find links to everything covered in this episode and read the full write-up here on Sounds Profitable.
Here's what you need to know for today in the business of podcasting: Tom Webster breaks down five important data points from The Ad Bargain, KANTAR publishes podcast advertising guidelines for the Netherlands, and more than half of US TV watchers are cord-cutters.
Find links to every article mentioned and the full write-up at Sounds Profitable.com
Here's what you need to know for today in the business of podcasting: Sound Profitable's newest study The Ad Bargain is now live, industry KPIs show YouTube leads for social media advertising attention (with podcasting in second place), where Gen Alpha consumes content, and why performance marketers are shifting priorities to brand-building.
Find links to everything mentioned, as well as the full write-up, on Sounds Profitable.
Here's what you need to know for today in the business of podcasting: audio and retail are getting in tune with one another, advertisers are suing Meta for allegedly inflating ad viewership, the utility of podcasts like Lex Fridman's, insights from leaders at the top of podcasting, and Evan Shapiro's take on the 'creator economy' and how it's evolving.
Get links to every story mentioned as well as the full write-up on Sounds Proftiable.
Here's what you need to know for today in the business of podcasting: Anyone can buy traffic but building audience is harder, How the New York Times approaches podcast discovery and growth, YouTube to host Creator Workshop, Gary Clark Jr. experienced the Joe Rogan bump, and podcasters explore diverse revenue streams.
Register now for The Ad Bargain's debut webinar.
Catch links to everything mentioned in this episode and the full write-up on Sounds Profitable.
Here's what you need to know for today in the business of podcasting: Audible rides audio boom with big investments, the issue with DTC brands courting influencer investors, GroupM to double investment commitments in women's sports, and why true crime podcasts are great for advertisers.
Find links to everything discussed and the full write-up on Sounds Profitable.
Here's what you need to know for today in the business of podcasting, brought to you from the floor of Evolutions by Podcast Movement: The 2024 Ambies happened last night, Signal Hill Insights shares the podcast listening habits of influential exeutives, why marketers need to embrace the funny when it comes to podcasting, how to turn a comedy podcast into a comedy documentary, and Indigenous Screen Office pairs with Acast.
Find links to everything mentioned in today's episode and the full writeup on Sounds Profitable.
Here's what you need to know for today in the busines of podcasting: Sounds Profitable will be returning to Evolutions by Podcast Movement with the Partner Lounge and two public panels, Podcastle's U.S. survey finds which podcasts are hot with politically-attentive respondents, eMarketer finds poltical ad spend is nearly triple what it was in 2016, and Spotify is testing video-based learning courses in the UK version of the app.
Find links to everything mentioned and the full write-up here at Sounds Profitable.
Here's what you need to know for this week in the business of podcasting: March Madness TV ads are sold out, RedCircle launches new tool for host-read programmatic ad management, RadioDays Europe talks podcastingâs power, and advertisers are skittish on TikTok spending after recent political developments.
Find links to every article mentioned in this episode and the full write-up here on our website.
Here's what you need to know for today in the business of podcasting: LibSyn is rebranding AdvertiseCast to Libsyn Ads, Bryan Barletta's article on owning pocasting's responsibility to audiences, a Podimo survey shows Finns are 62% likely to pay a premium for podcasts, and why Super Fans are something brands should prepare for.
Catch links to everything discussed here on Sound Profitable.
Here's what you need to know for today in the business of podcasting: Ad Results Media announces platform-agnostic programmatic host-read ad management tool, a server anomaly that caused millions of dollars in false bids last week, BBC to potentially run ads on podcasts accessed on third-party platforms in the UK, Spotify is launching a new Ad Studio product, and TikTok's podcast boom might be a bust.
Find links to every article mentioned and the full write-up here on Sounds Profitable.
Podcasting has long dealt with double standards when it comes to adtech problems that are part of larger systemic problems. The industry is in a position to establish a higher quality baseline than others who get away with murder.
* Written by Bryan Barletta
* Edited by Gavin Gaddis
* Audio edited by Gavin Gaddis
* Hosted by Spreaker
Sounds Profitable: Narrated Articles is a production of Sounds Profitable. For more information, visit soundsprofitable.com.
Here's what you need to know for today in the business of podcasting: March Madness men's games all but sold out of ad inventory, how third-party cookie deprecation will change ad buys, teens use YoUTube on a daily basis more than TikTok, how advertisers are reacting to TikTok's shaky future, and Amazon's opportunity in the cookie-free future.
Find links to everything discussed and the full write-up right here on Sounds Profitable.
Today in the business of podcasting: a report from Radiodays Europe, news podcasts and ad buyers aren't seeing the anticipated election cycle bump yet, Rich Greenfield proposes streaming needs to spend more time on time spent, The Ringer's union wins generative AI protections in contract, and Kast Media has filed for bankruptcy.
Find links to every story discussed, and a full write-up, all here on Sounds Proftiable.
This week in the business of podcasting: Bryan Barletta talks about building a better umbrella for podcasting at conferences like SXSW, Edison Research's Share of Ear data shows how much time podcasting takes out of an average hour of ad-supported audio listening, reflections on SXSW for podcasting, Apple has published new resarch on humanizing word error rates in podcast transcripts, and Digiday explains WTF is server-side ad insertion.
Read the full write-up and get links to everything mentioned right here on Sounds Profitable.
Here's what you need to know for today in the business of podcasting: My Cultura plans for major growth, the power of Alex Cooper's fandom, Joe Rogan's return to YouTube podcasting is a successful one, abd the case for longer brand lift studies.
Catch links to every story mentioned and the full write-up here on Sounds Profitable.
Here's what you need to know for today in the business of podcasting: Edison data shows podcasting takes up 12.2 minutes of the average hour spent listening to ad-supported audio, iHeart publishes the winners of the 6th annual iHeartPodcast Awards, IAB data shows Gen Z is the most likely generation to spend money on premium apps and services that used to be free, Digiday explains what server-side insertion is and what it does video (spoiler alert, podcasting has done it for years), and AdNews publishes their 2024 Agency Map.
Find links to everything covered right here on Sounds Profitable.
Here's what you need to know for today in the business of podcasting: 2024 is looking up for indie podcast company acquistions/partnerships, SiriusXM isn't sweating lower Pandora numbers, and Flightpath debuts a new way to do "faked-in" host-read ads.
Find the full write-up and links to every article mentioned here on Sounds Profitable.
Here's what you need to know for today in the business of podcasting: iOS update adds Apple Podcast transcripts, a roundup of podcasting Q4 earnings calls, it's time for licensed music to enter podcasting, automated transcription and translation isn't quite ready yet, and PRX debuts new fundraising resources for local radio stations.
Find links to everything covered and the full write-up on Sounds Profitable.
Here's what you need to know for today in the business of podcasting: Tom Webster writes about how it's time for the music industry and podcasting to embrace each other, a new podcast festival is coming to the UK this spring, Rooster Teeth is shutting down (but The Roost will continue on), and the parasocial power of political podcasts.
Find links to everything discussed and the full write-up here on Sounds Profitable.
Here's what you need to know for today in the business of podcasting: Apple Podcasts launches transcripts in-app, Right Side Up's analysis of $3 million worth of podcast advertising, PRX expands their digtial fundraising resources for local radio stations, and a new study from Morning Consult shows trust in audio has jumped in the past four years.
Find links to every article mentioned and the full write-up here on Sounds Profitable.
Tom Webster reflects on a talk he gave this past week in Nashville, and musicâs place (or lack thereof) in the podcasting industry. Thereâs room for great innovation and growth with properly licensed music and podcasts, and itâs time to make it happen.
* Written by Tom Webster
* Edited by Bryan Barletta
* Audio edited by Gavin Gaddis
* Hosted by Spreaker
Sounds Profitable: Narrated Articles is a production of Sounds Profitable. For more information, visit soundsprofitable.com.
Here's what you need to know for today in the business of podcasting: KS&R releases the Podcast Frenzy report. Jen Soch of GroupM talks about how podcast advertising is changing digital ad strategies, Digiday looks into the rocky start of AI-powered podcast translations, and reps from The New York Times and Vox Media discuss their podcast strategies.
Catch links to every article mentioned and find the full writeup here on Sounds Profitable.
Here's what you need to know for today in the business of podcasting: A new batch of earnings calls rounds out the financial data for major podcast players in 2024, and numbers look good. IAB Australia publishes new report showing the state of podcast ad investment Down Under. Podcast CPMs increase inf Feb. on AdvertiseCast's tracker. Newsguard has launched new automation tools to "fingerpint" political disinformation, and CoHost is running a survey of professional podcasters.
Find links to everything discussed, as well as the full write-up, on Sounds Profitable.
Here's what you need to know for this week in the business of podcasting:
- How Podcasting is Making ITself Known at SXSW "Trojan-horse style"
- Radio and Podcasts Deliver Decision-Makers to B2B Marketing
- Podcastingâs Place in Advertising as Google Closes the Cookie Jar
- Keeping Audio Ads Simple for Better Attention Metrics
Get links to every story covered, quick hits, and data from Podscribe, all on the episode's Sound Profitable post.
Here's what you need to know for today in the business of podcasting: Edison Research discusses data showing podcasting's share of ear trends higher in urban areas than rural, podcasting's place in a post-cookie advertising future, and Ad Results Media announces their Pro platform.
Find the links to every article mentioned and the full write-up here on our site.
Here's what you need to know for today in the business of podcasting:
- Radio Connects finds podcast growth continues steadily upwards with Canadian respondents 18+
- A recent report from Veritonic and RealEyes finds ads with too much complexity or too little volume for the voiceover lose attention faster. Normalized audio shows higher returns.
- Criteo predicts $30 to $40 million in signal loss due to the death of third party cookies. Krystina Rubino of Right Side Up weighs in to give a podcasting perspective.
- Guideline reports the US ad market has continued an upward trend since April of 2023.
For links to everything covered in today's episode, please visit the episode post on Sounds Profitable.
Today on your daily recap of news in the business of podcasting: Cumulus Media's Pierre Bouvard highlights how podcasting brings B2B marketers to descision-makers at comapanies, the future of TV upfronts is programmatic + audience data, and podcast advertising grew 21.7% in Australia last year.
For links to everything covered, the quick hits, and the full write-up, click here.
Here's what you need to know for today in the business of podcasting: Digiday covers why media companies are pushing podcasts at this year's SXSW "Trojan-horse style," Spotify's Head of Sales for the UK and Northern Europe talks about the company's long-term ad goals, and Brian Morrissey talks the pivot to performance with Dotdash Meredith's CEO.
Links to every story discussed, as well as the full writeup, can be found on this episode's post at Sounds Profitable.
Here's what you need to know for this week in the business of podcasting. As always, links to every story discussed can be found in this episode's full write-up, available here.
Our top stories:
Edward Fuller'sGuide to Making the Most of SXSW as a Podcast Professional
Tom Webster Pitches AI as a Podcast Cohost
Spreaker Supporters Club Announced
New NPR SVP of Podcast Strategy Sees an Optimistic 2024 Ahead
And in our quick hits:
* 2024 Marketing Trends Report. A new report from Quill and Carney collects dozens of sources to provide a snapshot of current and potential future marketing trends.
* PodPod to be merged with Campaign. The PodPod brand will be retired and sister publication Campaign will take over live events like the British Podcast Awards and Podcast Advertising Summit, as well as increase its own coverage of audio and podcasting news.
* Spotify joins ACPM. Megaphone is now compliant with French local measurement standards. For more information on the ACPM, see The French Exception on Sounds Profitable.
* Marketers are chronically underinvesting in brand by Ashley Regan. Australian radio has a recurring issue of marketers running trial brand campaigns that are too short to show their true ROI.
* Audacy Receives Court Approval of Reorganization Plan. With the approval, Audacy can move forward on ending their Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
Here's what you need to know for today in the busienss of podcasting: PodPod will be merged into Campaign, Tom Webster writes on using AI as a podcast co-host, why Temu's Super Bowl ad is a sonic branding success story, and US scripted TV numbers dropped last year.
Find links to every story covered, as well as the full write-up, on Sounds Profitable.
Here's what you need to know for today in the business of podcasting. Top stories include Barometer and Next Broadcast Media teaming up to create a podcast brand safety tool for Arabic podcasts, 2024 political ad spend could affect advertising overall, Audacy receives approval for reorganization plans, and the top podcast advertisers for January.
Find links to all articles covered and the full write-up on Sounds Profitable.
A lot has been said about AI replacing human-made content. This week Tom Webster proposes a person-first future deploying AI-powered tools where they work best: as a support structure.
* Written by Tom Webster
* Edited by Bryan Barletta
* Audio edited by Gavin Gaddis
* Hosted by Spreaker
Sounds Profitable: Narrated Articles is a production of Sounds Profitable. For more information, visit soundsprofitable.com.
Here's what you need to know for today in the business of podcasting: Edward Fuller writes about how to take full advantage of the podcast-heavy SXSW sessions this year, why NPR's Collin Campbell sees opportunity after a turbulent 2023, marketers are underinvesting in radio brand campaigns, and more.
Find links to everything covered in today's episode, as well as the full write-up, here.
Here's what you need to know from today in the business of podcasting. Spreaker introduces new Supporters Club, Quill publishes 2024 Marketing Trends Report, Spotify embraces French podcasting, Business Insider looks at ad load on video streamers, and Adelicious' Andrew Goldsmith talks about the importance of targeting 50+ demographics.
For links to all stories covered, check out the full writeup on Sounds Profitable.
This week in the business of podcasting we collected all of the revelant news for podcasting in the world of Super Bowl advertising, branded content was on the rise as new ad product growth in 2023, and the subtle key to podcasting's persuasiveness. Find all of the links to articles discussed and original reporting done by The Download in the website version of today's episode, which can be found here.
Here's what you need to know for today in the business of podcasting:
Analysis Shows How Important Digital Audio Is Becoming For Retailers
Pepsi sat out the Super Bowl broadcast this year. Thatâs because it was everywhere else by Alyssa Meyers
Sports Podcasts Have Best Video Opportunity Survey Finds.
The Creator Economy: Boom Not Bust by Ross Adams
âŠas for the rest of the news: a new hub for the next generation of audio journalists in Canada has launched, Veritonic has launched the self-serve Brand Lift Pulse, Audiohook has announced partnership with Sounder to enable episode-level contextual targeting for podcast ads, and AdsWizz has announced the launch of synthetic voice ads on AudioGO.
Here's what you need to know for today in the business of podcasting:
Most B2B content marketers have trouble creating the right content for their audience by Meaghan Yuen
The Value of Measuring the Upper Funnel for Podcast Ads by Paul Riismandel
The Top 50 Podcasts in the U.S. for Q4 2023 from Edison Podcast Metrics
âŠas for the rest of the news: Meghan Markle has signed with Lemonada to distribute the royal coupleâs Archetypes podcast plus develop a new podcast, and Business Insider takes a look into how MrBallen became a true crime podcast empire.
Miles of article inches have been written about podcastingâs persuasiveness, but NPRâs Body Electric takes audience engagement to a new, physical level.
* Written by Tom Webster
* Edited by Bryan Barletta
* Audio edited by Gavin Gaddis
* Hosted by Spreaker
Sounds Profitable: Narrated Articles is a production of Sounds Profitable. For more information, visit soundsprofitable.com.
Here's what you need to know for today in the business of podcasting:
Podcast Consumers Engage With Social Media And Listen To Episodes Within A Day Of Release by Lauren Vetrano
Most publishers grew their ad offerings last year, with a focus on branded content
Authentic Multicultural Narratives Create True Diversity in Audio Advertising by Antonio Francisco Lewis
Subscriptions, Not an Endangered Species
SiriusXM to Lay Off 160 Employees, About 3% of Workforce
Research Database Snapshot
Here's what you need to know for today in the business of podcasting:
Acast expects short-term impact on listens from Apple update by Ella Sagar
This Yearâs Super Bowl Is All About Reaching Gen Z by Alyssa Boyle
Slate reports best year by Max Tani
Perfection Thwarting Progress: Response to IAB Tech Lab's Missive on Google's Privacy Sandbox By Catherine Perloff
Here's what you need to know for this week in the business of podcasting:
The following stories feature reporting specifically by The Download:
How Much Podcasting Does a 30 Second Super Bowl Spot Buy?
Accreditation for Black-Owned Publishers in Podcasting
The Trade Desk to Lowball SSP Price Floors
Brand Marketing Grows, Performance Shrinks in WARC Data
And also from The Ankler: YouTubeâs Place in Streaming
Quick Hits:
Reintroducing Podcasting by Tom Webster. The upcoming Sound Summit at SXSW, an official day for podcasting, will act as a way for podcasting to re-introduce itself to brands and agencies that mightâve only last encountered podcasting in its adtech infancy.
Spotify Reports Fourth Quarter 2023 Earnings. Paid subscribers are up, raising one million over guidance numbers. The company expects their podcasting arm to turn a profit by the end of the year.
Podcast benchmarking: How did your downloads compare in 2023? By Sharon Taylor. The benchmarks present what count as âgoodâ download numbers for ap podcast, divided into percentiles.
The Art of Podcasting with Joe Rogan and His New Multiyear Spotify Partnership. The Joe Rogan Experience has renewed its contract with Spotify for hosting and distribution, but the former exclusive has now returned to open RSS distribution.
Here's what you need to know for today in the business of podcasting:
The Trade Desk Plans To Lowball SSP Floor Prices
Podcast benchmarking: How did your downloads compare in 2023? By Sharon Taylor
The New York Times expects ad revenue to continue to decline in 2024 by Sara Guaglione
Warner Music to Cut 600 Positions or 10% of Staff by Ashely Carman
Here's what you need to know for today in the business of podcasting:
More than a third of marketers will increase their brand marketing investments this year by Meaghan Yuen
Meet Podcast X-Ray by Dan Misener
Toyota Signs Eli Manning and Brock Purdy as National Partners and Announces Plans for Super Bowl LVIII as The âOfficial Automotive Partner of the NFLâ
AI-powered podcast ad producer AudioStack raises ÂŁ2.5m
If someone peeked into podcasting in the late 2010s, they wouldâve seen an industry in ad tech infancy in comparison to podcastingâs capabilities now. The official Podcasting Sound Summit at SXSW will help re-introduce the industry and show off its new capabilities.
* Written by Tom Webster
* Edited by Bryan Barletta
* Audio edited by Gavin Gaddis
* Hosted by Spreaker
Sounds Profitable: Narrated Articles is a production of Sounds Profitable. For more information, visit soundsprofitable.com.
Here's what you need to know for today in the business of podcasting:
Netflix's Threat Isn't in Hollywood. It's YouTube by Entertainment Strategy Guy
Hereâs what a $7M, 30-second Super Bowl ad can purchase in digital media in 2024 by Kimeko McCoy
What People Are Doing When They Arenât Listening To Your Podcast by Steven Goldstein
Spotify Reports Fourth Quarter 2023 Earnings
Here's what you need to know for today in the business of podcasting:
Spotifyâs Multiplatform Strategy, Rogan Going Public
WTF is accreditation for Black-owned publications? By Sara Guaglione
AdvertiseCast Marketplace Podcast Advertising Rates
âŠas for the rest of the news: Andrew Goldsmith has been promoted to CEO of Adelicious, BBC Sounds has publisher their Q4 report, and the Hollywood Reporter has published the full list of nominees for the 2024 iHeartRadio Podcast Awards, the winners of which will be announced live at a particularly podcast-heavy SXSW.
Here's what you need to know for this week in the business of podcasting:
Apple Podcasts Debuts Automatic Transcript Generation
Alex Cooperâs âCall Her Daddyâ Podcast Ends Spotify Exclusivity
Lessons From The Brand Podcast Summit
Triton Digitalâs U.S. Podcast Report, 2023
New Direct-to-Consumer Podcast Advertising Report
Quick Hits:
Knowing Half the Battle in Podcasting by Tom Webster. Half the battle of podcasting is keeping up with changes to the audience, and this week Tom looks at the âneglected halfâ of the work.
Wondery Announces Original Podcast Black History, For Real. The new podcast, produced by DCP Entertainment, is a weekly series breaking down the lesser-known events and individuals that have shaped Black culture.
ESPN Podcasts to Air Weekday Afternoons on ESPN2. Five video podcasts produced by ESPN will be aired on their second channel as part of a seasonal content initiative, filling the 2-3PM EST time slot Monday-Friday.
The Free and Open Ad-Supported Internet. A new IAB study that looks into the feelings of internet users when it comes to advertisingâs place online and how it keeps certain sites and services free to use.
Here's what you need to know for today in the business of podcasting:
Alex Cooperâs âCall Her Daddyâ Podcast Is No Longer Exclusive to Spotify by Caitlin Huston
98% of Global Marketers for Direct-to-Consumer Brands Say Podcasts are Effective in Reaching Consumers, Acast Study Finds
RAJAR Data Release, Q4 2023
Still Waiting For That Cookie To Crumble? Weâre In The âIn-Between Years,â Says IAB CEO David Cohen by Sarah Sluis
âŠas for the rest of the news: As for the rest of the news⊠Audacy is set to lay off 25% of employees from Pineapple Street, Digiday shares thoughts from attendees of IAB ALM, and the spring thaw comes early as AdAge covers which agencies might be buying (or bought) after a slow 2023 for M&A.
Here's what you need to know for today in the business of podcasting:
The Free and Open Ad-Supported Internet
Brand Podcast Summit Keeps the Focus on the Audience by Jeff Vidler
In rocky digital advertising landscape, advertisers reconsider direct mail by Kimeko McCoy
Digiday+ Research: Publishers held onto their staff and titles last year, even as traffic fell by Julia Tabisz
âŠas for the rest of the news: SXM Media signs $100+ million three year exclusivity deal with Smartless, Acastâs Megan Davies talks about AIâs role in podcasting, and Triton Digitalâs Sharon Taylor has published predictions for podcastingâs 2024 from nine industry leaders.
With apologies to G.I. Joe, half the battle of podcasting is not the changes in technology, but keeping up with changes to the audience. Tom Webster digs into the âneglected halfâ of the work of podcasting.
* Written by Tom Webster
* Edited by Bryan Barletta
* Audio edited by Gavin Gaddis
* Hosted by Spreaker
Sounds Profitable: Narrated Articles is a production of Sounds Profitable. For more information, visit soundsprofitable.com.
Here's what you need to know for today in the business of podcasting:
Appleâs New iOS 17 Software Is A Positive Step For Podcast Advertisers And Content Creators John Wordock and Pierre Bouvard
Triton Digital US Podcast Report 2023
Audiobooks Are Booming. Spotify Wants in on the Action by Alexandra Alter
The Results Are In: Hereâs What Americans Streamed in 2023 by John Koblin
Amazon rolls out ads on Prime Video by Jasmine Sheena
âŠas for the rest of the news: Ari Paparo interviews Spotifyâs Per Sandell to discuss the companyâs targeting and adtech, Linkfire announces Engaged Listeners metric for Apple Podcasts, branded podcast production Pop by Pacific Content launches, and MediaPost interviews Ad Results Media's Gretchen Smith about podcast advertising.
Here's what you need to know for today in the business of podcasting:
Transcripts on Apple Podcasts
ESPN Podcasts to Air Weekday Afternoons on ESPN2 Starting January 29 by Alex Feuz
George Carlinâs Estate Sues Podcasters Over A.I. Episode
âŠas for the rest of the news: Amazon dethroned BetterHelp as top podcast spender on Magellan AIâs December tracker, and Wondery debuts a new toy line inspired by Wow in the World.
And Podfront comes to PodMov.
Monday, March 26th, Sounds Profitable has partnered with Podcast Movement to present the inaugural Podfront, an upfront-style event bringing brands and publishers together. Hosted by Tom Webster and Bryan Barletta, the event runs 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., with food and beverage provided.Whether you represent a brand thatâd like an invite, or a publisher whoâd like to participate, check out the official Podfront page!
Here's what you need to know for this week in the business of podcasting:
Sounder Debuts Open APIs For Transcription
How Podcast Networks Are Testing Out AI
Analysis of 28.5 Million Podcast Reviews on US Apple Podcasts
Not All Video Podcast Ads Are Created Equal
Quick Hits:
The âWhyâ of Your Podcast by Tom Webster. This week Tom shares an excerpt from his upcoming book, focusing on figuring out the all-important detail of why someone listens to a podcast.
Paramount Wonât Return to TVâs Upfront Week in New York by Brian Steinberg. Despite CBS usually being a big-ticket player in flashy New York upfronts, Paramount Global is taking this year to focus on intimate in-person meetings with select advertisers.
SCOOP: Are awards worth it for Canadian podcasts? by Kattie Laur. A deep dive into confusion and controversy surrounding last yearâs Signal awards.
Brands Are Getting Shy On DEI, But Reaching Diverse Audiences Is Still Good Business by Anthony Vargas. Minority-owned publishers have a big hurdle to overcome, as despite regularly providing higher ROI than more generic competitors, buyers arenât finding their inventory in the first place.
Manifest Media Announces Strategic Partnership with Realm to Expand its Creative Influence in Podcasting. The collaboration aims to bring Manifestâs catalog of new and upcoming audio fiction to Realmâs platform.
Ossa Announces 2nd Event In 10-Part Series On Creators and Podcast Advertising Partners. The session will focus on where to find podcast hosting services and tips on evaluating the best one for a given podcasterâs needs.
Here's what you need to know for today in the business of podcasting:
Unlocking the Value of Audio Content: Why Open APIs Are a Game-Changer (featuring Bryan Barletta, Partner at Sounds Profitable)
The âWhyâ of Your Podcast by Tom Webster
More gambling ad spend goes to TV than all other formats combined by Sara Lebow
NPR names tech executive Katherine Maher to lead in turbulent era by David Folkenflik
âŠas for the rest of the news: Audacy projects ambitious revenue growth in streaming and podcasting for the year, and Paramount announces Jon Stewart will return as executive producer and Monday host of The Daily Show.
Here's what you need to know for today in the business of podcasting:
Most streaming music tracks do not reach monetisation threshold by Ella Sagar
Brands Are Getting Shy On DEI, But Reaching Diverse Audiences Is Still Good Business by Anthony Vargas
Why Personalized Ads Go Wrong And How To Do Them Right by Hana Yoo
âŠas for the rest of the news: Magellan has published their rankings of top podcast advertisers for December 2023, Brian Morrissey reflects on what media publishing might look like if the current billionaire-supported model falls apart, and Sounder has a free live webinar next Tuesday with Bryan Barletta on open APIs.
Since the beginning of podcasting, people have yearned to know exactly why someone does or does not listen to their podcast. Tom Webster reflects on what answering a âwhyâ can uncover.
* Written by Tom Webster
* Edited by Bryan Barletta
* Audio edited by Gavin Gaddis
* Hosted by Spreaker
Sounds Profitable: Narrated Articles is a production of Sounds Profitable. For more information, visit soundsprofitable.com.
Here's what you need to know for today in the business of podcasting:
How podcast networks are testing AI tools for faster translation, ad sales by Sara Guaglione
I analyzed 28.5 million Apple Podcasts star ratings by Dan Misener
Paramount Wonât Return to TVâs Upfront Week in New York by Brian Steinberg
Are awards worth it for Canadian podcasts? By Kattie Laur
LUMA: 2024 Will Be Better For M&A (No, Seriously This Time) by Allison Schiff
Sound will no longer be an afterthought
Here's what you need to know for today in the business of podcasting:
Not All Podcast Ads are Created Equal. Here's Why by Kedric Walls
Sports has a Gen Z problem
Are Podcasts Cool (Again)?
Hot Pod Interviews NPC Podcast Chief Collin Campbell
âŠas for the rest of the news: amplifiâs Steven Goldstein writes The Truth About Podcastingâs Measurement Makeover, PodBeanâs final free live event of âPodcast Launch Monthâ is this Thursday, and healthcare is projected to invest over $36 billion in U.S. advertising this year (which podcasting could get a cut of).
Here's what you need to know from this week in the business of podcasting.
Podcast Download: Disconnect Between Ad Creative and Audience Expectations
TikTok on Skippable Ads, Becoming Search Destination
Communication is Key in Podcasting
Podcasting Grows at SXSW
Quick Hits
While they may not be top story material, the articles below from this week are definitely worth your time:
* The 25th Hour by Tom Webster. This week in the Sounds Profitable newsletter, Tom explains how Duolingo, rocks, and sand can help podcasting reach potential listeners who feel they donât have enough time for podcasts.
* Podcasting Pioneer Shares His 3 Biggest Tips for Success . This week on How Success Happens, Bryan Barletta joins to discuss how companies can set themselves up for success when dipping their toes into podcasting.
* Australians downloaded more than 1 billion podcasts in 2023. According to the December Australian Podcast Ranker from Triton Digital and Commercial Radio & Audio, Australia's top 200 Australian podcasts were downloaded more than a billion times last year, representing a 26% year over year increase.
* Can programmatic help podcasts find the money? By Damian Fowler. Programmatic advertising made up 1 in 10 revenue ad dollars for podcasting last year, while forms of other digital media had 9 out of 10 come from programmatic. This piece looks at ways programmatic could have a path forward in increasing its growth rate with podcasts.
* Flightpath Premieres First-of-its-Kind Campaign Prediction One Year Into the Future. Flightpathâs new availability engine aims to elevate transparency and control, as well as allow advertisers and creators to plan up to a year in the future with confidence.
* ALIVE Podcast Network and Barometer Partner to Drive Equitable Monetization for Black Creators and Media Owners. The new partnership between ALIVE Podcast Network and Barometer aims to challenge historical disenfranchisement faced by creators of diverse backgrounds.
Here's what you need to know for today in the business of podcasting:
The 25th Hour by Tom Webster
Podcasts are key tool for TV discovery, research shows by Adam Shepherd
Amy Poehler to Keynote at Podcast Movement Evolutions
TikTok gains favor among Gen Z over Google for searches by Jeremy Goldman
Daily Beast Podcast Secretly Records Paul F. Tompkins, Reframes Discussion
âŠas for the rest of the news: WARC Media predicts global ad spend will break $1 trillion this year, Marketing Brew gives a âway too earlyâ look at cookie-less internet browsing, and ExchangeWire asks several experts for their predictions on podcasting and digital audio this year.
Here's what you need to know for today in the business of podcasting:
Podcast Ad Creative Disconnect Revealed In Cumulus Media And Signal Hill Insightsâ Podcast Download by Pierre Bouvard
Australians downloaded more than 1 billion podcasts in 2023
Can programmatic help podcasts find the money? by Damian Fowler
âŠas for the rest of the news: Headliner reflects on 2023âs statistics and feature launches, Signal Hill Insights discusses how YouTube and video will grow podcasting this year, and Bryan Barletta appears on Entrepreneurâs podcast How Success Happens to talk about setting companies up for success in podcasting.
Tom Webster explains what rocks, sand, and Duolingo can teach podcasting in how we frame listening statistics and audience behavior.
* Written by Tom Webster
* Edited by Bryan Barletta
* Audio edited by Gavin Gaddis
* Hosted by Spreaker
Sounds Profitable: Narrated Articles is a production of Sounds Profitable. For more information, visit soundsprofitable.com.
Here's what you need to know for today in the business of podcasting:
The incredible shrinking podcast industry by Max Tani
TikTok reports non-skippable video ads may harm engagement by Nicola Agius
How children's privacy laws complicate connected TV tracking practices by Tim Peterson
S&P says advertisers have resumed spending
iHeartMedia Announces Return of âThe iHeartPodcast Awardsâ with Live Event in Partnership with SXSW on March 11, 2024
âŠas for the rest of the news: PodPod reports Audioboom has hit 35% year-over-year revenue growth, Flightpath premiers campaign predictions that can project one year into the future, Magellan AI adds attention metrics with Adelaide, and Pushkin appoints Gretta Cohn as CEO.
Here's what you need to know for this week in the business of podcasting: Podcast Acquisitions & Investments - 2023 Industry RecapSXM Mediaâs Digital Audio Research RecapYouTube Launches RSS Feed IngestionBranded Music and AuthenticityQuick Hits: 5 Strategies For Podcast Expansion In A Zero-Sum Audio World by Steven Goldstein. Recent Edison Research data shows daily time spent listening to audio content has remained stable for a decade. Goldstein discusses strategies for podcasting to grow in a world where a listenerâs time is largely already accounted for.iOS 17 by Pete Birsinger. The Podscribe CEO has written an explainer on how iOS17 changed auto-downloading behavior and how it will likely impact campaign performance for podcasts. For more reading on the subject, we recommend Livewire Labsâ regularly-updated data on download performance since iOS 17âs release.Content Mood Targeting from SXM Media. Publishers working with SXM can target music-listening audiences based on the mood assigned to millions of songs in a growing library of cateogorized music, as well as submit their own music to be assigned mood tags.The Untapped Potential of Audio in Retail Media Networks by Joshua Yamuder. Triton Digitalâs Director of Partnerships and Programmatic Marketplace promotes digital audio as a must-have inclusion for retail media networks looking to diversify their marketing mix.Since the last issue of The Download there have been two podcasting bankruptcies of note: Audacy and Voxalyze
Here's what you need to know for today in the business of podcasting:Podcast Acquisitions & Investments - 2023 Industry Recap by Bryan Barletta
Ambassador Ads are going away.
The Untapped Potential of Audio in Retail Media Networks by Joshua Yamuder
If music marketing is a gateway to culture, brands must navigate carefully, execs say
âŠas for the rest of the news: The recently-canceled podcast Death, Sex & Money from WNYC has been revived by Slate, and if youâre interested in more coverage of marketers seeking authenticity in their campaigns: check out Digidayâs piece on brands shifting their approach to influencers.
Here's what you need to know for today in the business of podcasting:
YouTube officially allows creators to publish podcasts via RSS feeds by Reem Makari
After a tough year, podcast execs say 2024 will bring in new advertisers amid stiff competition for listeners by Sara Guaglione
Libsyn CPMs down 6% for 2023 by Adam Shepherd
Can Programmatic Audio Rise In The Charts In 2024? by Hana Yoo
âŠas for the rest of the news: Lower Street has announced their speaker lineup for a free brand podcast summit on January 24th, Adam Bowie looks at Edisonâs top 25 podcasts in the UK from Q3 2023, and AdExchanger looks at programmatic CTVâs expected evolution for the year.
Here's what you need to know for today in the business of podcasting:
Sounder Analysis: NPR's News Podcasts Significantly Safer for Brands than General Population of News Podcasting
Content Mood Targeting
5 Strategies For Podcast Expansion In A Zero-Sum Audio World by Steven Goldstein
How Will Contextual Advertising Fare When The FTC Revises Its COPPA Rule? by Allison Schiff
âŠas for the rest of the news: iHeartmedia and Magnite join forces to launch a new marketplace, AdLarge signs exclusive sales partnership with Fable & Folly, Audacy files for bankruptcy, USG Audio scales back Universalâs podcast development, and Voxalyze announces a shutdown of their services due to lack of investment.
Here's what you need to know for today in the business of podcasting: Streaming audio twice as âauthenticâ than TV for advertisers. Podcasts? Nine times. by Brad HilliOS 17, a writeup by Pete BirsingerWhy Gen Zâs biggest podcasters are working from bed by Lilly SmithThe 5 trends that will shape sports marketing in 2024 by Alyssa MeyersMusic streaming service SoundCloud tunes up for sale by Mark KleinmanâŠas for the rest of the news: Signal Hill Insights shares three potential game-changers from their 2023 research, Cumulus Media signs a deal with BiggerPockets, and iHeartMedia is launching a politically-focused podcast network.
Here's what you need to know for today in the business of podcasting: Disney nearly sold out Christmas sports ad space in early December.Simplecast Announces YouTube IntegrationSmartLess Proved Celeb Podcasts Can Mean BusinessYouTube Postpones Co-Viewing Measurement PlanQuick Hits: What marketers need to learn from breakthrough brand IP like Barbie, Nike, Super Mario Bros. for 2024 by Kristina Monllos. Digiday interviews several people in the advertising industry to get their take on the near-future of branded content in a post-Barbie world.Here's What's Missing From Netflix's Data Dump, According to Ad Experts by Bill Bradley. While the new What We Watched report from Netflix has some useful data covering the past six months, ad buyers would prefer smaller, more frequent batches of data with more targetable information than one giant batch every six months.The Crucial Timing of Ads. RedCircle sketches out the ebb and flow of ad spending throughout a typical year to give podcasters an idea of what strategies they should pursue in the early months, the summer, and the busy holiday season at the end of the year. What Worked in 2023: Brands in Podcasting by Annalise Nielsen. Pacific Content interviews several industry professionals to talk about valuable lessons learned in branded podcasting this year.
Here's what you need to know for today in the business of podcasting:Simplecast adds YouTube integration for automatic uploads by Adam ShepherdWhat marketers need to learn from breakthrough brand IP like Barbie, Nike, Super Mario Bros. for 2024 by Kristina MonllosHere's What's Missing From Netflix's Data Dump, According to Ad Experts by Bill BradleyâŠas for the rest of the news: Podimo has secured âŹ44 million in combined funding, and eMarketer finds most TV and video ad buyers require at least three(!) forms of data currency.
Here's what you need to know for today in the business of podcasting: Welcome to the ad-free internetSpotify's Push Into Audiobooks Sparks Concern Among Authors by Ashley CarmanThe Crucial Timing of AdsMedia Buying Briefing: Here are five media agency trends to watch in 2024 by Antoinette Siu and Michael BĂŒrgi âŠas for the rest of the news: Rain News shares the audio-related highlights from Nieman Labsâ 2024 predictions, and Marketing Brew covers how Agencies of Record could become a thing of the past.
Here's what you need to know for today in the business of podcasting: IAB Releases First-of-Its-Kind Research Report on the Creator Economy Advertising OpportunityWhat Worked in 2023: Brands in Podcasting by Annalise NielsenYouTube postpones co-viewing measurement plan by Tim PetersonAd Trends In 2024: Digital Deceleration, AI Rising, More Ad-Supported StreamingâŠas for the rest of the news: Tink Media has launched Podcast Group Therapy to offer podcast marketing strategies in tight-knit online sessions capped at 10 participants, new Association of Online Publishers report shows subscription revenues are beginning growth to a flat digital publishing market in the UK, and Magellan AI publishes their top movers and shakers in podcast advertising for November.
Here's what you need to know for today in the business of podcasting: Disney is almost sold out of Christmas NFL, NBA, and Rose Bowl ad inventory by Alyssa MeyersMailchimp cancels podcast after refusing to work with union producers by Ariel ShapiroHow Will Arnett, Jason Bateman and Sean Hayesâ âSmartlessâ Proved Podcasts Can Mean Big Business by Addie MorfootBehind the scenes of SiriusXMâs rebrand by Alyssa MeyersâŠas for the rest of the news: Podnews has launched a fun tool to find which Netflix series has similar performance to your podcastâs based on recently-published Netflix watch data, and IAB Australia has announced the 2024 IAB Australia Audio Summits sessions.
Here's what you need to know for this week in the business of podcasting: Sound You Can See: Podcastingâs Video DilemmaEdison Research, Cumulus Media publish Q3 Share of Ear StudySpotify Inks Podcast Deal With Warner Bros. Discovery for CNN, HBO and More Shows by Caitlin HustonTeens social media platform choices are shifting.
Here's what you need to know for today in the business of podcasting: Sound You Can See: Podcastingâs Video Dilemma49% of global marketers predict increase in podcast ad spending by Adam ShepherdAudio Is One Of Agency Giant WPPâs Top 10 Trends For 2024.Realm inks deal with Adelicious
Sound You Can See, our latest research on the role of video in podcasting, presents a compelling picture of a single audience, choosing audio or video depending on their mood and environment. Tom Webster breaks down the ten things you need to know from this important study.Sound You Can See Webinar* Written by Tom Webster * Edited by Bryan Barletta * Audio edited by Gavin Gaddis * Hosted by ART19
Sounds Profitable: Narrated Articles is a production of Sounds Profitable. For more information, visit soundsprofitable.com.
Here's what you need to know for today in the business of podcasting: TikTok Sunsets Podcast FeatureTeens are more online than ever, but platform preferences differ: report by Jasmine SheenaPodcasters & Advertisers: Meet Your New Audience by Paul RiismandelThe Specialist DSPs Giving Omnichannel Giants A Run For Their Money By James HercherâŠas for the rest of the news: McDonaldâs has committed to supporting diverse podcasting for another two years, and Brian Morrissey discusses podcasts as ânuance mediaâ on The Rebooting Show.
Here's what you need to know for today in the business of podcasting: Edison Q3 2023 âShare Of Earâ: AM/FM In-Car Listening Surges To Pre-Pandemic Norms, Spoken Word Grows To Highest Level, And Pandora and Spotify Are Down by Pierre BouvardSpotify Inks Podcast Deal With Warner Bros. Discovery for CNN, HBO and More Shows by Caitlin HustonTikTok, gaming, and AI will define the advertising landscape in 2024, report says
Here's what you need to know for today in the business of podcasting. People are watching longer TikToks. What does that mean for competition with YouTube? by Sara LebowA look at holding company 2024 ad spending forecasts by Antoinette SiuFrom Unicorns to Zombies: Tech Start-Ups Run Out of Time and Money by Erin GriffithWhat creator Anna Kai looks for in a brand partner by Katie HicksâŠas for the rest of the news: Livewire has published an update to their tracking of iOS 17 auto-download changes in Apple Podcasts, and Spotifyâs CFO Paul Vogel is now slated to leave the company in March (a decision made shortly after Vogel sold over $9 million in Spotify shares on the same day as the layoff news last week).
Here's what you need to know from this week in the business of podcasting: The Fastest Growing Languages in PodcastingPodcast Download Fall 2023, Cumulus Media and Signal Hill InsightsSpotify Announces LayoffsANA Study Finds Nearly 2/3rds of Ad Dollars Never Reach Intended AudiencesQuick Hits: The Partial Attention Economy of Video Podcasting by Tom Webster. Surveyed podcast audiences say theyâre media-agnostic when it comes to how and where they consume podcasts. Tom examines what this means for podcasting. Speaking of video and podcasting, donât forget to register for Sound You Can See: Podcastingâs Video Dilemma, which debuts in a free webinar at 2:00 p.m. CST on Wednesday, December 13th. Libsyn Unveils November 2023 Podcast Advertising Rates, and 5 Developments to Watch in 2024. Along with the latest AdvertiseCast average CPM for a 60 second podcast ad, CRO Dave Hanley shares five things to keep an eye on next year. Deloitte: Audio Market to Surpass $75 billion in 2024. In addition to the overall number for audio advertising, Deloitte predicts podcasting has a fair amount of untapped potential for per-user revenue growth. Podcasts arenât as doomed as they look. But some of the best ones are by Scott Nover. A look at the last year for Spotify, as well as big-picture reflection on the issues facing more cost-intensive journalistic and investigative podcasts.Podcast Companies Begin to Advertise Like Hollywood Studios by Katie Deighton. Wondery is taking a page out of the Hollywood playbook, promoting the new Grinch podcast with a pop-up event in a Los Angeles mall.
What Are the Fastest-Growing Podcast Languages? by Becca ButcherâWe have to test or youâre dead next yearâ: Overheard at the Digiday Programmatic Marketing Summit by Kayleigh BarberPodcasts aren't as doomed as they look. But some of the best ones are by Scott NoverOnly around a third of ad dollars reach âintended audiences,â ANA finds by Ryan BarwickâŠas for the rest of the news: Tidal announces a layoff of 10% of its staff, and more Digiday coverage of the Programmatic Marketing Summit in which a panelist breaks down integrating programmatic tracking into the creator economy.
When asked if they listen to full podcast episodes, watch full episodes, or watch clips, audiences surveyed gave a resounding âyes.â Tom Webster breaks down what that means for podcasting and how we should act on it.* Written by Tom Webster * Edited by Bryan Barletta * Audio edited by Gavin Gaddis * Hosted by ART19
Sounds Profitable: Narrated Articles is a production of Sounds Profitable. For more information, visit soundsprofitable.com.
Spotify Cuts 1,500 Jobs, CEO Ek Says Streamer Must Be Leaner by Lucas ShawDeloitte: Audio Market To Surpass $75 Billion In 2024.Libsyn Unveils November 2023 Podcast Advertising Rates, and 5 Developments to Watch in 2024âŠas for the rest of the news: NPR hires former Gimlet executive editor Collin Cambell to oversee podcast strategy, PodPod reports the BBC is investing more in podcasting as part of a digital pivot, Marketing Brew examines why advertisers are excited about attention metrics, and Horizon Media has outlined 10 Gen Z subcultures for marketers to think about when targeting campaigns.
Here's what you need to know from this week in the business of podcasting: RAJAR: UK Podcast Weekly Reach Has Doubled Since 2017Ad Revenue Growing Faster Than ExpectedPodcast Guesting Drives Defector SubscriptionsBranded Podcast Enables Better Coverage, Connection With FansQuick Hits:Putting Success In Your Way With Video by Tom Webster. With the growth of video podcasting, itâs time to re-examine how podcasting thinks about audiences watching podcasts instead of listening. Tom Webster breaks down the differences, and how the two arenât mutually exclusive.Age of Audio: A Tale of Modern Audio Storytelling. Podcast producer Ronald Young Jr. has published a trailer and IndieGoGo campaign to fund the completion of a documentary about the evolution of narrative audio in podcasting, featuring interviews with notable podcasters like Ira Glass, Avery Trufelman, and our very own Tom Webster. How audience-first creative is amplifying audio and video campaigns for 2024 by Alex Donics. Spotifyâs global director of demand marketing talks through the power of effective advertising and highlights the key ingredient of a well-produced, authentic ad creative. Realm & IGN Strike Podcast Deal Including Scripted Adaptation Of Justin Roiland Videogame âHigh On Lifeâ From Squanch Games by Peter White. Audio fiction production company Realm has signed a deal with IGN to produce podcasts based on video game IP. Given the size and connections of IGN, this could lead to a whole new niche of licensed audio fiction based on video games. New Podcast Audience Profiles Now Available for Publishers in the Australian Podcast Ranker. Triton Digital and Commercial Radio & Audio have announced new podcast audience profiles are now available with the launch of Podcast Metrics Demos+
Here's what you need to know for today in the business of podcasting: Strong online sales show Black Friday was an âomnichannel eventâ by Alex VuocoloAd revenue is growing faster than expected, per analyst by Ryan BarwickDigiday+ Research: Publishersâ programmatic revenue didnât shake out the way theyâd hoped, but itâs still a bright spot How audience-first creative is amplifying audio and video campaigns for 2024 by Alex DonicsâŠas for the rest of the news: The trailer and IndieGoGo campaign for Age of Audio: A Tale of Modern Audio Storytelling are now live (spoiler alert: Sounds Profitableâs own Tom Webster makes an appearance), Magellan AI has published their October 2023 top movers and shakers in podcast advertising, and AdExchanger proposes programmatic CTV is in its âconsolidation phaseâ (a phase podcasting has already experienced and matured from).
Here's what you need to know for today in the business of podcasting: Podcastingâs Multiplatform Imperative by Steven GoldsteinInnovid study examines impact of measurement and optimization gaps across CTV campaigns by Antoinette SiuGoogleâs Search Partner network comes under fire in research underlining brand safety vulnerabilities by Ronan ShieldsWhy Chiliâs brought back its baby back ribs jingle by Alyssa MeyersâŠas for the rest of the news: MediaPost reports the ad market has grown for its fourth consecutive quarter, the 2023 edition of Spotify Wrapped is here, Signal Hill Insightsâ Jeff Vidler discusses what makes podcasts a unique ad medium, and weâve got a bushel of Apple charts: Podnews has aggregated the top Apple Podcasts show around the world, and Adam Bowie breaks down the U.S. top Apple chart to compare it to similar rankings from other sources.
With the growth of video podcasting, itâs time to re-examine how podcasting thinks about audiences watching podcasts instead of listening. Tom Webster breaks down the differences, and how the two arenât mutually exclusive.* Written by Tom Webster * Edited by Bryan Barletta * Audio edited by Gavin Gaddis * Hosted by ART19
Sounds Profitable: Narrated Articles is a production of Sounds Profitable. For more information, visit soundsprofitable.com.
Here's what you need to know for today in the business of podcasting: Auddia Announces Intent to Strip Ads From PodcastsDigital audio ad spend in Australia up 16.2% September quarter 2023Realm & IGN Strike Podcast Deal Including Scripted Adaptation Of Justin Roiland Videogame âHigh On Lifeâ From Squanch Games by Peter WhiteâŠas for the rest of the news: Apple shares the most popular podcasts of the year, and Adam Bowie takes a look at the RAJAR Midas report.
Here's what you need to know for today in the business of podcasting: Rajar Midas: podcasts double weekly reach in six years by Ella SagarThe shifts that will impact 2024âs video ad landscape by Jennifer KingDefector Annual Report, September 2022 â August 2023How Trader Joeâs, Erewhon, and H-E-B, have cultivated a cult following Women more disengaged with news than menâŠas for the rest of the news: The Podcast Show 2024 is now accepting session and speaker submissions until Friday, December 8th (and in case you were wondering: Sounds Profitable will be in attendance), Livewire Labs has published an in-depth analysis of the impact of auto-download changes to Apple Podcast in iOS 17, and AdNews interviews Spotifyâs head of sales for Australia and New Zealand.
Here's what you need to know for today in the business of podcasting: A secret Google deal let Spotify completely bypass Androidâs app store fees by Adi Robertson and Sean HollisterBrand safety concerns mount as X (formerly Twitter) pulls out of MRC audit by Krystal ScanlonNewsGuardâs Whitelist Of Ukrainian Publishers Aims To Combat Wartime Misinformation by Anthony VargasRoku And Unity Want To Prove CTV Is A Performance Channel by Alyssa BoyleWorking From Home Spurs Ad Block Rates to Rise by Trishla OstwalâŠas for the rest of the news: SiriusXM Media SVP and Head of Ad Innovation Lizzie Widhelm is on the latest Digiday Podcast, and PodPod has signed Spotify as a headline partner for their Podcast Advertising Summit, set to take place in London on January 25th.
Here's what you need to know for today in the business of podcasting:Forecast: Double-Digit Online Ad Growth For Both 2023 And 2024.Spotify Audience Network expands to five new global markets by Reem MakariSystem1: New Study Reveals How Audio Personalities Drive Advertising Effectiveness by Pierre BouvardAmazon joins pack offering deals a week ahead of Black Friday by Alex VuocoloCost of living is squeezing the entertainment budgets of AustraliansâŠas for the rest of the news: JAR Audio breaks down why podcasts should be guided by engagement instead of conversions, SoundCast is deepening ties between audio and mobile gaming advertising, and Pew Research Center finds Americans favor digital for news while print is at an all-time low.
Here's what you need to know from this week in the business of podcasting: The Spoken Word Audio Report 2023YouTube Debuts New AI Content PoliciesSaving TikTok Songs to Spotify With New IntegrationAd Engagement Declines With Lack of RepresentationQuick Hits:* Spotifyâs podcast and audiobook discovery will get a boost from Google Cloudâs AI by Amrita Khalid. Google Cloudâs Large Language Models will be used to scan all podcasts and audiobooks on Spotify to improve metadata and discoverability. * Podcasting Lessons From Dogs by Tom Webster. This week Tom reflects on why podcasts with multiple hosts need an Abbot to their Costello. A traffic cop to direct the flow of conversation when need be. * How I got 10x YouTube subscribers by adding video to my podcast by Ashley Hamer. A step-by-step account of Hamer adding video production to her existing podcast Taboo Science and how optimizing her YouTube channel boosted YouTube algorithm attention. * Sound You Can See: Podcastingâs Video Dilemma. On Wednesday, December 13th, Sounds Profitable will debut their latest study, which dives into consumer perceptions of podcasts on video and how they continue to drive the future of this medium. * Global signs exclusive podcast distribution and licensing deal with iHeartMedia by Reem Makari. iHeartMedia podcasts will be distributed on the Global Media app in the UK and Ireland, while Global podcasts will be distributed in the U.S. on iHeartRadioâs app, along with iHeartMedia monetization. * Triton Podcast Ranker: October 2023. 48 Hours climbs two spots to enter the top 10 in 9th place, pushing Conan Needs a Friend down to #10.
Here's what you need to know for today in the business of podcasting:Spotifyâs podcast and audiobook discovery will get a boost from Google Cloudâs AI by Amrita KhalidYouTube intros new AI governance policies. AI helps enforce them by Brad HillThe case for and against brand safety by Seb Joseph and Krystal ScanlonDefining Premium Video - How VAB and Comcastâs FreeWheel are Trying to Settle TV Industry Debate by Jack NeffâŠas for the rest of the news: PodPod covers how to hit the mark with GenZ podcast listeners, and Tritonâs newest batch of podcast rankers have arrived, including Australiaâs top 100 showing Hamish & Andy has held its #1 spot for six months running.
What is the âfuture of audio business?âToday on the podcast, weâre excited to feature Bryan Barlettaâs recent guest interview on Podcast Perspectives, the weekly show produced by our friends at The Podglomerate (the podcast firm specialized in producing, distributing, and monetizing podcasts for high-profile clients including Freakonomics Radio, PBS, NPR stations, Harvard Business School, and more). Podcast Perspectives brings on audio leaders and industry executives to walk through the biggest news of the day and to go deep on topics that podcasters need to know - like IP and rights issues, ad tech, podcastingâs role in media at-large, and more. Listen to more episodes of Podcast Perspectives and follow the podcast:https://listen.podglomerate.com/show/podcast-perspectives/
Here's what you need to know for today in the business of podcasting: Acast Inks Global Partnership with Proximic by Comscore for Cookie-Free Podcast Targeting Across More than 100,000 PodcastsLack of representation in ads causes disengagement in majority of UK audienceWhy Advertisers Should Care About Hitting The Right Note With Hispanic AudiencesGlobal signs exclusive podcast distribution and licensing deal with iHeartMedia
Here's what you need to know for today in the business of podcasting: 2023 Podcast Trends Report from Megaphone and SpotifyLess Is More: Reduce Audio Ad Copy Word Count And Improve Effectiveness, According To Colourtextâs Jason Brownlee by Pierre BouvardYou Can Now Easily Save Songs to Spotify From TikTok With a Simple TapHow Agencies are Adapting to Marketersâ Increased Focus on the Creator Economy by Aleda Stam and Brian BonillaAs for the rest of the news⊠Advertisers are finding broken links to dead channels in their YouTube Select reports, and SXM has launched a rebrand with fresh new visuals and the return of its long-absent dog mascot Stella
Here's what you need to know for today in the business of podcasting: Spoken word audio report (NPR / Edison Research): Record high consumption; podcast share growing; AM/FM unbeatable in the car by Brad HillAs the strikes end and Hollywood gets back to business, what happens next for advertisers and ad buyers? by Kristina MonllosAmericans to brands: look inward before weighing in on politics by Alyssa MeyersHow I got 10x YouTube subscribers by adding video to my podcast by Ashley HamerâŠas for the rest of the news: SoundStack hires digital audio vet Michael Fischer, the nomination deadline for The Ambies is November 17th, Spooler has launched a map tool allowing podcasters to mark locations mentioned in a podcast on an embeddable map, The Podcast Marketing Academy has published a new marketing trends report, Spotify has revamped their connected TV app with more features and a UI similar to the desktop and mobile versions.
Here's what you need to know from this week in the business of podcasting: Study Looks into Podcast Listenerâs Consumer VerticalsSuper Bowl 54 Ad Space is Hot, As Are Sports Podcastsebiquity: 60% of Brands to Increase 2024 Ad BudgetsQ3 Podcast Earnings RoundupQuick HitsWhile they may not be top story material, the articles below from this week are definitely worth your time:* Making The Case for Podcasting by Tom Webster. Tom tackles the ever-present problem of making an appealing pitch for podcasts to non-listeners. * Integration Powerhouse: Podbean and Descript Simplify Podcast Publishing. Next Thursday, November 16th, Podbean and Descript will host a free hour-long webinar. * Podcasters Can Better Connect to Their Audiences With the Insights From Our Latest Fan Study. The study includes findings about the busiest time of day for podcast listening, and the efficacy of cross-podcast promotion. * Adaptive Podcasting - open source release. The BBCâs Research and Development has published research and an open-source tool investigating the concept of dynamically-built podcast episodes based on listener data.
Here's what you need to know for today in the business of podcasting: SiriusXM Lowers Price, Reboots to Take on Streaming Music Rivals With âHuman-Curatedâ Focus by Alex WeprinMedia Briefing: In 2024, publishers and buyers say events and niche media will win ad dollars over scale by Kayleigh BarberPodcasters Can Better Connect to Their Audiences With the Insights From Our Latest Fan StudyâŠas for the rest of the news: Veritone has posted their Q3 results, and Insider breaks down the difference between brand safety and brand suitability.
Here's what you need to know for today in the business of podcasting: 200,000+ Audiobooks Are Now Available to Spotify Premium Listeners in the U.S.Branding Investment in Podcasting Doubles, Magnifying Focus on Brand LiftSixty percent of major brands plan to increase their ad budgets in 2024, new research showsTwilight of the brands by Brian Morrissey
Tom Webster tackles the ever-present problem of making an appealing pitch for podcasts to non-listeners.* Written by Tom Webster * Edited by Bryan Barletta * Audio edited by Gavin Gaddis * Hosted by ART19
Sounds Profitable: Narrated Articles is a production of Sounds Profitable. For more information, visit soundsprofitable.com.Summary
Here's what you need to know for today in the business of podcasting: What types of podcast listeners are which types of consumers? By Brad HillAcastâs US bet pays off with 55% net sales growth in North America by Reem MakariConsumer attention and ad spend are mismatched. Where does that leave advertisers? By Sara LebowThe Top 50 Podcasts in the U.S. Q3 2023 from Edison Podcast MetricsBrands Still Test Interactive Voice Ads Years After Launch by Stephen LepitakâŠas for the rest of the news: BBC Studios grows its audio unit, The Hollywood Reporter covers a big investment in athlete-hosted video podcasts, and Succession takes home top podcast at the AdWeek Podcast Awards.
Here's what you need to know for today in the business of podcasting: CBS is âvirtually sold outâ of ad slots for Super Bowl 58 by Alyssa MeyersAdaptive Podcasting - open source release from BBC Research & Development?LeVar Burton Wants to Be Heard by Laurel GraeberâŠas for the rest of the news: Attention vendors are trying to bring measurement tools currently available in other fields (like podcasting) to YouTube, and continuing the theme of major news sources covering podcasts: a recent Washington Post article on Julia Louis-Dreyfus heavily sources her Lemonada podcast Wiser Than Me.
Here's what you need to know from this week in the business of podcasting:Amazon launches interactive audio adsConsumer Shopping Habits Forecast 2019 NumbersMarketers to spend holiday budgets (mostly) in NovemberThe Implications of Spotifyâs Audiobook RevampQuick HitsSounds Profitable launches branded podcast directory in partnership with Lower Street by Reem Makari. As announced in Bryan Barlettaâs article on Wednesday, Sounds Profitable has partnered with branded podcast production company Lower Street to create Brands in Podcasts, a public directory for branded audio.Are my podcast downloads declining because of iOS 17? by Dan Misener. A breakdown of how to answer three important questions about the health of oneâs Apple Podcasts audience and how to track it as wider iOS17 adoption changes auto-download behaviors.The Jar Audio Podcast Landscape featuring Sounds Profitable Research. JAR Audio breaks down key findings from the Sounds Profitable study The Podcast Landscape, which took a look at how listener perceptions of podcasting. The JAR breakdown looks at the study from the perspective of a marketer working with branded podcasts. Digiday Programmatic Selling Strategies: Navigating identity, deals and making the most of CTV and video. Thursday, November 16th, Digiday Editor-in-Chief Jim Cooper will host a virtual forum with marketing experts to discuss programmatic campaign strategies for 2024. The forum is produced in partnership with U of Digital and registration is free.Startup Series: Introduction to Podcast Advertising by Ossa Collective. On Wednesday, November 8th at 2:00 p.m. CST OSSA will host a live virtual event kicking off their ten-part series demystifying the world of podcast advertising.
Here's what you need to know for today in the business of podcasting: Sounds Profitable launches branded podcast directory in partnership with Lower Street by Reem MakariMarketers to spend most of holiday budgets in November: report by Alyssa MeyersIP addresses may not be the post-cookie data solution adtech wanted by Ryan Barwick âŠas for the rest of the news: Forrester Research finds CMOs are far less dour about Q4 than they were last year, Audioboom celebrates breaking one billion advertising impressions, and Tenderfoot TV acquires production company Resonate, the company behind the hit podcast Up and Vanished.
Here's what you need to know for today in the business of podcasting: BetterHelp And Amazon Lead Monthly Ranking Of Top Podcast Advertisers. [Source]Radio beats TV: Audacy describes an audio blueprint for advertisers by Brad Hill [Source]BBC Sounds Quarter 3 2023 [Source]How podcast networks use existing feeds to improve engagement and discoverability for new shows by Sara Guaglione [Source]âŠas for the rest of the news: AdvertiseCast has published their average cost-per-thousand impressions for a sixty second podcast ad in October, and MarketingBrew covers the various Halloweeny activities advertisers got up to last month.
How big is the branded audio space? Whatâs the best way to find the top production companies, the brands they represent, and what categories are gaining the most traction in the branded podcast space? Brands in Audio.* Written by Bryan Barletta * Edited by Tom Webster * Audio edited by Gavin Gaddis * Hosted by ART19
Sounds Profitable: Narrated Articles is a production of Sounds Profitable. For more information, visit soundsprofitable.com.
Here's what you need to know for today in the business of podcasting: Gen Zers can recognize brands based solely on âsonic memes,â report says by Alyssa MeyersAre my podcast downloads declining because of iOS 17? by Dan MisenerThe Smartest Decision Spotify Has Made In Years by Eric NuzumFor all its gains, podcasting still in early catch-up (IAB part 2) by Brad HillAs for the rest of the news⊠Digiday covers why Cirque du Soleil is leaning into influencer marketing (including a branded podcast from JAR Audio), a new forecast predicts TV ad viewership could fall 24% by 2027, and The New York Timesâ Joy Robins appears on the Digiday podcast to discuss ad business, including the NYT returning to programmatic now that the industry has matured and given the company renewed confidence in the tools.
Here's what you need to know for today in the business of podcasting: Amazon launches interactive audio ads on both ad-supported Amazon Music and Amazon Publisher Direct on Alexa in the U.S. [Source]Consumers are celebrating (and shopping for) the holidays like its 2019 by Alyssa Meyers [Source]Ad-tech firms and political agencies prepare for another year of spending heavily on CTV by Marty Swant [Source]The JAR Audio Podcast Landscape featuring Sounds Profitable Research by Roger Nairn and Laurissa Cebryk [Source]Digiday Programmatic Selling Strategies: Navigating identity, deals and making the most of CTV and video [Source]
Here's what you need to know for this week in the business of podcasting:Less is More: ARMâs Podcast Ad Break StudyBrand Safety, Programmatic Growth, and DAI Dominance in IAB ReportWondery Podcasts to Air on CTV ChannelsNetflix Lightens Ad LoadQuick Hits: * How Branded Podcasts Might Be One Key To New Listeners by Tom Webster. The potential reach for podcasts about favorite brands is about 106 million Americans 18+, according to The Power of Brands in Podcasts: A Podcast Landscape Study. * Good Tape, Issue 1 now available. The first issue of a new print industry magazine featuring journalism and cultural criticism of podcasting is now available for order. Readers of The Download can get 10% off with promo code SP10. * Archives to Earbuds: Podcasts for Cultural Institutions. This coming Monday, Jessica Alpert of Rococo Punch will moderate a panel of experts, hosted by The Podcast Academy and presented by the Leo Baeck Institute. * Hereâs how our top podcasts of the year get listeners to stay by Karen Burgess. Pacific Content takes a look at five branded podcasts that successfully use storytelling to not just perform well as branded content, but as podcasts in general. * McDonaldâs jingle, 20 years later by Alyssa Meyers. A history of the fast food jingle thatâs still going strong two decades later, showing the power of well-curated sonic branding. * YouTube Culture & Trends Report 2023. 55% of respondents watch content that no one else they know watches, indicating the trend of hyper-personalized content is growing. Good news for podcasting! * CoHost Announces the Launch of its Prefix That Aims to Demystify Podcast Audiences for Brands and Agencies. The new prefix provides both advanced audience demographics and B2B analytics that track what companies are listening to the podcast.
Here's what you need to know for today in the business of podcasting: What is the Optimal Number of Ads in an Audio Ad Break? by Lisa Prentis JacobsU.S. Podcast Advertising Revenue Study 2023: Drivers, Strategies, and Tactics for GrowthYouTube Culture & Trends Report 2023âŠas for the rest of the news: -AdExchanger shares what they overheard at the Prebid Summit, MarketingBrew shares what they overheard at Advertising Week, and Maria Novikova shares her top ten podcasts to stay abreast of news in adtech and marketing tech.
Here's what you need to know for today in the business of podcasting: Mobile phones are the most popular devices used to shop, report says by Alyssa MeyersHow brands can engage with the next generation of sports fans by Alyssa MeyersIn pursuit of profit, Spotify looks to AI rather than original content for its podcasting future by Ariel ShapiroSound To Screen: How To Shoot Video That Doesnât Suck by Steven GoldsteinâŠas for the rest of the news⊠next Monday Jessica Alpert of Roccoco Punch is moderating the webinar Archives to Earbuds: Podcasts for Cultural Institutions, and Signal Hill Insightsâ Jeff Vidler discusses takeaways from the newest Sounds Profitable study The Power of Brands in Podcasts.
This week, Tom Webster takes a look at Brand Fans, and how branded podcasts could actually grow the overall audience for podcasting. * Written by Tom Webster * Edited by Bryan Barletta * Audio edited by Gavin Gaddis * Hosted by ART19
Sounds Profitable: Narrated Articles is a production of Sounds Profitable. For more information, visit soundsprofitable.com.
Here's what you need to know for today in the business of podcasting:
Wondery launches three podcast FAST channels on Amazon Freevee by Sara Guaglione [Source]DTC Brands Experiment with Programmatic Podcast Ads but Find Mixed Results by Phoebe Bain [Source]Hereâs how our top podcasts of the year get listeners to stay by Karen Burgess [Source]McDonaldâs jingle, 20 years later by Alyssa Meyers [Source]As for the rest of the news⊠Spotifyâs Q3 earnings show a surprise operating profit, and MarketingBrew gives 7 main takeaways on influencer marketing from Advertiser Week New York.
Here's what you need to know for today in the business of podcasting: Apple considers selling more podcast ads by Ashley CarmanNetflixâs Answer To Subscriber Churn? Fewer Ads by Alyssa BoyleThe 25-year-old media planner and the screenshot industrial complex by Brian MorrisseyHow major podcast players are moving âbeyondâ audio formats by Ella SagarCTV Ad Targeting Is Getting More Advanced â But Data Quality Is Not by Alyssa Boyle
Here's what you need to know for this week in the business of podcasting:The Power of Brands in Podcasts, A Podcast Landscape StudySpotifyâs Dave Byrne on brand safety, suitability measures.Study: listener prefer relevant podcast ads, more forgiving than with music.YouTube RSS Integration and AdvertisingQuick Hits:* Confused About Video? The Listeners Arenât! by Tom Webster. While the question âwhat is a podcastâ can lead to complicated responses from podcasters, respondents to The Podcast Landscape study are pretty confident in what qualifies as a podcast. * YouTube passes Netflix as top video source for teens by Kif Leswing. A long-running Piper Sandler study finds for the first time ever YouTube has passed Netflix as top video source for teens. Given the many podcasts Netflix has commissioned, one wonders how much teen traffic theyâd regain if those podcasts were also available in the Netflix app. * Brands are taking notice of Gen Alpha by Jasmine Sheena. Given existing legislation makes existing targeting methods difficult as the oldest Gen Alpha member is 13, brands are resorting to more creative projects to meet younger audiences where theyâre at, which could include the rising popularity of Kids & Family podcasts. * ARN takeover bid for SCA by Chris Pash. If successful, the acquisition bid would lead to Australia having two national media organizations with independent ownership of each other. * Streaming-powered tools come to Spotify from PodNews. The new system will allow users to upload and monetize video podcasts on Spotify, access enhanced analytics reporting, and use a new clickable promo system to cross-promote an episode with other podcasts on Spotify.
Here's what you need to know for today in the business of podcasting:Confused About Video? The Listeners Arenât! by Tom WebsterMeet the MillennialsPublishers pitch their methods for growing and engaging audiences to marketers by Sara GuaglioneTV Measurement Is Transforming â But Buyers Need More Transparency by Alyssa BoyleâŠas for the rest of the news: As for the rest of the news⊠writer Will Page expresses concern that many authors still donât know how Spotifyâs royalty structure works for audiobooks, and Edison Researchâs Share of Ear for in-car listening shows AM/FM radio consumption drops 21 percentage points for respondents whose primary vehicle has Apple CarPlay or Android Auto.
Here's what you need to know for today in the business of podcasting: Streaming-Powered Tools Coming to Spotify [Source]ARN takeover bid for SCA by Chris Pash [Source]Dave Byrne on Spotifyâs âSensitive Topicsâ Tech [Source]Why publishers are the new brand ambassadors by Kayleigh Barber [Source]âŠas for the rest of the news: a new AdExchanger Talks episode pleads with brands not to add terms like âIsraelâ and âHamasâ to keyword blocklists, and a new 30 second Allstate ad stresses âthereâs a podcast about that.â According to Magellan AI data, Allstateâs current estimated podcast ad spend for the year is a hair over $61,000 as of the end of September.
While the podcast industry frequently debates what qualifies âa podcastâ, data from The Podcast Landscape shows podcast listeners have a pretty consistent idea. Tom Webster breaks down that data and what it can mean for YouTube as the biggest place for podcast discovery. * Written by Tom Webster * Edited by Bryan Barletta * Audio edited by Gavin Gaddis * Hosted by ART19
Sounds Profitable: Narrated Articles is a production of Sounds Profitable. For more information, visit soundsprofitable.com.
Here's what you need to know for today in the business of podcasting:YouTube Podcasts in the UK and The Youtube Advertising Conundrum by Adam Bowie [Source]Some Black-owned publications push back on MFA reform amid declining traffic by Kayleigh Barber and Sara Guaglione [Source]Why the time is now for agencies to establish a B2B arm by Jason Pollock [Source]âŠas for the rest of the news: YouTube launches new AI-powered tool to target popular videos related to specific cultural moments, and a new Crowd React Media study finds 63% of sports audiences engage with radio and/or podcasts.
Audio ads can be effective, but only if theyâre not disruptive: report. By Alyssa Meyers [Source]âWithout margin, there is no missionâ by Ariel Shapiro [Source] What does the narrowing range of streaming service CPMs mean for advertisers? By Paul Verna [Source]YouTube passes Netflix as top video source for teens by Kif Leswing [Source]Brands are taking notice of Gen Alpha by Jasmine Sheena [Source]
Here's what you need to know for this week in the business of podcasting: Joint Statement on the Continued Integrity of the Download MetricHow Spreaker Detects OutliersThe Latino Podcast Listener Report 2023Breaking down Canadaâs new podcast platform registration form.Quick Hits: Nearly Half of Data Use for Ad Targeting is Wrong by Jack Neff. A reminder to those in the podcast space to work with partners that are meticulous in both their accuracy and purging what they find to be inaccurate.TV and film producers prepare for potential post-strike production logjam by Tim Peterson. A predicament that could lead to more new productions being piloted as podcasts while they wait for the post-strike traffic jam to clear.Advertisers will spend $84 billion on ad fraud this year: report by Ryan Barwick. Problems like this exist in all mediums, but podcasting has an opportunity to collectively prioritize high-quality, vetted advertising inventory.Podchaser Brings Radioâs Relied-On Airchecks feature into 21st Century for Podcast Advertisers. Airchecks, adapted from the radio measurement standard, allow for podcast planning and campaign management in Podchaser.Audio Ad Data Breakthrough: Sonnant & Podder Merge Content Signals + Audience Demographics. The two companies have partnered to combine Sonnantâs content data with Podderâs demographic analytics.
Here's what you need to know for today in the business of podcasting: Joint Statement on the Continued Integrity of the Download Metric by Bryan BarlettaKeep Calm and Detect OutliersThe bots have come for podcasts by Max TaniAd-free viewing is getting more expensive by Kelsey SuttonAs for the rest of the news⊠the IAB has released a podcasting buyer-seller checklist, Marketing Architects CEO Angela Voss breaks down why CTV isnât working for performance marketers, and to round this out we have a double-dose of verification: both Podchaser and Magellan AI have implemented the radio measurement staple of airchecks into podcasting, highlighting the increased demand for verification in the industry.
Here's what you need to know for today in the business of podcasting: Nearly Half the Data Used for Ad Targeting is Wrong by Jack NeffHispanic Audience Measurement Requires Nuance. Weâre Still Using Blunt Instruments by Hana YooTV and film producers prepare for potential post-strike production logjam by Tim PetersonâŠas for the rest of the news: Signal Hill Insights Paul Riismandel shows how one can measure streaming audio alongside podcasts, Acastâs Megan Davis writes about the company embracing women podcasters in Saudi Arabia, superstar HGTV couple Chip and Joanna Gaines are launching a podcast network in partnership with Warner Bros. Discoveryâs The Roost, Digiday Research collects their CMO Strategies in one place, and MarketingBrew looks at the modern evolution of the marketing jingle: custom TikTok audios.
Here's what you need to know for today in the business of podcasting. The Latino Podcast Listener Report 2023Advertisers will spend $84 billion on ad fraud this year: report by Ryan BarwickHot Pod: Breaking down Canadaâs new podcast platform registration formMeasurement issues still plague the business, but agencies hope their solutions help marketers by Antoinette Siu and Marty SwantAs for the rest of the news⊠YouTube has launched podcast functionality for YouTube Music in the UK, Rooster Teeth is pivoting video focus from YouTube as their self-hosted videos show 5-10x the ad revenue, Spreaker is building a site to provide up-time monitoring of podcast hosts and tracking prefixes in real time, Audible is named Company of the Year at the Signal Awards,
Here's what you need to know for this week in the business of podcasting: Dentsu, GumGum, Iris.tv build video keyword targeting capability Advertising Campaigns for Hispanic Audiences Outside OctoberAcast and Henkel. Adweek. YouTubeâs Current (and Potential Future) Place in PodcastingQuick Hits: * Why Branded Content Could Be Bigger Than You Think by Tom Webster. In this weekâs Sounds Profitable newsletter, Tom takes a look at the potential for brands and podcasts, and how data shows they have even more room to grow. * The Power of Brands in Podcasts to debut October 18th. The free webinar debuting Sounds Profitableâs latest study, looking into the listeners of branded content and how to engage them, will be at 2:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time on Wednesday, October 18th. Registration is available now. * Why Now is a Great Time to Make Money With a Podcast by Robert Tuchman. Coverage of a panel with representatives from Hubspot, Quill, Amaze Media Labs, Conde Nast, and Adalyst Media. * Amazon Music launches Podcast Previews in several global markets by Reem Makari. The Podcast Preview program, a podcast discoverability tool that displays hand-selected podcast clips to news listeners based on contextual data, is now available outside the US. * Why Spotify is Growing its Connected TV Ad Business by Parker Herren. Spotify has partnered with Roku, the first step in establishing the Spotify CTV Partner Network to serve audio ads in the Spotify app available on smart TVs. * Libsyn Unveils September 2023 Podcast Advertising Rates; Enhances Brand Safety Measures with ComScore Technology. The average cost per thousand impressions for a sixty second podcast ad increased in September to $22.91, a 3.8% month-over-month increase that breaks a three-month downward trend.
Here's what you need to know for today in the business of podcasting: Why Branded Content Could Be Bigger Than You Think by Tom WebsterWith New Ads Targeting Black And Latino Voters, Biden Campaign Sees Radio As 'Trusted Messengers.'Podcast ads on Amazon DSP will now offer Amazon Audiences to self-service advertisers in the UKSocial media traffic to top news sites craters by Sara FischerâŠas for the rest of the news: the Google antitrust case heats up as the DoJ accuses them of illegally increasing prices, and Digiday covers DTC marketerâs reinvestment in Meta and Google after Appleâs AppTrackingTransparency crackdown.
Here's what you need to know for today in the business of podcasting: Brands Are Slowly Going Always-On With Hispanic Audiences by Catherine Perloff https://www-adweek-com.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/www.adweek.com/media/brands-always-on-hispanic-audiences/amp/Rising podcast ad rates break 3-month trend in September by Brad Hill https://rainnews.com/advertisecast-podcast-ad-rates-september-2023/Acast and Henkel Celebrate Conversations about Hispanic Hair Care in Podcast Advertising Campaign https://soundsprofitable.com/press-release/acast-and-henkel-celebrate-conversations-about-hispanic-hair-care-in-podcast-advertising-campaign/Spotify Subscription Audiobooks by Ben Thompson https://newsletters.feedbinusercontent.com/ed5/ed52a4f4c1b19038d15e614edcd5abf7da805d78.htmlGive Your Brand the Gift of Reach and ROI this Holiday Season https://20817577.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/20817577/Confidential_Veritonic_2023_Holiday_Infographic_Final.pdf
Tom Webster takes a look at the potential for brands and podcasts, and how data shows they have even more room to grow.* Written by Tom Webster * Edited by Bryan Barletta * Audio edited by Gavin Gaddis * Hosted by ART19
Sounds Profitable: Narrated Articles is a production of Sounds Profitable. For more information, visit soundsprofitable.com.
Here's what you need to know for today in the business of podcasting:Streaming video, music among Gen Zâs most popular media activities by Sara Lebow https://www.insiderintelligence.com/content/streaming-video-music-among-gen-z-s-most-popular-media-activitiesFree Podcast Program Coming to Classrooms with TinkerClass. http://tinkercast.com/press-release/Profiting from Hate: Platformsâ Ad Placement Problem https://www.adl.org/resources/blog/profiting-hate-platforms-ad-placement-problemWNYC Parent to Cut 12% of Work Force by Benjamin Mullin https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/26/business/media/new-york-public-radio-job-cuts-wnyc.html
Here's what you need to know for today in the business of podcasting: DENTSU BRINGS KEYWORD BUYING TO CONNECTED TV TO IMPROVE BRAND SAFETY AND TARGETING by Jack Neff https://adage.com/article/media/dentsu-brings-keyword-buying-connected-tv-improve-brand-safety-and-targeting/2519186Amazon Music launches Podcast Previews in several global markets by Reem Makari https://www.podpod.com/article/1839177/amazon-music-launches-podcast-previews-several-global-marketsACA study reveals the three factors driving the best returns in advertising https://www.adnews.com.au/news/aca-study-reveals-the-three-factors-driving-the-best-returns-in-advertising/type/yafNewsYouTube and Podcasts by Adam Bowie https://www.adambowie.com/blog/2023/09/youtube-and-podcasts/Why Spotify is Growing its Connected TV Ad Business by Parker Herren https://adage.com/article/media/why-spotify-growing-its-connected-tv-ad-business/2519016
As for the rest of the news⊠Steve Prattâs newsletter series interviewing Tom Webster focuses on defining your podcastâs audience, Hot Pod interviewed two people fluent in Spanish to review Spotifyâs voice AI translations pilot program, and MarketingBrew looks at how to create an effective affiliate marketing campaign for this holiday season.
Here's what you need to know for this week in the business of podcasting:Apple Podcasts Updates with iOS17 https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2023/09/over-100-new-podcasts-from-top-apps-and-services-launch-on-apple-podcasts/Spotify Announces Voice Translation https://newsroom.spotify.com/2023-09-25/ai-voice-translation-pilot-lex-fridman-dax-shepard-steven-bartlett/Hispanic Audiences Love Audio, But Spanish Less of a Factor https://www.insideaudiomarketing.com/post/hispanics-remain-big-audio-users-but-nielsen-says-language-is-less-a-factor-than-in-the-pastGetting âDabblersâ to Embrace Podcasting https://www.insideaudiomarketing.com/post/hispanics-remain-big-audio-users-but-nielsen-says-language-is-less-a-factor-than-in-the-pastQuick Hits: SXSW x Podcasting by Bryan Barletta. Bryan announces the Sounds Profitable Business of Podcasting event on March 9th, 2023, inside SXSW. Tell Me a Story: What Podcast Format Works Best for Brands? By Annalise Nielsen. Pacific Content and Signal Hill Insights team up to examine what kinds of branded content have the best impact. Spoiler alert: edited narratives cause more brand lift than unedited chat-casts. How the industry can support Queer podcasting by Reem Makari. PodPod offers an extensive look into how the industry can meaningfully support queer podcasting.Realm Acquires Lipstick & Vinyl Podcast Network. The acquisition joins Realmâs 6,000+ hours of content with Lipstick & Vinylâs slate of popular unscripted podcasts targeting women in the 20s and 30s. AdLarge Partners With Barometer to Uphold Brand Safety & Suitability. The partnership will enable AdLarge to monitor their podcast portfolio with Barometerâs AI-powered brand safety and suitability platform. Google Podcasts to shut down in 2024 with listeners migrated to YouTube Music by Sarah Perez. Next year Google Podcasts will join Stitcher in the big podcast app farm in the sky as itâs retired to incorporate all Google audio services into YouTube Music.
Here's what you need to know for today in the business of podcasting: Influencer agency adopts brand lift metrics across campaigns to address measurement challenges by Antoinette Siu https://digiday.com/media-buying/influencer-agency-adopts-brand-lift-metrics-across-campaigns-to-address-measurement-challenges/Everything In Store for Podcast Listeners and Creators This International Podcast Day https://newsroom.spotify.com/2023-09-28/international-podcast-day-transcripts-chapters-show-pages-global/AdLarge Partners With Barometer to Uphold Brand Safety & Suitability https://soundsprofitable.com/press-release/adlarge-partners-with-barometer-to-uphold-brand-safety-suitability/
Here's what you need to know for today in the business of podcasting: How attention metrics is tuning into audio investments by Michael BĂŒrgi https://digiday.com/media-buying/how-attention-metrics-is-tuning-into-audio-investmentsGoogle Podcasts to shut down in 2024 with listeners migrated to YouTube Music by Sarah Perez https://techcrunch.com/2023/09/26/google-podcasts-to-shut-down-in-2024-with-listeners-migrated-to-youtube-music/Helping More Podcast Listeners Get the Podcast Habit by Jeff Vidler https://signalhillinsights.com/helping-more-podcast-listeners-get-the-podcast-habit/YouTube is axing its ad-free Premium Lite subscription plan by Antonio G. Di Benedetto https://www.theverge.com/2023/9/25/23889917/youtube-premium-lite-subscription-discontinued-retired
As for the rest of the news⊠PodPod offers an extensive look into how the industry can meaningfully support queer podcasting, and new eMarketer growth shows that despite cooling growth, connected TV is lifting the programmatic market.
Pack your bags, because the Business of Podcasting takes center stage this year at SXSW.Credits:* Written by Bryan Barletta * Edited by Tom Webster * Audio edited by Gavin Gaddis * Hosted by ART19
Sounds Profitable: Narrated Articles is a production of Sounds Profitable. For more information, visit soundsprofitable.com.
Here's what you need to know for today in the business of podcasting: Over 100 new podcasts from top apps and services launch on Apple Podcasts: https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2023/09/over-100-new-podcasts-from-top-apps-and-services-launch-on-apple-podcasts/Hispanics Remain Big Audio Users, But Nielsen Says Language Is Less A Factor Than In The Past. https://www.insideaudiomarketing.com/post/hispanics-remain-big-audio-users-but-nielsen-says-language-is-less-a-factor-than-in-the-pastTell Me a Story: What Podcast Format Works Best for Brands? By Annalise Nielsen. https://blog.pacific-content.com/tell-me-a-story-what-podcast-format-works-best-for-brands-a92ec2f0ee23Household spending on streaming is going down by Kelsey Sutton https://www.marketingbrew.com/stories/2023/09/21/household-spending-on-streaming-is-going-downAs for the rest of the news⊠weâve got a double serving of Spotify for you today. First: AdWeek covers how a Spotify campaign in Mexico is leveraging Gen Zâs sudden love of corridos, and Spotify has a few more details about their AI voice translation pilot program.
Here's what you need to know for today in the business of podcasting: Spotify Announces Voice Translation: https://twitter.com/eldsjal/status/1706325294481576006Podcast Executives Say the Industry Has a Fraud Problem by Ashley Carman: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/newsletters/2023-09-22/podcast-executives-say-the-industry-has-a-fraud-problemMaking the case for investing in audio ads in 2024 by Alexandra Samet: https://www.insiderintelligence.com/content/making-case-investing-audio-ads-2024Hollywood isnât letting go of audio any time soon by Amrita Khalid: https://newsletters.feedbinusercontent.com/ae8/ae8dee115349ff41d836ba70ea6e793576c63a5b.htmlAmazon is sticking ads in Prime Video shows and movies unless you pay more by Jess Weatherbed: https://www.theverge.com/2023/9/22/23885242/amazon-prime-tv-movies-streaming-ads-subscription-date
As for the rest of the news⊠Audacia Audioâs Kym Treasure breaks down why audio should be in your multi-channel marketing strategy, Adweek finds Americans donât like advertisers using AI marketing on them unless it comes with a price discount, Edison Research has published their chart of the top 25 UK podcasts, and takeaways from Digidayâs Publishing Summit focusing on attention metrics, engagement, and the importance of proving advertiserâs return on investment.
Here's what you need to know from this week in the business of podcasting: Pierre Bouvard: AM/FM Radio and Podcasts Could Recapture Lost TV ReachDigital Ad Spend Showing Promising Recovery After Recession FearsFTC Warns Against âBlurred Advertisingâ When Marketing to KidsCDC Reframes Flu Narrative Using Digital Display and Audio Campaign
Here's what you need to know for today in the business of podcasting: The CDC Uses Digital Advertising To Reframe The Narrative Around Flu Vaccines by Hana YooThe Three Eras Of Podcasting by Steve GoldsteinThe Joint Industry Committee Forges Ahead With Currency Certification by Alyssa BoylePrize draws and 'over-sampling': How researchers are hunting media's missing audiences by Ella Sagar
Here's what you need to know for today in the business of podcasting:FTC recommends brands avoid âblurred advertisingâ when marketing to kids by Ryan BarwickAppleâs expanding ad ambitions: A closer look at its journey toward a comprehensive ad tech stack by Ronan Shields and Seb JosephHolding Apple Accountable: The Future of the Internet Economy Depends On It by Dustee JenkinsGoogle Antitrust Trial: Ad Targets Tweaked to Meet Revenue Targets, Exec Says By Leah Nylen
Tom reflects on the many people who would gladly listen to podcasts, if we could tell them exactly what podcasts actually are. A podcasting Got Milk moment.Credits:* Written by Bryan Barletta * Edited by Tom Webster * Audio edited by Gavin Gaddis * Hosted by ART19
Sounds Profitable: Narrated Articles is a production of Sounds Profitable. For more information, visit soundsprofitable.com.
Digital Ad Spend Showing Promising Recovery from Recession Fears.[Digiday Source] [Digiday Podcast] [AdExchanger Source] [Adweek Source]IAB launches foundational industry training programs[Source]2024 will see the highest political ad spend of all time: report by Jasmine Sheena[Source]The State of Video Monetization Report[Source]âŠas for the rest of the news: SXM Media CEO Jennifer Witz teased the upcoming revitalized version of the SXM app during an investor conference, and AdWeek breaks down why itâs difficult for SSPs to filter out made-for-advertising content.
Here's what you need to know for today in the business of podcasting: AM/FM Radio And Podcasts Can Recapture Lost TV Reach Due To Writers/Actors Strike As 22% Of The Heavy Linear TV Audience Say They Will Watch Less TV This Fall by Pierre BouvardThis Is Not My Beautiful Host Read Ad. How Did I Get Here? By Paul Riismandel. Substack writers are launching podcasts on the platform to ease reliance on ad revenue by Sara GuaglioneNASA to release first full season of Spanish-language podcast by Reem MakariAs for the rest of the news⊠Steve Pratt talks to Tom Webster about why you donât deserve an audience, Nairobi News reports the top podcasts in Kenya according to Spotify data, and eMarketer data shows that despite reaching 11% of US adult daily media time, only 4.9% of US ad spend is forecasted to go to audio.
Bryan Barletta joins E.B. Moss in this episode of Insider Interviews, also featuring Paul Riismandel from Signal Hill Insights and Ken Lagana from Audacy, about taking a holistic approach to the business of podcasting and what it takes to approach podcasting as a unique medium and leverage all aspects of it to drive growth.Visit the Insider Interviews website for more on this episode: https://insiderinterviews.blubrry.net/2023/09/06/a-holistic-approach-to-podcasting/Read about it on theCustomer: https://thecustomer.net/why-a-holistic-approach-to-podcasting-drives-listener-engagement-and-brand-value/
Here's what you need to know from this week in the business of podcasting. Over half of business owners are daily podcast listeners, study shows by Reem MakariHow Claritas Aims to Bring Google and Meta AI Marketing Capabilities to Other Forms of Media by Jack NeffAudible to produce Buffy the Vampire Slayer spinoff podcast with original cast, Kc Wayland directing.An advertiserâs guide to the Justice Departmentâs case against Googleâs search empire by Ronan ShieldsQuick Hits:Ad-technical Difficulties by Bryan Barletta. To celebrate three years of Sounds Profitable, Bryan has a slice of humble pie and discusses ways podcasting needs to improve to meet buyers where they want to be. Coleman Insights launches AscendFM brand lift service. AscendFM will track and prove the effectiveness of radio, podcasting, and streaming audio advertisement campaigns. Bear Grylls and Coyote Peterson Announce New Show âCircumnavigateâ with Backyard Ventures to Handle Sales. The new show, sponsored by Outdoors.com, will feature the two survivalists âvirtually traveling the globeâ to interview adventurers and athletes. First Cannabis Ads Coming Soon to Spotify by Thomas Edward. Cresco Labs Inc., a Chicago-based marijuana company, is investing 15% of their marketing budget into Spotify podcast ads geo-targeted to Illinois. California bill would crack down on data brokers by Ryan Barwick. A breakdown of what the upcoming Delete Act could mean for data brokers in California. Influencer spend is growing faster than social ad spend by Sara Lebow. New eMarketer data shows influencer spending outpaced social ad spend last year for the first time, and isnât slowing down.
Here's what you need to know for today in the business of podcasting:Top ten popular podcasts consumed in affluent households by Brad HillOriginal Buffy the Vampire Slayer stars returning for new Audible series about Spike by Sydney BucksbaumInclusion as Innovation: How These Marketing Leaders Stay Ahead by Leaving No One Behind by Jason NotteMarketers prioritise measurement but aren't evaluating key metricsHow Brands Can Learn To Stop Worrying About Brand Safety And Love The News by Allison SchiffâŠas for the rest of the news: Bryan Barletta celebrates three years of Sounds Profitable with a slice of humble pie and ideas to invigorate the industryâs relationship with buyers, Coleman Insights launches AscendFM brand lift service, Politics.co.uk writer James Hanson reflects on the growing popularity of political podcasts, Inside Audio Marketing looks at more data from the Nielsen Podcasting Today report, AdWeek covers why marketers are paying more attention to attention-tracking, and Insider data shows five industries that will increase digital ad spend faster than the national average.
Here's what you need to know for today in the business of podcasting:
Influencer Spending Forecast To Grow Double-Digits This Year by Inside Audio Marketing
The Economist adds podcast subscription tier by Sara Fischer
An advertiserâs guide to the Justice Departmentâs case against Googleâs search empire by Ronan Shields
Max Stays Minimal
This year weâre celebrating Sounds Profitableâs third anniversary with a nice slice of humble pie as we reflect on the current state of podcast adtech.
- Written by Bryan Barletta
- Edited by Gavin Gaddis
- Special Appearance by Theo Barletta
- Hosted by ART19
Sounds Profitable: Narrated Articles is a production of Sounds Profitable. For more information, visit soundsprofitable.com.
How Claritas Aims to Bring Google and Meta AI Marketing Capabilities to Other Forms of Media by Jack Neff
NPR adjusts to revenue realities with flat budget projections for -23/24 by Brad Hill
Marketers focus on search, discoverability as social media use evolves by Kristina Monllos
Creators function like standalone media channels by Jasmine Enberg
Here's What Buyers Really Thought About the 2023 Upfront by Bill Bradley
âŠas for the rest of the news: BBC Sounds head of metadata and publishing management Emma Conneely shared tips and pitfalls to avoid when promoting a new podcast, studios are turning to influencers to promote content while struck celebrities canât, and MarketingBrew explains what the Delete Act could mean for data brokers in California.
Essential news for today in the business of podcasting:
Over half of business owners are daily podcast listeners, study shows by Reem Makari
The Podcast You Want to Make
Influencer spend is growing faster than social ad spend by Sara Lebow
First Cannabis Ads Coming Soon to Spotify by Thomas Edward
Why Facebook, Google And Amazon Are Embracing Media Mix Modeling by John McDermott
YouTube is going to remove some ad controls for creators by Jay Peters
âŠas for the rest of the news: Reuterâs CRO Eric Dantez appears on the Digiday Podcast to discuss political advertising and AIâs role in the company, Universal Music Group has reached a deal with French music streamer Deezer to pay high-traffic artists more per-stream, Digiday covered sports streamer DAZNâs cautious journey into programmatic advertising, and an agency expert shares 5 current ad trends to pay attention to.
Here's what you need to know for today in the business of podcasting.
Lapsed listening and podcast churn are due to time constraints by Amrita Khalid
Podcasting Today- Audience Insights from Nielsen and Edison Research
Publisher Adoption for New Video Ad Specs Lags 6 Months After Introduction by Catherine Perloff & Mark Stenberg
As Disney Loses More Streaming Subs, It Bets On Advertising by Alyssa Boyle
PodPod and Campaign launch Audio Advertising Awards
Here's what you need to know for today in the business of podcasting:
July 2023: Top spenders, movers and shakers in podcast advertising
Can the Benefits of Digital be a Rising Tide for All Audio? By Jeff Vidler
CTV ad sellers are pushing more content-related signals into the programmatic bidstreamby Tim Peterson
TVâs Nielsen complaints get louderby John Ourand
âŠas for the rest of the news: Five late-night talk show hosts have launched a Spotify podcast which will use all proceeds to pay staff of their respective shows who are affected by the WGA/SAG-AFTRA strike, Australians 10 and up are now listening to an average of 13 hour of commercial radio per week, and childrenâs financial literacy podcast Million Bazillion is launching an educational live show visiting middle schools across the US.
After talking to so many Podcast Movement attendees last week about how to grow their audience, Tom Webster asks a hard question - should you make the podcast you want to make?
- Written by Tom Webster
- Edited by Bryan Barletta
- Audio editing by Gavin Gaddis
- Assembled with Spooler.fm
- Hosted by ART19
Sounds Profitable: Narrated Articles is a production of Sounds Profitable. For more information, visit soundsprofitable.com.
Here's what you need to know for today in the business of podcasting:
âShare Of Earâ Q2 2023: Podcasts And AM/FM Radio Represent The Vast Majority Of Time On The âU.S. Ad-Supported Audio Clock,â Podcast Growth Surge Continues, And Spotifyâs Usage Growth Does Not Benefit Advertisers by Pierre Bouvard
Wondery, Dr. Seuss Enterprises Ink Deal for Slate of Original Kids Podcasts by Abbey White
Streamingâs big pain point: thereâs too much stuff to watch by Kelsey Sutton
The Podcast Landscape Webinar with Tom Webster (August 30th, 3:00pm EST)
Here's what you need to know for today in the business of podcasting.
As streaming wars heat up, nearly three in 10 US internet households are canceling services to save money by Jeremy Goldman
Audible partners with Nickelodeon to launch Are You Afraid of the Dark? companion podcast by Reem Makari
The Floor Plan
A Jolly Holiday For Retailers Previously Anticipating Q4 Recession by Corinne Casagrande
And for the rest of the news⊠ARNâs CEO speaks to the networkâs digital audio success and importance of regional content, Digiday takes a look at what Q4 will look like for video ad inventory that didnât sell during this yearâs upfronts, eMarketer says attention metrics are the ânext frontierâ for digital ad measurement, and publisher CROs tell Digiday auto, travel, and luxury advertisers are at the forefront of an ad revenue rebound this year.
Here's what you need to know this week in the business of podcasting:
Three updates to Apple Podcasts
Advertiser Perceptions: Podcast Advertising Consideration and Spending Intention Grow to Nine-Year High Among Agencies and Marketers
Older Adults Make Up Just 4% Of People Featured In Ads
Changes coming to Spotify for Podcasters
And in Quick Hits:
Exclusive: SXM Media partners with The Trade Desk and HUMAN by Reem Makari. SXM Media will add support for third-party audibility measurement to programmatic campaigns bought through The Trade Desk. HUMAN, a fraud sensor network accredited by the Media Rating Council to detect invalid traffic, will be a traffic validation solution for Adwizzâs marketplace inventory.
Triton Digital Announces YouTube Integration with Podcast Metrics. The new integration adds YouTube views of podcast episodes into the Triton Podcast Metrics dashboard, allowing publishers to keep track of both podcast downloads and YouTube performance.
PodcastOne readies public offering in September by Brad Hill. The listing of PodcastOne is based on the valuation LiveOne received in February that gave PodcastOne a market range of $230 to $274 million.
weekly insights 8.23.2023 on-demand audio passes linear audio. Edison Research has found that as of Q2 2023, on-demand audio makes up 50.3% of daily time consuming audio.
Here's what you need to know for today in the business of podcasting:
Embracing YouTube: A Must for Todayâs Podcasters by Steve Goldstein.
Older Adults Make Up Just 4% Of People Featured In Ads by Karlene LukovitzÂ
Legacy TV Faces Challenges: Maturing Streaming, Lack Of A Future Ad Vision by Wayne Friedman
Adalytics Claps Back With Evidence Of Behaviorally Targeted Ads Served In Kids Content On YouTube by Allison Shiff
Here's what you need to know today in the business of podcasting.
Changes coming to Spotify for Podcasters
PodcastOne readies public offering in September by Brad Hill
Product placements can drive searches and purchases, research finds by Kelsey Sutton
Frozen's Story Will Continue In a New Podcast by James Whitbrook
Here's what you need to know for today in the business of podcasting:
Triton Digital Announces YouTube Integration with Podcast Metrics
Westwood One - Advertiser Perceptions: Podcast Advertising Consideration and Spending Intention Grow to Nine-Year High Among Agencies and Marketers
PodPod Exclusive: Nearly 90% of comedy podcast listeners have a parasocial relationship with their hosts.
Stepping Into Barbieâs Heels: Is a Branded Content Renaissance Coming? by Sam Anderson
Here's what you need to know today in the business of podcasting.
Three updates to Apple Podcasts
Exclusive: SXM Media partners with The Trade Desk and HUMAN
Barry Hott on Instagram Reels over-serving ads
Spotify hits record number of users worldwide but struggles to monetize growth
Former UTA Agent Launches Kids and Family Audio Company With Agency Backing
And for the rest of the news⊠Variety covers a star-studded new podcast with ad sales handled by Gumball, publishers are seeing per-subscriber revenue increases amid ad revenue decline, and both Digiday and The New York Times covered allegations that YouTubeâs adtech is serving ads specifically to children, in violation of the Child Online Privacy Protection Act.
Stories covered this week in the business of podcasting:
Acast Announces Podscribe as Global Preferred Attribution Partner.
Shifting Share of Ear: A nine-year comparison of radio and podcasts by Brad Hill
Mattress Firm's Branded Podcast Drives In-Store Sales with iHeartMedia by Catherine Perloff
Amazon is quietly building a publisher-focused ad product team to grow its $37 billion ad business by Lauren Johnson
Quick hits:
Making a Podcast People Hate by Tom Webster - Using data from the upcoming Sounds Profitable study The Podcast Landscape in America, Tom demonstrates the power of making a podcast for a hyper-specific target audience.
Descript Acquires SquadCast. Squadcastâs remote recording tech will be implemented in Descript to allow the service to offer podcast recording, editing, and publishing in one service. Previous Squadcast customers will be able to switch to Descript at no additional cost.
Triton Digital Releases the July 2023 U.S. Podcast Ranker. Highlights include SXM Media at #1 in Top Seals Networks for July and NPR News Now retaining the top spot in podcast downloads.
PodcastDb and Sonnant Partner to Create the First Ever Podcast Advertiser Directory. The directory will enable advertisers to find contextually-suitable podcast advertising opportunities.
Here's what you need to know for today in the business of podcasting:
Acast Announces Podscribe as Global Preferred Attribution Partner.
(Read more on the subject: In Defense of Third-Party Podcast Solutions.)
What former Spotify exclusives âArmchair Expertâ and âAnything Goesâ can reveal about audiences by Amrita Khalid
The FTC updated its endorsement guidelines for the first time since 2009âand some people have questions by Katie Hicks
âŠas for the rest of the news: Edison Researchâs Q2 edition of the podcast network ranker is here, and Australian broadcaster SCAâs revenue fell 3.7% but audio assets continue strong performance.
Here's what you need to know today in the business of podcasting.
Why Podcasters and Publishers Should Lean into Ad Measurement by Paul Riismandel
Acast Supercharges US Leadership
This yearâs upfronts deals, broken down by Kelsey Sutton
Tom Webster shows off data from the upcoming study The Podcast Landscape in America and discusses the power of focusing a podcast to a specific audience over generic broad-reaching topics.Â
- Written by Tom Webster
- Edited by Bryan Barletta
- Audio editing by Gavin Gaddis
- Assembled with Spooler.fm
- Hosted by ART19
Sounds Profitable: Narrated Articles is a production of Sounds Profitable. For more information, visit soundsprofitable.com.
Here's what you need to know from today in the business of podcasting:
Descript Acquires SquadCast
Top 15 podcast advertisers in Australia
Google Repays Advertisers After Report of Low-Quality Ads by Garett Sloane
Dentsu Reports Sequentially Lower Q2 Growth, Cites Tech And Financial Slowdowns by Joe Mandese
âŠas for the rest of the news:And for the rest of the news⊠YouTube is revamping how linking off-site will work, and Brian Morrissey discusses the next wave of B2B media (which sounds like a perfect fit for podcasting).
Here's what you need to know today in the business of podcasting.
Amazon is quietly building a publisher-focused ad product team to grow its $37 billion ad business
Shifting Share of Ear: A nine-year comparison of radio and podcasts
Mattress Firm's Branded Podcast Drives In-Store Sales with iHeartMedia
And for the rest of the news⊠Audacy debuts new study The Rise of the Cross-Platform Listener. Digiday breaks down key differences between Gen Z and Gen Alpha for brands, and American Public Media and Audacy have terminated their partnership a year early.
Here's what you need to know for today in the business of podcasting:
Why Are More Than Half of Podcasters Still Not Publishing Video?
Connect Patreon to Spotify and Stream Your Favorite Podcasts in One Place
How ad techâs measurement titans are pivoting to attention and activation
Indie agency census reveals expected areas of ad spend growth
And for the rest of the news⊠Digiday has a guide for whatâs in and whatâs out in influencer marketing for 2023, and this weekâs issue of The Rebooting reminds us all that the media business is still hard.
What you need to know for today in the business of podcasting:
KQED snatches up Snap Judgment and Spooked by Amrita Khalid
Podcast networks report Q2 revenue growth, with positive signs for continued improvements in 2023 by Sara Guaglione
CTV Buyers Are Still Struggling to Know Where Their Ads Ran by Catherine PerloffÂ
âŠas for the rest of the news: Arrow Media has been appointed Acastâs commercial partner for Queensland, Australia, and new eMarketer data suggests web publishers are âfighting over a pie that is barely growing.â
While podcasting has had several 'song of the summer' moments since Serial's smash success in 2014, in recent years those mainstream attention-getting moments are dominated by one polarizing figure.Â
- Written by Tom Webster
- Edited by Bryan Barletta
- Audio edited by Gavin Gaddis
- Assembled with Spooler.fm
- Hosted by ART19
Sounds Profitable: Narrated Articles is a production of Sounds Profitable. For more information, visit soundsprofitable.com.
Here's what you need to know for today in the business of podcasting:
âTrue potentialâ in Sirius XM podcast bizby Brad Hill
Why concerns of influencer marketing oversaturation are overblown by Kristina Monllos
When Podcast Apps Miss The Mark by Steve Goldstein
How soft is the ad market, really? By Ryan Barwick
âŠas for the rest of the news: Eric Nuzum reflects on what makes a good podcast host, Sean Howard explains yield optimization and what it means for podcasting in Flightpath, and Forbes covered a new QCODE audio drama starring Chris Pine and Troian Bellisario.
Here's what you need to know in the business of podcasting for August 7th.
Why some publishers are reducing their podcast slate to try to grow their audio businesses
Magnite And FreeWheel Link Up In The Name Of Interoperability
Acast to focus on automation to âcreate valueâ for advertisers
Top 3 podcasts in U.S. remain the same over two years
The Media Rating Council is angling for better clarity in an era of compounding complexity
And for the rest of the news⊠Digidayâs new Media Briefing presents the case for, and against, paid subscription trials. Digital subscriptions are a bright spot in otherwise down Q2 for Gannett. And, in a surprising turn after announcing their partnership with Spotify, ad group WPP cut their full-year growth forecast from 3 to 5% down to 1.5 to 3%, citing low spending from tech clients and delays in tech-related projects.
This week's stories:
Audio Ads Outperform Video for Attention and Brand Recall, Dentsu Study Finds.
The ad slowdown (or lack thereof) gives the industry reason to hope
the kids podcast listener report
Quick Hits:
Introducing The Download by Bryan Barletta
The Download is now a daily podcast, covering news important to the business of podcasting Monday through Thursday, with the usual weekly recap continuing on Fridays.
NAVA posts info for SAG-AFTRA strike.
The National Association of Voice Actors has released a one-sheet clarifying what types of work NAVA actors can or cannot do during the SAG-AFTRA strike.
SiriusXM is betting big on its next-gen app by Amrita Khalid
The much-teased new SiriusXM app is set to debut this fall and was brought up during the recent Q2 earnings call.
WPP & Spotify Announce First-of-its-Kind Global Partnership
British communications and advertising holding company WPP is now in a global strategic partnership with Spotify to give its clients access to Spotifyâs ad products and scaling capabilities.
Here's what you need to know for Thursday, August 3rd.
Inside Audio Marketing - Katz: Target Consumers With Messages That Relate To Where They Listen To Radio.
RainNews - Quantifying brand marketing uncertainties and risks, Veritonic says audio is paramount
Spotify - WPP & Spotify Announce First-of-its-Kind Global Partnership
MediaPost - TV 'Ad Intolerant' Viewers Still In The Minority, Study Finds
Here's what you need to know for Wednesday, August 2nd.
Podcast Company Realm Acquires Kid-Focused Pinna as Industry Consolidates by Ashley Carman
SiriusXM is betting big on its next-gen app by Amrita Khalid
Good Karma Brands to run operations, sales for ESPN Radio by Andrew Bucholt
As strikes halt Hollywood projects, the TV ad industry is on the line by Kelsey Sutton
Future of TV Briefing: How top streamersâ ad prices have trended in this yearâs upfront negotiations by Tim Peterson
Bryan announces the newest evolution of The Download: a daily newsletter covering the essential news for the business of podcasting.
Credits:
- Written by Bryan Barletta
- Edited by Tom Webster
- Audio edited by Gavin Gaddis
- Assembled with Spooler.fm
- Hosted by ART19
Sounds Profitable: Narrated Articles is a production of Sounds Profitable. For more information, visit soundsprofitable.com.
Stories covered:
The Fully-Produced Podcast Ad: Are we leaving attention on the table?
Spotify's Q2 Earnings Call
Your favorite TV rewatch podcast is here to stay - but donât expect any new ones.
Quick Hits:
Only Be Kind by Tom Webster
This week, Tom writes about the legacy of Frank Cody and a life philosophy he brought to radio that podcasting would do well to implement: Only be kind.
NewsGuard Launches 'Made-For-Advertising' Service In Response To ANA Study by Joe Mandese
To combat the rising issue of made-for-advertising sites siphoning programmatic ads, NewsGuard has introduced the ability to create whitelists of non-MFA sites and blacklists to exclude known MFA content.
Audio Amplified: Harnessing the Power of Branded Podcasts
The new white paper from Quill focuses on the utility of branded podcasts as high-value content that resonates with audiences, establishes trust, and positions creators as industry leaders.
Veritonic and Acast Partner to Highlight What Success Sounds Like Around the World for Podcast Ads Bought Programmatically
New research from the two companies compares and contrasts of audio creatives from programmatic campaigns around the world.
Tom Webster reflects on the life of someone important to both him and audio in general, as well as a valuable lesson we can learn from how he thought about life.Â
- Written by Tom Webster
- Edited by Bryan Barletta
- Assembled with Spooler.fm
- Hosted by ART19
Sounds Profitable: Narrated Articles is a production of Sounds Profitable. For more information, visit soundsprofitable.com.
Stories covered:
U.S. podcasters are attracting more international listeners
Why a âpodcast electionâ is unlikely
Ad overexposure on CTV hurts streamers as much as brands.
Quick Hits:
Will Podcast Ad Revenues Double by 2025? Not Without These Five Things by Tom Webster.
Podcasts draw devoted audiences, but ad spending lags by Catherine Wolf.
The Rumors of Podcastingâs Death Have Been Greatly Exaggerated...Redux by Eric Nuzum.
Why Podcast Ad Creative is Pivotal, Now More than Ever by Paul Riismandel.
Cracking the Code: Gen Z Engagement through Audio Advertising by Mariam Ahmad
Tom Webster looks at our most recent study, The Podcast Opportunity, and provides five key findings that point the way towards making podcasts a more vital part of ad spending.
Credits:
- Written by Tom Webster
- Edited by Bryan Barletta
- Assembled with Spooler.fm
- Hosted by ART19
Sounds Profitable: Narrated Articles is a production of Sounds Profitable. For more information, visit soundsprofitable.com.
Articles covered:
Breakdown of FTC Endorsement Guidelines
YouTube Tests Crackdown On Ad Blockers
This LinkedIn article could have been a video podcast.
Quick Hits:
Spotify hits the 100,000 mark for video podcasts
MediaMath Files For Bankruptcy, Owes Hundreds Of Millions.
mowPod Supercharges Self-Serve Platform with AI-Powered Ad Copy and Precision Targeting
Articles covered:
The Podcast Opportunity
SXM Shuts down Stitcher
Film and TV have collapsed over the last decade.
Quick Hits
Long Read- Podcasts, a hot advertising medium by Ruby DerrickÂ
ThePodcastHost.comPublishes âIndiePod Manifestoâ Off the Back of Independent Podcaster Census Data
Acast Unlocks Largest Self-Serve Marketplace of Podcast Influencers For Media Buyers
With the upcoming release of Sounds Profitableâs study The Podcast Opportunity, Tom reflects on the idea of podcasting being considered âneither fish nor fowlâ in the advertising world.
Credits:
- Written by Tom Webster
- Edited by Bryan Barletta
- Assembled with Spooler.fm
- Hosted by ART19
Sounds Profitable: Narrated Articles is a production of Sounds Profitable. For more information, visit soundsprofitable.com.
Articles covered:
Quick Hits:
- Registration is openfor next weekâs Sounds Profitable webinar for the upcoming study The Podcast Opportunity: Buyer Perceptions of Podcast Advertising. The presentation is on June 28th at 3p.m. Eastern Standard Time. The new study uncovers the latest thinking from buyers on the current state of podcasts advertising, and the strengths and weaknesses of buying the medium.
- In a bonus video from this weekâs Product Deepdive, Podscibeâs Amelia Coomber demonstrates a new tool in the platform that uses ChatGPT, trained with the GARM framework, to generate a risk assessment for the podcast. The content rating system generates a visualization that shows what content is flagged, an automatic summary of what was said, and timestamps to check out the offending content directly.
- Streaming Audio and YouTube Measurement now offered in Magellan AI. As of last week, Magellan AI supports the measurement of streaming audio campaigns, as well as podcasts. Advertisers can now confirm impression delivery by channel and measure ad performance through custom KPIs. Magellan also launched the ability to measure YouTube impact.
- Acast launches new tech integrating publishersâ paywalls with podcast platforms. The tech, dubbed Acast+ Access, will enable paywalled news outlets to produce podcasts that are siloed and only accessible to those who pay for the siteâs premium subscription.
- Ausha Launches Ausha PRO, a new sub-brand dedicated for Branded Podcasts. Ausha PRO includes the features of Ausha with the added benefits of enhanced support, advanced customization of promotional materials, multi-user access for collaborative management, and platform configuration performed in-house by Ausha staff.
This week, Tom looks at some recent data on popular podcast genres from Pew in light of Spotify parting ways with Meghan and Harry and their podcast Archetypes. What can we learn from the past about the future of celebrity podcasting?
Credits:
- Written by Tom Webster
- Edited by Bryan Barletta
- Assembled with Spooler.fm
- Hosted by ART19
Sounds Profitable: Narrated Articles is a production of Sounds Profitable. For more information, visit soundsprofitable.com.
This week's stories:
Podcast listeners well disposed to political ads (Veritonic)
Letâs Think about Podcast Consumers, Not Just Listeners
Can A Million Ads Simplify Hyperlocal Audio Ads By Creating Even More Of Them?
Partner Events:
âDemystifying Brand Lift: Measuring How Audio Ad Campaigns Resonate with Listeners.â
âHow Creative Testing Drives Success in Audio.â
âThe Podcast Opportunity: Buyer Perceptions of Podcast Advertisingâ
Quick Hits:
- What AI Will Never be Able to Do That People Can by Scott Klass. With AI discourse focusing on the hypotheticals of replacing on-air talent, SoundStack CMO Klass addresses the need for a human experience in the customer service side of advertising.
- Is the podcast bubble starting to burst? by Nick Bonyhady. A look at podcastingâs listener growth (and recent lack thereof) in Australia, showing thereâs less of a balloon and more of a new normal catching up to the statistical anomaly of the surge in new podcasts spurred by pandemic.
- Podsights goes free-to-use and rebrands as Spotify Ad Analytics by Reem Makari. Rebranded to Spotify Ad Analytics, the platform offers free pixel tracking and has expanded to more countries. Brand lift studies are still Spotify app only, but are included for free with campaigns that meet a minimum spend and reach threshold.
- Podscribe Launches Automated Ad Scoring The new tool, powered by ChatGPT, automatically grades the quality of ad reads on a scale of 1 to 10 using criteria like how clearly the product was endorsed, and how personalized the recommendation was.
- Narrativ Launches Mobile App Open Beta. Generative AI startup Narrativ generates audio versions of news articles and monetizes via audio ads. The mobile app currently hosts content from several collegiate newspapers and will soon incorporate national news and Associated Press articles.
Programmatic ad placement has been stuck on the waterfall for long enough. Itâs time to lay the foundation for Header Bidding in podcasting.
- Written by Bryan Barletta
- Edited by Tom Webster
- Assembled with Spooler.fm
- Hosted by ART19
Sounds Profitable: Narrated Articles is a production of Sounds Profitable. For more information, visit soundsprofitable.com.
Articles covered:
Spotify to Slash Podcast Workforce, Combine Parcast and Gimlet Studios in New Round of Cuts
âHow Do We Pivot?â: Podcasting Turns to M&A and Cost-Cutting
Why advertisers are reconsidering keyword blocklists as brand safety approaches to hard news
Growing Up with Podcasts: The Gen Z Podcast Listener Report
The State of Audio Technology Report
Is YouTube Eating Podcasts? Cumulus Media And Signal Hill Insightsâ Podcast Download â Spring 2023 Report
Hot Pod coverage of audiobook surveys.
Quick Hits
- iOS 17: Whatâs new for Apple Podcasts. During the 2023 Worldwide Developers Conference, Apple announced upcoming changes in iOS 17 that will impact Apple Podcasts. Search filters, episode art, and a new listening experience are among the new features. Developers currently have access to a beta, while public beta testing is slated for later this month.
- Podcastingâs Biggest Opportunity by Tom Webster. Podcasting is becoming more competitive and less collegial every year. Is that a good thing, a bad thing, or just inevitable? Tom Webster suggests there is still an important job we all need to collaborate on first.
- Triton Audio Marketplace Expands Basis Technologies Partnership to Support Advertising Across Digital and Broadcast Radio Segments. The new arrangement aims to enable marketers to streamline and consolidate content across all audio segments (podcasting, streaming, and terrestrial broadcast radio) via the Triton Audio Marketplace.
- Canadian Branded Podcast Agency Seeks Bad Reviews for its New Show. JAR Audioâs new âtell allâ about the branded podcast industry, pitched as part advice column and part sketch comedy, is asking be ruthlessly critical of the show during its upcoming launch window.
- Finally: the Sounds Profitable press release portal is now open! You can now submit your press releases directly to Sounds Profitable via the new portal at SoundsProfitable.com/press. In fact, the last two Quick Hits are pulled directly from our press release section. Head over now and amplify your podcast industry-related news and announcements.
There has been much concern over how podcasting will implement AI. Tom breaks down the current landscape, as well as future symbiotic relationships.
Credits:
- Written by Tom Webster
- Edited by Bryan Barletta
- Assembled with Spooler.fm
- Hosted by ART19
- Sounds Profitable theme written by Tim Cameron
Sounds Profitable: Narrated Articles is a production of Sounds Profitable. For more information, visit soundsprofitable.com.
This week Tom Webster demonstrates how even seemingly small pieces of data can have big implications if given the right context and a story.
Credits:
- Written by Tom Webster
- Edited by Bryan Barletta
- Produced with Spooler.fm
- Hosted with Omny Studio
- Sounds Profitable theme written by Tim Cameron
Sounds Profitable: Narrated Articles is a production of Sounds Profitable. For more information, visit soundsprofitable.com.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
This week: Spotify layoffs, TikTok Podcasts feature spotted in the wild, exclusivity deals seem to be losing luster, and Buzzsprout launches premium subscriptions.
Spotify lays off six percent of workforce.
Manuela: We start today on a dour note, but itâs the largest story to happen this week and bears covering. This Monday Spotify CEO Daniel Ek announced the company is downsizing six percent of its workforce. Chief Content and Advertising Business Officer Dawn Ostroff is also leaving the company. Todd Spanglerâs coverage of the announcement for Variety does the math on what six percent actually means.
âThe layoffs will eliminate nearly 600 jobs; Spotify most recently reported having 9,800 full-time employees worldwide as of Sept. 30. The company estimated that it will incur approximately âŹ35 million-âŹ45 million in severance-related charges.â
In the Tuesday issue of Podnews, editor James Cridland notes that in addition to the layoff announcement, Spotifyâs job website has removed all open full job positions. As of this writing the site only has 23 open positions, all of which are internships. From Spanglerâs article:
âEmployees who are getting laid off will on average receive about five monthsâ salary in severance payments, per Ekâs memo. In addition, all unused vacation time will be paid out to any departing employee, and all terminated employees will be eligible for outplacement services for two months.â
Ostroff was a big name behind a lot of Spotifyâs big-ticket podcasting acquisitions. Between her departure and the overall downsizing, this news seems to signal Spotify is down-shifting into treating podcasts like it has treated music. Itâs not necessarily the end of Spotify expanding into podcasting, but they likely will be focusing on expansion without owning content.
New TikTok Podcast feature appears
Arielle: Last Wednesday Sydney Bradley and Dan Whateley of Business Insider published new details in the months-long windup to TikTok officially getting into podcasting.
As covered as far back as the October 10th episode of The Download, there has been a breadcrumb trail of evidence the social media platform has intentions of launching some form of podcast listening application. In December of 2021 TikTok users were prompted to complete a survey gauging user interest in both listening to podcasts and creating podcasts. In May a trademark was filed for an application called TikTok Music, which listed podcasts as a form of audio that could be played in-app.
Then, this last October, Podnews got word bots associated with TikTokâs parent company were spotted scraping publicly-available RSS feeds. Clearly TikTok was up to something.
Now, Business Insider has discovered an unannounced feature has been added to some TikTok accounts allowing users to play video hosted on TikTok as a podcast, a distinction which allows users to browse other apps or lock their phone while the audio continues to play. This is a similar functionality to one YouTube has had for Premium subscribers for years and last year was testing enabling it for all users to promote podcasting listening in certain markets.
As Bradley and Whateleyâs reporting suggests, once podcasts are implemented, TikTok could be primed to become a serious Spotify competitor.
Exclusivity deals lose appeal
Manuela: Last Friday Tyler Aquilina , writing for Variety, published a piece that became somewhat prescient in hindsight: Circling back to the topic of podcast companies expanding by acquiring podcasts: Podcast Exclusivity Is Quickly Becoming an Outdated Strategy. From the intro of the article:
âIf itâs still too early to declare platform-exclusive podcast deals dead as we move into 2023, itâs becoming ever clearer that this business model is likely not long for this world.â
Aquilinaâs piece presents several data points suggesting the exclusive podcast strategy, most typified by Spotify acquisitions in recent years, is falling out of favor. The article cites reported frustrations from producers who signed big-name deals and went exclusive, including the Obamas choosing not to renew their exclusivity deal with Spotify last year.
One interesting data point is that of the Rogan Twitter Bump, the short-term engagement boost relatively smaller guests on The Joe Rogan Experience get in the week after appearing on the podcast. According to data collected from Social Blade by The Verge, JRE guests with fewer than 500,000 Twitter followers started to experience far smaller influxes of new followers starting December 2020, the month JRE went Spotify-exclusive. Conversely, podcasts that leave exclusivity to wide release are reporting more success in open podcasting. Aquilina reports he was given data from Acast that shows Spanish-language podcast Se Regalan Dudas has seen its listens increase 56% over their first year after leaving Spotify exclusivity. From the end of Aquilina piece:
âPodcasting remains a growth business, even if that growth is decelerating. But as in any maturing market, business practices must shift with the times â and in this case, that means the walled gardens are going to start opening up soon.â
Buzzsprout to implement premium subscriptions
Arielle: Back on January 12th we reported on Apple launching Delegated Delivery, a feature from which several podcast hosting providers can allow their users to upload content to their Apple premium podcast from the dashboard of said host.
The initial rollout included Blubrry, Libsyn, Triton Digitalâs Omny Studio, and RSS.com, with Acast, ART19 and Buzzsprout named as the next in line to get the feature in the coming months.
In a surprise twist, this week Buzzsprout announced their own premium podcast subscription offering. Dubbed Buzzsprout Subscription, the feature allows podcasts hosted on the platform to process payments from subscribers. Currently, users can choose between a Patreon-style pricing structure that gives audience members custom incentives, such as a shoutout in an episode, to a more Apple-like paywalled feed.
Revenue collected from the subscriptions can be applied to pay for Buzzsprout hosting fees or converted to cash via a Paypal transaction. As it stands, Apple Podcast Subscriptions pay out 70% of their revenue for new subscribers, with the revenue share going up to 85% payout for subscribers who have stuck around for a full year. According to Tuesdayâs Podnews, Buzzsprout Subscriptions is a flat 85% payout.
With this new feature implementation, as well as the availability of Buzzsprout Ads, itâs becoming far more difficult to think of a reason why someone hosting on Buzzsprout would need to leave their dashboard to accomplish something for their podcast elsewhere online.
Quick Hits
Arielle:Finally, itâs time for our semi-regular roundup of articles weâre calling Quick Hits. These are articles that didnât quite make the cut for todayâs episode, but are still worth including in your weekend reading. This week:
AdTheorent Is Using Machine Learning To Predict Effective Inventory by Allison Schiff for AdExchanger. In which Schiff breaks down a new application that uses machine learning to score programmatic inventory based on probability the impression will lead to a desired outcome. Application of this tool to podcasting, or any media, would be incredibly interesting.
Here are the brands starting 2023 with new CMOs by Minda Smiley for MarketingBrew. While there are no directly podcasting-related companies getting new CMOs in this article, new CMOs often mean new perspectives and interest in new channels. Donât be surprised if your kids are listening to a Chuck E Cheese branded podcast by this time next year.
P&G looks to replicate $65m success after taking media planning, buying in-house in fabric care by Julia Cannon for Digiday. A piece covering Procter & Gambleâs in-house media planning and buying strategy saving millions over a year. Brands bringing things in-house means fresh eyes and direct access. More contacts overall, but direct to the people that it matters to.
The Download is a production of Sounds Profitable. Today's episode was hosted by Shreya Sharma and Manuela Bedoya, and the script was written by Gavin Gaddis.
Bryan Barletta and Tom Webster are the executive producers of The Download from Sounds Profitable.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Tom took a look back on all of the great research that was done at Sounds Profitable in 2022 and came up with a handful of the most impactful data points. Here are his three favorite data points from 2022!
Credits:
- Written by Tom Webster
- Edited by Tom Webster
- Produced with Spooler.fm
- Hosted with Omny Studio
- Sounds Profitable theme written by Tim Cameron
Sounds Profitable: Narrated Articles is a production of Sounds Profitable. For more information, visit soundsprofitable.com.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
This week: Opportunity in Kids podcasting as recession looms, Podcastingâs ârecession eraâ, some audio publisherâs teams still growing in 2023, and Paul Riismandel joins Signal Hill Insights.
Podcastingâs Recession Era and how podcasters are approaching it.
Manuela: This week our first segment is going to cover a variety of articles centering around an overall theme: podcastingâs reaction to the recession in early 2023. To kick things off, we continue a throughline of covering how the Kids & Family category has quickly evolved into a juggernaut. Over the first half of 2022 the genre made itself known as a force to be reckoned with over several big deals and signings.
Now as the recession looms, along with doom-and-gloom articles about said recession, big-name deals are becoming more scarce. Tumble Media CEO Lindsay Patterson has worked in kids podcasting for years and likens the 2022 surge to being invited to a party late. Kids & Family has arrived just in time to find the host is taking down the decorations. From her January 11th Medium post:
âWith a general pullback on spending on podcasts, itâs likely that companies will be hesitant to invest in strategy and content for kids, who require a new approach to audience development and monetization. Itâs a different model than âgrownupâ podcasts. But the good news is kidsâ podcasts may be a welcome guest at other parties â and in many other industries. There are choices. Nay, there are opportunities.â
Patterson proposes Kids & Familyâs relative newcomer status to the wider industry leaves it plenty of unpursued avenues that are already well-tread ground for others. Her article touches on concepts like adapting existing kid-friendly IP to podcasts and pursuing new platforms. Interestingly, she points to nonprofits, grants, and research studies as potentially viable funding paths. Patterson speaks from experience, having partnered Tumble Media with a non-profit organization to win a grant. The partnership has been funded to spend three years studying how both listening to and making podcasts can engage blind and sighted students in the classroom.
âIn a way, the warnings and scrutiny of the podcast industry makes me more optimistic than ever before about the kidsâ space. We can take a clear eyed look from the outside, and see how kidsâ podcasts can and should be better.â
Pattersonâs suggestions of creativity and adaptability come at a good time for smaller creators, as even larger presences in podcasting are beginning to feel the effects of hiring and investment freezes. This Wednesday the Hollywood Reporter published a piece by J. Clara Chan titled âPodcastingâs Recession Era: Dealmaking Gets More Selective in Slower Ad Market.â
Chan begins the piece with a big-picture view of investments made by major players in the industry before setting the articleâs goal answering the question: âWhat will podcastingâs next era look like during a recession?â
Her article begins with a focus on the deal-making side of the industry, sourcing two anonymous dealmakers and their observations of industry performance in recent months. Big companies seem to have covered their bases on wide demographics. Chan gives the example of Spotifyâs coverage of Gen Z and millennial women with acquisitions of Call Her Daddy and Emma Chamberlainâs Anything Goes. \
BIPOC Podcast Creators co-founder Tangia Al-awaji Estrada gives a perspective from a smaller, independent side of the industry:
âIt feels a little bit premature at this stage because we donât know exactly whatâs going to happen, but it does feel like thereâs some panic in the air. Weâre seeing companies whoâd normally be investing in up-and-coming talents, indie creators â smaller companies are pulling back and saying, âWell, weâre not doing that right now. Weâre not doing that at all.â So, thereâs definitely a feeling like folks are holding their breaths to see whatâs going to happen.â
Last Friday Sara Guaglione, writing for Digiday, published a piece covering the phenomenon of smaller production houses growing as larger entities condense their audio teams. A tally of jobs on sites like Indeed with the word âpodcastâ in the description shows there has been a downward trend of open positions since the peak in May of 2022. Still, companies are hiring.
âA number of media companies posted new podcast job openings this month. Vox Media, for example, posted a job opening this week for a $200,000+ ââexecutive producer position for its daily show âToday Explained.ââ
Guaglione also points to Tenderfoot TV, The New York Times, and the Wall Street Journal as places that are actively growing their audio teams.
Returning to the Hollywood Reporter piece, we reach the advertising side of podcasting. The conclusion reached by J. Clara Chanâs reporting will be a familiar one to loyal followers of The Download. In general, advertisers are pacing themselves from brand awareness campaigns and doubling down on direct response and prioritizing sales conversions.
The piece ends with a final sentiment from Al-awaji Estrada, quote:
âPodcasting is going to be just fine. I really believe that podcasting is still so young that a huge market change isnât going to blow up the entire world. Thereâs going to be some tightening of the belts, probably, across the board. But by the time we come out of this thing, I think we will have seen podcasting continue to grow through the recession.â
Paul Riismandel joins Signal Hill Insights
Shreya: For this segment weâre covering something of personal significance to Sounds Profitable. Last Thursday podcasting veteran Paul Riismandel joined Signal Hill Insights as the companyâs new Chief Insights officer. From the Signal Hill press release:
âAt Signal Hill, Riismandel will help solidify the company as a critical independent third-party voice providing industry-wide and custom research solutions. He will focus on furthering innovation in podcast measurement, combining ad effectiveness, creative analysis, and audience insights, in order to help partners and the industry at large understand how best to serve both listeners and advertisers, together.â
Having overseen hundreds of ad effectiveness studies since 2014, Riismandel takes research seriously. From his blog post on the Signal Hill website last Thursday:
âI cannot overstate the importance of independent third-party research in the development of any media platform. That said, publishers are a fundamental driver, and many invest in internal research, done with integrity, to build their business. In turn this elevates the whole medium.â
For those newer to Sounds Profitable, Riismandel is a big figure in the companyâs history. It was him who got Midroll Media to become a day-one Sounds Profitable partner back in September of 2020. Now, in 2023, weâre thrilled to be partnering with Riismandel and everyone else at Signal Hill Insights in producing more independent third-party research.
Quick Hits
Shreya:Finally, itâs time for our semi-regular roundup of articles called Quick Hits. These are articles that didnât quite make the cut for todayâs episode, but are still worth including in your weekend reading. This week:
Magellan AI launches Spanish language podcast prospecting and competitive intelligence tool, a press release provided via Podnews. With their new Spanish language support, Magellan AI already has data on Spanish-language ads from more than 2,000 advertisers in the US.
A better way to measure podcast success: Listen Time by Jonas Woost for Bumper. In which Woost tells the story of YouTube switching from using views as a metric to âwatch time,â and suggesting a similar update to the podcasting industry as an alternative to the download.
A Tale of Two Bytes: Prefix vs. Host-based analytics by John Spurlock for Livewire Labs. An excellent explainer on why third-party analytics download stats might be different from the downloads reported by oneâs hosting company.
The Download is a production of Sounds Profitable. Today's episode was hosted by Shreya Sharma and Manuela Bedoya, and the script was written by Gavin Gaddis.
Bryan Barletta and Tom Webster are the executive producers of The Download from Sounds Profitable.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Weâre off to the races in 2023, and weâre taking you with us.
Credits:
- Written by Bryan Barletta
- Edited by Bryan Barletta
- Produced with Spooler.fm
- Hosted with Omny Studio
- Sounds Profitable theme written by Tim Cameron
Sounds Profitable: Narrated Articles is a production of Sounds Profitable. For more information, visit soundsprofitable.com.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
This week: Megaphoneâs weekend of outages, AdvertiseCast Publishes average CPM of 2022, Apple debuts Delegated Delivery, a software engineer teases adblock for iTunes, and The Podscape 2023 is live.
Megaphone has Weekend of Outages
Manuela: We start from a story from the holiday break. On Monday, December 19th, Podnews editor James Cridland reported on a weekend of outages for Megaphone. According to Megaphone documentation, the outage started sometime before 11am Eastern on Saturday the 17th for producers. From the website:
âWe are currently investigating an issue that is impacting content delivery. During this time end listeners most likely will not be able to download podcast episodes. We are working to fix this currently.â
Within two hours the case was updated to reflect the playback issue. At 10am the following day a second outage started, this time as a âpodcast playbackâ issue that ran for over 12 hours, leaving megaphone podcasts effectively offline until 11:56pm Eastern. One of the larger major hosting platform outages of the year.
This incident marked the sixth time in 2022 Megaphone was temporarily unavailable to podcast listeners.
AdvertiseCast Publishes Final Podcast Advertising Rates of 2022
Shreya: AdvertiseCast rang in the new year with a January 1st update to their monthly AdvertiseCast Marketplace Podcast Advertising Rates. A quote from AdvertiseCast CRO Dave Hanley in their press release:
â2022 was a breakout year in podcasting. Podcasts have become mainstream with explosive growth among younger and more diverse audiences who are embracing niche genres and new ways of listening.â
Decemberâs overall average CPM was $23.57, a 4% drop month-on-month. With this new information, AdvertiseCast now has the data to generate an overall average for the year. The average CPM for podcasts in AdvertiseCastâs observed population was $23.87 for a sixty-second ad spot, a 2% increase from 2021.
The three highest-CPM categories in December were, in ascending order, Business, Education, and Technology, with Technology podcasts pulling an average CPM of $27.
Software dev wants to make podcast ad blocker, charge money for it.
Manuela: Last week a Portland, Oregon-based software engineer Micah Engle-Eshleman announced his intentions to build something that, if fully developed, would change the industry: Adblock, but for podcasts. From adblockpodcast.com:
âFinally, a podcast app that skips ads! Adblock Podcast detects and skips ads on all iTunes podcasts.â
While light on concrete information, the project appears to be a web-based application that would detect and remove any advertisements embedded in podcasts served through Apple Podcasts, erroneously referred to by the branding Apple retired six years ago. The project will be a paid service with a vaguely-defined intent to use an undefined portion of money collected to directly pay podcasters via revenue share.
On paper, Engle-Eshlerman is proposing his web app would create a new, more profitable way for podcasters to be compensated for producing their shows. Heâs quoted in last weekâs Podnews as saying he hasnât figured that part out yet.
Which feels apt for the entire project. How would it skip ads? How would a web app produced by one person handle the complexity of paying out millions of individual podcasts? Why are podcasters supposed to be excited that they have to let a strangerâs product rip out their ads and give them a percentage of what it collected that month? If a podcast thatâs on a network has its ads skipped, does that podcast get the check or does the network?
At best, Podcast Adblock is a cautionary tale for bloggers and reporters covering podcast beats. Just because an email contains something that looks sensational doesnât mean itâs worth giving air. Podcast Adblock has many telltale signs of being vaporware. A paid service based Adblock, a service that has been available for free in one form or another since 2002. From someone with no podcasting bona fides who still calls it âiTunes.â
Apple Podcasts launched Delegated Delivery
Shreya: This Tuesday Apple announced the implementation of the Delegated Delivery beta, which will allow podcasters to publish content to their Apple Podcast Subscription from the dashboard of select hosting services. From the blog:
âWith an active membership to the Apple Podcasters Program, creators can now generate API Keys from the Account tab of Apple Podcasts Connect, which they can share with their hosting provider to allow them to publish content on their behalf. Once enabled, creators can submit new free and subscriber shows, publish new subscriber episodes, and continue to publish free episodes to Apple Podcasts from their hosting provider dashboard.â
Currently the beta enables podcasters on Blubrry, Libsyn, Triton Digitalâs Omny Studio, and RSS to try out pushing episodes directly to their Apple subscribers. More hosting providers are slated to be added to the service throughout the year, with Acast, ART19 and Buzzsprout mentioned by name as the next in line for addition.
Removing the extra chore of logging in to a separate dashboard makes the act of producing an ad-free feed or bonus content even more attractive. Apple premium subscriptions were already popular before, it's easy to see Delegated Delivery could likely help make them defacto practice for podcasts with substantial footprints on Apple Podcasts.
First 2023 edition of The Podscape now live.
Manuela: Before we get into the Quick Hits, we wanted to briefly spotlight something new from a collaboration between Sounds Profitable and Magellan AI. The first 2023 edition of The Podscape is now live. The sizeable infographic is built from taking inventory of podcastingâs companies, agencies, services, and anything else that could be classified. From the Podscape description:
âFrom content creation to hosting services to media planning, agencies, and media sales - download The Podscape to better understand how some of the biggest players fit together on one page.â
The 2023 Podscape is free to download and currently accepting feedback. 2022 was a busy year in podcasting and the goal of The Podscape is to create as accurate a snapshot as possible. Any notable exclusions or needed corrections should be directed to podscape@Magellan.ai for the next edition, currently slated for sometime in February.
Quick Hits
Shreya:Finally, itâs time for our semi-regular roundup of articles weâre calling Quick Hits. These are articles that didnât quite make the cut for todayâs episode, but are still worth including in your weekend reading. This week:
LiveOne to spin off PodcastOne into public company, Slacker possibly next by Kurt Hanson for RainNews. This short piece includes a source link to the SEC filing from LiveOne indicating the upcoming spinoff.
Podcast Vet Laura Mayer To Lead Podcast Creative At ABC Audio from PodcastNewsDaily. Exciting closure for listeners of Shameless Acquisition Target, as host Laura Mayer has landed a choice role at ABC Audio after selling the RSS feed to her year-long podcast project.
NPRâs Student Challenge is Back from NPR. For its fifth consecutive year, the NPR Student Podcast Challenge will run from January through April, encouraging middle and high-school students to produce podcasts in hopes of winning the grand prize of a $5,000 scholarship.
The best and worst campaigns of 2022, according to industry creatives by Kelsey Sutton, Ryan Barwick, Minda Smiley, and Alyssa Meyers for MarketingBrew. A fun weekend read, this look back at the previous year features some pivotal moments in online marketing. From catchy songs about plant-based chicken nuggets to people in neon t-shirts being creepy at baseball games, 2022 had a wide variety of campaigns.
The Download is a production of Sounds Profitable. Today's episode was hosted by Shreya Sharma and Manuela Bedoya, and the script was written by Gavin Gaddis.
Bryan Barletta and Tom Webster are the executive producers of The Download from Sounds Profitable.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Join Bryan in kicking off this year with a review of the notable acquisitions and fundraising that happened in 2022.
Credits:
- Written by Bryan Barletta
- Edited by Bryan Barletta
- Produced with Spooler.fm
- Hosted with Omny Studio
- Sounds Profitable theme written by Tim Cameron
Sounds Profitable: Narrated Articles is a production of Sounds Profitable. For more information, visit soundsprofitable.com.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
ChatGPT and other new forms of chatbot are already able to credibly write like humans, and itâs getting harder to tell who - or what - writes any given blog post. This week, Tom explains why this is a good thing for podcast creatives, and not the apocalypse.
Credits:
- Written by Tom Webster
- Edited by Tom Webster
- Produced with Spooler.fm
- Hosted with Omny Studio
- Sounds Profitable theme written by Tim Cameron
Sounds Profitable: Narrated Articles is a production of Sounds Profitable. For more information, visit soundsprofitable.com.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
This week: Amazon advertises podcasts offline, Twitter dissolves its Trust and Safety Council, Automakers phasing out AM radio, and a roundup of new research published this week.
Amazon pushing podcasts offline.
Manuela: This Monday Podnews covered Amazon Musicâs new physical-space advertising campaign for their Best of 2022 podcast selections. The best-of collection has prominent placement on the front page of Amazon Music, and now the streamer is promoting it in England and France. From Editor James Cridlandâs coverage:
âIn London, ads will be appearing for the next two weeks promoting ten of the top podcasters. The company also carried audio ads within the Wondery network for the chosen podcasts, and produced social media assets.â
The ads in London primarily take the form of projected billboards on blank brick walls, along with a more traditional advertisement for the podcast +44 on a digital billboard in Waterloo station. In Paris, poster-sized digital placements for Amazon podcasts were spotted at Gare du Nord, the busiest train station in Europe.
Twitter Trust and Safety Council Dissolved
Arielle: Continuing the trend of a lot happening in a short amount of time at Twitter, the social media giant has dissolved its Trust and Safety Council. Originally booked to meet this Monday, members of the council told the Financial Times the meeting was canceled via email with only an hourâs notice. From Dave Leeâs reporting:
âThe council was created in 2016 to solicit advice from dozens of experts and external organisations on how Twitter should tackle harassment, mental health issues and child exploitation, as well as suicide prevention. But in a note sent to members on Monday, the social media company said the council was no longer the âbest structureâ to gain outside insights on its policies.â
The dissolution of the council comes four days after three prominent members resigned, citing concerns over the leadership of new Twitter owner Elon Musk. From the trioâs group statement:
âWe are announcing our resignation from Twitterâs Trust and Safety Council because it is clear from research evidence that, contrary to claims by Elon Musk, the safety and wellbeing of Twitterâs users are on the decline.â
One of the largest social media platforms has quickly become a problematic place for advertisers. Meanwhile, as data from the new Sounds Profitable study Safe and Sound attests, podcasting is uniquely positioned to welcome them to a brand-safe and suitable environment.
As the studyâs data attests, podcastingâs opt-in nature creates an environment where programs that feature offensive or uncomfortable content largely have an audience of listeners who are fine with such content. And, more importantly, they tend to have audiences who are supportive of brands who sponsor that podcast. Listeners also tend to be forgiving for outlier examples of offensive content if they prefer podcasts that donât discuss such things. From the study:
âRegular listeners to otherwise non-offensive shows will highly likely return to the podcast after a single episode featuring uncharacteristically offensive content.â
As advertisers begin to shy away from brand-unsafe places like Twitter, podcasting finds itself uniquely-suited to be a leader in brand safety and suitability.
Automakers sundown AM Radio in New Vehicles
Manuela: On December 1st, Senator Edward J Markey of New York sent a letter to the CEOs of several major automotive brands in the US, including Toyota, Volkswagen, and BMW. The letter strongly urges them to reconsider the growing trend of not offering AM radios in new electric vehicles.
Why is this a trend? Hereâs James Gilboyâs explanation from a July article for The Drive:
âSo are highly complex EVs incompatible with one of the oldest, simplest electronics? BMW and Volvo told me it was due to audio quality problems rooted in electromagnetic interference, of which EVs' drivetrains produce a significant amount. Cars' engines and other complex electronics have always made EM interference, but low-wattage static is relatively easy to shield against. It's not as simple with EVs that may pull hundreds of watts from their batteries, generating far more interference, reducing audio quality to a level both BMW and Volvo told me they consider insufficient.â
Gilboy goes on to say he finds it difficult to take that explanation without a grain of salt, as US automakers circumvent the EM signal problem without issue. A common thread Gilboy notes is the manufacturers who have phased AM out of EVs tend to have strong roots in European markets.
âThe frequency has largely been superseded by the DAB format, which is a more advanced form of radio broadcasting with better audio quality and choice of stations. AM radio stations and their listeners are all but gone in Europe, so European carmakers may not need to include technology that many of its customers can't use.â
Understandably, the radio industry isnât happy with this trend. Gilboy points to the Edison Research stat from 2018 citing 45% of radio listeners only listen to the radio in their car. Senator Markeyâs letter ends with three questions asking automakers to give definitive answers as to whether they intend to fully stop offering AM and/or FM radio in future vehicles. If so, his followup questions press them to provide reasoning as to why. He provided a self-imposed deadline of December 22nd for answers to these questions.
Research Roundup: Podchaser, Podsights, Bumper.
Arielle: âtis the season for more data. Usually we round out the episode with a collection of articles called Quick Hits, but this week weâre switching it up. Hopefully you saved some room after reading Safe and Sound, as weâve got three new podcasting research studies to share.
First up: Yesterday Podchaser published a new report titled Whatâs the Best Day to Publish a Podcast? The study uses six months of data from the top 50 thousand podcasts to segment data by genre.
For those wondering: the most popular day overall for a podcast to release is tied between Wednesday and Thursday, at 17.4%. Monday and Tuesday bring up second place with 17% share of episodes each. Saturday brings up the rear as least-popular, with only 7.1% of podcasts released.
Up next: The newest edition of the Podcast Advertising Benchmark Report from Podsights is here and contains good news. This newest report, compiled from nearly 11 billion impressions from 4.2 thousand campaigns, cites the average purchase conversion rate has increased 19% since last quarter.
Finally, a new blog post from Bumper seeks to answer the age-old question of whether or not to post a podcast during the last week of the year. Published this Tuesday, Bumper published their findings from a team-up with Simplecast that examined both podcast episode publication rates and listenership data from the final week of December in 2021.
Bumper started with a sample size of 988,235 podcast episodes from Apple Podcasts, all published in December 2021. They were then sorted by release date to form a graph depicting release cadence by day throughout the month. For comparison, Bumper did the same with data provided by the Simplecast team from the same period.
The two graphs reflect similar patterns: a visible dip in publication cadence during the final week of the year. The blog then goes on to discuss starts, stream, and play data from two podcasts that volunteered their data from the same time period, which examines if anyone is listening to podcasts during that final week of the year. From the blog:
âYour reaction to this data is a bit like a Rorschach test. You can see in it what you want: an excuse to skip a week, or an opportunity to try and stand out from the crowd during an otherwise quiet period.â
The Download is a production of Sounds Profitable. Today's episode was hosted by Shreya Sharma and Manuela Bedoya, and the script was written by Gavin Gaddis.
Bryan Barletta and Tom Webster are the executive producers of The Download from Sounds Profitable.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Brand Safety and Suitability are among the hottest topics in podcasting. But how do the listeners feel? Thatâs Tomâs topic in this weekâs Sounds Profitable.
Credits:
- Written by Bryan Barletta
- Edited by Bryan Barletta
- Produced with Spooler.fm
- Hosted with Omny Studio
- Sounds Profitable theme written by Tim Cameron
Sounds Profitable: Narrated Articles is a production of Sounds Profitable. For more information, visit soundsprofitable.com.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Building an app for podcast listeners is a tough sell in this world where Spotify and Apple are so dominant. But Realm has been in the game for a while and have a dedicated fan base â both of the app they launched years ago and the content thatâs contained therein. In this episode, Bryan Barletta speaks with Rachel Prisock, head of data and engineering at Realm, about building, maintaining, and utilizing the app as an audience engagement and measurement tool.
Listen to learn about: (5 bullet points)
- How Realm got its start in podcasting
- Why the app model works for Realm (but isnât as successful for other publishers)
- How Realm might evolve
- Realmâs strategy for partner content
- The role of the Super Fan in their stratefy
Links:
- Bryan Barletta
- Arielle Nissenblatt
- Rachel Prisock
- Realm
- The Download
- Sounds Profitable: Narrated Articles
- SquadCast
Credits:
- Hosted by Bryan Barletta and Arielle Nissenblatt
- Sounds Profitable Theme written by Tim Cameron
- Edited by Reece Carman and Ron Tendick
- Assembled by Spooler Media
- Hosted on Omny Studios
- Additional help from Gavin Gaddis
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
This week: Sounds Profitable publishes brand safety and suitability study, Edison publishes top podcast networks by reach, Libsyn unveils November 2022 podcast advertising rates, Spotify unveils its top five podcasts in Wrapped, and GroupM and Magna predict a âdurableâ ad market next year.
Sounds Profitable publishes brand safety and suitability study Safe and Sound
Manuela: We begin todayâs show with something close to home. Yesterday Sounds Profitable debuted its latest research project, Safe and Sound. The first-ever study of brand safety and suitability from the listenerâs perspective.
âSafe and Sound surveyed a representative sample of 1093 podcast listeners to find out what they consider âoffensive,â what they are tolerant of, and how they view the brands that support podcast content when it pushes their boundaries.â
The study delivers a wide range of findings, ranging from bombshells like the idea political ads are unpopular with audiences - regardless of political party - to taking the temperature of what audiences consider most offensive. Spoiler alert: people dislike racist language.
That said, it looks like offensive content might not be as toxic to a podcastâs overall image as initially assumed. When asked how they felt about brands that advertise or sponsor a podcast where a guest or host said something offensive or uncomfortable, an average of 30% of respondents said their feelings about the brands had not been changed.
When presented with the situation of a podcast someone regularly enjoys having an uncomfortable or offensive episode, 49% of respondents said they would stop listening to that particular episode but continue listening in general, while 31% said theyâd continue listening to the outlier episode regardless.
The data suggests podcast-listening audiences take a more holistic approach to offensive content on podcasts they already have a relationship with. In general, listeners appear to not hold a single out-of-character episode against a podcast theyâre familiar with.
Edison Top Podcast Networks
Shreya: This Tuesday Edison Research published the Q3 edition of U.S. Top Podcast Networks, by Reach. Listeners of The Download might remember Spotify took the lead back in Q2, just edging out SiriusXM Media. This last quarter SiriusXM has overtaken Spotify and returned to the top, leaving the top five at SiriusXM Media, Spotify, iHeartRadio, Audioboom, and NPR, with Wondery eyeing the top five from sixth place. From the Edison blog post:
âWithin the top ten, the biggest jump in rank goes to Wondery/Audible/Amazon Music, up two rank positions, propelled in part by their acquisitions of major shows like Morbid and My Favorite Murder. Bubbling below the top ten, WarnerMedia gained three levels in rank, now up to 14th.â
Once more SiriusXM takes the top spot, but not without Spotify having broken their streak of having been at the top since Edison first started publishing top network by reach reports.
Libsyn Unveils November 2022 Podcast Advertising Rates
Manuela: Continuing our unplanned theme of discussing data, letâs take a moment to talk about CPM.
Last Thursday Libsyn published the November edition of their monthly CPM rate roundup from AdvertiseCast.
âThe Company releases the figures to empower the podcaster and advertiser communities to readily monitor market pricing and provide greater insight into podcasting advertising as a monetization vehicle. The data is derived from actual sales data across AdvertiseCastâs network of over 3,000 shows, including more than 225 exclusive podcasts.â
Rates are continuing to increase, little by little. Last month the average CPM rate was $24.75 for a sixty-second ad spot, up 78 cents from the October average and a 6% year-over-year increase from November 2021.
The report notes that the lower end of the spectrum contains fiction, television, and news content, averaging in the low twenties. On the high side, however, a familiar face for listeners of The Download. Weâve covered the meteoric rise of Kids & Family podcast content multiple times and its popularity continues into this November. The top four highest-earning categories in November are:
Technology and Health & Fitness, tied for third place at $26. Science at $27. And at the top of the leaderboard, Kids & Family at $28, over three dollars higher than industry average.
Spotify Wrapped is here, including its top podcasts
Shreya: Some of you might have noticed a deluge of vibrant colors and boasting about listening habits last Wednesday, as the annual Spotify Wrapped dropped. Kimeko McCoy, writing for Digiday last Thursday, explains how big this yearly infodump has become:
âItâs an awareness campaign that utilizes user data to serve up usersâ favorite songs, albums and podcasts to be shared across social media platforms via the app, engaging more than 120 million users last year, according to Spotify. This year, Spotify has launched its Wrapped presence in Roblox, with the goal of tapping into an even bigger audience.â
What originally started as a year-end recap in 2015 has grown to a marketing event large enough to necessitate a custom presence in one of the most popular online games. Since entering the podcast space, Spotify has also begun publishing a Podcast Wrapped.According to Ariel Shapiro in last weekâs issue of Hot Pod, the top five podcasts on Spotify this year are, in descending order:
The Joe Rogan Experience
Call Her Daddy
Anything Goes with Emma Chamberlain
Caso 63 (in all languages)
And, finally, Crime Junkie.
This year only two of the top five podcasts arenât Spotify exclusives, though one of those two is set to become an exclusive early next year. Only the highly successful Crime Junkie breaks through the blockade of podcasts with strong Spotify ties.
Shapiro attributes this to Spotifyâs ability to promote in-ecosystem properties like Caso 63 and its English adaptation Case 63, while podcasts that release on multiple platforms have to deal with divided metrics. Anything Goes performs well on Spotify, but it doesnât necessarily translate to similar performance on Apple Podcasts. While it got third place on Spotify for the year, Shapiro notes Chamberlain didnât make it into Edison Research's top fifty most-listened-to podcasts report for Q2. From the newsletter:
âThe list, therefore, tells us more about Spotifyâs strategy than it does about the overall market.â
GroupM and Magnaâs Global Ad Forecasts Predict A Durable Ad Market
Manuela: For our final story today we bring up a bit of good news n the face of a recession that weâre either already in, or about to enter (depending on who you ask). Hana Yoo, writing for AdExchanger, covered reports from both GroupM and Magna this Monday.
âGlobal advertising revenue grew 6.5% in 2022 and is projected to grow 5.9% in 2023, according to GroupMâs global year-end industry growth forecast. Meanwhile, Magnaâs December global ad forecast predicts 4.8% growth in 2023 after 6.6% growth in 2022.â
Yoo notes that these projections are lower than earlier forecasts. Revised versions to meet current numbers, such as Magnaâs earlier prediction of a 6.3% growth for next year. Still, as Yoo reports GroupMâs official line is theyâre looking at 2023 with âconservative optimism.â From the article:
âAnd Magna is on the same page. Although weâll likely see âa slight slowdown in advertising revenue growth in an uncertain economic environment,â said Luke Stillman, Magnaâs SVP and group director of global market intelligence, growth should reaccelerate during the second half of the year.â
In addition to forecasting overall growth, GroupM also anticipates retail media to grow from 101 billion to 110.7 billion in revenue next year. They also note CTVâs particular resilience during COVID and its upward trends, even while paid TV subscriptions slip.
Forecasts for next year arenât cloudless skies, but theyâre also not trending towards thunderstorms just yet.
Quick Hits
Shreya:Finally, itâs time for our semi-regular roundup of articles weâre calling Quick Hits. These are articles that didnât quite make the cut for todayâs episode, but are still worth including in your weekend reading. This week:
Whatâs going on in audio advertising? Spotify grows, podcasts go global, and radio is a safe bet, by Shreya Feger for Insider Intelligence. A brief three-point breakdown of insights into the state of audio advertising and predictions for next year.
Rephonic analyzed its podcast database to share opportunities for podcasters on Patreon, from last Thursdayâs issue of Inside Podcasting. A brief breakdown of Rephonicâs blog post detailing their findings regarding podcasting on Patreon.
Magellan AI Taps Experian to Improve Attribution by Magellan AI. A brief press release explaining their new partnership with Experian to use the Experian Identity Graph to power Attribution by Magellan AI.
The Download is a production of Sounds Profitable. Today's episode was hosted by Shreya Sharma and Manuela Bedoya, and the script was written by Gavin Gaddis.
Bryan Barletta and Tom Webster are the executive producers of The Download from Sounds Profitable.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Just what is a Sounds Profitable DeepDive, and what have they covered this year? What drove Bryan Barletta to create them in the first place? Read on to find out.
Credits:
- Written by Bryan Barletta
- Edited by Bryan Barletta
- Produced with Spooler.fm
- Hosted with Omny Studio
- Sounds Profitable theme written by Tim Cameron
Sounds Profitable: Narrated Articles is a production of Sounds Profitable. For more information, visit soundsprofitable.com.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
This week: Samsung Free app issue causes spike in downloads, Transistor joins email spam prevention movement, How streaming TV is bracing for the recession, and Spreaker debuts two new offerings, one of which sounds like a cool robot.
New auto-playing Samsung app spikes downloads.
Manuela: Our top story this week, fitting for a holiday weekend, is one of collaboration and teamwork against all odds. Last week Samsung launched the Listen tab on Samsung Free, a media streaming app pre-installed on every Samsung Galaxy smartphone.
When clicked on, the Listen tab would open a full-screen player with a three second timer. If not manually stopped within the three seconds, the app would begin to auto-play segments of featured podcast episodes, with each episode in the queue pre-downloaded for instant play. This auto-downloading and auto-listening lead to podcasters seeing a sudden spike of listens coming from the Dalvik user agent.
Like something out of a heartwarming holiday special, the podcasting community came together on a long weekend to work together and solve the problem. In the Sounds Profitable Partners Slack channels, employees of Audioboom, Triton, Spreaker, and others jumped into threads to discuss how to handle the issue.
James Cridlandâs Monday edition of the Podnews segment The Tech Stuff details why a download spike from Dalvik isnât necessarily an easy fix. Cridland says:
âSome podcast hosting companies have blocked the âDalvikâ useragent entirely. However, blocking Dalvik - even with the Samsung model numbers - will also block, among other things, Google Newsâs audio player, which uses an identical audio useragent. At least one app powered by Podcast Index also uses this generic Dalvik useragent along with PodcastAddict, and Indian podcast app Gaana also retains Dalvik in its useragent.â
Luckily, thereâs a happy ending to this Thanksgiving story. Multiple employees on a holiday weekend managed to get the attention of Samsung, a company only just now entering podcasting, and get the problem fully solved. According to Podnews reporting, Samsung Free content partner Acast has since demonetized any traffic from the Dalvik user agent, and a fix to the app to prevent any future download spikes is set to be published soon.
What could have been a massive headache for many people was quickly resolved fully without any half-measure bandage fixes, all on a holiday weekend, thanks to the cohesiveness of the community. That we can certainly be thankful for.
Transistor joins email spam prevention movement.
Shreya: Back on November 3rd we covered Buzzsproutâs announcement that they were removing email addressed from podcast RSS feeds. Presented as the company âfighting back against email spam,â Buzzsprout only inserts a podcasterâs email address into the feed on request to verify the feed with other services and platforms.
On August 22nd Apple Podcasts announced updates to RSS feed requirements in 2023, including the end of support for the âownerâ tag.
âThe owner tag and its contact information, including email, will no longer be recommended.â
In addition to Buzzsprout embracing the email-free future, Podbean and - most recently - Transistor have joined the cause. From their blog post this monday:
âUnfortunately, because podcast feeds are public, spammers can scrape these email addresses and use them to send unwanted emails (like pitches for guests to appear on your show).â
Meanwhile, yesterdayâs Podnews published an alternate take on this move to prevent email spam. The Canadian Podcast Awards told Podnews they neither agree with nor support the removal of email addresses from RSS feeds. From yesterdayâs issue:
âWe do not have any plans at the moment to support feeds without contact information.â
Email spam has become a growing problem in podcasting. Back in July, James Cridland published the results of an email spam-trap heâd created in the Podnews RSS feed. Over the course of three months his experiment received 240 unsolicited commercial emails.
Similarly to Buzzsprout, Transistor has removed email addresses from the feed by default, but include a tool to manually reveal it for verification purposes. In addition, they now have a verification code entry field designed to work with Apple Podcastâs new code-based verification system.
A new verification method that, hopefully, will help ease the concerns of objecting organizations like the Canadian Podcast Awards.
How streaming TV is bracing for a recession
Manuela: Depending on who you ask, the next recession is either here already or fast approaching. On November 17th Maia Vines, writing for AdAge, published a piece detailing how streaming television is battening down the hatches. From the article:
âBrands have already started to re-prioritize where they are placing their ad dollars, said Lisa Herdman, senior VP and executive director of strategic investments at RPA.â
Heather Stewart, General Motorsâ general director of global media and marketing services presents a contrasting opinion: she expressed concern advertisers might be talking themselves into a recession with reactions to false indicators.
After over a decade of consumers demanding the death of the traditional model of cable television bundling providers together, the a la carte model has begun to slip as multiple platforms come under control of media conglomerates. Currently Paramount, Warner Bros. Discover, and Disney either already group multiple services into one bundle or are planning on offering one in future.
A proposed path to soothe worries during economic downturn is commerce-enabled TV and interactive ads. Netflix VP of advertising sales Peter Laylor told AdAge:
âOne thing that I think is a great opportunity is maybe a dual-screen experience, and people have experimented there, but the research shows that the vast majority of people have their phone with them when they're consuming TV streaming content.â
Even with new tactics and status-quo breaking experiments like bringing one-click-buy options to streaming TV in US markets, thereâs a consistent throughline to how streamers are prepping for a recession: theyâre making things simple for the consumer.
A task podcast advertisers have been refining since the format required listeners to manually copy an MP3 file to an iPod.
Spreaker debuts first-party data audience segments, MAGDA brand safety tech.
Shreya: Time for a special Spreaker segment, as the platform has made two large announcements while we were gone on holiday break and itâs time to get you up to speed.
Starting on the 17th, they announced a new first-party data for high-impact audience segmentation and targeting solution that is now available for both programmatic and direct sales on the Spreaker network. MartĂn Haro, Data and Insights Lead at Spreaker says in the press release:
âNow with Spreakerâs first-party data audience segments, our solution ingests data through AI and machine learning from real listenersâ listening patterns, behaviors, and podcast content, which has enabled us to build specific audience segments that have proven to be 3X more accurate than third-party data.â
Then, yesterday, the platform followed up with a brand new tech with a cool name:
âSpreaker, the global leader in programmatic ad tech, today announced its first-to-market M.A.G.D.A technology to increase quality in programmatic advertising. This unprecedented technology is set to transform programmatic podcast advertising, adding a layer of control to protect content creators.â
In addition to sounding like a cool robot sidekick from an 80s movie, M.A.G.D.A bridges a gap in brand safety and suitability. Advertisers are well-covered on their end, now Spreaker can provide an extra layer of protection from the publisher side.
Blocking IAB categories to avoid certain kinds of advertisements works pretty well, at least until a campaign is mis-categorized. Spreaker has now solved for that. From the press release:
âM.A.G.D.A technology works by transcribing programmatic ads that go through the Spreaker ad marketplace in real-time. Spreaker has created machine-learning models to auto-categorize ads. In addition, the technology can also detect miscategorized ads. For example, if a political ad is miscategorized as fast food M.A.G.D.A will flag this for rectification.â
What does the M-A-G-D-A stand for? The name serves a dual purpose. First, it stands for Machine Augmented Guard for Dynamic Advertising. Spreaker explains:
âHowever, Magda is also a member of the Spreaker team. She was the first person to work on ad quality control for the company, and today Spreaker has an entire division dedicated to ad quality spearheaded by Magda herselfâthe company felt it fitting to name the technology after her.â
In addition to having a touching name dedication, M.A.G.D.A is a fascinating piece of tech that provides a much-needed bit of security in an industry very much concerned about brand safety and suitability.
Quick Hits
Shreya:Finally, itâs time for our semi-regular roundup of articles weâre calling Quick Hits. These are articles that didnât quite make the cut for todayâs episode, but are still worth including in your weekend reading. This week:
Can We Stop It With The Brand Safety Double Standard Already? By Allison Schiff for AdExchanger. An opinion piece that addresses a proposed double-standard advertisers have with brand safety concerns. Schiff points out the same brands skittish about serving ads on journalistic content featuring negative stories are prominently featured in between bouts of serial killer-crafted gore on her nightly watch-through of Criminal Minds on Hulu.
Google and iHeartMedia allegedly paid radio talent to promote the Pixel 4âwithout ever giving them the phone, according to the FTC, by Ryan Barwick for MarketingBrew. Barwick covers the details of a recently-settled case in which the FTC alleges iHeartMedia gave on-air talent scripts for testimonies about how much they loved using a Google Pixel phone they had never actually used.
The Cumulus Media & Signal Hill Insights Podcast Download Fall 2022 report is now available. This year features special focus on the growing prevalence of podcasts with video elements. This includes a finding that 28% of consumers prefer actively watching a podcast with a video component.
The Last Yard - the blog post that started it all, by Adam Curry, published to Podnews. Thought lost for years, a copy of Adam Curryâs 2001 blog The Last Yard has been discovered on the Wayback Machine and duplicated by Podnews with permission. A piece of industry history, Curryâs post lead to a meeting with Dave Winer that lead to the creation of podcasts.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Multitude Productions has an impressive array of podcasts, resources, events, and more going for them. In this episode, Bryan Barletta speaks with Multitude CEO Amanda McLoughlin about building the company, how they handle relationships with advertisers, scaling, and so much more.
Listen to learn about: (5 bullet points)
- Why Amanda believes CPA ads are a win-win
- The Multitude Podcasting Conference
- How Amanda and team build engaged audiences
- Why Multitude canât scale tenfold (but maybe thatâs a good thing)
Links:
- Bryan Barletta
- Arielle Nissenblatt
- Amanda McLoughlin
- Multitude Productions
- The Download
- Sounds Profitable: Narrated Articles
- SquadCast
Credits:
- Hosted by Bryan Barletta, Arielle Nissenblatt
- Sounds Profitable Theme written by Tim Cameron
- Additional support from Gavin Gaddis
- Compiled by: Spooler Media
- Edited by: Reece Carman and Ron Tendick
- Hosted on: Omny Studios
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
This week, Bryan comes at things from a different perspective, specifically that of the ways that the podcaster and audience interact. From how we convert a follow to a subscriber, to weighing and prioritizing each subscription solution from both the podcaster and listener perspective, and most importantly to exploring the upper limits of what we can accomplish under a subscription offering.
Credits:
- Written by Bryan Barletta
- Edited by Bryan Barletta
- Produced with Spooler.fm
- Hosted with Omny Studio
- Sounds Profitable theme written by Tim Cameron
Sounds Profitable: Narrated Articles is a production of Sounds Profitable. For more information, visit soundsprofitable.com.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
This week on the Sounds Profitable Deep Dive, Bryan Barletta is joined by SoundStack CEO Jon Stephenson to embark on a three-part journey through what the audio-as-a-service company has to offer. Tune in to learn how the SoundStack platform makes podcast hosting/distribution, broadcast-to-podcast, and monetization really simple.
Credits:
- Written by Bryan Barletta
- Edited by Bryan Barletta
- Produced with Spooler.fm
- Hosted with Omny Studio
- Sounds Profitable theme written by Tim Cameron
Sounds Profitable: Narrated Articles is a production of Sounds Profitable. For more information, visit soundsprofitable.com.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
This Week: Apple Podcasts is using machine learning to tag episodes, IAB to require annual recertification, Edison Research shares Share of Ear Q3 statistic, and Headliner announces automated YouTube integration.
Bumper Discovers Apple Podcasts Assigns Topics Automatically.
Manuela: This Tuesday Bumper co-founder Dan Misener posted a new discovery that explains how Apple Podcasts can recommend individual podcast episodes based on topics discussed. The example Misener uses is an episode of Today, Explained which, if one opens the web page source on Apple Podcasts, is tagged with twenty topics ranging from broader concepts like âworld politicsâ to individual names of celebrities and politicians mentioned in the episode.
The catch? Those keywords and topics do not appear anywhere in the episode description or RSS feed. The only way to assign them to that particular episode is a transcript. From the article:
âHereâs my best guess: Apple is using machine-generated transcriptions, then applying natural language processing techniques like topic modeling to generate lists of relevant topics on an episode-by-episode basis.â
According to Misenerâs reporting, the current top 250 podcasts on Apple Podcasts consists of 70,094 episodes. Approximately 63.5% of those episodes are currently tagged with topics generated by Apple.
âHereâs my best guess: Apple is using machine-generated transcriptions, then applying natural language processing techniques like topic modeling to generate lists of relevant topics on an episode-by-episode basis.â
The topics are also ranked with a per-episode relevance score and appear to be integrated into the Apple Podcasts search function. Misener tested this by searching the phrase âwar in Donbass,â which he had seen as a tag on Today, Explained. Apple Podcasts returned an episode of The Inquiry that discusses the issue at length, but also does not specifically include those keywords in the title or description. This suggests the assigned topics influenced its search ranking.
As Misener says in his breakdown of what this means for podcasters, the implications of this automated topic system are numerous and all signal better relevancy in podcast discovery. SEO now goes far beyond what they chose to include in RSS feeds.
In response to the Bumper article, Podnews has quickly developed an episode topic viewer. Visitors can type in the name of a podcast and choose one of the 20 most recent uploads to see what topics Apple has assigned. That is, if it has been assigned any at all. Unfortunately the Sounds Profitable feed has not been fed through their machine learning, so we donât know what Apple thinks last weekâs episode of The Download is about.
IAB to require annual recertification.
Shreya: Last Thursday Podnews reported the Interactive Advertising Bureau is now requiring annual re-certification from podcasting companies. The information came from a note Podnews editor James Cridland discovered on the IAB website. From the IAB post:
âAs podcast listenership increases and the technology to support that listenership improves, the podcast technical measurement capabilities are continuing to evolve at a rapid pace. As such, and to be aligned with other industry auditing programs, IAB Tech Lab is updating its compliance program to require annual recertification. â
The post then cites the fact several complaint companies were certified on the 2.0 version of the standards but have not re-certified under 2.1. As of this podcast 12 of the 25 companies on the IAB list are certified for 2.1. \
For context: version 1 of the Measurement Technical Guidelines was released in September of 2016. Version 2.0 released the following September. Version 2.1 released five years later, finalizing in February of 2022. The bulk of the updates in 2.1 involve guidelines blocking the Apple Watch user agent to prevent duplicate download stats.
Members of the audio committee and the tech lab were not briefed on the upcoming changes prior to Cridlandâs reporting on this story. Using numbers available on the IAB website, the original Podnews report cited the cost for annual recertification at $45,000, split between a $35k certification fee and $10,000 annual membership fee.
The page has since been updated to reflect previously un-announced, cheaper certification prices. Now the cost of initial certification is $17,500 for non-members and $12,500 for members. Recertification will cost $8,750 and $6,250 for the same respective categories.
Reducing the price for certification is a step in the right direction, creating more competition and reinforcing standards that others are likely to flaunt when compared against those who decide to merely be IAB compliant instead of IAB certified.
An issue remains the recertification itself, as the process has had a life cycle of six years between 2.0 and 2.1 with no commitment whatsoever to improvements in the certification process to drive interest into certification. Third party solutions like Podtrac have been shown to receive special accommodations that allow them to uphold questionable behaviors. The most recent example of such behavior being Podtracâs honoring of downloads for iHeartRadio podcasts generated by auto-playing web players into video game ads, classifying them as legitimate.
Going forward, we hope the IAB standard is applied consistently, updated with more regularity, and accessible to as many companies in the space as possible.
Podcast reach with people 13+ growing, Share of Ear shows.
Manuela: Last Thursday Edison Research published a bit of data from the Q3 Share of Ear that shows good news for the growth of podcasting. The issue of Weekly Insights opens with fond recollections of Cliffhanger, a popular price-guessing game segment on the game show The Price is Right. The game featured a model of a mountain climber making his way up a cartoon mountain based on correct or incorrect bids made by the contestant.
A mountain not unlike the positive trending growth represented in the graph
âIn 2014, the first year of the Share of Ear survey, podcasts reached 5% of those in the U.S. age 13+. As of our most recent data, Q3 2022, podcasts now reach 18% of those age 13+ in the U.S. â a 20% increase in the past year (Q3 2021), and over three times the reach of 2014. The years in between show a steady growth in reach. There have been some fluctuations in podcast reach from quarter to quarter as we saw the beginning and end of quarantine restrictions, but this graph that shows the climb of podcast reach should be encouraging for the podcast community.â
Headliner Releases YouTube Auto-Upload
Shreya: This Monday the Headliner blog posted a video and short article announcing their newest feature.
âYouTube has become one of the hot ticket items in podcasting, and for good reason. Each month over 2.6 Billion people go to the site and watch videos. YouTube is a great place to get your podcast in front of new audience and increase your listenership. If you want to get your podcast on YouTube, but have a bunch of older episodes that youâd like to upload, this feature will save you tons of time.â
In addition to Headlinerâs normal offerings that allow podcasters to generate animated video clips for social media from their podcast audio, Headliner subscribers at the Pro and Enterprise level can now create a template that will then automatically generate a full-episode video and upload it to the podcastâs YouTube channel.
This automation comes at the perfect time as YouTube pushes its interest in podcasting and podcasters, small and large, comes to terms with sizable backlogs of audio-only content.
Fundraiser Roundup
Manuela: Occasionally when there have been a few stories involving fundraising in podcasting and podcasting-adjacent companies, we graduate them from Quick Hits into their own small segment. Today we have two success stories to round out our coverage of news from the past week:
Last Wednesday Swedish audiobook and ebook subscription service Storytel announced they have raised 400 million krona, equivalent to 37 million US dollars.
Then, on this Tuesday, French digital audio and podcast monetization startup Audion announced they have raised six million euros in Series A funding.
Quick Hits
Shreya:Finally, itâs time for our semi-regular roundup of articles weâre calling Quick Hits. These are articles that didnât quite make the cut for todayâs episode, but are still worth including in your weekend reading. This week:
Alex Blumberg is leaving Spotify. A tweet from New York Times reporter Ben Mullin last Tuesday announced the Gimlet Media and Startup star has left Spotify, where he has worked on Gimlet since its $230 million dollar acquisition in 2019.
Goodbye Podland, hello to Podnews Weekly Review. On November 4th the Podnews Weekly Review published its 100th and final episode, technically. The feed has been rebranded to Podnews Weekly Review, starting with its first episode last Thursday.
The Download is a production of Sounds Profitable. Today's episode was hosted by Shreya Sharma and Manuela Bedoya, and the script was written by Gavin Gaddis.
Bryan Barletta and Tom Webster are the executive producers of The Download from Sounds Profitable.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Podcasts and Audiobooks are crossing the streams of spoken word content - what else is possible? This week, Tom Webster looks at ideas for hybrid non-fiction content that could open up whole new sources of revenue.
Credits:
- Written by Tom Webster
- Edited by Tom Webster
- Produced with Spooler.fm
- Hosted with Omny Studio
- Sounds Profitable theme written by Tim Cameron
Sounds Profitable: Narrated Articles is a production of Sounds Profitable. For more information, visit soundsprofitable.com.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
This week: Why sports podcasts are a slam dunk for podcast advertisers, our quarterly earnings roundup, how the buy-side of advertising defines âpremiumâ content, how podcast advertisers are embracing Latino podcasting, and Netflix launches their ad-supported tier.
Why sports podcasts could be a slam dunk for advertisers who know how to navigate the in-demand space
Shreya: Thereâs no denying the synergy of sports and advertisers during regular game seasons, but a new article from MarketingBrewâs Alyssa Meyers highlights how podcasts can easily fill that gap the rest of the year.
âThe sports podcast genre is among the top five most popular in the US, according to Edison Research, and the percentage share of ad revenue for that category more than doubled from 2020 to 2021, according to the Interactive Advertising Bureau.â
Several of Meyersâ sources stress that sports is one of the most in-demand podcast genres for ad buyers. Steven Abraham, president of the Oxford Road, said the agencyâs biggest clients are interested in the space due to its reach with an active and engaged audience.
âA good sports-podcast media plan includes both, according to Abraham. Major shows that cover entire leagues or sports news in general can provide the benefit of reach, but fan-led shows that focus on specific teams tend to be more targeted and affordable, he said.â
Regardless of a showâs popularity, the CPM of a sports podcast has the benefit of flexibility even in the off season. Locked On Podcast Network CEO David Locke reports listenership spikes more during off-season times like trade deadlines than during important games during the normal season.
Traditional media has spent decades refining their infrastructure around courting sports fans when players are on the court. Podcasting has the flexibility and staying power to capitalize on sports fandomâs dedication for their favorite pastime and make sporting content a perennial avenue for advertisers.
Podcasting Companies Post Q3 Earnings
Manuela: Itâs time for whatâs becoming a quarterly event here on The Download: quarterly earnings reports are here!
Most of what weâre reporting on today has been released in the past week, but in the interest of gathering everyone together, weâll open with Spotify. As we covered back in October, Spotify shares dipped after their earnings call, in which CEO David Ek announced price increases coming in 2023.
In good news for Big Green: they report 456 million monthly active users, up 20% year over year, 195 million of which are paying subscribers, representing a 13% year over year jump.
iHeartMedia is up 7% year over year on revenue, with a Q3 total of $989 million. Their Digital Audio Group revenue hit a 23% year over year increase, with podcast revenue hitting $91 million dollars.
On Wednesday Veritone posted their Q3 financial report. $37.2 million in revenue with 64% year over year growth.
Audacyâs financial report shows total revenue down 3.8% year on year. Their Digital revenue, including podcasting, made $62 million in the quarter. As Podnews James Cridland reports, this is up 2% year on year but 10% down quarter on quarter. Cridland also said:
âThe company is threatened with stock market delisting; stock hit a record low of $0.27 yesterday.â
Acastâs Q3 has been positive with revenue up 21%, amounting to $29.8 million USD when converted from Krona. In their significant events recap they list the Podchaser acquisition, the partnership with Wondery to translate and record successful podcasts in Italian, and their agreement with rep The New York Times and sell UK ad space on NYT podcasts.
They also note Amazon functionally purchasing all ad space on Acast podcasts through the deal struck just after the reporting period so Amazon can run Acast shows ad-free for Amazon Music subscribers.
How the buy-side of the ad industry is now defining âpremiumâ content
Shreya: On Wednesday Ronan Shields, writing for Digiday, published a piece covering how the buyer side of the market is defining premium ad content and the general mood of the industry in regards to the looming threat of recession. The piece quotes panels from multiple relevant conferences in New York City last week.
âJust about everyone in the industry is bracing themselves for a recession with swinging cuts to advertisersâ budgets expected, fellow panelists Jesse Fisher from Horizon Media and GroupMâs Esra Bacher offered insights into how marketers would make budgeting decisions. They both pointed out how priorities will delineate depending on whether they are an emerging or mature brand.â
Fischer predicts smaller brands will focus more on awareness campaigns instead of focusing on ROI.
âBut if you look at a more mature brand, you know thatâs really well positioned⊠they might shift spend into more measurable channels and types of activations because they really want to make sure that if theyâre spending a million dollars, theyâre able to see $1.1 million in ROI.â
Programmatic Investment Lead at GroupM Esra Bacher suggests marketers and media agencies have evolved enough to withstand the brunt of an anticipated economic downturn better than the 2008 recession that lead to sweeping cuts.
While DSPs and premium publishers are using tools like The Trade Deskâs OpenPath to form direct relationships, media agencies are similarly getting together with supply-side platforms. An anonymous source at Brand Safety Week told Digiday:
âItâs not possible for us to talk to 10,000 publishers, but it is possible for us to talk to 50 SSPs. So, we might look to see how much weâre spending with, say, 10-15 publishers via DSPs, and then look to see which SSPs have unique supply, unique data⊠and transparency on things like show-level dataâŠâ
Podcast listening by US Latinos is on the rise. Are ad dollars following suit?
Manuela: Back in August the third annual Latino Podcast Listener Report from Edison Research was published, as dedicated listeners might remember from our coverage. The report delivered promising news, including the statistic that 59% of US Latino adults have listened to a podcast at least once.
This past Wednesday Alyssa Meyers, writing for MarketingBrew, covered both the highlights of the report and how the podcasting industry is adjusting to the rise in Latino audiences.
Latina Podcasters Network and Latino Pods CEO Rita Bautista says their stable of 40+ podcasts broke six figures in ad revenue so far in 2022, working with brands like Ulta Beauty, Pfizer, and Gold Peak. The network does not run prerecorded ads, preferring host-read copy to ensure authenticity.
âThereâs absolutely a lot of interest in the Hispanic opportunity by many advertisers,â said Jesus Lara, president of Univision Radio, including its Uforia Audio Network. âThereâs other advertisers that will need a little more education.â
Lara stressed that authenticity has to be paramount when building ad creative. Ad Results Media VP of media operations and analytics Lisa Jacobs says she advises brands to only write copy in another language if they have someone fluent around to work on the translation. Jacobs told MarketingBrew this might seem self-explanatory, but there have been situations in the past where someone used Google Translate to try and convert copy to another language.
Bautista says sheâs seeing brands follow the advice of people like Jacobs, though there is room to grow.
âThe needle is moving. Itâs not moving as quickly as it needs to be, butâŠI do commend these companies that we've been working with for trying their best, and making sure that they are working on these efforts, and asking for feedback, and looking towards the right types of networks to advertise with in order to get this right.â
Brands advertising on Netflix include Louis Vuitton, Subway, and Duracell
Shreya: Previously weâve covered Netflixâs moves into making its cheapest tier an ad-supported one. Last week the platform officially launched the tier, charging $6.99 for âBasic with Adsâ in the US, as well as eight other countries. MarketingBrewâs Kelsey Sutton reports the ad loads are capped at four to five minutes of advertising per hour and the formats are pre-roll and mid-roll.
Sutton and others from MarketingBrew used accounts on the new tier to catch the new advertisement breaks in action.
âBrands we spotted while watching Gilmore Girls and Ozark included everything from luxury brands like Louis Vuitton, Tiffany & Co., and Bulgari to tech brands like Beats by Dre and Google. Apartments.com, Best Western, Booking.com, Cadillac, CeraVe, Duracell, Michelob Ultra, and Subway were also spotted in the mix.
Sutton reports the exercise found an average of three ad breaks per episode amounting to around 60 seconds total of midroll plus the preroll that ran before the episode began.
âIt remains to be seen how many of Netflixâs ~223 million global subscribers will opt to watch with ads. In a poll last month, most Marketing Brew readers said theyâd keep their existing ad-free subscriptions, but 14% each said theyâd either sign up for Netflix on its ad-supported tier for the first time or switch their existing ad-free subscription to the ad-supported tier.â
The new service isnât quite plug-and-play just yet, as Netflix has to renegotiate licensing agreements with studios before it can run advertisements on their properties. They also appear to still be working on implementing the measurement tools produced by their partnership with DoubleVerify, Integral Ad Science, and Nielsen.
While Sutton mentions some advertisers are waiting in the wings to gauge the publicâs reaction to the new tier, itâs clear plenty of big-name advertisers are interested in buying ad space on premium content. Netflixâs CPM for their new ad slots has been reported between $60 and $80. Itâs exciting to see both the interest and the price holding in a buyerâs market.
Now to see if Netflix can deliver long-term. For now we can only watch, both literally and figuratively.
Quick Hits
Shreya:Finally, itâs time for our semi-regular roundup of articles weâre calling Quick Hits. These are articles that didnât quite make the cut for todayâs episode, but are still worth including in your weekend reading. This week:
The holiday campaigns have begun- hereâs what weâre seeing so far by Katie Hicks for MarketingBrew. A breezy breakdown of what tact major brands are taking with their holiday season campaigns this year, with trends developing around addressing inflation and families celebrating together.
These Are the Salaries Warner, Amazon and Sony Offer For Audio Jobs by Ashley Carman for Bloomberg. Last weekâs issue of Carmanâs newsletter Soundbite features a look at salaries for a variety of companies working in audio now that New York City has passed a new law requiring good faith salary ranges on open positions.
The Download is a production of Sounds Profitable. Today's episode was hosted by Shreya Sharma and Manuela Bedoya, and the script was written by Gavin Gaddis.
Bryan Barletta and Tom Webster are the executive producers of The Download from Sounds Profitable.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Whatâs the episode about: If youâre a long time podcast listener, youâre probably familiar with promo codes. In this episode, we discuss how impactful they really are. And, is it possible that they could have even more impact for listeners, publishers, and advertisers? Tom Webster proposes an upgrade. Arielle Nissenblatt and Bryan Barletta are here to discuss with it with him.
Listen to learn about:
- A promo code thatâs been living rent free in Arielleâs head for 5+ years
- Why promo codes work for publishers
- A possible upgrade to the promo code system we know and love
- Whether or not this potential upgrade would be as impactful for advertisers as it would be for publishers and listeners
- How this discussion ties into our recent research studies, After These Messages and Weâll Be Right Back
Links:
- Bryan Barletta
- Arielle Nissenblatt
- Tom Webster
- Article discussed
- The Download
- Sounds Profitable: Narrated Articles
- SquadCast
- Podsights
Credits:
- Hosted by Bryan Barletta, Tom Webster, Arielle Nissenblatt
- Sounds Profitable Theme written by Tim Cameron
- Produced by: Reece Carman and Ron Tendick
- Assembled by: Spooler Media
- Hosted by: Omny Studio
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
This week, Tom continues his thoughts from last week about what Podcasting can learn from Radioâs worst mistakes.
Credits:
- Written by Tom Webster
- Edited by Tom Webster
- Produced with Spooler.fm
- Hosted with Omny Studio
- Sounds Profitable theme written by Tim Cameron
Sounds Profitable: Narrated Articles is a production of Sounds Profitable. For more information, visit soundsprofitable.com.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
This week: Amazon Prime users get ad-free podcasts and music, Buzzsprout combats email spam, new ad placements at Apple cause brand safety issue, and a roundup of the three new podcast research studies.
Amazon Music adds entire music catalog, ad-free podcasts.
Manuela: On Tuesday David Pierce, writing for The Verge, covered the changes coming to Amazon Prime subscribers.
Previously, Amazon Prime members had access to a limited batch of 2 million songs from Amazon Musicâs extensive library. Now they have access to all 100 million songs in a limited shuffle-only capacity, similar to how a Spotify free account currently works.
The big change makes the Amazon Prime music offerings comparable to a free Spotify account. However, Amazon Prime members also get ad-free access to a fair few major podcasts. This includes podcasts produced by Amazon-owned companies like Wondery, as well as podcasts produced in partnership with outside companies, including NPR, ESPN, and the New York Times.
âAmazon is also working on podcast discovery. Itâs rolling out a new feature called Podcast Previews, which seems to be something like trailers for podcast episodes. Youâll be able to listen to âa short, digestible soundbiteâ before deciding to dive into an episode, which Amazon thinks could help discovery.â
Pierce says the feature is billed as being âswipeableâ and summarizes it as âTinder for podcasts.â
Sounds Profitable asked several large publishers and hosting platforms for their percentage of downloads from Amazon Music. All were below 1% of monthly volume. Giving Amazonâs over 250 million Prime subscribers ad-free access to podcasts might bring that percentage up soon.
In addition to the Prime members, those who pay the $9 monthly subscription fee for Amazon Music Unlimited but do not have Prime get access to the ad-free podcast listening and Podcast Previews tool.
Buzzsprout âfighting back against email spam.â
Shreya: This Monday, Buzzsprout posted a short update announcing a significant update to how theyâre distributing RSS feeds.
âEmail spam has increasingly become an issue for podcasters. Spammers and bots routinely scrape RSS feeds to collect podcasters' email addresses and send them junk emails.â
The inclusion of a producerâs email in the RSS feed has been a mixed bag in recent years. As Buzzsprout says, making it easily available leaves the door open for companies scraping data to create massive databases of email addresses specifically to cold-call in hopes of selling something relevant to podcasters.
On the other hand, anyone who has produced a podcast knows the RSS email is an integral part of the process, with many platforms sending an email to that address with a verification link to prove the person claiming they own the RSS feed is legitimate.
Buzzsproutâs solution to that issue is simple: a new button has been added to the dashboard that puts the account ownerâs email back into the RSS feed for 24 hours, enough time to verify the podcast
Barring any teething troubles with the 24 hour temporary email addition process, it seems like Buzzsprout has found an elegant solution to an inelegant problem.
Appleâs new ad placements immediately caused a brand safety crisis
Manuela: As covered in past episodes of The Download, Apple has been interested in expanding advertising offerings on its platforms. This Monday Insider Intelligenceâs Daniel Konstantinovic posted coverage of a brand safety speedbump Apple encountered when rolling out new ad locations on the App Store.
One of the new ad spots is in the âyou might also likeâ section recommending similar apps, allowing advertisers to promote their own app. On the 25th when the ads went live, users began to notice inappropriate advertisements appearing on the platform. The chief example of this provided in the article is an ad for the game Jackpot World - Slot Machines on the page for RecoverMe, a gambling addiction management app.
âThe influx of gambling ads led to an outcry from developers, who didnât want their apps associated with such services, and prompted Apple to indefinitely pause ads in the gambling category.â
Podcasting is no stranger to this kind of hiccup. Back in May, Spotify experienced an issue with their implementation of ads on podcast pages, leading to one Wild Turkey whiskey ad getting served to every podcast on the platform, including those about substance abuse and alcoholism, causing a small social media firestorm.
Growing pains happen with large platforms rolling out changes like this. In-depth rules and hands-on verification helps reduce issues when rolling out a new moving part, like ads on every app listing. Apple is looking into expanding similar ads into Apple Podcasts.
Itâs best to keep aware of how these changes happen and be comfortable reporting on them as they happen. Apple certainly doesnât want their own version of Spotifyâs whiskey snafu, but it doesnât hurt to keep an eye out when ad changes debut on any platform.
Podcasting Research Roundup
Shreya: Over the past week three new studies relevant to podcasting have been released, so before we close out with Quick Hits hereâs a brief rundown of what has just hit the airwaves.
The IAB New Zealand has published The Evolution of Audio 2022, built with data collected from 95 survey respondents in late August and early September.
âRespondents are decision makers or influencers in the allocation of marketing
spend across audio advertising including media buyers and publishers and sales
Teams.â
The survey came back with promising data, including several metrics reflecting New Zealand ad buyers have used ads in broadcast streaming and podcasting more than their Australian counterparts.
Then thereâs The Spoken Word 2022, from NPR and Edison Research. This edition comes with a special focus on younger demographics and how they interact with spoken word content. The study found a 214% increase in spoken word consumption in the 13 to 24 year old demographic compared to data from 2014.
According to The Spoken Word, an estimated 131 million people in the US over the age of 13 listen to spoken word content on a daily basis, an increase of 26 million over eight years.
And finally, the Q3 version of Magellan AIâs Podcast advertising benchmark report is here. The report examined over 78,000 episodes of popular podcasts to get a snapshot of the state of podcast advertising.
Notable findings include 1,878 new brands or products advertised with podcasts for the first time this quarter, a 2.6% increase quarter over quarter in podcast ad ok spending, and 36% of ads were thirty seconds in length.
Quick Hits
Shreya:Finally, itâs time for our semi-regular roundup of articles weâre calling Quick Hits. These are articles that didnât quite make the cut for todayâs episode, but are still worth including in your weekend reading. This week:
Audiences say advertisers shouldnât avoid hard news, like war or COVID by Ryan Barwick for Marketing Brew. The results of a survey published by the Trustworthy Accountability Group and the Brand Safety Institute suggest audiences are of the opinion ads should be served on all high-quality journalism, regardless of story content.
TikTok developer ByteDance is hiring someone for Podcast Business Development. Two weeks ago we covered the breadcrumb trail of evidence showing TikTok is taking steps to get into podcasting in the near future. Recently, a job posting has appeared on the ByteDance website aiming to hire someone with at least five years of podcast licensing or podcast digital business development experience.
Market Enginuity Podcast Group becomes Soundrise, offering a ârevenue-focused partner for values-aligned podcast partners.â
The Download is a production of Sounds Profitable. Today's episode was hosted by Shreya Sharma and Manuela Bedoya, and the script was written by Gavin Gaddis.
Bryan Barletta and Tom Webster are the executive producers of The Download from Sounds Profitable.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
This week we kick off a two part series on the lessons that podcasting can take from radio's struggles.
Credits:
- Written by Tom Webster
- Edited by Tom Webster
- Produced with Spooler.fm
- Hosted with Omny Studio
- Sounds Profitable theme written by Tim Cameron
Sounds Profitable: Narrated Articles is a production of Sounds Profitable. For more information, visit soundsprofitable.com.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
This week: A birds-eye view of how podcasting is doing political ads this year, Spotify stock drops after announcing price increase, podcast companies discuss diversity at Advertising Week and the IAB Upfront, and a massive new Nielsen study shows podcast ads universally boost brand metrics.
How podcast networks are making their own rules for political advertisingâand how they differ from one another.
Manuela: Midterm elections are approaching fast in the United States and that means political ads are on the rise. This Wednesday MarketingBrewâs Alyssa Meyers published an article giving an overview of how different publishers and networks are handling the sensitive issue.
âPolitical advertisers, including candidates and advocacy groups, have expressed interest in podcasts, according to several network execs, but not all networks want to play ball. And because the FCC doesnât regulate political ads in podcasting, the rules are left entirely up to platforms and networks.â
iHeart, Wondery, and Vox declined to comment on Meyerâs story, but those that did gave a wide variety of responses and opinions. Cadence13 has always been open to political ads, for instance. That said, the decision on whether or not to run any particular cause or campaign is left to the individual hosts of Cadence13 original podcasts. Spotify has flipped the switch to allow political ads again, having banned them after accusations of spreading disinformation during the 2020 presidential election. Curiously, both Apple Podcasts and Google Podcasts do not directly mention political advertising in their ad policies.
Due to government regulations, NPR cannot run political ads on terrestrial radio. CEO Gina Garrubbo told MarketingBrew NPR chooses not to run political ads on other platforms. Meyers continues:
âExecs from other podcast networks told us theyâre starting to see increasing interest from political candidates and issue-based organizations, and though theyâre open to these opportunities, some donât have formal policies in place yet.â
Shira Atkins, co-founder and CRO of Wonder Media Network, has taken the approach of allowing political ads but only as part of sponsored content or via baked-in host-read. She says the network has gotten pitches from PACs and candidates, but some have blanched at the idea of handing over creative control to a host instead of running an ad produced by the campaign.
âWhile political ad dollars arenât flooding the podcast space the way they are CTV, as the industry continues to grow, its political ad policies will likely continue to evolve and solidify, even if they differ across networks.â
If thereâs one clear consensus in the world of political advertising on podcasts, itâs that there currently is no consensus.
Spotify Shares Slip 10% After CEO Says Price Hikes Coming Next Year
Shreya: On Wednesday Denny Jacob, writing for The Wall Street Journal and reposted to MarketWatch, published coverage of the Spotifyâs Tuesday earnings call. The results were a mixed bag for Spotify.
âFor its third quarter, Spotify reported 456 million monthly active users, up 20% from a year earlier and above the company's guidance. Paying subscribers, Spotify's most lucrative type of customer, climbed 13% to 195 million, also exceeding the company's expectations, thanks to promotions and household plans.â
That said, Spotify also posted a Q3 loss of 195 million dollars. Spotify Premium has cost $9.99 since the service launched in 2011, but CEO Daniel Ek says thatâll change some time next year. Spotify shares fell 10% after the announcement.
Podcast companies want to increase diverse contentâbut say they need better ad budgets to do so
Manuela: Time for another article from MarketingBrewâs Alyssa Meyers, this one published on Monday. In it, she covers conversations about the podcasting industry stemming from Advertising Week New York and the IAB Podcast Upfront last week.
âPart of the push for more diversity in podcasting is about getting creators from different backgrounds behind the mic in the first place. Conal Byrne, CEO of the iHeartMedia Digital Audio Group, said that podcasting, like other mediums, has a problem with representation, but that there are efforts underway to âcourse-correct.â
Meyers cites the Edison Researchâs 2022 Infinite Dial to demonstrate that the average makeup of the regular US podcast listeners - 53% men and 59% white, has declined in recent years. She also notes the diverse makeup of podcast hosts is outpacing wider US population statistics, using statistics from The Creators, a study published by Edison Research and Sounds Profitable on June 28th.
Conversations about diversification also raise questions about brand safety.
âDuring Acastâs panel, global head of ad innovation Elli Dimitroulakos said that brand-safety tech can be imperfect as well, because it âhas been built by people with preconceived notions or biases.â
Dimitrioulakos provides the example of a retailer avoiding any instance of the word âbombâ in an attempt to distance themselves from any content to do with war, but in the process unrelated content like discussions of bomber jackets are caught in the crossfire.
âOr âif I say âa bomb lipstick,â Iâm not talking about a weapon,â added Brooke DeVard Ozaydinli, host of the Naked Beauty podcast.â
Tenderfoot TV co-founder and president Donald Albright says advertisers should be prepared to invest in the industry and support the diversity they want to see in the industry.
âBlack content is what creates the culture, all culture, so invest in that,â he said. âPut the money in it, and also pay a premium on it. Donât just pay the normal rate, pay extra, because youâre reaching a very targeted market thatâs going to set the trends. That should be more valuable.â
New massive Nielsen study finds podcast ads universally boost brand metrics, long ads work.
Shreya: On Wednesday Gillian Follett, writing for AdAge, covered a new Nielsen study purported to be the âlargest everâ study of podcast ads.
âThe study, titled âPodcast Ad Effectiveness: Best Practices for Key Industries,â consolidates the findings of 610 separate studies conducted by Nielsen to measure how ads inserted into podcast episodes affected several performance metrics, including brand familiarity, brand affinity and brand awareness. It also measured consumersâ intent to search for more information about the brand; purchase something from the brand; or recommend the brand to others.â
The individual studies cover a period of four years and involved over 147,000 respondents, leading to the claim this is the largest ever study of podcasting advertising effectiveness. This claim was made by study commissioner Magna, an investment and intelligence unit of IPG Mediabrands.
One notable bit of data is the finding that ads longer than 35 seconds drive better results than shorter creatives. Magna executive VP and managing director of audience intelligence and strategy Brian Hughes suggests this is due in part to the tendency for longer creatives to be tailor-made for podcasting. Shorter ads have a higher likelihood of being repurposed from another medium - such as radio - while longer ads likely have been built with podcasting in mind.
âAdditionally, podcast ads largely had the same impact whether they were read by the podcast host or they came from the brand. In fact, custom adsâwhich typically involve the host sharing their personal experience with the brand, according to Hughesâwere generally less effective than those that didnât feature the podcast host. The report points out that âcustom content may not be worth the price of creation given it lags in performance.ââ
Itâs also worth noting with both the results weâve covered and the rest in the article that Nielsenâs methodology actually suppresses positive results, in a way. Respondents arenât actually listeners of the podcasts theyâre being tested with. It then stands to reason that if a result comes back positive in this study, the results are likely even better with an individual podcastâs actual audience.
Quick Hits
Manuela:Finally, itâs time for our semi-regular roundup of articles weâve named Quick Hits. These are articles that didnât quite make the cut for todayâs episode, but are still worth including in your weekend reading. This week:
Pocket Casts Mobile Apps Are Now Open Source by Yael Rubinstein for Pocket Casts. This one does what it says on the tin: podcast listening service Pocket Casts announces their decision to make both the iOS and Android versions of their mobile apps open source.
SoundExchange wins $9.7 million judgment from Slacker/LiveOne for unpaid music royalties by Kurt Hanson for RainNews. A brief rundown of the background behind the case and its outcome.
The Download is a production of Sounds Profitable. Today's episode was hosted by Shreya Sharma and Manuela Bedoya, and the script was written by Gavin Gaddis.
Bryan Barletta and Tom Webster are the executive producers of The Download from Sounds Profitable.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Whatâs the episode about: Arielle Nissenblatt chats with Sounds Profitable partners Bryan Barletta and Tom Webster about the two year anniversary of Sounds Profitable. Learn about our content initiatives, our research, our partnership opportunities, and how you can get involved at every stage.
Listen to learn about:
- What it means to be a Sounds Profitable partner
- Where we think Sounds Profitable will be in another two years
- Our upcoming research initiatives AKA what weâll be exploring next
- The next iteration of The Creators, our research study about podcast creators
- How you can best utilize Sounds Profitableâs resources for continuing education within your company
Links:
- Bryan Barletta
- Arielle Nissenblatt
- Tom Webster
- Article discussed
- The Download
- Sounds Profitable: Narrated Articles
- SquadCast
- Podsights
Credits:
- Hosted by Bryan Barletta, Tom Webster, Arielle Nissenblatt
- Sounds Profitable Theme written by Tim Cameron
- Produced by: Ron Tendick and Reece Carman
- Assembled by: Spooler Media
- Hosted by: Omny Studio
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
What does it mean that several podcasts paid to have their podcasts downloaded in a mobile app? Letâs break down the issue at hand, where things went wrong, and what we as an industry can do to solve it.
Credits:
- Written by Bryan Barletta
- Edited by Bryan Barletta
- Produced with Spooler.fm
- Hosted with Omny Studio
- Sounds Profitable theme written by Tim Cameron
Sounds Profitable: Narrated Articles is a production of Sounds Profitable. For more information, visit soundsprofitable.com.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
This week: TikTok spotted scraping podcast feeds, YouTube launches audio ads and host-read ad service, Internet radio platform Live365 to distribute through TuneIn On Air, the Spoken Word Audio Report debuts next week, and Digiday research shows publishers are warming more to programmatic.
Evidence suggests TikTok to explore podcasts.
Manuela: TikTok is coming to podcasting, or at least it looks to be that way from the breadcrumb trail of hints the company has left behind over the past year.
Most recently, in Mondayâs edition of Podnews, James Cridland reported podcast hosting company Audiomeans has spotted a
ânew bot that is scraping our feeds, starting October 11th.â
The host also provided Podnews with details about the bot scraping their feeds that ties it back to TikTok.
Back in May the social media giant registered a trademark for a new service titled TikTok Music, which happened to include a provision for podcast content. Further back still, in the last week of December 2021 all TikTok users got a notification prompting them to take the âTikTok Podcast experience surveyâ that collected listener-focused data, as well as audience metrics if the person filling it out identified as a producer.
With questions like âif TikTok is going to launch a podcast feature, which of the following do you think will lead to a positive podcasting experience?,â itâs no surprise weâre seeing signs theyâre building something podcasting related almost a year later.
YouTube launches audio advertisements, service for host-read podcast spots.
Arielle: This Monday YouTube announced a launch of audio-only ads, including ways to allow advertisers to specifically target podcasts, music, and those using connected TVs. This feature was beta-tested in 2020 but has now gone live globally. Sheila Dang covered the announcement for Reuters.
âThe streaming video platform said it will expand audio advertising globally to allow brands to market to people who use YouTube to listen to music or podcasts.â
It should be noted, as of this writing the YouTube podcasts homepage is still unavailable outside the US, though the announcement of global audio ads suggests this will change soon.
Then on Tuesday MarketingBrewâs Alyssa Meyers covered further development on the story as YouTube brought host-read ads into the mix.
âYouTube BrandConnect, its branded-content platform that connects creators with advertisers, is piloting a program that offers video ads read by podcasters, signaling YouTubeâs continued interest in expanding its footprint in the podcast world.â
The BrandConnect system will allow brands testing the program to op into 60 or 90 second host-read ad segments that exclusively appear on the YouTube version of the podcast. The spots will either include video of the host reading the copy or a custom title card with audio overlay. BrandConnect managing director Lori Sobel mentioned skincare company Neutrogena has implemented the tool to run a campaign on the The Financial Confessions.
In the future BrandConnect has intentions of using audience insights to pair brands with creators.
Live365 signs TuneIn On Air distribution deal.
Manuela: Last Wednesday Soundstackâs Live365 platform announced a distribution agreement with TuneIn. Broadcasters on Live365 premium subscriptions now have access to the TuneIn On Air, opening up access to the platformâs 30 million US-based people using the TuneIn mobile app on over 200 connected devices, including integrations with automotive systems by Tesla and Volvo. A quote from TuneIn CEO Richard Stern:
âThis partnership with Live365 fits perfectly within our mission to reinvent radio for a connected world and democratize access to radio for broadcasters large and small. We believe great conversations are driven by the power of the human voice and we know our listeners rely on us to stay connected to the issues that matter to them most via our content catalog. We're thrilled to help more broadcasters reach TuneIn's expansive audience."
This partnership comes at a time when traditional radio listenership is dropping. Last month Tom Webster, in an article for Sounds Profitable, wrote about the most recent Edison Research Share of Ear study. In recent years there has been a slow decline in Americans 13 and up listening to audio on AM/FM radios, while listening time on mobile devices has grown in almost direct correlation.
âI am certainly not the only person to write about this, but radio has as much of a hardware problem as it does a âsoftwareâ issue. Other than your car, it is getting harder and harder to even buy a broadcast radio receiver. Some mobile phones do offer radio tuners, but Apple has famously rebuffed all attempts by radio lobbyists to include one in the iPhone. And so, as you might guess, AM/FMâs Share of Ear on mobile devices is comparatively quite small, indeed--in fact, today that share is markedly smaller than the share allocated to podcast listening on mobile devices.â
Bringing radio to those mobile devices eliminates the issue of limited access to hardware. TuneIn is a standout example of a service modernizing the radio listening experience and making it accessible from mobile devices. Thanks to their roster of connected devices including automotive systems like Tesla and Volvo, their version of portable radio even can take over one of the last bastions of AM/FM hardware.
The Spoken Word Audio Report 2022 Launches Next Week
Arielle: Mark your calendars, NPR and Edison Research are set to release the 2022 version of the Spoken Word Audio Report on October 27th. The study will explore:
âspecific types of spoken word content, various spoken-word platforms, and devices used to consume spoken word content. With young people in the U.S. listening to spoken word audio more than ever, this yearâs study includes a special focus on Gen Z consumption.â
Vice President of Edison Research Megan Lazovick and Lamar Johnson, VP of Sponsorship Marketing at National Public Media , will present the study via webinar at 2pm Eastern Standard Time. Registration for the webinar is live and a link is available on the Edison Research blog post announcing the event.
Digiday+ Research: Direct-sold ads lose favor with publishers, while programmatic ads make gains
Manuela: The tide appears to be shifting more in favor of programmatic advertising. This Monday, Digiday deputy managing editor Julia Tabisz covered a survey of 200 publisher professionals conducted by Digiday+ Research over the first and third quarters of 2022. Their findings show a growing difference between money made from direct-sold ads and programmatic.
âWhile programmatic ads still make up a smaller portion of publishersâ revenues on the whole than direct-sold ads, publishers see potential in programmatic, Digidayâs survey found, which could affect how publishers prioritize their businesses through the end of this year and into next. For instance, the percentage of publishers who said they will put a large or very large focus on building the programmatic part of their business in the next six months has risen from fewer than a third (32%) in Q1 to 43% in Q3.â
The survey found the percentage of publishers who self-identified as getting a large or very large portion of their ad revenue from direct-sold ads fell from 59% in Q1 to 45% in Q3. On the flip side, publishers who got a large portion of ad revenue from programmatic ads only shrank from 32% to 30% from Q1 to Q2.
âDigging a bit deeper into how publishers manage their programmatic ads business, it turns out that the open market is the biggest source of publishersâ programmatic revenue â and itâs growing.â
Longtime listeners of The Download have heard this before: programmatic isnât a dirty word, and an excellent tool when used properly, and we love to see wider industries embracing it.
Quick Hits: Recommended Weekend Reading
Arielle:Finally, itâs time for our semi-regular roundup of articles weâre calling Quick Hits. These are articles that didnât quite make the cut for todayâs episode, but are still worth including in your weekend reading. This week:
5 Reasons Brands Shouldnât Sleep on Co-Listening by Melissa Paris for SXMMedia. SiriusXM, in collaboration with Carat and Edison Research, has published their second co-listening report as a follow-up to their 2018 study on co-listening.
Announcing Independent Attribution by Amelia Coomber for Podscribe. Podscribe has launched their independent third-party attribution pixel for podcast advertising.
The Same People Who Listen To Podcasts Also Stream CTV by Allison Schiff for AdExchanger. Schiff covers the similarities podcast listeners share with connected TV audiences, including data from Acast, The Trade Desk, and Nielsen.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
There are around four million podcasts in the world today - but how many are you actually competing with? The answer is much smaller than you might think.
Credits:
- Written by Tom Webster
- Edited by Tom Webster
- Produced with Spooler.fm
- Hosted with Omny Studio
- Sounds Profitable theme written by Tim Cameron
Sounds Profitable: Narrated Articles is a production of Sounds Profitable. For more information, visit soundsprofitable.com.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
This week: ESPN to potentially partner with DraftKings, Podcasting unions make headlines, Netflix confirms two independent measurement companies, advertisers reflect on 2023 spend, and two new podcasting hosts arrive in the US.
ESPN Nears Large New Partnership With DraftKingsManuela: Last Thursday Ed Hammond and Crystal Tse of Bloomberg covered an anticipated deal between ESPN and sports-betting firm DraftKings. According to an update to the piece, DraftKingsâ stock rose as much as 8.8% in response to the news on Friday.
âESPN has already invested heavily in sports gambling, though it has steered clear of taking actual bets. The broadcaster has betting-related shows such as Daily Wager and marketing deals with DraftKings and Caesars Entertainment Inc. where links to the sportsbooks are integrated into ESPNâs website. Disney also acquired a stake in DraftKings as part of its acquisition of Foxâs entertainment assets in 2019.â
Disney has long avoided gambling in pursuit of upholding its wholesome family image. As Bloomberg points out, none of the Disney cruise ship fleet have casinos aboard, nor are Disney characters licensed to slot machine manufacturers. Clearly, their attitudes appear to be changing as they search for a sports betting partner for ESPN.
Sean Russo, Research Manager of Magellan AI, offered this when asked about the growth of sports betting and adjacent categories:
âAs of August, the Fantasy Sports industry is up 22% year to date, although historically spending in the industry has peaked in September. Last year spend more than doubled between August and September, primarily driven by brands like Fanduel and DraftKingsâ
ESPN is a major podcast network and sports betting, as well as its cousins like fantasy sports, continue to climb in popularity. If this deal comes to fruition, it could be a big deal indeed.
Podcasting gains new union, hears from two recently affected by Spotify layoffs.
Shreya: In this first segment we have two stories fitting in a theme of organized labor in podcasting. Last Tuesday, Audacyâs Pineapple Street Studios announced last Tuesday that roughly 75% of their proposed bargaining unit signed up to officially join WGA East. Ashley Carman reported for Bloomberg:
âThe employees said theyâre looking for increased transparency around pay, rights to their intellectual property, protection against favoritism at work and improved health insurance, according to the letter.â
Later in the week, the utility of unionizing was highlighted when Spotify pruned their walled garden. Last Thursday Tech Crunchâs Lauren Forristal reported on Spotify canceling multiple shows at once from two of the four Spotify in-house content production companies. Three podcasts from Gimlet and eight from Parcast are either canceled effective immediately or set - in the case of Horoscope Today - scheduled to end in the second quarter of 2023.
Spotify also announced this would cause âless than 5% of layoffs of Spotifyâs podcast staff.â
Last Friday both the Gimlet Union and Parcast Union took issue with that number in an official letter posted to Twitter.
âYesterday, Spotify blindsided both Gimlet Union and Parcast Union with at least 38 layoffs across their studios. Spotify has said in the press that these layoffs constitute less than 5% of people working on original podcasts. That number is misleading. The reality is that each bargaining unit organized with the Writers Guild of America, East has lost about 30% of its members. These are not small cuts, they are massive restructurings.â
The two unions go on to highlight Spotifyâs internal reasoning for canceling the podcasts was due to low listenership, which the unions argue was in large part due to decisions made by Spotify itself.
âTheir decision to make most of Gimletâs and Parcastâs shows Spotify Exclusive caused a steep drop in listeners - as high as three quarters of the audience for some shows. Yet the company did little or nothing to staunch the bleeding. Shows languished without marketing support, and teams were not given clear audience goals to meet.â
Netflix strikes measurement deals ahead of new ad-supported tier
Manuela:On Monday Garett Sloane, writing for AdAge, reported on some updates to the ongoing story of Netflix prepping for the launch of their ad-supported tier. As covered in the September 8th episode of The Download, details were scarce about the tier beyond its possible price point and the streamerâs CPM goals.
â... Netflix has been asking for high prices for its ad inventory, at least $60 CPMsâcost per thousand viewsâwhile only offering limited targeting possibilities and no third-party measurement, according to people familiar with the situation.â
Now Netflix has announced theyâre working with both Integral Ad Science and DoubleVerify to act as that third-party measurement. A measurement executive speaking to Sloane anonymously believes implementation of the two services should be relatively easy for Netflix.
Netflix signing two big-name third-party companies to give credence to their measurement stands as another example of why a certain podcasting platformâs decisions come off as odd. Spotify, when in a similar position of needing brand safety and ad measurement as Netflix, chose to not only work with one third-party company, they strongly inferred the partnership intended to create a proprietary brand safety tool.
Surveyed advertisers discuss where theyâll potentially spend differently in an uncertain 2023.
Shreya: Much talk has been had about the uncertainties of how things will look in the future as the economy has a will-they-wonât-they relationship with a recession. This Wednesday MarketingBrewâs Ryan Barwick brought some numbers to the table that demonstrate just how uncertain the industry is. The following numbers are the result of a survey of 43 advertisers run by the World Federation of Advertisers and their media research company Ebiquity. 41% expect to keep their 2022 budgets, though as Barwick says in the article:
â29% said they expect a decrease in their budget. The remaining 29% said they expect to see an increase.â
While 43 might seem like a small sample size for a survey, itâs worth noting those companies account for $44 billion in ad spend. 28% said theyâd increase performance advertising, while 21% aim to increase their share of brand advertising. 40% of respondents would up their share of flexible or biddable buys.
ââWith uncertain times ahead, itâs clear that brand advertisers seek more tactical agility in terms of trading and shifting budgets throughout the year, versus annual upfront commitments,â Ruben Schreurs, chief product officer at Ebiquity, wrote to Marketing Brew.â
New Podcast Hosts Cross the Atlantic
Manuela: Two new podcast hosting services have hit the US markets this week. First: podcast recording and editing application Alitu has announced Alitu Hosting, making the service all-in-one. According to Jacob Anderson, head of Growth at Alitu:
âWe started building Alitu four years ago with one mission in mind: to offer the clearest path to sharing your voice and making an impact on the world, making no compromise over control and creativity. Whether thatâs making one person laugh, or lifting an entire community, we want to offer the help you need to achieve your purpose.â
This Tuesday French hosting service Ausha announced the rolling out of their service in the US on their official blog.
Quick Hits: Recommended Weekend Reading
Shreya:Finally, itâs time for our semi-regular roundup of articles weâre calling Quick Hits. These are articles that didnât quite make the cut for todayâs episode, but are still worth including in your weekend reading. This week:
Platforms used for listening to podcasts in Poland in 2022 by Statista. We make a point of discussing podcasting performance around the globe. With that in mind, hereâs a snapshot of data showcasing what podcast consumption looks like in Poland.
Acast Talks Layoffs, Itâs U.S. Moves, The Ad Market, And Why Itâs Selling âThe Heart.â by InsideRadio. Coverage of Acastâs recent earnings call, including higher-ups talking through their strategies, layoffs, and revealing Acast only sold 28% of their ad inventory in 2021. In the interest of clarity, itâs worth keeping in mind InsideRadio is owned by competitor iHeartMedia.
The Download is a production of Sounds Profitable. Today's episode was hosted by Shreya Sharma and Manuela Bedoya, and the script was written by Gavin Gaddis.
Bryan Barletta and Tom Webster are the executive producers of The Download from Sounds Profitable.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
As interest in podcasting continues to surge, so does the expectation that podcasting adheres to norms established in other advertising channels. Today, frequency capping takes the center stage.
Podscribe DD: https://soundsprofitable.com/article/podscribe
Thoughtleaders: https://soundsprofitable.com/article/thoughtleaders-intelligence Sounds Profitable Podscribe A deep dive into Podscribe: critical intelligence for podcast advertisers.
Dec 17th, 2020 Sounds Profitable ThoughtLeaders Partner Intelligence Solution Elsie Bernaiche, Director of Sales at ThoughtLeaders, joins us for our latest product deepdive into the ThoughtLeaders Partner Intelligence Solution.
Credits:
- Written by Bryan Barletta
- Edited by Bryan Barletta
- Produced with Spooler.fm
- Hosted with Omny Studio
- Sounds Profitable theme written by Tim Cameron
Sounds Profitable: Narrated Articles is a production of Sounds Profitable. For more information, visit soundsprofitable.com.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
This week: Podcasting overtakes talk radio, CPMs increase, video game ads counting as podcast downloads, and Publishers test personalizing newsletters.
Podcasting overtakes talk radio, CPMs increase
Manuela: For todayâs first segment weâre going to cover two recent pieces about industry growth. First, Kurt Hansonâs Rain News recap of the Audioscape 2022 talk by Cumulus Media executive Pierre Bouvard. The biggest eye-catching number from Bouvardâs presentation of Edison Research media involves how the 18-34 age group spends their weekly time listening to talk or personality-driven audio content. Terrestrial radio has been overtaken in this bracket, with podcasts taking 60% of those listening hours.
âEven within the older demos of 25-54 and 35-64, podcast listeningâs share of talk/personality listening is high â 47% and 39%, respectively, with those numbers up nearly double and more than triple, respectively, compared to five years ago.â
Continuing the trend of good news from new data, Libsynâs Advertisecast has published their Podcast Advertising Rates 2022 report. The presentation is compiled from reporting data provided by 2,985 podcasts. Podnews editor James Cridland reported on Monday:
âThere has been a jump in the average CPM for podcast advertising, according to Libsynâs AdvertiseCast: the average is now $24.35, the second-highest on record. Itâs up 3.7% month-on-month, or 5% year-on-year.â
Podcasting continues its upward climb. More listener share over radio and growing CPMs sounds like a good thing to us.
A follow-up on video game ads counting as podcast downloads.
Shreya: Last week we covered Ashely Carmanâs piece covering podcast companies, most notably iHeartRadio, purchasing downloads via mobile game ads. In a follow-up piece covering industry reactions posted last Thursday, Carman got official comment from the Interactive Advertising Bureau.
âThe standards are in a continual state of review,â said Eric John, vice president of the media center at the IAB. âWeâre trying to ski to where the puck is going ultimately, and weâre going to make standards to match the industryâs needs.â
On the same day Podnews reported a response from Podtrac explaining why the gaming ads only playing 20 seconds of an episode of were counted as full downloads.
âItâs our understanding they appear as browser traffic without a unique user agent (or [unique] IP address). These downloads donât have a material impact on the publisher rankings including the rank order of the top publishers.â
Then, in related news, HotPod reported on an InsideRadio piece covering Podtrac suspending its weekly data newsletter after iHeart stopped sponsoring the project. The decision was reportedly made over a month ago. According to HotPod, the last data tracker email theyâd received was published September 13th, while the last one with iHeartRadio branding had been sent August 15th.
Since the HotPod publication went live, InsideRadio - a company owned by iHeartMedia - has pulled their Podtrac story.
Publishers test personalizing newsletters with varying degrees of success
Manuela: Last Wednesday Digidayâs Sara Guaglione reported the experiences of publishers who experimented with using tools to generate personalized newsletters for subscribers. Weâre covering it here as the tools and methodology involved might just be of interest to podcasting. From the article:
âAs companies like The New York Times and The Washington Post experiment with personalizing their homepages to get readers to consume more articles, publishers are also tweaking newsletters to serve readersâ specific interests and behaviors â but to varying degrees of success.
The piece opens with the success story of The Telegraph, which has run the personalized newsletter Headlines for a year. Each time a newsletter needs to be sent, an algorithm selects vertical-specific content recommendations based on browsing history, including making sure to not recommend articles the subscriber has already read.
The Telegraph reports higher click-through rates, page views per click, and time spent on the website from Headlines subscribers vs. their standard hand-built newsletters. In contrast, publications like The Toronto Star have tried similar things and found little to no results. Newsroom director David Topping told Digiday:
Most newsletter subscribers âseem pretty happy getting what everyone else got,â Topping said. The personalized newsletter drove engagement for a âniche audienceâ who wanted tailored recommendations but it wasnât ânecessarily something thatâs going to move the needle,â he added.â
Niche audiences are a thing podcasting does well. The recommendation tech used to create these newsletters could be of use in the podcasting industry. An individual news podcast could build itself live akin to how Spooler allows The Refresh to add new segments on the fly. Except, with a recommendation engine, a news podcast could be constructed of only segments the recommendation tool knows the listener would enjoy.
Or, scaled up to an entire production house or network, the same tech could be applied to give bespoke RSS feeds to subscribers that only dole out episodes of podcasts that company produces that the listener would enjoy. An elegant solution for the existing logjam of either dozens of individual RSS feeds for a stable of similar podcasts, or one feed containing multiple different shows.
Quick Hits: Recommended Weekend Reading
Shreya:Finally, itâs time for Quick Hits, our roundup of articles that didnât make the cut for todayâs episode, but are still worth including in your weekend reading. This week:
Numbers games by Brian Morrissey for The Rebooting newsletter. An excellent op-ed discussing how recent focus on having writers create content that generates subscriptions to a publication is the modern version of prioritizing writing that generated page clicks. Both overlook the meaty day-to-day content that keeps readers coming back. An excellent piece of opinion about an industry next door to podcasting.
What are the Top 10 Alternative ID Solutions and How Should You Use Them? By Andrew Byrd for Admonsters. For those looking to get into some deep-level tech discussion, Byrd details ten privacy-focused Alternative IDs to future-proof for the day when Google eventually kills third party cookies.
Political advertising is propping up a slow ad market by Jeremy Goldamn for InsiderIntelligence. Political ads are a hot-button topic for podcasting, but thereâs no denying itâs a midterm election year and spending is only going up between now and November.
Hit Songs Are Staying on the Top Charts Longer Than Ever by Lucas Shaw for Bloomberg. A companion piece to last weekâs Quick Hit from The Guardian, Shaw details how modern streaming analytics are making top charts stagnate. Where a person who buys one CD a quarter and listened to it 500 times didnât affect charts in the 90s, that same listening habit can keep artists afloat for years on Spotify.
How ad tech aims to build back better by Ronana Shields for Digiday. Weâre four years into a post-GDPR world. Shields covers the current state of adtech and privacy via discussions had at the first in-person Dmexco conference since 2020.
The Download is a production of Sounds Profitable. Today's episode was hosted by Shreya Sharma and Manuela Bedoya, and the script was written by Gavin Gaddis.
Bryan Barletta and Tom Webster are the executive producers of The Download from Sounds Profitable.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
With the release of Weâll Be Right Back, part two of After These Messages, Tom Webster has a few questions about promo codes. Is it time to change how we use them?
Credits:
- Written by Tom Webster
- Edited by Tom Webster
- Produced with Spooler.fm
- Hosted with Omny Studio
- Sounds Profitable theme written by Tim Cameron
Sounds Profitable: Narrated Articles is a production of Sounds Profitable. For more information, visit soundsprofitable.com.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Sounds Profitable is two years old this month! Founder Bryan Barletta talks about just how far weâve come in 24 short months, and where we are headed next as we continue to serve our mission to push podcasting forward and set the course for the future of the audio business.
Credits:
- Written by Bryan Barletta
- Edited by Bryan Barletta
- Produced with Spooler.fm
- Hosted with Omny Studio
- Sounds Profitable theme written by Tim Cameron
Sounds Profitable: Narrated Articles is a production of Sounds Profitable. For more information, visit soundsprofitable.com.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
This week: Podcasts found using mobile game ads for downloads, a trio of new pixels announced, and the Independent is reframing programmatic for advertisers.
Podcasters Are Buying Millions of Listeners Through Mobile-Game Ads
Manuela: Our first story is a big one! This Tuesday, Bloombergâs Ashely Carman published a piece reporting on the discovery that podcast companies are serving podcast players as ads in mobile games.
For those not hip to mobile gaming: free-to-play mobile video games traditionally generate revenue by interrupting gameplay on a regular basis with a skippable ad, with the option to watch a 20 second unskippable ad in exchange they receive beneficial in-game items, or more attempts to play that day. Instead of serving a video ad, which is one of the more common uses of these platforms, some companies are serving a web player that plays the an episode of a podcast. The ads are timed, requiring the app user to interact for often 20 seconds or more, which is more than enough time to download an entire 1 hour podcast through progressive downloading. That download and every ad in that download would be seen as legitimate by current IAB podcast standards, even though the app user was prompted to move out of the ad and back to the game after the timer ended.
Ad fraud detection company DeepSeeâs August examination of ads in the popular game Subway Surfers spotted podcasts from the New York Post, independent podcaster Scott Savlov, and iHeartMedia. Carman interviewed Corey Weiner, CEO of Jun Group, a company specializing in placing ads in mobile apps. The starting rate for Jun Group placement is a $27 CPM for one of the 20 second ads. Jun Groupâs main podcast client is iHeartMedia.
âAccording to a person familiar with the effort, the radio company, which bills itself as the top podcast publisher globally, has shelled out more than $10 million and gained approximately 6 million unique listeners per month through these ads since 2018."
During the last week of August, half of the top ten trending podcasts in Podtrac were iHeart productions that hadnât uploaded new episodes in weeks, if not months, according to Carmen. Podtrac is an industry ranker that only measures podcasts that opt into their platformâs prefix analytics solution, and recently independent developer John Spurlock identified that Spreaker from iHeart had added the prefix to podcasts on their platform en masse.
Yesterday Podnews published exclusive info regarding iHeart rankings:
âAre these plays counting for iHeartâs â#1 for podcastingâ Podtrac ranking? Podnews analysis confirms that the embedded podcast players used,as documented by DeepSee, makes a call to Chartable and a call to Podtrac.â
Podnews editor James Cridland then links to Podnews coverage of a 2018 story in which iHeartMedia was busted embedding podcasts on the websites of hundreds of affiliate radio stations, inflating play counts.
The core problem that led to this story existing lies in the fact that there are minimal requirements for podcast players and not requirements for reporting transparency to podcast advertisers. Podcast players like Apple are Spotify are safe to trust as one can be 99% sure itâs coming from their apps. Even web player traffic is generally trustworthy given itâs assigned less inventory in general. That said, itâs time for the industry to figure out stricter guidelines for web players and more obligations to our advertisers.
Itâs not immediately clear what the finite details of a solution will be, but if all the big players in the industry came together for the sake of transparency they can build something. Something that would get publishers and advertisers alike reevaluating what inventory is or isnât valuable based on where itâs played rather than simply if itâs played.
Pixels Galore - Podscribe and Gumball launch podcast analytics, and Magellan launches attribution
Shreya: Time to increase your resolution, several new pixels have recently arrived in podcasting. First up: a little trip to the past. Back on August 11th Podscribe announced third party impression verification. Or, in their words, third pod-y impression verification. Once users get the pixel to their publisher they will receive real-time downloads.
âAs early publishers in all other seasoned media forms discovered, 3rd party verification both facilitates and is required for significant scale.â
The new verification comes designed to automatically sync to Google Sheets, allows for flagging of campaigns if suspicious data starts coming in, and GARM methodology brand safety monitoring.
Flashing forward to last Thursday, our second pixel comes from Magellan AI with their new Attribution by Magellan AI. With the new Attribution tech both advertisers and publishers will have details like campaign performance and pacing at their fingertips within the Magellan AI dashboard.
âWe are helping brands and agencies complete the entire buyerâs journey in one seamless location to enable them to scale with ease as the podcast industry exponentially grows,â said Cameron Hendrix, CEO and co-founder of Magellan AI.
And for the final pixel, a bit more recent: This Tuesday Gumball, adtech division of the podcast network Headgum, announced a new feature titled Gumshoe.
âPrior to Gumshoe, host-read ad measurement and verification were archaic, requiring podcasters to provide screenshots to verify impressions and download data. Gumshoe, which works with most major hosting platforms and is compatible for both embedded and dynamic ad formats, now digitizes this function to add increased communication and transparency.â
How The Independent is getting brands on board to advertise against breaking news
Manuela: This Monday Digidayâs Kayleigh Barber covered a talk by The Independentâs SVP of U.S. publication, Blair Tapper, about the fight to sell inventory as a publication covering breaking news. In a world where huge negative stories are breaking on a regular basis, a publication that doesnât have subscriptions to rely on has to ensure skittish advertisers have confidence in where their inventory is being served.
According to Tapper, 75% of The Independentâs ad revenue in the U.S. comes from programmatic ads. Given news is a commonly-avoided category, her team has focused on recontextualizing programmatic in a way that combats advertiserâs negative preconceived notions.
âProgrammatic advertising makes up approximately 75% of The Independentâs advertising revenue in the U.S., according to Tapper. But because news is such a highly avoided category by many advertisers, her team has been working to reframe the idea that buying programmatically means losing control over where and when a display ad gets placed.â
âThere used to be this misnomer that programmatic was just all of these underground pipes [that spit out ads like] magic. I really believe thatâs not the case. Programmatic is still a human business, itâs still a human sell â itâs just a different way of buying inventory. And so if you can humanize the programmatic relationship, I think a lot of the objections to news go away.â
In addition to that, Tapper spoke to fighting against rudimentary lists of blacklisted keywords that accidentally catch false positives. An example given is if the keyword âshotâ were to be blocked to avoid serving ads on school shootings, it also eliminates any sports articles that describe a player taking a shot at a goal.
âTo remedy this, Tapperâs team works with IAS, Ipsos and NewsGuard to try and contextualize the articles affected by keyword blocking.â
It has been said before on The Download and weâll say it again in future: Programmatic is not a dirty word, itâs a tool that works as well as you use it.
Quick Hits: Recommended Weekend Reading
Shreya:Finally, itâs time for our semi-regular roundup of articles weâre calling Quick Hits. These are articles that didnât quite make the cut for todayâs episode, but are still worth including in your weekend reading. This weekâs five great reads are:
Has streaming made it harder to discover new music? By Alexis Petridis. Discoverability in podcasting is a common conversation topic. This op-ed discusses how modern music discoverability has a habit of playing things safe, to the point the charts frequently feature old songs brought to temporary viral fame due to television and TikTok.
Why Kochava says it doesn't want to settle with the FTC by Ryan Barwick. Back in our September 8th episode we covered the beginnings of the FTC lawsuit against data broker Kochava. Barwick is reporting on the story again and, spoiler alert, Kochavaâs still not backing down.
âHarder to disputeâ: Ebiquity CEO on why advertisers are slowing spending in the Google-Facebook duopoly by Seb Joseph. While Google and Facebook are doing just fine for themselves, ad dollars are beginning to slow down as a myriad of factors combine to rumble the social media giants.
Digiday+ Research: What are publishersâ priorities heading into Q4? By Julia Tabisz. Back in Q1 Digiday surveyed publishers on where their business priorities lay over the next six months. Now theyâve run the same survey again for Q4.
The Chaos Of Privacy Compliance In The US by Alyssa Boyle. Boyle interviews Dominique Shelton Leipzig, partner at Mayer Brown on the proposed American Data Privacy and Protection Act, as well as potential new rules from the FTC.
The Download is a production of Sounds Profitable. Today's episode was hosted by Shreya Sharma and Manuela Bedoya, and the script was written by Gavin Gaddis.
Bryan Barletta and Tom Webster are the executive producers of The Download from Sounds Profitable.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
This week: Serial and the importance of content curation, Spotify launches audiobooks, Spanish-language TV is surging, why Wonder Media Network wonât use programmatic, and SirusXM is no longer the biggest podcast network by reach. Letâs get started.
Serial and the importance of content curation.
Manuela: Last week news broke that prosecution would petition for the release of Adnan Syed, whose case was the subject of the first season of Serial. Since then Syed has been officially released. In the interim conversation regarding the case and the part Serial played in popularizing it reached a boiling point on social media. On Friday the 16th attorney Rabia OâChaudry, host of Undisclosed and the person who originally brought Syedâs case to the attention of Sarah Koenig, tweeted an analogy for how Serial fit into the narrative of Syedâs release:
âImagine you ask someone to help renovate your house. Instead they set fire to it. The story about the fire brings thousands to your aid that rebuild your house.â
Media critic and true crime aficionado Rebecca Lavoie quote-tweeted OâChaudry to start a thread with an important lesson to be learned from Serial.
âI have previously heralded Serial as a seminal piece of media and even made a podcast originally based on reviewing it. But given the facts of the case, Rabiaâs analogy is precise. Serial doesnât hold up. And its biggest crime is its abandonment of its own reporting.â
Lavoie details several sections of the popular podcast that contain outdated or inaccurate knowledge with seven years of hindsight that, due to the podcastâs popularity, are still being discovered by brand new podcast listeners with. No warnings or amendments have been placed on the original season of Serial.
âI am not saying that Sarah Koenig et al have an obligation to report this story forever. ButâŠthe owners of the Serial feed (now [The New York Times]) have an absolute obligation to point news consumers to the latest⊠news.â
Lavoie points to dynamic ad insertion tech and how it could be used to retroactively place a warning giving context without having to manually update each episodeâs file. Given last yearâs scandal with Caliphate, the NYT is no stranger to retroactively adding disclaimers to its own in-house reporting.
Lavoie argues they have the same level of responsibility to maintain legacy feeds. Even the most popular true crime podcast in the industry is not above poor reporting or claims that were later disproven by new evidence. Despite being seven years old, Serialâs popularity means statistically itâs still someoneâs first podcast in 2022.
Spotify Offers Audiobook Service with 300,000 Titles
Shreya: This Tuesday Spotify announced the launch of their audiobook platform.
âStarting today, Spotify listeners in the U.S. will be able to purchase and listen to more than 300,000 audiobook titlesâmaking our platform a true all-in-one destination for everyoneâs listening needs. And weâre excited to launch audiobooks with a brand-new user interface thatâs geared specifically for listening to audiobooks and fits them seamlessly alongside the music and podcasts you already listen to and love.â
The new audiobook interface includes an in-app purchase screen to buy each individual audiobook. Most popular audiobook platforms, like Audible or Libro.fm, use a monthly subscription system that gives users a set amount of credits to exchange for audiobooks at a rate that costs less than purchasing them retail. Spotifyâs model requires a Premium Spotify membership for the ability to purchase audiobooks.
Press materials include a series of four screenshots depicting the purchase of Colleen Hooverâs novel It Ends with Us for $13.99, on sale from a normal listing of $17.99. This pricing is in lockstep with the average retail cost of the same book at popular audiobook providers Google Play, Kobo, and Audible if the user is not a subscriber. With this addition Spotify is now a one-stop shop for the casual user. While it might not attract many users specifically for the audiobook functionality, any user who listens to music or podcasts with Premium has the ability to buy audiobooks and listen without leaving the app theyâre already paying for.
Spanish-Language TV viewership surges despite mishandled metrics, lackluster representation.
Manuela: As is becoming common on The Download, this segment will discuss two articles that are closely related. First off: Spanish-language TV Viewership is Surging by Kelsey Sutton for MarketingBrew. The headline leads into a subheader explaining the surge is accompanied by poor measurement leading to under-investing. Now things are turning around.
âWeâre sure youâve heard it about a million times: linear TV viewership is, on average, not looking good. But thereâs one segment of old-fashioned TV whose outlook seems downright rosy. Spanish-language TV networks, including mainstays like Univision and Telemundo, are on the upswing, growing daily audience reach even as many other major networks are seeing steady declines.â
Dan Reiss, EVP and chief growth office at TelevisaUnivision told MarketingBrew Univision has seen an increase of brands on-air of more than 200 over the past two years.
One of the benefits of podcasting being a younger industry than other media is it can learn from their mistakes and adjust earlier on when itâs easier to do so. Just last month Edison Researchâs Latino Podcast Listener Report dropped, revealing 59% of the U.S. Latino population have listened to podcasts. Podcasting is a diverse field and should be treated as such from the ground up. To that note the final quote from an AdExchanger piece featuring Orci CEO Marina Filippelli:
ââGen Z can smell bullshit from a mile away â they know whether or not creative was produced by somebody like them,â Filippelli said. âRepresentation needs to take place not just in front of the camera, but behind the scenes.â
Why Wonder Media Network wonât sell its podcast ad inventory programmatically
Shreya: This Tuesday Kayleigh Barber published a piece distilling an interview on the Digiday Podcast into article form. The interview features Wonder Media Network co-founder and CRO Shira Atkins enthusiastically explaining why the network refuses to carry programmatically-served ads, instead choosing a more bespoke approach. Not only are ads produced in-network, theyâre permanently baked-in.
âBut on the latest episode of the Digiday Podcast, Atkins said she still believes that programmatic is âa tragedy for the podcasting ecosystem at large.â Her team does not sell any of its ad space programmatically. Instead, the podcast network uses its branded content studio to make bespoke audio ads, which Atkins said creates memorable ads that listeners are less likely to skip over.â
Itâs worth noting the difference between content provided by programmatic methods and the tool of programmatic advertising itself. High quality memorably ads like those produced by Wonder Media Network for baked-in use can be served programmatically through direct deals that operationalize and improve the process for both buyers and sellers.
NPR, for example, does this currently with great success. Programmatic distribution is a tool, not a particular flavor of advertisement.
âWe donât [carry programmatic-sold ads] because the reason that weâre able to demand such high CPM [or sell flat rate deads] is that weâre selling embedded ads in perpetuity. It makes me feel like an old lady whenever people ask me about this, because theyâre like, âI canât believe you donât do dynamic ad insertion.â But it works for us.â
Host reads, baked-in, and dynamic ad insertion are all excellent tools that podcast audiences are receptive to, and companies like Wonder Media Network are an excellent example of how the power of the podcasting industry can allow individual facets of the industry to exist and thrive on their own.
Sounds Profitableâs first research study - After These Messages - has the data to back up the efficacy of host-read ads. The study shows the audience preference for host-read ads over generic announcer-read ads, which Atkins conflates with programmatic, is much smaller than one would expect.
Spotify hits the top of Edison
Manuela: For our final story I donât have to summarize the info, as they do it for me.
âThis week Edison Research publicly announced the ranking of the biggest podcasting networks through the second quarter of 2022, based on Edison Podcast Metrics survey of over 8,000 weekly podcast listeners age 18 and older.â
For the three years Edison Research has done this report on podcast metrics, SiriusXM Media has held the top spot of the U.S. Top Podcast Networks, By Reach report. This last quarter the top contender was unseated by the relative newcomer. As of Q2 of this year Spotify is the #1 network by reach. Theyâve gradually risen up the charts over years, using a combination of acquisitions, licensing deals, original content, and a fertile walled garden to grow the platform.
As of this last quarter the top five now reads Spotify, SiriusXM Media, iHeartRadio, Audioboom, and NPR.
Quick Hits: Recommended Weekend Reading
Shreya:Finally, itâs time for our semi-regular roundup of articles weâre calling Quick Hits. These are articles that didnât quite make the cut for todayâs episode, but are still worth including in your weekend reading. This week:
Athletic Greens gives us the scoop on its podcast advertising strategy by Alyssa Meyers of Marketing Brew.The article features company CRO Jonathan Corne explaining their strategy of carefully selecting podcasts to sponsor with intent of establishing a long-term relationship.
âGaming is very much here to stayâ: Why Axe body spray is taking a bigger swing at esports marketing by Kimeko McCoy of Digiday. Axe isnât a stranger to sponsoring esports outside the US, but the company is renewing its efforts at home and getting into TikTok. Which is to say influencer marketing, a thing podcasting is very good at.
On that same note: Roblox will be one of the first major platform to launch in-game ads by Daniel Konstantinovic of InsiderIntelligence. For anyone without a kid: Roblox is a big deal. Arguably bigger than Minecraft. Allowing outside advertising without locking it to the gameâs internal currency is a big step.
RIP Broadcast TV? Legacy Broadcast Execs Say Not Just Yet by Alyssa Boyle of AdExchanger. A breakdown of the new trend of broadcast TV getting into streaming media by simulating traditional always-running broadcasts.
The Download is a production of Sounds Profitable. Today's episode was hosted by Shreya Sharma and Manuela Bedoya, and the script was written by Gavin Gaddis.
Bryan Barletta and Tom Webster are the executive producers of The Download from Sounds Profitable.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
In this episode of Sounds Profitable: Arielle Nissenblatt and Tom Webster sit down to discuss Podcast Movement, the Sounds Profitable Business Leaders Summit, and most importantly: an update on Tomâs dog Walnut.
Listen to learn about:
- Dynamic ad insertion and video trends among our sponsors.
- Tomâs Podcast Movement takeaways.
- What happened at the Sounds Profitable Business Leaders Summit
Hereâs our favorite idea from this conversation: âWhen things donât seem settled in the space, try to organize as best you can with other voices and take strong positions.â
Links:Bryan Barletta
Arielle Nissenblatt
The Download
Sounds Profitable: Narrated Articles
Credits:
Hosted by Arielle Nissenblatt
Produced with Spooler.fm
Hosted with Omny Studio
Sounds Profitable theme written by Tim Cameron
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
We talk a lot about the unique content advantages in podcasting, but one key to growing the medium with an older audience might be even simpler.
Credits:
- Written by Tom Webster
- Edited by Tom Webster
- Produced with Spooler.fm
- Hosted with Omny Studio
- Sounds Profitable theme written by Tim Cameron
Sounds Profitable: Narrated Articles is a production of Sounds Profitable. For more information, visit soundsprofitable.com.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
This week: Analyst predicts programmatic will get podcasting to six billion in ad spend, the new iOS update takes care of AppleCoreMedia, Apple announces virtual neighborhood for Latine Heritage Month, brand-lift studies are catching up with the times, and kids content is booming for Paramount+.
Programmatic advertising could make podcasting a $6 billion industry by 2026
Manuela: In last Fridayâs Hot Pod Insider, Ariel Shapiro covers B. Riley analyst Daniel Dayâs newest publication about the industry. His most attention-grabbing prediction, as the headline spoils, expects podcast ad spending to be up to six billion dollars within four years.
Itâll be an uphill battle to get there. Shapiro points out the potential downsides of programmatic without the right data and infrastructure by recalling the infamous Wild Turkey incident. Back in May Spotify accidentally ran an ad for budget whiskey on every podcast on the app simultaneously, leading to a social media firestorm as users posted screenshots of the most inappropriate examples of podcasts to pair with Wild Turkey. Day is of the opinion more detailed location data will be a game-changer that avoids such issues in future.
âSmall and mid-sized businesses really have almost entirely sat out podcast advertising to date,â Day told Hot Pod. âThese advances in geo-targeting and programmatic allow mom and pops and local, regional businesses to access this medium in a way that they couldnât before, absent reaching out to like some local sports or news podcast. Now, they can target audiences listening to some big national podcast.â
Day points to iHeartMedia putting significant investments into podcasting, as well as podcasting making up a larger portion of the companyâs revenue each year, as examples of the growth he projects in action.
iOS 16: Whatâs new for Apple Podcasts
Shreya: Last Wednesday Apple published an update blog detailing some of the new features coming with their iOS 16 update.
The update comes with some creature comforts for the user, such as more prominent placement of the sleep timer button and better Apple Watch integration for podcasts. Thereâs also a bit of housekeeping noted, in case you missed the multiple emails over the past few weeks:
âShow and provider titles will continue to be displayed alongside show artwork on the Library and Search tabs, so make sure your showâs metadata is up to date and that your artwork includes your showâs title for the best experience.â
The most important feature of this update for the business side of podcasting isnât mentioned in the update blog, though. This update brings the change to AppleCoreMedia user agent thatâll shift how we view Appleâs footprint in podcasting. As covered in our June 10th episode, this will lead to far less confusion as to what traffic is actually coming from Apple Podcasts. Those who didnât report ACM will no longer underestimate traffic from Apple, and those who labeled all traffic from ACM as Apple will get a more balanced look at just how much traffic is coming out of Apple.
For those that are code-savvy, weâll include a link in the show notes to the official Apple developer page for the updated user agent key.
Apple Podcast launches "El Vecindario" collections.
Manuela: On the subject of Apple: This Monday an email sent by Apple announced their plans for Latine Heritage Month, which runs from today through October 15th.
âLater this month, Apple will showcase the abundance of Latine created content across genres, formats, and languages â and spotlight many great creators. Apple Podcasts has created a special destination, titled El Vecindario, that honors the spaces where Latine communities come together and conversations originate.â
El Vecindario, the neighborhood in Spanish, will showcase Latine-created content covering multiple genres, formats, and languages.
Influencer marketing brand-lift studies are improving
Shreya: Last Friday Marketing Brewâs Phoebe Bain used the release of the Association of National Advertisersâ organic measurement guidelines for influencers as an excuse to discuss how brand-lift studies have matured.
âOut of more than 1,000 Marketing Brew readers surveyed last month, about one-third said they think measurement for influencer marketing has âevolved significantlyâ over the past two years.â
A useful tool to track that rapid evolution is the brand-lift study. Bain spends a good portion of the article explaining the basics: two groups are asked questions about something, with only one having experience with that thing. Any differing answers or familiarity expressed by the second group is quantified as - you guessed it - brand lift.
Old-school brand-lift studies would ask simple questions regarding information retention, or whether the audience wanted to buy the product in an ad. Modernized studies take into account the changing media landscape, especially with the popularity of influencers.VP of marketing at creator management platform Grin Ali Fazal explains to Marketing Brew:
âWith an influencer marketing brand-lift study, questions go a level deeper. Those questions might focus more on brand affinity, or how consumers feel. For example, âis the brand cool? Is it viral? Is it modern?â These questions focus less on what consumers remember, and more on a brandâs overall or social appeal. In an influencer marketing brand-lift study, he said, the questions focus on the full picture rather than just the ad itself. âThis measures the true depth of impact that creator marketing has,â he said.
Why should the business side of podcasting care? Podcasting is influencer marketing. In a world of pixel-based brand attribution and walled garden ad solutions, people are finding their options are missing the mark for influencer and podcaster alike. Brand lift studies by companies like Edison Research, Signal Hill Insights, Veritonic, or Nielsen can help fill that gap.
How kids shows are boosting Paramount+
Manuela: Last Thursday Kelsey Sutton published a look at how kidsâ content is performing well at Paramount+. While Paramount+ is separate from Paramountâs podcasting ventures, The Download has been covering the boom in kid-friendly podcasting since our March 18th episode. Paramountâs experiences reaffirm that family and kid-oriented content drive engagement.
âWhen it comes to streaming, parents will go without eating before disconnecting something that entertains their kids,â Brian Robbins, president and CEO of Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon, said Tuesday at the Bank of America Securities 2022 Media, Communications, and Entertainment Conference. âKids content is an amazing, amazing retention tool for us.â
The streaming platform has done well for itself since the CBS All-Access rebrand. Currently Paramount+ reports 3 million paid subscribers.
âKidsâ programming on streaming can also help fill the audience void as linear viewing continues to drop off. âIf you take our linear share and the audience for kids that weâve picked up on Paramount+, we actually have more audience and share of kids 2â11 than weâve had in years when you combine them both,â Robbins said.?
As reported back in March, studies show the Kids & Family categories have grown 20% since last year and thereâs reason to believe poor categorization of content is causing a lower number than the industry is actually experiencing. Kids content is doing quite well, as any parent will tell you.
Quick Hits: Recommended Weekend Reading
Shreya:Finally, itâs time for our semi-regular roundup of articles weâre calling Quick Hits. These are articles that didnât quite make the cut for todayâs episode, but are still worth including in your weekend reading. This week:
Class Photos by Skye Pillsbury, for The Squeeze.
Pillsbury holds a mirror up to diversity on the business side of podcasting by compiling yearbook-style collages of the big podcasting companyâs leaders and known executives with deal-making power. A must-read.
Introducing The Mullet Career Strategyâą â Creativity & Business by Steve Pratt.
Pacific Content co-founder Steve Pratt announces his upcoming venture titled The Creativity Business, a strategy firm aimed at helping creatives learn better business and businesses learn better creativity.
17 Stats That Reveal the Power of Podcast Advertising and Host-Read Ads by Connie Chen.
In addition to quoting our After These Messages study, senior manager of content management at Gumball Connie Chen brings a bundle of research to back up the efficacy of host-read ads.
The Download is a production of Sounds Profitable. Today's episode was hosted by Shreya Sharma and Manuela Bedoya, and the script was written by Gavin Gaddis.
Bryan Barletta and Tom Webster are the executive producers of The Download from Sounds Profitable.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
September 22nd is officially the last day of Summer, making our third and final article in our Programmatic Summer series absolutely not late to the party.
Credits:
- Written by Bryan Barletta
- Produced with Spooler.fm
- Hosted with Omny Studio
- Sounds Profitable theme written by Tim Cameron
Sounds Profitable: Narrated Articles is a production of Sounds Profitable. For more information, visit soundsprofitable.com.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
This week: We learned something interesting about Netflix, Cross-promotions work but you might be doing them wrong, Anchor continues to be the top podcast host by episode share, and the FTC sues a data broker.
All we know about Netflixâs ad plans so far
Shreya: Once again we bring you an article that doesnât feature the world âpodcastâ, but could have big implications for the industry. Last Friday Kelsey Sutton published a brief roundup of all the news about Netflix that had dropped during the week. The world learned about polarizing new ad-supported tier, charging between $7 to $9 a month. We also learned theyâre targeting 15 and 30 second spots for preroll and midroll ads.
âThe flurry of reports helps provide a better picture of how Netflix is strategizing the rollout of its ad-supported tier after eschewing Madison Avenue for years. There are still many unknowns, including what kind of metrics the service will provide to measure ad effectiveness. Even without all the details, media buyers are buzzing with anticipation.â
Podcasters and advertising folk alike should take note of how much Netflix is paying per thousand impressions. According to Sutton the streamer is paying $65 CPM, with expectations of that going up to $80 in future.
With those rates in mind for the biggest streaming platform, average podcast CPM is fair to underpriced in comparison.
Do Cross-Promos Work? Hell Yes, But You Are Likely Doing Them WrongâŠAnd We Can Fix That
Manuela: On Monday Eric Nuzum published an issue of The Audio Insurgent that aims to introduce podcasters to a vital lesson learned while conducting research for terrestrial radio nearly two decades ago.
Nuzum is of the opinion that on-air and in-episode content promotion is frequently misunderstood and often poorly executed. This and the next two issues of Audio Insurgent are dedicated to covering the three Rs of program promotion: Reduction, Repetition, and Real Content.
In 2004 Nuzum conducted a study for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting titled ON-air Program Promotions Insight Study, a study of cross-promotion in the radio industry so helpful he continued to get messages asking where to find the study long after the original webpage hosting it had decayed.
For this newsletter series he has done some light editing and uploaded the entirety of the 18 year-old study to Google Drive for preservation.
âYet despite its age, it can still be very effective and useful to all audio professionals today. But the whole project boils down to one simple sentence: A well-constructed message, delivered to the right listeners often enough for them to recognize it, can increase listening.â
His issue on Reduction stresses the importance of stripping fat from a promotion and ensuring it isnât airing in a block of multiple other promotions that could distract from the message. An example given from when the promo study was first conducted is Nuzum playing a promo for A Prairie Home Companion. The promo rapid-fire announced the town, state, college auditorium in said town the performance would take place at. Following that, three musical acts and the name of the famous News from Lake Wobegon segment.
âImmediately after playing it, I would ask those in the room to name a single artist or location mentioned in that promo. On a rare occasion, someone could remember âIowaâ--but most times, no one could remember anything. And these people were (supposedly) paying attention.â
Top Podcast Hosting Companies by Episode Share (August 2022)
Shreya: Last Thursday Livewire Labs updated their substantial snapshot of the industry via episode share.
âOne of the ways to measure the health of the current podcast ecosystem is to measure the number of new episodes published in a given period. We look at every single new podcast episode published (about 1.6 million in August 2022, up 5.4% from last month) and identify which podcast hosting company it belongs to.â
One of the first things that jumps out about both the list of hosting companies by new episode share and the ranking of hosts by new episodes published in August is the gulf between first and second place. In a ranked list of 234 podcast hosting services Anchor dominates first place at 22.9% of new episodes published. Buzzsprout showed gains in solidifying a strong second place at 9%.
Livewireâs data pairs nicely with the Podnews podcast hosting change tracker, which observes RSS feed hosting changes across the systemâs sample size of over 73,000 podcasts. Over the past week 211 podcasts changed from one hosting service to another, 26 which moved from various other services to Anchor. Pundits are fond of depicting Anchor as a dumping ground for single episode or dead podcasts due to their free tier, but they clearly are attracting a lot of new creators.
A sociologist on what advertisers should know when they use health data
And:
FTC picks fight with data broker
Manuela: Over the past week Ryan Barwick of Marketing Brew has published two closely-related articles covering the use of data collected in a healthcare environment for advertising.
First, yesterdayâs article features an interview with Mary F. E. Ebeling, an associate professor of sociology at Drexel University and recently-published author of a book on the effects of collected data on individualsâ lives. Ebeling provides an anecdote of how a child she lost to miscarriage in the real world continued to live a false life through parenting-related marketing emails.
âThough itâs near impossible to audit a digital adâhow, why, or where it was servedâEbeling connects the experience to her research in the healthcare industry, where patients rarely know theyâre feeding âmassive databases maintained by healthcare providers and public and private insurers, or payersâoften called data âlakesâ and âoceans.ââ
With Ebelingâs account in mind, we look back to last Friday when Barwick covered a much-publicized lawsuit filed by the Federal Trade Commission.
âOn Monday, the agency brought a lawsuit against Kochava, a data broker, for allegedly collecting and selling location data âthat can be used to trace the movements of individuals to and from sensitive locationsâ like reproductive-health clinics and places of worship.ââ
The suit comes several weeks after a preemptive lawsuit from Kochava towards the FTC. Barwick details the two businesses within Kochava in its data marketplace and measurement service. Kochava argues the user is forewarned when they initially agree to share their location data with the third-party apps they purchase the data from. The FTC, clearly, disagrees.
âBy the end of the week, many were wondering: Why Kochava? And though we donât know the answer yet, the FTCâs lawsuit could put the entire location data collection industry under the microscope.â
Quick Hits: Recommended Weekend Reading
Shreya:Finally, itâs time for our semi-regular roundup of articles weâre calling Quick Hits. These are articles that didnât quite make the cut for todayâs episode, but are still worth including in your weekend reading. This week:
The Ambies, the flagship award program of The Podcast Academy, designed to celebrate excellence in podcasting in the same way the MPA celebrates film with the Oscars, is now taking nominations. In addition, they've also announced a membership program sponsored by Spotify to enable independent creators to submit.
WQXR hires a podcasting chief by Laura Holt.Music remains one of the most untapped categories in podcasting. WQXR is a great example of a station that produces its own content and has access to a number of resources for original content, which is the key to making music podcasting work in a world where licensing music under copyright is still financially not viable in podcasting.
Apple is staffing up its ad business by Ryan Barwick. This might not be breaking news for dedicated audience members of The Download, but it is crystal clear confirmation that apple is fully embracing its advertising business.
The BBC Shares podcast stats by Podnews. A recent talk at Radiodays Asia in Malaysia featured rare info about the BBCâs daily download data, the show in questionâs audience profile, and comparison to other podcasts.
Finally, in accordance with The Downloadâs love of sharing news of podcastingâs performance on a global scale: Otonal has published Podcast Report of Japan, a survey of podcast usage in Japan in 2021.
The Download is a production of Sounds Profitable. Today's episode was hosted by Shreya Sharma and Manuela Bedoya, and the script was written by Gavin Gaddis.
Bryan Barletta and Tom Webster are the executive producers of The Download from Sounds Profitable.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
In this episode of Sounds Profitable: Bryan Barletta is joined by Stew Redwine in observing the anniversary of the first audio advertisement in 1922. How have things changed over a hundred years? What even was the first ad?
Listen to learn about:
- The origin of audio advertising
- How audio ads have grown since.
- What we can learn from the evolution of audio ads
Hereâs our favorite idea from this conversation: âHistory doesnât repeat itself, it rhymes.â - Mark Twain.Â
Links:
- Bryan Barletta
- Arielle Nissenblatt
- Stew Redwine
- The Download
- Sounds Profitable: Narrated Articles
Credits:
Hosted by Bryan Barletta & Arielle Nissenblatt
Sounds Profitable Theme written by Tim Cameron
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
There's a lot of received wisdom that says host read ads beat announcer ads in podcasting. But is this always true? Could it even be a false choice?
Credits:
- Written by Tom Webster
- Edited by Tom Webster
- Produced with Spooler.fm
- Hosted with Omny Studio
- Sounds Profitable theme written by Tim Cameron
Sounds Profitable: Narrated Articles is a production of Sounds Profitable. For more information, visit soundsprofitable.com.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
This week: Podcast ad spending goes strong despite recession fears, YouTube and Twitter launched dedicated podcast spaces, advertising questions what to do if premium users choose not to see ads, and a look into why DTC ads havenât fallen off as expected.
Podcast Ad Spend isnât Slowing as a Recession Potentially Looms.
Manuela: Marketing Brewâs Alyssa Meyers brought good news last Wednesday. Things are looking up for the podcast ad spending despite, shall we say, less than ideal economic conditions.
Over on the general advertising side of things, itâs a bit bleak. On August 18th Daniel Konstantinovic, writing for Insider Intelligence, covered the worst month of ad spending in two years.
âJuly saw ad spending go through its worst monthly decline since July 2020. Ad spending contracted 12.7% year over year in July, per MediaPost and Standard Media Indexâs US Ad Market Tracker.â
Several potential causes of this dip are proposed, most of which are interlinked to some degree. Relaxing of pandemic restrictions and the return of larger social gatherings has increased commuting and free time away from screens. Meanwhile, even while the juryâs out on whether weâre technically in a recession, Konstantinovic points out a Brand Keys statistic showing 70% of consumers believe theyâre in a recession and thus are cutting back on spending.
Perhaps spending wasnât great in the general advertising space, but podcast ad spending continues to boom regardless.
âSome of the biggest audio companies reported growth in podcast ad revenue for Q2 despite a softening ad market, and buyers responsible for major audio budgets told us theyâve yet to see a significant retreat from podcasting, indicating that the sector could continue growing regardless of the state of the economy.â
Itâs also worth keeping in mind which data weâre looking at and how weâre looking at it, as Magellan AIâs Sean Russo explains:
âWe took a look through a few different lenses. When you look at year-over-year spend in July in podcasts, weâre seeing a 19% increase. If we look at Q2 YoY weâre seeing a 48% increase. Worth noting that looking at month-over-month June to July we saw a 7% decrease. So, the bottom line on what weâre seeing is that podcast ad spend continues to grow at a healthy clip YoY, though we did see a minor pullback from June to July.â
YouTube and Twitter Launch Dedicated Podcast Sections
Shreya: Itâs time to follow up on two developing stories weâve covered in recent weeks, as two giant social media platforms have now rolled out sections dedicated to podcasting.
Last Thursday Twitter started the rollout of the new dedicated Spaces tab.
âIntegrating podcasts into Spaces, where audio conversations happen on Twitter, is another way weâre continuing to invest in audio creators. To do this in a simple and intuitive way that allows listeners to simply hit play and go, we started with a redesigned audio experience in the Spaces Tab.â
Twitter remains an important space for podcasters to both promote and network. With the addition of podcast functionality thatâs native to the app theyâve removed some of the friction between the promotion of a podcast and the potential audience member actually listening.
On that same note: last Monday YouTube launched a dedicated page for podcasts, though only for users in the United States. As covered by Sarah Perez in TechCrunch, the url for the new page was discovered ahead of formal announcement. Despite their thunder being partly stolen, YouTubeâs shown a promising amount of dedication to the industry.
âLast year, YouTube hired a podcast executive, Kai Chuk, to lead its efforts in the space and has been offering cash to popular podcasters to film their shows, reports said. This March, a site called Podnews leaked an 84-page presentation that detailed YouTubeâs podcast roadmap. In the document, YouTube revealed it had plans to pilot the feature by ingesting RSS feeds. It also mentioned a new URL, YouTube.com/podcasts, but the link didnât work at the time.â
A quick note from script writer Gavin: yes, that bit of the quote with the phrase âa site called Podnewsâ hurt me too.
In addition to what Perez covered in the quote, itâs also worth remembering YouTube has recently announced a partnership with NPR to bring their shows to the platform. Itâs safe to say YouTube is one of the big companies that is taking the podcasting industry and its potential seriously.
What happens when high-income households opt out of ads?
Manuela: Last Monday Kelsey Sutton, writing for Marketing Brew, approached an important question: what if the people certain brands wish to market to are also the demographic most likely to pay a premium specifically to avoid ads?
âThe people that advertisers most want to target are hiding from the advertisers,â said Eric Schmitt, research director and analyst on the Gartner for Marketing Leaders. âIt really is going to have some interesting knock-on effects for the ad business over time.â
Podcasting is not specifically name-checked in the piece, but it is a growing phenomenon to keep in mind. Current data tells us most listeners are comfortable with ads as they currently exist in podcasting. Stick around for our Quick Hits section this week if you want a link to some extremely relevant data from a certain study Sounds Profitable published last week.
Suttonâs article points to multi-tired subscriptions to streaming services as the biggest example of the popularization of a premium ad-free option. While these are worth thinking about, thereâs ample room for nuance in the discussion, up to and including services like Paramount+ and Hulu, who have baked-in preroll ads before every television episode or movie regardless of subscription level.
âSchimtt hypothesized that the shift may eventually spell larger challenges for traditional ad-supported media channels, including TV, as marketers look elsewhere to reach higher-income consumers or spend more resources marketing to past customers.â
Ad-free listening is a relatively new invention in podcasting, especially on a large scale. For now we wait and see which way the advertising winds blow.
How and why DTC advertising hasnât cooled off as much as once thought
Shreya: Last Tuesday Digidayâs Michael BĂŒrgi published a brief look into the world of direct-to-consumer advertising in a world anticipating DTC upheaval. With the deprecated ability to track conversions due to changes in iOS 14.5 and the additional changes to cookies and third party data, DTC brands are turning to alternatives like branding opportunities to hit their goals. Surprisingly, after seasonal changes are taken into account, thereâs quite a few DTC markets growing.
âFacebook has the highest monthly median spend in July 2022 at $19,022 ($2,000 less than a year prior), according to Varos, a research company that tracks e-commerce spend for about 1,800 companies. Googleâs median spend inched up from $8,101 to $8,209 over the same period; TikTokâs grew from $4,095 to $5,981.â
The commonly-held belief that there would be pullback from DTC spending was indeed widespread, even leading to some companies not surviving. Those who did explore other avenues besides the cheapest and fastest clicks have discovered the wide world of influencer marketing, which just so happens to be where podcasting thrives.
Quick Hits: Recommended Weekend Reading
Manuela: Finally, itâs time for our semi-regular roundup of articles weâre calling Quick Hits. These are articles that didnât quite make the cut for todayâs episode, but are still worth including in your weekend reading. This weekâs
Sounds Profitable releases their second study, After These Messages.
Do podcast audiences prefer improvised host-read ads, scripted host-read, or pre-recorded radio spots? After These Messages is a one-of-a-kind study polling over 1,000 podcast super listeners to answer that question. Both the study and the half-hour video of Tom Websterâs presentation at Podcast Movement 2022 are available now.
Streaming surpasses cable and broadcast for the first time by Kurt Hanson.
While not a podcasting story, per se, it does highlight a significant milestone for digital media. People are becoming more and more comfortable unplugging from traditional broadcast media and constructing their own media diets from digital sources. Podcasting could ride along with that.
I made a map of Spotify podcast recommendations. Hereâs what I learned by Dan Misener.
The inner workings of the aggregators are completely unknown to us. While Spotify refutes Danâs points, his research with multiple touch-points shows a very interesting story.
Podcasters test offering more bonus content and additional features to grow subscriptions
An interesting look inside podcast subscription content by Sara Guaglione. Long headline, relatively short article. Transparency on trying new endeavors is always exciting and thereâs some valuable information in this look into premium podcast subscriptions.
The Download is a production of Sounds Profitable. Today's episode was hosted by Shreya Sharma and Manuela Bedoya, and the script was written by Gavin Gaddis.
Bryan Barletta and Tom Webster are the executive producers of The Download from Sounds Profitable.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
In three years, Allyson Marino built and sold her own podcast company, Lipstick & Vinyl, a network built around strong female voices. Here is Allysonâs story.
Credits:
- Written by Allyson Marino
- Edited by Tom Webster
- Produced with Spooler.fm
- Hosted with Omny Studio
- Sounds Profitable theme written by Tim Cameron
Sounds Profitable: Narrated Articles is a production of Sounds Profitable. For more information, visit soundsprofitable.com.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
In this episode of Sounds Profitable: Adtech Applied, Bryan speaks with Tamara Zubatiy, co-founder and CEO of Barometer. Barometer contextualizes podcasts based on the GARM brand suitability components and the Media Roundtable Values.
Listen to learn about:
- Brand safety and suitability
- Why itâs important to create block and allow lists for advertisers
- How context and nuance play into the brand safety and suitability conversation
- The Sounds Profitable Business Leaders Summit
- The consolidation of our feeds
- Why we need your feedback on this podcast
Hereâs our favorite idea from this conversation: GARM marks different levels of risk when it comes to advertising but thereâs never an ad partnership that brings zero risk to either party (advertiser or publisher).
Links:
- Bryan Barletta
- Arielle Nissenblatt
- Tamara Zubatiy
- Barometer
- Sounds Profitable Summit at Podcast Movement
- The Download
- Sounds Profitable: Narrated Articles
- SquadCast
- Podsights
Credits:
- Hosted by Bryan Barletta & Arielle Nissenblatt
- Sounds Profitable Theme written by Tim Cameron
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Even with the best intentions, bad ad delivery can happen. But why does it happen?
Credits:
- Written by Bryan Barletta
- Edited by Tom Webster
- Produced with Spooler.fm
- Hosted with Omny Studio
- Sounds Profitable theme written by Tim Cameron
Sounds Profitable: Narrated Articles is a production of Sounds Profitable. For more information, visit soundsprofitable.com.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
This week: Appleâs funding podcasts, brand safety tech continues to divide advertisers, what more can and should ad agencies do to support journalism, Edisonâs Latino Podcast Report, and Spotify bundles Chartable and Podsights access for Megaphone users
Apple Ramps Up Its In-House Podcasting Efforts with Studio Deal
Manuela: Rumors of Apple getting into podcasting bore fruit last week with official confirmation. At least, sort of. Ashley Carman and Lucas Shawâs Bloomberg piece from last Wednesday explains:
âThe investments have been led by Appleâs TV studio, rather than its podcast division. Despite being one of the biggest distributors of audio in the world, the companyâs podcasting unit has avoided funding individual shows or buying networks because it wants to be seen as a neutral platform.â
That TV division has entered into a deal with Futuro Studios to fund the creation of podcasts while Apple retains first-look rights on film and TV adaptations. In essence, the deal creates a pilot-factory for Apple to generate new IP and test them in the world of podcasting before graduating to the more expensive filmed version.
âApple hasnât pumped nearly as much money into original podcasts as Amazon and Spotify Technology SA, which have each spent more than $1 billion acquiring companies and programming. Spotify, Appleâs rival in music streaming, has made some of the most popular podcasts in the world exclusive to its service and thus unavailable to the competition.â
Podcasting is becoming a relatively affordable testing ground for IP instead of fully committing to a TV pilot, along with the added bonus of any successful IP getting a built-in audience of fans before the first day of shooting. Successful shows like Netflixâs Dirty John adaptation are proving the method can work and work well.
âA key impedimentâ: Brand safety tech continues to divide advertisers into haves and have-nots
Shreya: This Monday Seb Joseph of Digiday posted an article detailing the growing divide in how advertisers handle being posted to news sites when big, predominantly negative stories break. Nobody wants to be the next viral sensation getting roasted worse than Mr. Peanut when Plantersâ ad campaign temporarily killing their mascot coincided with the death of Kobe Bryant.
In a world full of dangerous news cycles, brand safety tech companies like Integral Ad Science are able to impart more granular control over what content is considered brand-safe in a timely manner.
âThen there are those marketers who donât use the technology. Take British newspaper group Reach plc, for example, which has said the war in Ukraine significantly dampened advertiser demand.
This wonât surprise anyone. The truth is the downside is too steep and the upside too obscure for many marketers to do anything but avoid the polarizing news. That said, not every marketer sees it this way. And if they could afford to, they would advertise on news sites â just in a more nuanced manner.â
An unintended side effect of advertisers deciding what topics are acceptable to block ads on is that some of the biggest news stories are also cutting off some of the potentially best-written journalism of the moment. Joseph quotes Zefr EVP of Strategy and Marketing:
âWe actually donât accept or use keyword blocklists as a policy in our company, because they end up causing the same damage to over-blocking quality voices over and over again and they just donât work well in UGC environments. We instead apply the GARM [Global Alliance of Responsible Media] models for debated sensitive social issues as a way to keep brands in front of suitable content while avoiding the issues that theyâre concerned about.â
Ad Agencies Can, and Should, Do More to Support Journalism
Shreya: Between hedge fund buyouts dissolving seemingly bulletproof institutions and ad dollars drying up when negative stories drop, things are looking rough for journalists. Ricardo Baca writes an impassioned plea for ad agencies, stressing the importance of not only collaborating with journalists but also supporting them with ad buys and subscriptions. He writes from the perspective of having worked on the other side of the fence as a journalist himself years prior.
âTo be clear, agencies are partly to blame here. Weâre stuck on the same vicious treadmill as everyone else: We see the web traffic going to social media, so thatâs where we buy our ads, further siphoning away support from journalism, the snake eating itself. And with news outlets struggling mightily on the revenue front no matter their sizeâfrom local alt-weeklies to major metropolitan dailiesâI am making a plea for agencies to step up.â
Baca suggests treating relationships with journalists not as transactional, but symbiotic instead. Value their time and they will value yours. Donât hold grudges when well-researched reporting generates something the client isnât happy with.
Then thereâs the fact that journalism has evolved beyond gumshoe reporters all working for a monolithic outlet. With more forms of professional journalism becoming the norm, so to must go the advertising support.
âKeep in mind that revenue models have shifted. Consider an agency sponsorship for a Substack newsletter, for example. Sponsoring other popular media formats like podcasts, recognizing both a shift in consumersâ habits as well as the continuity involvedâsomeoneâs got to be paid to create the stuffâis another way to directly support the trade.â
Gabeâs Section
Manuela: The third annual Latino Podcast Listener Report was published on Tuesday, following a webinar discussing the results presented by Gabriel Soto, my co-host on La Descarga and Senior Director at Edison Research, and Elsie Escobar, Director of Community and Content at Libsyn and co-founder of She Podcasts. Supported by Adonde Media, LWC Studios, Libsyn, PRX, and SXM Media this yearâs report revealed many interesting trends as well as new findings.
The study finds that 59% of Latino adults have ever listened to a podcast, up from 56% since last year and up from 45% since 2020.
The lack of Spanish podcast promotion was a recurring theme of the report, and an opportunity exists to bridge such content with foreign born Latinos. The report highlighted the listening gap between Latinos born outside of the U.S. and their U.S. born counterparts. 37% of Latinos born in the U.S. listened to a podcast in the last month, while 29% born outside of the U.S. say the same.
A new statistic released this year revealed seventeen percent of Latino Monthly podcast listeners identify as LGBTQ+. For comparison, the report cited the Gallup pollâs 2021 estimate of 11% of Latino adult population who identify as LGBTQ+
The benefit of advertising on Latino podcasts was also discussed. According to the report, 64% of monthly listeners of Latino-hosted podcasts, say they ever purchased a product or service as a result of hearing a sponsorship or advertising on a podcast, compared with 25% of those who have never listened to a podcast hosted by Latinos saying the same. .
As Gabriel Soto put it, âLatinos in the U.S. control an impressive $1.9 trillion in purchasing power, and todayâs data demonstrate how advertisers who support Latino podcast content are benefitting, while those who donât are missing out,â.
The Latino Podcast Listener Report serves as an invaluable resource to many creators in the podcast space. Weâre happy to see the effort continue. You can download the Latino Podcast Listener Report for free at the link in the show notes.
Spotify Launches New Bundle For Megaphone Users, Adding Access To Chartable And Podsights
Shreya: In an email sent yesterday, Spotify has announced they are bundling enterprise access to recently-purchased services Chartable and Podsights into Megaphone.
âWith this updated offering, you will be able to easily apply attribution measurement to showcase the value of your podcast promotional efforts as well as your direct sales campaigns. All Megaphone clients will now be able to obtain unique insights about their podcast audience while also measuring the audience growth impact of their promotional campaigns through tools like Chartable SmartPromos and SmartLinks.â
Attribution and growth marketing are the major focus in the world of podcast adtech. One of the largest enterprise-focused hosting platforms acquiring two of the top attribution and analytics solutions and offering them for free to existing users is a big deal budget-wise. Though it is worth noting there are strings attached: theyâre free for the first four million impressions.
Since the big Spotify purchase of Podsights and Chartable there's been a massive hole for third party attribution. Companies like Claritas, Veritonic, and Artsai whoâve started to take on that challenge have had an uphill battle. Both Podsights and Chartable are great pieces of tech, but first-party is not neutral. Offers like this will make it even harder to extract them from their hold on the space and jeopardizes third party measurements value in podcasting.
A good deal, but one to keep in mind when considering the future of podcasting as an industry.
Quick Hits: Recommended Weekend Reading
Manuela: Finally, itâs time for our semi-regular roundup of articles weâre calling Quick Hits. These are articles that didnât quite make the cut for todayâs episode, but are still worth including in your weekend reading. This weekâs three great reads are:
How alt.NPR's experimentation shaped the early podcasting landscape starting in 2005 by Shirley Liu. They didnât invent podcasting, but NPR was definitely a pioneer. Podcasting opened up NPR to experimentation and launched the careers of so many podcasters.
Ad Disclosure: Podcast Sponsors Aren't Off the Hook from last Thursdayâs PodMov Daily. A story of meal replacement brand Huel getting in hot water over host-read advertising. Podcasting, given its position at the crossroads between radio and influencer marketing, will start to see quite a few stories like this as it continues to enter more mainstream content channels.
Unpaid Internship Rebrands as a $4,000 "Training" by Skye Pillsbury. This issue of Pillsburyâs canât-miss newsletter The Squeeze covers a story exactly as bad as the headline sounds. A true must-read.
The Download is a production of Sounds Profitable. Today's episode was hosted by Shreya Sharma and Manuela Bedoya, and the script was written by Gavin Gaddis.
Bryan Barletta and Tom Webster are the executive producers of The Download from Sounds Profitable.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Survey after survey tell us that people continue to discover podcasting every year. But is podcasting growth really a case of three steps forward, two steps back?
Credits:
- Written & Editing by Tom Webster
- Produced with Spooler.fm
- Hosted with Omny Studio
- Sounds Profitable theme written by Tim Cameron
Sounds Profitable: Narrated Articles is a production of Sounds Profitable. For more information, visit soundsprofitable.com.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
This week on The Download: Quarterly earnings, more quarterly earnings, Audio is getting its own track at Advertising Week, and Spotify is giving podcasts their own space in its app.
Arielle: Hope youâre ready for some earnings reports, because weâve got two segments worth of second quarter earnings to go over. First up: the big platforms. Last Wednesday Alyssa Meyers of Marketing Brew posted a roundup of Spotify, SiriusXM and Acast. Things kick off with a silver lining:
âCall it what you want, the ad biz is not looking its best right now. But according to these execs, the growing podcast segment is keeping its head above water.â
Economic uncertainty is undeniably impacting the ad industry. The CEOs of Spotify and SiriusXM both cite âmacroâ trends as being notably dire but not to podcast ads sales. SiriusXMâs Q2 ad revenue for Pandora and associated platforms reports a 5% year over year increase, reaching 403 million. Spotify posted a 31% year over year gain, earning around 366 million. This time around they neglected to isolate their podcast ad revenue as its own statistic.
Meyers quotes Spotify CFO Paul Vogel as saying theyâre experiencing âstrong growth on the podcasting side.â
Hosting service Acast has been busy this second quarter, citing new features, a massive increase of podcasts on the platform, and their acquisition of Podchaser as driving factors of their 39% net sales growth. A figure that calculates out to 31 million USD.
While the macro trends are concerning, The Download will never pass up an opportunity to report numbers going up in podcasting. Big or small, names in the industry are increasing ad revenue, and thatâs a good thing.
Shreya: Now to cover the Q2 numbers from three large broadcasters: iHeartMedia, Cumulus Media, and Audacy. Thereâs a few dark spots throughout but, interestingly, their podcast numbers are shining beacons of hope in all three reports.
Overall iHeartMedia reports an 11% year over year increase, despite, in the words of company president Rich Bressler: âthe uncertain economic environment.â Podcast revenue is up to 86 million, a 60% year over year increase.
Meanwhile, Cumulus Media joined the macro club during president Mary Bernerâs opening statement:
âDespite the challenging macro environment, we increased revenue in the quarter by
more than 5%, driven by our digital businesses whose growth accelerated in Q2 to 20% year-over-year.â
Podcasting made Cumulus around 15 million this last quarter, up 27% year over year. All told, podcasting accounts for 6% of the companyâs revenue. Not too shabby.
Finally, Audacyâs president David J Field brings us a final use of the term âmacroâ for this episode:
âAfter a very strong first quarter in which we grew revenues by 14% and significantly increased margin, our second quarter results were adversely impacted by declining macroeconomic conditions and ad market headwinds which reduced our top line growth to 5%.â
The company made a nice $69m from âdigital,â which includes podcasting, and is up 18% year over year. Podcast downloads grew 40% year-over-year. Revenue from podcasts is supposedly in the upper teens of percentage growth, but Audacy didnât give specifics. Even with the ad market headwinds it seems podcasting is doing well for them.
Arielle: Wednesday of last week was a busy day for Alyssa Meyers, as we cover her second article of the day: âAudio gets its own track at this yearâs Advertising Week.â
Advertising Weekâs head of podcasting Richard Larsson told Marketing Brew,
âThe rise of audio throughout the pandemic, coupled with Advertising Weekâs efforts to build its own podcast network, culminated in the decision to give audio a more official spot on the agenda this October.â
Audio representation continues with one of - if not the - longest-running podcast awards ceremony. Yesterday the Peopleâs Choice Podcast Awards announced the nominees for their 17th annual session. The substantive list of nominees can be found on the Podcast Awards website.
Continuing the award theme with one more bit of news: on Monday the newest issue of Adweek dropped with the winners to the 2022 Adweek Podcast of the Year Awards. The full list of winners can be found in the official Adweek post by Kennyatta Collins.
Shreya: Podcasts and music are taking a break from each other soon on Spotify, according to David Pierceâs article for The Verge, posted this Tuesday.
âSpotify has been working on a new design for its home tab that will create separate feeds for your music and your podcasts. The company says itâs part of an effort to give you more and better recommendations, but it also addresses a common criticism of the Spotify experience: with every kind of audio smushed together in the app, it can sometimes be hard to figure out.â
The new layout creates a bar at the top of the app delineating whether the user is in the Music area or one called Podcasts & Shows. Music will continue to feature new suggestions for songs and albums along with recently-listened tracks while Podcasts & Shows gets rid of music and purely focuses on new episodes of subscribed podcasts and recommendations for shows Spotify believes the user will enjoy.
Pierce offers the comparison:
âTheyâre not so much new home screens as new filters for your home screen. (Iâd rather just have them be separate tabs altogether, but Iâll take what I can get.)â
An app redesign with a dedicated area for podcasting provides more opportunities for promotion. Podcast promotion and growth of audience is one of the hottest topics in podcasting.
Spotify providing more of those opportunities for ads in a way that doesnât step on music-based ads is a big deal. Promotion opportunities are a big enough deal that Dan Misener and Jonas Woost of Pacific Content have left to form Bumper, an agency dedicated solely to promotion.
Arielle: Finally, itâs time for our semi-regular roundup of articles weâre calling Quick Hits. These are articles that didnât quite make the cut for todayâs episode, but are still worth including in your weekend reading. This weekâs three great reads are:
Fundamentals of Programmatic Advertising by Evelyn Mitchell. A quick read with a helpful infographic that makes a great introduction for those not familiar with programmatic, as well as those in need of a refresher.
DoubleVerify Grows Q2 Revenue By Expanding Brand Safety To Retail Media, TikTok And Gaming by Alyssa Boyle. Notable in its absence is any entrance into podcasting. Meanwhile IAS, a direct competitor of DoubleVerify, is the brand safety service for Spotify. DoubleVerify not expanding into audio over these other verticals suggests that the IAS and Spotify relationship is more driven by Spotify looking to tend their walled garden. Perhaps the move was more motivated by Spotify themselves rather than actual advertiser demand to have a brand safety partner.
Finally, some self-promotion: Sounds Profitableâs latest research project will debut Tuesday, August 23rd during the Sounds Profitable Business Summit. The Summit, as covered in a previous episode of The Download, will take place in Dallas, Texas during the opening day of Podcast Movement. The âAfter These Messagesâ study will present a definitive take on the impact of live host-read ads, scripted ads, and announcer-read spots. This study was designed by podcast and research industry veteran Tom Webster, in partnership with Edison Research, and will be seen as an important new resource for publishers and brands. Donât miss it.
Arielle: And that was The Download, from Sounds Profitable! I know we went through these fast, so be sure to check out the links to every article mentioned, right in your podcast listening app, or on SoundsProfitable.com/TheDownload. And thank you for sticking with us as we bring you the top stories you might have missed from the past week. I'm Arielle Nissenblatt.
Shreya : AndI'm Shreya Sharma. Our producers are Bryan Barletta and Tom Webster. Special thanks to Gavin Gaddis for writing today's script, and to Omny Studio for hosting The Download. And thanks to you for joining us.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
In this episode of Sounds Profitable: Adtech Applied, Bryan speaks with U of Digital Managing Partner Shiv Gupta about what it means to create a comprehensive educational approach across an industry. Gupta comes to us by way of the digital marketing space, but has spent his career creating programming aimed at educating and serving across different sectors and levels within companies. Adtech Applied cohost Arielle Nissenblatt joins to set up the chat and break it down with takeaways at the latter half of the show.
Listen to learn about:
- Shiv Guptaâs career
- Why itâs important to create non-biased courses that educate on entire industries
- How Sounds Profitable plans to approach an education initiative
- Why we need your feedback on this podcast
Hereâs our favorite idea from this conversation: creating opportunities for folks to learn, either if theyâre new to a job or looking to move on to the next level, benefits everyone.
Links:
- Bryan Barletta
- Arielle Nissenblatt
- Shiv Gupta
- U of Digital
- Sounds Profitable Summit at Podcast Movement
- The Download
- Sounds Profitable: Narrated Articles
- SquadCast
- Podscribe
Credits:
- Hosted by Bryan Barletta & Arielle Nissenblatt
- Audio engineering by Evo Terra
- Executive produced by Evo Terra of Simpler Media
- Sounds Profitable Theme written by Tim Cameron
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
The Summer of Programmatic continues! You may have already decided that programmatic advertising is important, but is it difficult to get started? The answer is...no! And this week, we lay out a simple plan to get you up and running.
Credits:
- Written & Editing by Bryan Barletta
- Produced with Spooler.fm
- Hosted with Omny Studio
- Sounds Profitable theme written by Tim Cameron
Sounds Profitable: Narrated Articles is a production of Sounds Profitable. For more information, visit soundsprofitable.com.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
This week on The Download: New TikTok Trademark Could mean new streaming service, third-party cookies get a stay of execution from Google, Apple App Store ads could signal Apple Podcastsâ future, and two perspectives on the downturn ad economy.
New TikTok App Trademark
Manuela: Last Thursday Dan Whateley and Amanda Perelli, writing for Business Insider, covered a new trademark application for a service called TikTok Music. As the simplistic name suggests, TikTok parent company ByteDance could be looking to branch the TikTok brand out beyond its current relationship to music and create a fully-fledged streaming platform.
âThe idea that ByteDance would launch a standalone "TikTok Music" streaming service in the US to compete with players like Spotify and Apple Music isn't unfounded. It already runs a streaming app called Resso in three markets â India, Brazil, and Indonesia â that has been grabbing market share from other streamers in the past year.â
While nothing has been formally announced or set in stone, the sources Perelli and Whateley contacted for their story suggest itâs highly unlikely ByteDance would file such a trademark. Filing in the US and Australia wouldnât happen without a strong chance the company meant for it to come to fruition. Then thereâs the matter of this move making perfect sense for TikTok.
Why cover this on The Download? Well, in addition to the general fact TikTok is slowly devouring the online world, itâs coming for audio specifically and the trademark application lists, among other things, the proposed new appâs ability to stream:
âdownloadable mobile applications providing podcast and radio broadcast content.â
What remains to be seen is what the TikTok version of âa podcastâ will be.
Google Delays Cookie Death Again
Shreya: Once again we wonât be seeing the death of third-party cookies, as Google has delayed their death blow for another year. Last Wednesday The Vergeâs Richard Lawler covered the story in the article âGoogle delays blocking third-party cookies again, now targeting late 2024.â
âThe plan is to expand the group of Chrome users who have Privacy Sandbox APIs enabled to âmillions of users globallyâ starting in August, then gradually opt more people in throughout the rest of the year and into 2023, giving the publishers and developers of these sites time to find out how the technology works before the APIs are âgenerally availableâ by Q3 of 2023.â
With this second delay third-party cookies are becoming the shoe that refuses to drop in advertising. While podcasting doesnât depend on cookies per se, the ability to track individual consumers remains an expectation of digital marketers who donât want to see the genie go back into the bottle. If it does, podcasts are on equal footing with mobile and web ads, and all will have to do the work to target the right consumers.
Apple App Store Ad Offerings Signal Podcast Future
Manuela: This Tuesdayâs issue of Stratechery covers many sections of the Apple earnings call, but one particular section stuck out to The Download: Appleâs new advertising slots. The new slots are detailed by 9to5Macâs Chance Miller.
âApple is expanding its advertising business and adding two new ad slots to the App Store. Currently, the App Store has two ad slots: one on the main âSearchâ tab and one in the Search results. The two new App Store ads announced today will bring advertisements to the App Store âTodayâ homepage, as well as to individual app pages.â
While the App Store and Apple Podcasts are different services, this change could signal a shift in the winds over in the podcasting world. Currently there are no ads in Apple Podcasts. Apple also puts considerable time into featuring podcasts in places ads would normally appear at no charge. Years of careful curation and optimal placement have caused those spots to become incredibly coveted. By making some of those spaces available for purchase - through search or the home page, or even on pages for OTHER podcasts - Apple would unlock a large revenue opportunity for themselves outside of subscriptions, and provide a new for-pay opportunity for podcast promotion.
Ad Economy Downturn Dual Perspectives
Shreya: On Monday Digidayâs Seb Joseph posted âThe downturn ad economy: A tale of two narratives.â
âThere are two competing narratives on advertising at the moment. They sit uneasily with each other. But both are correct. Ad dollars are being spent, but theyâre also being cut. Yes, these two things can be true at the same time. No, the latter perspective doesnât make the former any less valid or vice versa. Really, itâs a matter of perspective.â
The two warring perspectives in Josephâs piece are that of the big holding companies and agencies versus the platforms. Both are staring down the barrel of a recession and have different reactions.
âItâsno surprise that the marketers who can afford to advertise now are trying to make the most of it. Theyâre spending ad dollars, rather than looking to pull them. Indeed, economic slumps are usually the best chance to buy share of voice cheaply at the same time rivals reduce their own. Itâs a cliche for a reason.
Otherwise, Unilever wouldnât have splurged ÂŁ169.73 million ($206.7 million) on advertising in the first half of the year alone. Coca-Cola did so mething similar, as did McDonaldâs. The largest advertisers will try and advertise their way through the downturn â to a point, at least.â
Podcasting is platform-heavy, working diligently to get the big advertisers to shift their spending into podcasting. Yet those platform peers are the ones getting the short end of the stick when it comes to ad cuts.
âTo survive, companies are cutting costs, including advertising. When these companies advertise, they tend to do so online first and foremost. SMEs and DTCs are nothing but digital-first in many respects. So when these businesses feel the effects of adverse conditions, so do the platforms they advertise on.â
When those in the podcasting industry talk about the push for bigger advertisers in our space, it's not only for growth: itâs to weather the storm. If some of those spend-through-the-storm big fish can be directed to our corner of the world, theyâll keep multiple industries afloat.
Quick Hits Section
Manuela: Finally, itâs time for our semi-regular roundup of articles weâre calling Quick Hits. These are articles that didnât quite make the cut for todayâs episode, but are still worth including in your weekend reading. This weekâs four great reads are:
First: Google Begins Interest Group-Based Ad Experiment by Laurie Sullivan. Google is testing grouping users into interest groups (the article gives âcustom bikesâ as an example).This has implications for podcasting. What would be a great way to reach custom bike fans? A custom bike podcast. Podcasting has a window to figure this stuff out.
Clear your calendar for the afternoon of August 16th as the Latino Podcast Listener Report 2022 is coming your way. The presentation, co-hosted by Gabriel Soto, Edison Research Senior Director of Research, and my co-host on La Descarga, as well as She Podcasts cofounder Elsie Escobar. Registration is open now.
Also: Podcasts are testing out-of-home ads to reach broader audiences by Alyssa Meyers. In a previous episode we touched on the story of Slow Burn buying a billboard to promote their season on Shirley Wheeler in Roe v. Wade battleground states. This covers the wider trend of podcasts dipping their toes in out-of-home advertising, first highlighted by James Cridland over in Podnews. The habit is growing and catching more attention, though it comes with - ironically - less metrics than the already small amount of fingerprinting traditional podcast advertising comes with.
Finally: How Slateâs Charlie Kammerer is prioritizing frequency to boost podcast revenue by Kayleigh Barber. In a piece that rarely happens in mainstream podcast coverage, Slateâs Charlie Kammerer talks through the outletâs podcasting strategy. Of note is the approach that shows integrated value, using podcast paywalls to drive subscriptions of Slate overall.
The Download is a production of Sounds Profitable. Today's episode was hosted by Shreya Sharma and Manuela Bedoya, and the script was written by Gavin Gaddis.
Bryan Barletta and Tom Webster are the executive producers of The Download from Sounds Profitable.
Special thanks to our media host, Omny Studio.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
We're such big fans of Laura Mayer and her new show Shameless Acquisition Target, that we wanted to make sure you didn't miss it. Subscribe directly here!
After years of seeing friends (and some enemies) get rich, rich, rich selling their shows and companies to other bigger shows and bigger companies, longtime podcast executive Laura Mayer has decided to get hers. To do this, she'll speak to straight-up geniuses in the worlds of podcasting, entertainment, and business to understand what value is in media and how to make it. At the end, Laura will sell the show itself to the highest bidder. Will she make hundreds, millions, or even dozens of dollars? Will she be able to afford the gray house down the street from her rental apartment? Letâs find out together⊠shamelessly.
Laura explains why she cares so very much about acquisitions And, hopefully, why you should care, too!
Want to buy MERCH (âHectorâs Placeâ is our newest addition) or buy the show?\
Want to learn more about this episodeâs sponsor?
Want to listen to Harkinâs new fabulous album?
Want to give Laura Mayer a PIECE OF YOUR MIND?
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Are programmatic ads bad for podcasting? Or are they a lifeline for creators? We ask the number one solo artist in U.S. history.
Credits:
- Written by Tom Webster
- Editing by Bryan Barletta
- Produced with Spooler.fm
- Sounds Profitable theme written by Tim Cameron
Sounds Profitable: Narrated Articles is a production of Sounds Profitable. For more information, visit soundsprofitable.com.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Bryan speaks with Marketing Brewâs Alyssa Meyers about reporting on podcasting and audio for an advertising-focused publication. Marketing Brew is part of Morning Brewâs network of newsletters. Adtech Applied cohost Arielle Nissenblatt joins to set up the chat and break it down with takeaways at the latter half of the show.
Listen for: How Alyssa found this beat What Alyssa looks for in a story How to become a source for Alyssa and other marketing/advertising-focused publications that cover podcasting and audio Information on the Sounds Profitable Summit at Podcast Movement Dallas Where to find our other podcasts, La Descarga, The Download, and Sounds Profitable: The Narrated Articles An update on our podcast slate at Sounds Profitable and a tease of whatâs to come
Hereâs our favorite idea from this conversation: we need subject matter experts who are not just well-versed in their own product or companyâs capabilities, but who also know how their product/company relates to and fits in with the larger audio landscape.
Links: Bryan Barletta Arielle Nissenblatt Alyssa Meyers Marketing Brew Sounds Profitable Summit at Podcast Movement The Download Sounds Profitable: Narrated Articles SquadCast
Credits: Hosted by Bryan Barletta & Arielle Nissenblatt Audio engineering by Evo Terra Executive produced by Evo Terra of Simpler Media Sounds Profitable Theme written by Tim Cameron
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Programmatic advertising continues to take the spotlight in the growth for podcasting. Now that doesn't mean that host-read ads are fading away or that we need to race to the bottom for pricing. And that is a near and dear topic to my heart. So it's very exciting to have Claire Fanning of SXM Media on the podcast to talk about programmatic advertising and her presentation to the IAB at their upfront event last year and how we can learn more and more from the companies leading programmatic in podcasting.
Credits: Original full episode available at https://soundsprofitable.com/episode/2/2 Audio engineering by Evo Terra Executive produced by Evo Terra of Simpler Media Sounds Profitable Theme written by Tim Cameron
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Podcasting has so much to learn from radio and I do as well. There are so many interesting things that we're discovering or trying to bring to light in podcasting that the radio industry has already done time and time again. And itâs the same with digital advertising, which is where my background is.Â
So it was really exciting for me to have Pierre Bouvard of Westwood One and Cumulus Media come on the show and teach us a little bit more about radio, what we can learn from it, and how we can apply it to podcasting.
Credits: Original full episode available at https://soundsprofitable.com/episode/2/16 Audio engineering by Evo Terra Executive produced by Evo Terra of Simpler Media Sounds Profitable Theme written by Tim Cameron
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Brand suitability and brand safety are topics that we're never gonna get away from in any aspect of podcasting. Or advertising in general. And that's why I was so excited to have Claire Atkin, co-founder of Check My Ads on the show earlier this year.Â
Personally, as an individual, I support their movement and contribute to it every single month. I highly recommend listening to this episode, subscribing to their newsletter, and throwing a few bucks towards the only non-profit ad watchdog in existence.
Credits: Original full episode available at: https://soundsprofitable.com/episode/2/13 Audio engineering by Evo Terra Executive produced by Evo Terra of Simpler Media Sounds Profitable Theme written by Tim Cameron
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When we started using Veritone One to expand sounds profitable into Spanish the whole goal was to show people how accessible it was even with a small team, which sounds profitable is. The success of that attempt led to The Downloadâour weekly news recap podcast, which you absolutely should check outâto be localized by our hosts, Manuel Gabe, in their own words and in their own voice.
This is a must-listen-to episode with Sean King of Veritone One where we talk about why expanding into Spanish is critical for your success in podcasting.
Credits: Original full episode available at https://soundsprofitable.com/episode/2/6 Audio engineering by Evo Terra Executive produced by Evo Terra of Simpler Media Sounds Profitable Theme written by Tim Cameron
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Arielle Nissenblatt and Bryan Barletta discuss some big Sounds Profitable news â Tom Webster has officially joined the team, we announced a big Summit, taking place at Podcast Movement in Dallas later this year, and weâve got some research presentations coming soon. Bryan and Arielle also recap Bryanâs last few weeks â his whirlwind adventures in Europe, attending both Radio Days Europe in Malmo, Sweden, and Podcast Show London inâŠLondon.
Listen for: Bryanâs recap of Radio Days Europe and his big takeaway Bryanâs review of the Chunnel Bryan and Arielleâs vegan food podcast announcement Bryanâs recap of Podcast Show London and the big opportunity that outside-of-the-U.S. podcast presents What to expect at the Sounds Profitable Summit at Podcast Movement in August in Dallas How to become a sponsor to get involved with the Summit and with Sounds Profitable
Hereâs our favorite idea from this conversation: if youâre looking to find a niche in the podcast space, learn all about the podcast and audio market outside of the U.S. According to Bryan, through his experience in Europe, thereâs tons of opportunity here, especially in the advertising space.
Links: Bryan Barletta Arielle Nissenblatt Radio Days Europe Podcast Show London Sounds Profitable Summit at Podcast Movement The Download Sounds Profitable: Narrated Articles SquadCast
Credits: Hosted by Bryan Barletta & Arielle Nissenblatt Audio engineering by Evo Terra Executive produced by Evo Terra of Simpler Media Sounds Profitable Theme written by Tim Cameron
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Evo Terra and Arielle Nissenblatt discuss all things Sounds Profitable. They go through SPâs recent announcements, content schedule, mission and vision, and more.
Listen for: A breakdown of all of our podcasts and why you should be subscribed A breakdown of our article schedule and how you can contribute A discussion of what Sounds Profitable aims to be How weâre pivoting from a newsletter about podcast adtech to a larger business covering the business of podcasting Some history of Evo and his background in adtech How Arielle for got in touch with Bryan
Hereâs our favorite idea from this conversation: like the podcast industry, Sounds Profitable is constantly evolving to fit the needs of the community that it serves.
Links: Evo Terra Arielle Nissenblatt The Download Sounds Profitable: Narrated Articles SquadCast
Credits: Hosted by Bryan Barletta & Arielle Nissenblatt Audio engineering by Evo Terra Executive produced by Evo Terra of Simpler Media
Sounds Profitable Theme written by Tim Cameron
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Today on the show, Arielle Nissenblatt chats with soon to be Sounds Profitable partner, Tom Webster. They discuss Tomâs entry into the audio world, what drives him to tell stories with data, how to be into statistics without being a âmathâ person, and our near and longterm plans for the company.
Hereâs our favorite idea from this conversation: Arielle asked Tom to go through the pillars that the team has outlined as important principles for the company and we break them down. This is a mission statement that we want the podcasting public to hold us to.
Links: Tom Webster Tomâs recent article for Sounds Profitable The Download Sounds Profitable: Narrated Articles SquadCast
Credits: Hosted by Bryan Barletta Hosted by Arielle Nissenblatt Audio engineering and transcriptions by Ian Powell Executive produced by Evo Terra of Simpler Media Special thanks to James Cridland of Podnews Sounds Profitable Theme written by Tim Cameron
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Today on the show, Bryan Barletta speaks with Fatima Zaidi, founder and CEO of Quill inc., a full-service podcast agency that makes it easy for brands and publishers to create, launch and grow successful podcasts. Quill is launching a hosting service, Co-Host. After years of trying to work with existing hosting solutions, Quill found that their clients desired different and more complex KPIs, so, they decided to build a solution that could track them.
Listen for: How and why Quill decided to build a new hosting platform in this seemingly saturated space How Quill has built a tech team after running a production company for a few years P.s. theyâre still looking for a developer A discussion on the hype around VC and angel funding Why we should celebrate bootstrapped companies A playbook on real-time beta testers
Hereâs our favorite idea from this conversation: Fatima believes in the concept of âif itâs not broken, donât fix it.â But she and her team still came to the decision that the existing solutions werenât hitting all of the needs of their clients. Ultimately, they had to put their clients first.
Links: Fatima Zaidi Quill The Download Sounds Profitable: Narrated Articles SquadCast
Credits: Hosted by Bryan Barletta Hosted by Arielle Nissenblatt Audio engineering and transcriptions by Ian Powell Executive produced by Evo Terra of Simpler Media Special thanks to James Cridland of Podnews Sounds Profitable Theme written by Tim Cameron
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Today on the show, Bryan Barletta speaks with Shantae Howell, Creative Director for the Americas at Acast. They discuss branded podcast content: how and when to make it, what to consider, and what to expectÂ
Listen for: The difference between branded podcasts, advertising on podcasts, and sponsoring podcasts. How Acast works with brands to make impactful branded podcasts. When your brand should consider getting into the audio game.
Hereâs our favorite idea from this conversation: a branded podcast can have many different goals, whether it be brand awareness, customer acquisition, sharing customer stories, as a creative outlet for the company, and so much more. Itâs important for the brand and the creative agency behind the soon-to-be branded podcast to be aligned in their missions for the show.
Links: Shantae Howell Acast The Download Sounds Profitable: Narrated Articles SquadCast
Credits: Hosted by Bryan Barletta Hosted by Arielle Nissenblatt Audio engineering and transcriptions by Ian Powell Executive produced by Evo Terra of Simpler Media Special thanks to James Cridland of Podnews Sounds Profitable Theme written by Tim Cameron
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Today on the show, Bryan Barletta speaks with Maâayan Plaut, who is the growth marketing manager at 3play media. They discuss what it means to create accessible and compliant podcast transcripts. Maâayan recently tweeted about the need for transcripts to include non-speech elements. Her tweet was instructive and contained practical information for podcast publishers. We expand upon her thread in this conversation, and go beyond it as well. We are moving towards a world in which we donât simply consume podcasts by listening. Consumers will read podcast content, too; whether thatâs because they prefer to read it or because they are d/Deaf or hard-of-hearing, or for a variety of other reasons. For those use-cases, and more, we need to find a way to make transcripts for available and accessible.
Listen for: Statistics on how many people are consuming podcasts via transcripts How publishers can prioritize creating transcripts beyond just in the initial editing process Discussion as to which lawsuits have impacted this discussion How to dissect important legislation that regulates accessibility requirements for media creators
Hereâs our favorite idea from this conversation: transcripts should be vetted by a human. Even if AI gets us halfway there, itâs important to have the final version looked over by a real human. Why? Names like Maâayan Plaut and even Arielle Nissenblatt very rarely get AI transcribed the right way.
Links: Maâayan Plaut 3Play Media Paul F. Tompkinsâ Tweet The Download Sounds Profitable: Narrated Articles SquadCast
Credits: Hosted by Bryan Barletta Hosted by Arielle Nissenblatt Audio engineering and transcriptions by Ian Powell Executive produced by Evo Terra of Simpler Media Special thanks to James Cridland of Podnews Sounds Profitable Theme written by Tim Cameron
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Today on the show, Bryan Barletta speaks with Conor McKenna, director at LUMA Partners. They discuss how adtech in podcasting applies to adtech in other adtech-led companies. Listen in to learn about: How we're still in the early days of building technology specifically made for podcasts How we need to build software that makes the process of buying and selling ads more seamless How we need better attribution technology because downloads aren't enough Why Conor recommends that publishers build out other content channels beyond podcasting
Hereâs our favorite idea from this conversation: Bryan and Conor don't agree about everything. And it makes for some interesting takeaways!
Links: Conor McKenna LUMA Partners The Download Sounds Profitable: Narrated Articles SquadCast
Credits: Hosted by Bryan Barletta Hosted by Arielle Nissenblatt Executive produced by Evo Terra of Simpler Media Special thanks to James Cridland of Podnews Sounds Profitable Theme written by Tim Cameron
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Today on the show, Bryan Barletta speaks with Steve Wilson, chief strategy officer at QCODE Media. They discuss what it takes to get podcasts featured in major podcast listening apps, building relationships with podcast discovery platforms, and becoming a co-marketing partner.Listen in to learn about: Steve's background and how he got into the podcast world. How to put your best foot forward when it comes to partnering with podcast listening apps. Why it's worth it to spend time cultivating relationships with in app curators. Why it's worth experimenting with different strategic partnerships plans with different listening apps. Pod.link, and why it's important to use, but it's not everything.
Hereâs our favorite idea from this conversation: podcast publishers have an opportunity, when posting on social media, to elevate the relationships they have (or want to have) with podcast listening apps, by promoting the link to their show on Apple or Spotify or Castbox (we could go on all day).Links: Steve Wilson QCODE The Download Sounds Profitable: Narrated Articles SquadCast
Credits: Hosted by Bryan Barletta Hosted by Arielle Nissenblatt Audio engineering and transcriptions by Ian Powell Executive produced by Evo Terra of Simpler Media Special thanks to James Cridland of Podnews Sounds Profitable Theme written by Tim Cameron
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Today on the show, Bryan Barletta and Arielle Nissenblatt discuss Podcast Movement: Evolutions, which took place last month in Los Angeles. Overall, they had a blast, met with a ton of industry folks, had some nice meals, and attended some innovative sessions. Bryan and Arielle take time to highlight Evo Terra's Podcast Hall of Fame acceptance speech.Listen in to learn about: The overall feel of the event The YouTube announcement Bryan's on-stage time Arielle's social media talk Evo Terra's acceptance speech and his call to action for the future of the industry Future podcast events
Here's our favorite idea from this conversation: It was super neat to meet Sounds Profitable listeners, sponsors, and readers in person!
Links: Podcast Movement Evo's speech The Download Sounds Profitable: Narrated Articles SquadCast The Podcaster's Dilemma
Credits: Hosted by Bryan Barletta Hosted by Arielle Nissenblatt Audio engineering and transcriptions by Ian Powell Executive produced by Evo Terra of Simpler Media Special thanks to James Cridland of Podnews Sounds Profitable Theme written by Tim Cameron
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Weâre offering up a special treat for you today. You see, a lot of the Sounds Profitable crew was all at Podcast Movement Evolutions last week... and what a week it was! Think non-stop discussions about podcasting, ad tech, equipment, statistics... and more.
This week, as we wind down from all the hype, networking, eating, and drinking that occurred in LA, Bryan's having some fun in Disneyland with his family, and Arielle's enjoying some time with family on the west coast.
This episode is actually from an episode of another of our podcasts, called Sounds Profitable: Narrated Articles. And that podcast is what it says on the boxâan article published on Sounds Profitable thatâs narrated by the writer.
In this case, itâs Bryan, walking you through the entirety of the Sounds Profitable family of shows. At least as they are today.
Credits: Written by Bryan Barletta Copy editing by Evo Terra Rather read it? https://soundsprofitable.com/update/many-flavors Audio engineering by Ian Powell Sounds Profitable theme written by Tim Cameron
Sounds Profitable: Narrated Articles is a production of Sounds Profitable. For more information, visit soundsprofitable.com.
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Today on the show, Bryan Barletta speaks with Tyler Blot, Director of Client Development at TransUnion about data -- 1st and 3rd party data, with a bit of 2nd party data thrown in there. They discuss the differentiating factors between the three of them and what you should know as an advertiser and consumer.Listen in to learn about: Transparency in data collection How and why your data is collected Why this conversation is important to have right now And much more!
Here's our favorite idea from this conversation: You have to do your homework. While your industry peers can vouch for a product to a certain extent, you won't be able to make your decisions until you read the fine print.Links: TransUnion Tyler Blot The Download Sounds Profitable: Narrated Articles SquadCast
Credits: Hosted by Bryan Barletta Co-hosted by Arielle Nissenblatt Audio engineering and transcriptions by Ian Powell Executive produced by Evo Terra of Simpler Media Special thanks to James Cridland of Podnews Sounds Profitable Theme written by Tim Cameron
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Today on the show, Bryan Barletta sits down with Brendan Kelly (director of ad quality measure) and Stacey Hultgren (senior manager of ad quality measurement) of SXM Media to break down the concepts of brand safety and suitability. How do advertisers determine what shows are brand safe and brand suitable for them? They also discuss a proposal that Brendan and Stacey recently brought to an IAB working group, focusing on how transcripts can be used to ameliorate the process of determining brand safety and suitability for podcasts and audio.Listen in to learn about: The different between brand "safe" and brand "suitable. What is the IAB and how can you join? Why Bryan, Stacey, and Brendan think there's still ample time to get in on the ground floor and make changes. Why transcripts are so crucial for advertisers to acquire and consider. And much more!
Here's our favorite idea from this conversation: Bryan uses the recent example of the Applebee's ad running on CNN's wartime coverage of Ukraine to explain brand suitability.Links: The IAB The IAB tech lab SXM Media The Download Sounds Profitable: Narrated Articles SquadCast
Credits: Hosted by Bryan Barletta Audio engineering and transcriptions by Ian Powell Executive produced by Evo Terra of Simpler Media Special thanks to James Cridland of Podnews Sounds Profitable Theme written by Tim Cameron
YouTube | The Young TurksCNN Airs Corny Applebeeâs Ad While Covering Russia-Ukraine War iabtechlab.com-Established in 2014, the IAB Technology Laboratory (Tech Lab) is a non-profit consortium that engages a member community globally to develop foundational technology and standards that enable growth and trust in the digital media ecosystem. Comprised of digital publishers, ad technology firms, agencies, marketers, and other member companies, IAB Tech Lab focuses on solutions for brand safety and ad fraud; identity, data, and consumer privacy; ad experiences and measurement; and programmatic effectiveness. Its work includes the OpenRTB real-time bidding protocol, ads.txt anti-fraud specification, Open Measurement SDK for viewability and verification, VAST video specification, and DigiTrust ideâŠÂ Show moreSXM MediaSXM Media â The Best of Music, Podcast, and Satellite Radio AdvertisingThis is the best of audio advertising, all in one place. Experience the power of audio across music, podcast, and satellite radio. (27 kB)https://www.sxmmedia.com/pod.linkThe Download from Sounds ProfitableThe most important news from this week and why it matters to people in the business of podcasting. Brought to you by Sounds Profitable. (85 kB)https://pod.link/1608566100pod.linkSounds Profitable: Narrated ArticlesSounds Profitable is a weekly newsletter that covers both strategic and tactical changes to the business side of podcasting. Articles cover a range of topics, from podcast adtech to new revenue models to innovative business initiatives and is read by senior podcasting industry management, including CEOs and divisional heads. Our mission is not to make the information from the podcasting industry more accessible to everyone, and this podcast feed is an extension of that. Each episode is a human-narrated version of the articles we publish on our site and in our newsletter, typically voiced by the author.
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Manuela Bedoya, Shreya Sharma, and Gavin Gaddis are on the show today, chatting with Bryan Barletta about our newest podcast, The Download. If this is your first time hearing about it, The Download is our weekly podcast about the business of podcasting. It started in December, and was initially hosted by Evo Terra and Bryan Barletta. We quickly decided to bring in Sharma, Bedoya, and Gaddis to the production and hosting team. In this chat, learn more about the team behind The Download and why we decided this podcast was necessary in the first place, both for Sounds Profitable, and for the podcast industry.
Listen in to learn about: How The Download team sources their news. How Sharma, Bedoya, and Gaddis stay up to date on the podcast world's happenings. Our goal for The Download An upcoming Spanish-language version of The Download, prominently featuring Sounds Profitable contributor Gabriel Soto of Edison Research How The Download fits into Sounds Profitable's overall mission And much more!
Here's our favorite idea from this conversation: when each guest was asked where they get their podcast news, they cited each other's podcast newsletters -- Shreya Sharma writes Inside Podcasting, Manuela Bedoya curates the Podcasting, Seriously newsletter, and Gavin Gaddis is subscribed to all of 'em!
Links: Follow Manuela Follow Gavin Follow Shreya The Download SquadCast Sounds Profitable: Narrated Articles
Credits: Hosted by Bryan Barletta Audio engineering and transcriptions by Ian Powell Executive produced by Evo Terra of Simpler Media Special thanks to James Cridland of Podnews Sounds Profitable Theme written by Tim Cameron
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Today on The Download from Sounds Profitable; ad tech firms are under fire for data scraping, Amazon joins the social audio market, YouTube is paying podcasters to incorporate video, and more.
Morning Brewâs Ryan Barwick reports that trade groups acting on behalf of publishers from the US, UK, and Canada are accusing ad-tech firms of unfairly scraping metadata from websites Once collected, this allegedly ill-gotten data is used to create contextual advertising segments for clients without the publisherâs consent, also undercutting the publishersâ attempts to directly sell contextual advertising deals.
âNow that third-party cookies are dying and some ad dollars are shifting to contextual advertisingâads based on the content of the media, not on personal informationâpublishers want a (better) seat at the table and stronger terms as the industry adopts new technologies.â
Richard Reeves, managing director of the Association of Online Publishers, summarized the issue of companies scraping data.
âWhat we are now seeing is people almost brazenly walking through your home, and removing your furniture, and selling your assets elsewhere. And you donât even know that theyâre doing it, or you canât receive any value for it. Just because you can doesnât mean to say you should.â
Data scraping isnât new to podcasting, either. Transcription happens in podcasting, with and without a publisher's consent. Itâs likely however this wider publisher issue plays out will have trickle-down effects to what companies can do with unlicensed podcast transcripts.
Amazon has a new social audio app to make podcasters' dreams of being a DJ come true. Brad Hill of Rain News reports:
âWhile early reports compare Amp to Clubhouse, Amazonâs promotional emphasis is on building interactive music shows, something like live, interactive radio.â
Amp brings to mind an obscure podcasting tool Spotify launched for Anchor in late 2020. The feature, titled Shows with Music at launch, allows podcasters on Anchor to slot any song in the Spotify catalog between any pre-recorded podcast segments. Listeners with Spotify Premium would experience a seamless transition as if the music was baked into the podcast, while free listeners would hear a thirty second preview of the song. Shows with Music still exists, technically, but has fallen by the wayside to become a feature hidden in the Anchor interface. Much like the forgotten podcasts from big-name creators covered last week.
Amp, conversely, only requires listeners to sign up for a free Amp account to listen to creators. The Vergeâs Jack Kastrenakes writes:
âAmazon is positioning this as more of a radio-style service than a live chat service (thereâs even a five-person cap on callers right now), which is probably for the best.â
Shows with Music was a cool feature that enabled podcasters to live out their radio DJ dreams in a copyright-friendly manner. Another platform with a massive collection of licensed content at their disposal playing in this podcasting-adjacent space might just lead to more creativity and innovation in the social audio sphere.
On Tuesday, podcasting ad tech company Gumball announced they had raised ten million in Series A funding.
Brad Hill of Rain News reports,
âGumball, which was started by podcast comedy network Headgum, allows advertisers to programatically buy pre-recorded host-read ads. The system offers real-time inventory browsing, demographic audience targeting, and verification of placement and listening. The company lists a few brands which have used the system â Casper, CBS, Netflix, OkCupid, Squarespace, Warby Parker, and others.â
Naturally, the Gumball system is deployed across the entire Headgum network, serving ads on flagship podcasts like The Doughboys, Punch up the Jam, and We Hate Movies.
YouTube is taking podcasting seriously enough to put their money where their mouth is. Last Friday Bloombergâs Ashely Carman reported both independent podcasters and podcast networks, all of which asked for anonymity, received offers ranging from $50,000 to $300,000 to create filmed versions of their episodes, as well as âother kinds of videos.â
Video podcasts on YouTube historically have done well. As the platform matured from cat clips to encouraging content creators to make longer and longer content, the unedited video chat show took off. Productions like The H3H3 Podcast and The Joe Rogan Experience saw great success embracing the platform. That said, as Carman said,
âHowever, the cost to build a studio, hire editors, and develop a fully functioning video publishing pipeline can deter networks and shows from adopting the platform.â
In addition to these cash injections implying YouTube wants to seed more of a professionally-produced podcasting atmosphere, there are small infrastructure moves to suggest this is a long-term plan. Alex Castro at The Verge reminds readers that back in October YouTube began allowing Canadian users to listen to videos while the device was not focusing on the YouTube app or was locked. As YouTube power users in the US can attest, this feature is pushed very hard in YouTube Premium advertising as a good reason to sign up.
Without putting on a podcast-branded tin-foil hat, it seems like making the ability to use YouTube like a podcasting app would be a huge step towards YouTube courting more podcasters and their audiences.
On Tuesday The Hollywood Reporterâs J. Clara Chan published an exclusive announcement that UTA has launched Audio IQ, a data analytics service to facilitate podcast deals. The service will make use of social media, search results, and other open-source data to inform both clients and agents of a podcastsâ health to facilitate dealmaking.
âWhile podcast analytics can often rely on historical data points like number of downloads or past ad revenue, UTAâs Audio IQ analyses also offer future projections â a tool that is particularly key in negotiations for shows that have not yet launched or for identifying emerging talent.â
Audio IQ comes onto the field as massive podcast outfits buy up previously third-party analytics companies - see our February 18th episode for coverage of the Spotify acquisition of Chartable - and that atmosphere has UTA IQ lead Joe Kessler concerned.
As Kessler is quoted by Chanâs article:
âIâm hopeful that this announcement serves as a wake-up call for the podcasting industry to somehow coalesce around a common source of truth and data for the industry, because itâs sorely needed as itâs maturing.â
Finally, a smaller bit of news thatâs not technically a full news story yet, but we feel is worth keeping an eye on as things develop. There was something about Tuesday this week that lead to podcasting announcements. Ashley Carman tweeted the exclusive scoop that three senior leaders at Megaphone are leaving. CEO Brendan Monaghan, CRO Matt Turk, and COO Jason Cox, all in their positions prior to the Spotify buyout, have been confirmed to be leaving the company after their one-year contracts expired.
The three are now starting a blockchain company.
The Download is a production of Sounds Profitable. Today's episode was hosted by Shreya Sharma and Manuela Bedoya, and the script was written by Gavin Gaddis.
Bryan Barletta and Evo Terra are the executive producers of The Download from Sounds Profitable.
Special thanks to Ian Powell for his audio prowess, and to our media host, Omny Studio.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Caila Litman, author of Sounds Profitable's #GoodData series and longtime podcast industry professional, is on the show today. It's a special episodeâsans regular host Bryan Barletta. Caila and Arielle Nissenblatt, who you usually hear at the top and bottom of each episode, discuss all things Good Data. If you've been wondering how our Good Data series came to be and what our goals are for it, this episode is for you.
Listen in to learn about: How Caila finds, dissects, and evaluates data Caila's background (hint, she doesn't come from a math/statistics standpoint) Caila's goals for the #GoodData series and how she sees it evolving over the next few months Some of Caila's favorite recent stats from Nielsen and Edison Research The emergence of the "lighter listener" And much more!
Here's our favorite idea from this conversation: Nielsen data has shown that COVID has propelled an emergence of the "lighter listener," people who don't listen to hours and hours of audio each week, but something closer to 1-2 hours. This is an opportunity for advertisers to target newer listeners.
Links: Caila's first article Caila's second article Connect with Caila Litman Submit to The Podscape Podsights SquadCast The Download Sounds Profitable: Narrated Articles
Credits: Hosted by Bryan Barletta and Arielle Nissenblatt Audio engineering by Ian Powell Evo Terra is the executive producer of Sounds Profitable: Adtech Applied Special thanks to James Cridland of Podnews Sounds Profitable Theme written by Tim Cameron
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Today on The Download from Sounds Profitable; big names in podcasting are pulling down big numbers in ad revenue, Meta and Mozilla have teamed up to change advertising privacy, and TikTok might not be the #1 place to take short-form podcast content.
On a sober, world-news note: Advertisers are weathering unintended consequences from Russiaâs invasion of Ukraine. Ryan Barwick of Morning Brew wrote a brief rundown of the situation last Friday. According to a Business Insider report, Google AdSense has been found on publishers of Russian state propaganda.
âWhile on those sites, BI observed Google-served ads from Best Buy, Progressive, and Allbirds, and a handful of other brands. Marketing Brew also saw ads for brands on these two sites, but a banner ad atop several stories was blocked by Integral Ad Science, a brand-safety firm.â
Barwick then pairs this evidence of brand safety kind-of working with the infamously-timed Applebeeâs promotion that aired in a split-screen ad break with footage of Kyiv under siege. The ad, featuring footage of a man in a cowboy hat gyrating his butt in glee over $1 boneless chicken wings, went viral on social media for its grim pairing with footage of burning buildings.
âWhat do these stories have in common? Funding journalism. Advertisers often donât want to fund inflammatory, hateful, or controversial content. While brand-safety tech might help marketers avoid having their ads showing up on propaganda sites, it can also direct their ads away from legitimate coverage of political or other sensitive topics, inadvertently hurting newsrooms as a result.â
Both the propaganda site ad serves and Applebeeâs pulling from CNN serve as evidence of extremes of what could happen in similar spheres of podcasting. To ignore brand safety and the messaging of associated programs is a recipe for being associated with disinformation and propaganda. To overcorrect and leave the space entirely could leave journalism podcasts without the stability of CNN in a financial pickle.
Continuing the Morning Brew coverage: last week Alyssa Meyers rounded up the earnings highlights of some giants in the podcasting industry. SiriusXM, Spotify, Acast, and iHeartMedia all show significant growth. Both Spotify and Acast posted a 40% year-over-year increase for ad revenue while SiriusXM-owned Pandora experienced a 30% growth. The biggest headline-grabber of the bunch, though, is iHeartMedia
âQ4 revenue grew 59% in iHeartMediaâs âDigital Audio Groupâ division, which encompasses iHeartMediaâs podcasting business, digital service, and ad-tech companies. Podcast revenue alone increased 130% YoY. The company said the growth was partly due to âgeneral increased demand for digital advertisingâ and âthe growing popularity of podcasting.â
It appears the industry-wide trope of saying podcasting ads are fast-growing is less of a marketing pitch and more a truism as more companies rake in those fast-growing profits.
Up next we have a story shuffled into the digital stack of news and left by the wayside: Spotify appears to be better at announcing podcast deals than actually publishing podcasts.
While a Business Insider article was published on February 18th, much of the original reporting on the subject was done by Podnewsâ James Cridland in the December article Missing: the shows from these big Spotify announcements.
As Cridland and others report: a great deal of splashy Spotify projects announced since December of 2020 have yet to come to fruition. Some announcements were vague deals akin to a popular actor signing a multi-picture deal with a prominent movie studio. Others, however, appear to have died on the vine.
Warner Brothers and DC Entertainmentâs celebrity-studded Batman audio fiction series has fallen off the radar since announcing its cast last June. British royalty power couple Meghan and Harry signed up in December of 2020. The most concerning is Kim Kardashian Westâs partnership with Spotify and Parcast. Cridland writes
âIn March 2021 she hinted she was ready to release her episodes. Where are they?â
eMarketerâs Sara Lebow shared some fascinating data last week with a chart of the day post titled TikTok isnât the No. 1 US app for shorter videos. In fact, the data gathered by CensusWide in late January puts TikTok in third place with 53.9% of respondents sixteen and up. The top two are Facebook and YouTube with 60.8 and 77.9% respectively.
As podcasters explore video podcasting, or simply video clips promoting their shows, TikTok is constantly brought up. The format of what makes a successful Facebook or YouTube video are far different than what pleases TikTokâs famous algorithm, making it difficult to reuse assets. The results of this study seem to imply that while TikTok is valuable, those new to video as an advertising medium would have a better shot at developing content and skills that are useful in the long run.
Another interesting facet of this story is CensusWide got these numbers before YouTube launched their TikTok competitor YouTube Shorts, effectively cloning Tiktokâs endless stream of short-form content in the existing YouTube ecosystem. But then news dropped to complicate things further: Monday TikTok announced they will be allowing users to post videos up to ten minutes in length, more than doubling the original limit of three minutes.
Sara Fischer, writing for Axios, broke the news of German publishing company Axel Springer investing in a new podcasting company Spooler. Working with Insider, Spooler will co-produce daily news podcast The Refresh from Insider with a special trick: Spoolerâs proprietary tech will allow the hosts to add new segments to that morningâs episode as the dayâs news progresses.
âFor news companies, the expectation is that producers could build âplaylist programsâ that Spooler automatically stitches together to make the podcast sound seamless, even though it's being repeatedly updated. The bespoke player on Insider.com and Insider's app will allow users to skip over segments they've already heard.â
Meanwhile, last week iHeartMedia announced Talk Back, an in-app feature allowing podcast-listening audiences to send voice messages to show hosts. There must be something in the Spring air as podcast companies seem to be in the mood to experiment and innovate, pushing the limits of what podcast tech can do.
A social media network and an internet browser have teamed up to make ads less intrusive. Trey Titone writes for Ad Tech Explained:
âWhen Meta and Mozilla team up to improve digital advertising, you should probably pay attention. The two companies joined forces to create Interoperable Private Attribution or IPA, a framework for attribution measurement without tracking users.â
The teamup shows changing times and attitudes between the companies. Back in 2018 when Meta was still Facebook, Mozilla developed an extension for their Firefox browser with one goal: keep Facebook from watching usersâ web activity outside of Facebook. Now the two are teamed up with a proposed framework that could follow pro-privacy trends formed by Google and Apple to find a way to provide useful advertising data while protecting the individualâs privacy.
Titoneâs breakdown of what Meta and Mozilla have proposed IPA will be, as well as what its constituent parts might actually do, is incredibly thorough. Thorough enough to necessitate a table of contents. Check it out.
For more thoughts on the subject of podcast advertising and a quality-over-quantity approach, The Download recommends Brian Morrisseyâs Substack newsletter piece âEnd of an era of ad targeting: Publishers will need closer ties to their audiences.â We should know, we covered it last week.
The Download is a production of Sounds Profitable. Today's episode was hosted by Shreya Sharma and Manuela Bedoya, and the script was written by Gavin Gaddis.
Bryan Barletta and Evo Terra are the executive producers of The Download from Sounds Profitable.
Special thanks to Ian Powell for his audio prowess, and to our media host, Omny Studio.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Pierre Bouvard, Chief Insights Officer at Cumulus Media, is on the show today to speak with Bryan Barletta about what podcasting can learn from radio and other legacy media. Bouvard develops media and marketing insights to support Cumulus's 1300+ media sellers. He works with brands and agencies to craft targeting and measurement solutions.
As always, Arielle Nissenblatt joins Bryan at the top of the show to introduce the conversation. She then rejoins after the chat to break it all down, giving listeners actionable next steps.
Listen in to learn about: Bryan and Arielle's favorite radio stations Why Bryan and Pierre think ads should be no longer than 90 seconds How to write impactful ad copy for audio What the listening public really thinks about ads on their podcasts (i.e. did you know they'd be ok with more?) Listener behavior as it relates to advertisement consumption on podcasts and on radio An instructive note from Bryan about updating your pitch decks! And much more!
Here's our favorite idea from this conversation: The job of advertising is to help a brand or product be known before theyâre needed.
Links: The Download Sounds Profitable: Narrated Articles Pierre Bouvard Cumulus Media Signal Hill Insights Submit to The Podscape Podsights SquadCast
Credits: Hosted by Bryan Barletta and Arielle Nissenblatt Audio engineering by Ian Powell Evo Terra is the executive producer of Sounds Profitable: Adtech Applied Special thanks to James Cridland of Podnews Sounds Profitable Theme written by Tim Cameron
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Today on The Download, Libsyn grows monetization, LinkedIn launches a podcast network, and what the new Privacy Sandbox feature for Android means for marketers. Letâs get started.
Libsyn has bought another podcast representation firm, this time acquiring PAR - Podcast Ad Reps. With the acquisition LibSyn brings around 120 podcasts that were currently under representation with PAR under the LibSyn-owned AdvertiseCast banner, further building out the companyâs monetization arm.
According to Libsyn CEO Brad Tirpak in the official press release:
âWith the acquisitions of AdvertiseCast in June 2021 and now PAR, Libsyn is well-positioned to continue to rapidly scale in the podcast advertising market, which PWC estimates will reach around $3.5 billion by 2025. We plan to continue to invest in our award-winning hosting platform, expand both our host-read and programmatic advertising efforts, and look for new ways to make Libsyn the preferred destination for both creators and advertisers.â
All of this continues to show another side of Libsyn, a company that previously swore it would never have a free hosting platform and was anti-targeted advertising is now a large, tech-focused ad platform.
Australian podcast producer LiSTNR has branched out into audio fiction. From Radio Todayâs Kim Napier:
âLiSTNR is investing in audio fiction with book adaptations by Australian authors to bring audiences compelling audio stories, with Bryden Media casting Australian actors to deliver the stories in different podcast formats as episodic series or audio movies.â
Both LiSTNRâs slated audio movies and standard serialized audio fiction podcast adaptations reflect a building synergy and momentum between podcasting and publishers, two factions thatâve circled each other since before the coining of the term podcast. Until now audio fiction as a genre has remained a largely under-utilized sector of podcasting. With industry moves like this, we could be seeing enough momentum building to change that for the better.
Over on The Rebootingâs Substack newsletter, Brian Morrissey has published a piece titled âEnd of an era of ad targeting: Publishers will need closer ties to their audiences.â
In addition to being an excellent overview of privacy on the web and how business has worked to take full advantage, Morrissey stresses the importance of adapting with changing tech.
âPrimary-engagement media will gain. As Iâve written, I believe the next phase of digital publishing will favor quality over quantity in terms of audiences. Those publishing brands that put community at their core will thrive since it easily lends itself to a direct relationship that will make those audiences far more valuable than a random collection of people who mindlessly tapped a link on their Facebook feed. Thereâs a reason that Squarespace found podcasts such an efficient way to acquire customers. The newsletter boom is a signal of where publishing is going.â
Morrissey reflects on the very first ad sold on the internet circa 1994 as a reflection of how much online marketing has changed and what modern advertising can learn from the mistakes made back then thatâre still made today.
Itâs time to update that profile youâve been neglecting. Business-focused social media network LinkedIn launched a podcast network on Wednesday. The network has a dozen shows at launch that, according to protocolâs Veronica Irwin will,
â...cover topics ranging from mental health to startup trends. With the announcement, LinkedIn joins the ranks of tech companies attempting to become the favorite hub of content creators and influencers.â
The social networkâs launch appears to have gone incredibly well, with their flagship show âHello Monday,â gaining 4 million downloads in its first day.
Over on Digiday, Ronan Shields and Seb Joseph have made a post aiming to decode the implications of Googleâs nebulous new Android feature Privacy Sandbox for advertisers.
âThe main takeaway: Google says it will work with the industry to establish a set of technical standards that will enable ad targeting and measurement online after traditional targeting tools, like mobile identifiers, are retired on its Android devices. Why is this important? Itâs pitched as the inverse of Appleâs own scorched earth plan to do something similar.â
While Privacy Sandbox might be of some concern eventually, maybe, Shields and Josephâs interpretation of existing news suggests:
â...marketers neednât panic over the latest announcement.â
At the risk of this becoming a regular segment, weâve got another article the staff of The Download recommend checking out. This week: âWhat is Podcasting 2.0, and why is it importantâ by Podcodeâs Mark Steadman. While ostensibly written for podcasters, namespace changes are something the people in the business of podcasting need to be aware of, if not outright adopt. Steadmanâs primer on podcasting 2.0 is a great start.
The Download is a production of Sounds Profitable. Today's episode was hosted by Shreya Sharma and Manuela Bedoya, and the script was written by Gavin Gaddis.
Bryan Barletta and Evo Terra are the executive producers of The Download from Sounds Profitable.
Special thanks to Ian Powell for his audio prowess, and to our media host, Omny Studio.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Sean Howard, founder of Flightpath and of Fable and Folly, talks with Bryan about solving for pain points in adtech, collaboration with your competitors, and how we're truly only at the beginning of podcasting. Sean Howard of Flightpath
Credits: Hosted by Bryan Barletta of Sounds Profitable - bryan@soundsprofitable.com and Arielle Nissenblatt Audio engineering by Ian Powell Executive produced by Evo Terra of Simpler Media Special thanks to James Cridland of Podnews Podcast hosting and dynamic insertion wizardry by Whooshkaa Sounds Profitable Theme written by Tim Cameron
Send us messages with Yappa! Join the Podscape Podcast: https://bit.ly/3rHLxgD
Check out The Download: https://omny.fm/shows/the-download-from-sounds-profitable
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Today on The Download, Amazon continues their streak of signing exclusivity deals, agents are becoming more of a common site in podcasting, and Spotify buys both Podsights and Charitable.
Good news for those who missed Ad Result Media and Edison Researchâs big webinar on 2021 data from Super Listeners: Caila Litman live-tweeted the event!
Litman, author of Sound Profitableâs column #GoodData, posted a thread of 17 tweets containing screenshots and quotes full of juicy data. According to the thread, podcast power users are eagerly engaging with podcast advertising. 74% SuperListeners are visiting a product or serviceâs website after hearing it promoted on a favorite podcast.
53% of those listeners agree they have a more positive opinion of a company when itâs mentioned on a podcast they regularly listen to. A 9% increase from 2019 data on the same question.
After last weekâs Amazon-heavy coverage weâre mixing things up with... another Amazon acquisition!
Amazon Music and Wondery have signed How I Built This with Guy Raz. The deal gives Wondery exclusive ad sales and YouTube distribution rights for simulcasts while all new podcast episodes will have Amazon Music exclusivity for one week. Meanwhile, NPR keeps radio distribution rights and underwriting credits. In addition, How I Built This will ramp up to a twice-weekly upload schedule.Amazonâs just getting started in podcasting and deals like this indicate podcast ads are clearly working for them. In addition, their premium Wondery+ subscriptions in their own bespoke app and through Apple Podcast subscriptions are working well enough to continue obtaining more timed exclusive content.Now we find Amazon at an interesting moment in regards to acquisitions. Theyâve got Art19 for tech, Amazon Music for distribution, and Wondery to produce and publish content. Their biggest space for growth is ad sales, something that might change if their offer to buy Audioboom is chosen over competitor Spotify. If big green gets the company, they effectively buy a company that does something they can already do well. Buying Audioboom would effectively eliminate competition in their field.
If Amazon gets the purchase they get closer to a full package of podcast monetization that will become incredibly hard to compete with.For brevityâs sake, weâve combined two stories into one segment, as iHeartMedia appears to be in the mood to form partnerships this week. Partnership number one: iHeart partners with Sounder to bring brand safety to audio.
At the moment, all current brand safety and suitability solutions are built for text. If one wants to turn one of those services on for podcasting, the podcast has to be transcribed. This partnership provides similar value to what Adswizz and Acast implemented with Comscore to contextually categorize their inventory for targeting and brand suitability.
This is just a first step, though, as the data has to be actionable by buyers, sellers, and planners in their tools directly. As things currently stand, it feels like the overall podcast industry would benefit more from building a unified framework to tackle this problem than everyone splitting off and doing duplicate work to build their own solution.
And partnership number two: iHeart is looking to broaden its global podcast outreach by partnering with Veritone to use their translation and synthetic voice AI tech to, as Brad Hill reports on RAIN News âtranslate and synthetically voice iHeartâs leading podcasts for Spanish-speaking markets.â With this Veritone partnership, iHeart is on track to be able to have their more popular podcasts available in global markets via synthetic translated voices.
Our Valentineâs gift this year is an article from The Hollywood Reporterâs J. Clara Chan interviewing talent agents tasked with signing big podcasts. Podcasting is growing fast and a big sign of that is the prevalence of agents. Behind every big acquisition story is an agent getting into a relatively new field and helping the producer. With the industry growing at an exponential rate podcasting has a growing need for representation and agents seem to be stepping up to rep shows big and small.
Chan reports:
âAs Hollywood fully buys into podcasting, multimillion-dollar deals are the norm for the crĂšme de la crĂšme of shows, while a growing audio advertising marketplace has allowed more podcasters to make a good living off their work as the industry is expected to exceed $2 billion in ad revenue next year. The major talent agencies have jumped on the train and are building out their audio divisions, with agents increasingly working on podcast deals with clients.â
The big players in podcasting are chasing the new trend of acquiring IP to adapt, and agents are taking notice.
Finally, the biggest news in podcasting this week: Spotify has purchased both Podsights and Chartable. With the acquisition, the podcast measurement service Podsights will remain available to the public. Quoting from Tech Crunchâs Sarah Perez:
âAfter Chartable is fully integrated into Megaphone, Spotify will deprecate the standalone Chartable platform. Until then, however, it will remain available to both new and existing publisher and advertiser clients.â
Hereâs what Sounds Profitableâs own Bryan Barletta had to say in Podnews:
âThird-party analytics and attribution are critical to a growing advertising ecosystem. In podcasting, Chartable and Podsights were two of the three core providers that helped drive that point home. Spotify has bought great technology and acquired an all-star technical and sales talent, but these companies are no longer third-party solutions due to Spotifyâs role as a publisher, hosting platform, and ad seller. Just like with Adswizzâs attribution pixel and the Triton ranker, these solutions can still add value, but with this acquisition, they now lack the ability to be seen as truly neutral.â
And finally, in a rare âhonorable mentionâ section, The Download tips its proverbial cap to Alyssa Myer. Thanks to her efforts, weâre seeing more detailed coverage of podcast advertising. If you havenât checked out her coverage of advertisers experimenting with programmatic ads over on The Morning Brew. Get to it!
The Download is a production of Sounds Profitable. Today's episode was hosted by Shreya Sharma and Manuela Bedoya, and the script was written by Gavin Gaddis.
Bryan Barletta and Evo Terra are the executive producers of The Download from Sounds Profitable.
Special thanks to Ian Powell for his audio prowess, and to our media host, Omny Studio.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Jordan Bentley, Founder of Audiohook, talks with Bryan about transparency, waterfalls, programmatic advertising, and how Podcasting still has a chance to start things the right way to lead to a better future. Jordan Bentley of Audiohook
Credits: Hosted by Bryan Barletta of Sounds Profitable - bryan@soundsprofitable.com and Arielle Nissenblatt Audio engineering by Ian Powell Executive produced by Evo Terra of Simpler Media Special thanks to James Cridland of Podnews Podcast hosting and dynamic insertion wizardry by Whooshkaa Sounds Profitable Theme written by Tim Cameron
Send us messages with Yappa! Join the Podscape Podcast: https://bit.ly/3rHLxgDCheck out The Download: https://omny.fm/shows/the-download-from-sounds-profitable
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Claire Atkin, co-founder of the brilliant non-profit Check My Ads, talks with Bryan about disinformation, ad accountability, and the steps you should be taking to make sure your brand is being seen where you want it to. Claire Atkin of Check My Ads Link discussed in Episode:https://checkmyads.org/branded/
Credits: Hosted by Bryan Barletta of Sounds Profitable - bryan@soundsprofitable.com and Arielle Nissenblatt Audio engineering by Ian Powell Executive produced by Evo Terra of Simpler Media Special thanks to James Cridland of Podnews Podcast hosting and dynamic insertion wizardry by Whooshkaa Sounds Profitable Theme written by Tim Cameron
Send us messages with Yappa! Join the Podscape Podcast: https://bit.ly/3rHLxgDCheck out The Download: https://omny.fm/shows/the-download-from-sounds-profitable
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Claire Atkin, co-founder of the brilliant non-profit Check My Ads, talks with Bryan about disinformation, ad accountability, and the steps you should be taking to make sure your brand is being seen where you want it to. * Claire Atkin of Check My Ads * Link discussed in Episode:https://checkmyads.org/branded/
Credits:* Hosted by Bryan Barletta of Sounds Profitable - bryan@soundsprofitable.com * and Arielle Nissenblatt * Audio engineering by Ian Powell * Executive produced by Evo Terra of Simpler Media * Special thanks to James Cridland of Podnews * Podcast hosting and dynamic insertion wizardry by Whooshkaa * Sounds Profitable Theme written by Tim Cameron
Send us messages with Yappa!Join the Podscape Podcast: https://bit.ly/3rHLxgDCheck out The Download: https://omny.fm/shows/the-download-from-sounds-profitable
Neilsen spells doom for IABIn the world of TV, Nielsen measurement has been the defacto solution that deals are guaranteed against for decades. But now, according to Tim Peterson of Digiday, alternative measurement solutions are gaining traction in tandem with Nielsen metrics and for some publishers and campaigns, replacing them completely.Nielsen took its fair share of lumps last year, with the Media Ratings Council board voting to strip them of their accreditation for local and national TV viewership due to undercounting audiences during the pandemic. And with their newly announced plans for Nielson One, a cross-measurement product, there is a lot of comfort in using new measurement partners in parallel to compare to current Nielsen reporting, while publishers determine their path forward.Incumbent measurement solutions are incredibly hard to shake, and this change in the TV landscape doesnât mean that overnight, Nielsen wonât be the primary solution or that theyâll ever necessarily lose that top spot. But it does mean that any measurement solution that represents an industry can and should be challenged, to better represent the industry and all those participating in it. IAB measurement of podcasting may be the default today, but we should always keep an open mind to better opportunities.Podcast Ads See Big GainsâAgain!Good news for the podcast advertising industry! According to AvertiseCast, the effective rates brands are paying for podcast ads have increased once again, and for shows of all sizes.Their most recent study of the 2,515 podcasts tracked shows that aggregate or the average CPM is now $25.37, which is up from $22.50 this time last year. Doing the quick math shows thatâs an increase of 12.7%. NiceAnd the news is even better for shows with the largest audiences. According to AdvertiseCastâs data, shows that see over 100K downloads are getting an average of $23.08, up from $20.09 a year ago. Thatâs a 14.6% increase year over year, and great news for the growing value of podcast advertising.CheckMyAds Makes Misinformation Less ProfitableThe nonprofit adtech industry watchdog CheckMyAds continues to gain traction on holding platforms accountable for monetizing disinformation content. Writing in MediaPost, Karlene Lucovitz reports that Google has decided to stop serving Google Ads on Fox Newsâ host and Cumulus Media radio and podcast host Dan Bonginoâs own website. This comes just a week after YouTube permanently banned Bongino from the platform for, you guessed it, repeated violations of YouTubeâs COVID misinformation policy.Quoting from the piece:It is not clear how much revenue Bongino will lose as a result of the Google Ads and YouTube bans.However, as Engadget noted, Claire Atkin, co-founder of the digital disinformation-fighting nonprofit Check My Ads, tweeted that Gateway Pundit lost $1.1 million in annual revenue after its Google AdSense account was revoked for spreading COVID and election misinformation.Quick side note: Clair Atkin is my guest on the next episode Sounds Profitable: Adtech Applied, if you are not already subscribed.Whatâs most interesting is Google, at least with their ad platform, doesn't have to make a decision on whether to censor content or not. Instead, they make the decision whether or not to fund it through their ad solutions. So sure, you can say anything you want on your own platform. But with this move, Google is saying pick someone else to make it profitable, a trend we hope to see echoed through all of media.Growing Podcasts GloballyEvery indicator shows podcasting has had a heck of a growth trajectory over the last few years. But even though we count our numbers now in the millions, itâs still dominated by English-speaking podcasts.But that may be changing. In Digiday, Sara Guaglione investigates how podcast publishers and platforms are working to grow non-English language audiences.Quoting from the piece:Of the 600,000-plus podcasts that launched in 2021 [that had declared] a language [in the RSS feed], a majority â 53% â tagged a non-English language, according to [Dave] Zohrob [of Chartable]. By contrast, in 2020 less than half of the 900,000 new podcasts debuted in 2020 were in non-English languages.Knowing that the majority of new podcasts launched last year are presenting information in a language other than English is a huge turning point for the global-ness of podcasting, which should be welcome news for any podcasting business looking to expand their global footprint.SMXâs AudioID (Bryan)The impending death of the third-party cookie and the degradation of mobile device IDs has been the backbeat of the advertising industry for the past two years. But until this week, with Facebook shares dropping over 20%, the impacts have been far more fearmongering than fact.Technologyâs focus on privacy means a more transparent world, and at the forefront of data collection for advertising is the concept of unified IDâs, which relies heavily on consensually provided data from signed-in users, something we tend to assume doesnât apply to the greater podcasting space, as Apple, Google, Spotify, and Amazon arenât keen on sharing that data.But according to SiriusXMâs SXM Mediaâs latest press release, theyâre actively testing their proposal for an industry-wide framework that would enable the podcast player space to provide that data.âWe are entering a new era of identity â both in culture and in technology â that defines us not by who we are on paper or the cookies we leave behind, but by our interests and passions. AudioID is a consumer-first, privacy-conscious infrastructure that will deliver our audiences the best experiences and give marketers access to data-driven capabilities like never before,â said Chris Record, Senior Vice President and Head of Ad Product, Technology & Operations at SXM Media & AdsWizz.While the reach has yet to be determined, and public access to the framework has not yet been made available, this is incredibly encouraging growth in an area of podcasting weâve previously considered stagnant.Spotify Stands Behind Rogan Even As Earnings FallAnd finally, yes⊠some news on Spotifyâs Joe Rogan âproblemâ. We know youâve heard all about it, but we were waiting for Wednesdayâs scheduled earnings call to bring it up. And weâre glad we did. According to Marketwatchâs Jeremy C. Owens:âSpotify Technology SA executives said Wednesday they expect fewer subscriber additions in the first quarter than Wall Street expected, sending shares spiraling lower, but they contended the forecast miss was not because of recent controversy.Spotify guided for 1 million fewer net subscriber additions in the first quarter of 2022 than analysts expected, and did not provide an annual forecast as they have in the past. Shares dove more than 18% in after-hours trading immediately following the release of the report Wednesday, though they rebounded to a loss of less than 10% after Spotifyâs chief financial officer gave a bit of color on expectations for the year in a conference call.âBut the big question we have in podcasting is how much, if any, of the miss in projections can be attributed to protestors who take exception to Roganâs comments? When Spotify founder Daniel Ek was asked specifically is these misses were impacted by recent customer cancellations related to the Rogan controversy, Ek saidâUm, no.â and that âthe easy answer is we donât reflect any churn from the recent Joe Rogan thing in general. What I would say is itâs too early to know what the impact may be. And usually when weâve had controversies in the past, those are measured in months and not days.âBut Owens goes on to note:âSpotify stock has suffered during the controversy, falling 18% so far this year, but that continued a previous downward trajectory. Shares have declined 44.4% in the past 12 months, as the S&P 500 index gained 18.8%âWatch this space as this continues to unfold.And that was The Download, from Sounds Profitable! I know we went through these fast, so be sure to check out the links to every article mentioned, right in your podcast listening app. And thanks for sticking with us on this grand experiment to give you the best stories you might have missed from this week. I'm Bryan Barletta.I'm Evo Terra. Special thanks to Ian Powell for his audio prowess, and to Omny for hosting The Download, which is officially its own podcast as of today, so be sure to follow or subscribe in your favorite podcast listening app. Or head to SoundsProfitable.com/thedownload. And thanks to you for joining us. Robot?
This is The Download from Sounds Profitable, the most important news from this week and why it matters to people in the business of podcasting. Iâm Bryan Barletta.And I'm Evo Terra. Today; HBO gets serious about podcasting, voice assistants lack diversity, Google kills FLOC, a different perspective on podcastingâs hit problem, and why Amazon may be the next marketing channel for podcasters. Let's get started.HBO Max is Hiring For Their Podcast Marketing TeamSubscription streaming video service HBO Max continues to prove its serious about podcasting. Their first venture into the space dropped last summer with Batman: The Audio Adventures, an exclusive podcast that could only be listened to in HBO Max app itself.While HBO maintains podcast channels on Spotify and Apple for related content, just like their peers at Netflix, this is the first podcast to be exclusively hosted in a subscription video streaming app.Now, they're looking to hire a new role, specifically for podcasting under the HBO Max brand. The role is for a Sr. Analyst, Direct-to-Consumer, Podcasting Strategy & Operations, and will âprovide strategic and analytic support on various projects covering direct-to-consumer and HBO Max Podcasting initiatives.Interactive Voices Lack DiversityIf you missed CES 2022 because... well, reasons; you probably saw a plenty of breathless reporting of new prototypes and maybe-coming-in-the-future tech. Steve Keller, Sonic Strategy Director for Studio Resonate, SXMâs audio-first creative consultancy has an in-depth piece on things he noticed at the event of interest to audio people like us. Like a lot of tech around the explosion of interactive voice systems. But he also noticed something else:Quoting from the piece:But something was missing. Innovation aside, the lack of sonic diversity in the voice sector was disturbing. [P]ractically all the AI voices we heard at CES 2022 were femaleâand white. In fact, the only voice assistant of color heard was during a series of sessions focused on voice technology, curated and moderated by attn.live CEO, Ian Utile. Multiple panelists affirmed that thereâs an underlying problem with the overwhelmingly white, male demographics of the AI world who are unconsciously programming biases, sonic color lines, and digital discrimination into voice systems. As a result, the default voice of automotive assistants, connected homes, and a plethora of other devices is white. The issue is compounded by the fact that these assistants, designed to serve us, are also predominantly female. Itâs a systemic problem, and developers and brands need to work harder to sonically diversify their voice systems, as well as the designers, engineers, and developers who create them.With DEI so high on the priority list for most companies, itâs surprising this problem exists. No, wait. Itâs not surprising at all, is it?Googleâs Federated Learning of Cohorts Replaced by TopicsWhile third-party cookies arenât part of the information we receive from listeners in podcasting, they are a big part of the device graphs we use to augment what we do receive and improve how we run attribution. So while Safari and Firefox kicked them completely to the curb in 2020, Google has pushed out their deadline for when theyâre twilight third-party cookies until 2023. And their original pitch, Federated Learning of Cohorts, or FLoC for short, has now been scrapped for what theyâre calling Topics.FLoC grouped audiences based on their browsing activity at a very granular level, where Topics focuses on applying a list of topics, starting at around 300 but expected to be in the thousands, directly to the individual. Only the top three most prevalent Topics will be available for targeting and identification, but whatâs really interesting is that they expire every three weeks, keeping them increasingly fresh and relevant. Topics fit in nicely with the contextual offerings that podcasting is primed to offer advertisers if we continue to prioritize transcription and contextual targeting.Podcasting Only Looks Hit-ResistantIf you somehow avoided the kerfuffle over the Bloomberg Article where Lucas Shaw reported on podcastingâs inability to generate a current hit... well, Iâm not sure how you did. There have been a lot of hot takes on the article, but one worthy of your attention was penned by Tom Webster in his weekly newsletter, I Hear Things.Itâs a fascinating read, with Tom pointing out that other mediums, like movies, television programs, and music all have the same âproblemâ. They just present differently.Examining the top movies from last year, Tom notes:Even if you go further down the list from the top 10, it's sequels, movies based on existing properties, and remakes. Is it fair to say that the movie industry hasn't produced a new hit in years? No--all the above movies are new movies, but they are familiar at the same time.He goes on to make a similar case for popular television programs - The Bachelor season 26, anyone? - and even music, going so far as to craft metaphors around melody and harmony to predict a hit. Working that back to podcasting, Tom says:Podcasting is, by its very definition, a medium that largely lacks harmony. When you can listen to a podcast anytime, there is little compunction to listen to them at any given time. They are always there--convenient, but rarely urgent. In other words, asynchronous. And they also currently (though not by definition) lack melody. The whole medium is new to so many people, and even for veteran listeners, there isn't exactly the equivalent of NCIS: New Orleans or Thursday Night Football or The Traveling Wilburys--that thread of familiarity that telegraphs immediately: if you like this, you will like that. Even some of the biggest hits of podcasting aren't easily explainable to a friend. That's part of why there is such a spate of celebrity podcasts right now. What is easier to describe to people: It's the Michele Obama podcast, or "it's the podcast that reveals the stories behind the world's most recognizable and interesting sounds.Check out the entire post for insights on why Tom thinks the article that made such waves was a little unfair little wrong, but ultimately right-ish. Links in the episode details, as always.Amazon Expands Ad Sales EffortsAmazon Advertising was responsible for generating $23bn in revenue for the first three quarters of 2021, nearly double the $13.5bn generated in that same period for 2020. Howâd they do it? By shifting their focus to pursuing major brands, agencies, and holding companies looking to focus on awareness with their large customer sales team.Joshua Kreitzer, founder and CEO of Channel Bakers, an Amazon-focused ad agency tells DigidayWith this change, the Amazon large customer sales team is no longer focused on shopper marketing dollars â they're now responsible for breaking through to the $70 billion TV market.While selling advertising to Amazonâs clients actively selling products on Amazon.com is still part of their focus, theyâre now providing a bigger brand play by being able to offer inventory across Twitch, Fire TV, IMDb TV, and their podcast companies Art 19 and Wondery.Amazon has an immense amount of first-party data, from all their apps and services that require a login, so coupled with the technology they integrated from acquiring attribution company Sizmek and their AWS infrastructure, they have the potential to provide insights competitive to Google and Meta.And that was The Download, from Sounds Profitable! I know we went through these fast, so be sure to check out the links to every article mentioned, right in your podcast listening app. And thanks for sticking with us on this grand experiment to give you the best stories you might have missed from this week. I'm Bryan Barletta.I'm Evo Terra. Thanks for joining us. Robot?
Chase Miller, EVP of Strategy and Corporate Development at Claritas, joins us for our latest product deepdive. We talk about device graphs, legacy, "The Barletta Household", and why having good data is so incredibly important. Think of the product deepdives like the final meeting your company would have with an adtech vendor, fully running through what the product actually is and how itâs used. No power points, press releases, or marketing presentations here. Itâs time for some detailed product reviews. This event is free to attend and will be made available on demand. We respect your time, and planning your day around a webinar isn't fun for anyone
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Chase Miller, EVP of Strategy and Corporate Development at Claritas, joins us for our latest product deepdive. We talk about device graphs, legacy, "The Barletta Household", and why having good data is so incredibly important.
Think of the product deepdives like the final meeting your company would have with an adtech vendor, fully running through what the product actually is and how itâs used. No power points, press releases, or marketing presentations here. Itâs time for some detailed product reviews.
This event is free to attend and will be made available on demand. We respect your time, and planning your day around a webinar isn't fun for anyone
This is The Download from Sounds Profitable, the most important news from this week and why it matters to people in the business of podcasting. Iâm Bryan Barletta.And I'm Evo Terra. Today; a creative way to reward podcasters and get press, a look at good news and good data for 2022, how full-funnel marketing helps podcast, and two more stories you don't want to miss. Let's get started.Audio and Ad Tech were hot industries in 2021, according to the highly respected adtech investment group Luma Partners annual report. The report highlights an incredibly active year, with 18 companies going public and an increase of 82% in the number of mergers and acquisitions when compared to 2020. Digital Audio and Podcasting received significant attention in the report, with iHeart, Spotify, SiriusXM, Amazon, Global, and Audacy all highlighted for their prominent purchases. In a year where concerns were high around data and privacy, amid a pandemic, a report like this showing record breaking growth is encouraging for podcasting.Social audio service Racket and creator financial studio Stir have teamed up to launch Podca$h, a program that awards sponsorships to small, independent podcasters and people who have a cool podcast idea they want to bring to life.Quoting from the podcash.com website:We love audio. We want to support small, independent podcasts. And, we want to support people with cool podcast ideas.So weâre awarding between $250 and $5000 in sponsorship to hundreds of podcasters and podcasters-to-be.Yâall deserve more love, and weâre here to give it to you. All you need is an interesting idea.The idea of business providing seed money to podcasters to help grow the space is an interesting one. And, clearly, a great way to generate press and goodwill for your own business.Leah Nylen of Politico reports that âFacebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Google chief executive Sundar Pichai personally approved a secret deal that gave the social network a leg up in the search giantâs online advertising auctions, attorneys for Texas and other states alleged in newly unsealed court filings.âIn a Twitter thread, Leah simplifies Googleâs Project Bernanke, which charged advertisers for a second price auciton and paid publishers as a third price auction. What that means is, if three bids came in for an impression at $19, $18, and $9, the $19 would win all three, but depending on the auction type theyâd paid different amounts. First-price would be at $19, second price would be at $18, and third price would be at $9. In this scenario, Google charged the advertiser $18, paid the publisher $9, and used the rest to âsecretly raise bids by advertisers using its tools to ensure they would always win out over advertisers using non-Google tools.âAs podcast advertising continues to explore programmatic opportunities, itâs important we demand full transparency from all parties involved. Weâre dipping our toes into a space that is being rightfully scrutinized. Podcasting wins by doing it right from the start.In what may seem like self-serving news, Caila Litman has made her debut as a writer for Sounds Profitable with a rundown of 2022's most important âGood Dataâ points of interest to those in the business of podcasting. Every month, Caila will give a breakdown of a report or study thatâs making the rounds. Why is she doing that, and why are we choosing to have that as a part of Sounds Profitable?Quoting from her article:âMy experience evangelizing audio within multi-channel, portfolio publishers has required lots of sifting through the latest podcast landscape reports to make compelling business cases. After countless SVPs have replied to my seven-paragraph emails with âkâ, I know that one or two strong data points have the power to quickly convey even the most complex stories.âBe sure to subscribe to Sounds Profitableâs articles to never miss an upate.According to Kimeko McCoy of Digiday, weâve reach the point of the pandemic where the low hanging fruit of direct response marketing may be running out. The article highlights brands and marketers that have shifted their focus to full-funnel marketing.Claire Russell, head of media at Fitzco agency was quoted as saying âIt made sense during the early onset of the pandemic, but if companies want to build the brand over time, brand awareness and storytelling channels are key. For performance marketers, CTV and OTT seem promising, given the technology has allowed programmatic buys, marrying creative with targeting and measurement.âPodcasting offer those same advantages as CTV, with far smaller creative budgets, making them a perfect step for brands expanding their marketing presence.And finally today, you probably didn't miss the news that Microsoft is buying Activision Blizzard for a jaw-dropping $69 billion dollars. But neither company is known for its presence in podcasting. Or are they?According to Magellan AI, Candy Crush Saga, the flagship mobile phone game that started life on Facebook and is now owned by Activision Blizzard, spent $992,000 in podcast ads in December of 2021. That's up from a spend of ZERO dollars in Novmeber, propelling the game maker to the top of Magellan's Mover's and Shakers list.If that campaign performs well, and with pockets freshly lined with Microsoft money, we may see more of those funds flowing to podcasting. Not just for ad campaigns, but perhaps in other avenues, adding Microsoft to the list of big companies planting their flag in the podcasting world.And that was The Download, from Sounds Profitable! I know we went through these fast, so be sure to check out the links to every article mentioned, right in your podcast listening app. And thanks for sticking with us on this grand experiment to give you the best stories you might have missed from this week. I'm Bryan Barletta.I'm Evo Terra. Thanks for joining us. Robot?[Download complete!]
This is The Download from Sounds Profitable, the most important business news from the world of podcasting, I'm Bryan Barletta.And I'm Evo Terra. Today; Audible moves away from daily news digests, Audioboom's profit soars, how podcast advertising needs to write its own future, and two more pieces you don't want to miss. Let's get started.In GeekWire, Todd Bishop reports that Audible will stop making and distributing their audio digest versions of The New York Times, a service they had been providing since 1999. Additionally, Audible's audio digest versions of The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal will also be halted.Quoting from the piece:"The audio programs, which were available as a perk for Audible members, had been around for more than two decades in some cases. The decision to discontinue the digests reflects the growing number of daily news podcasts, and the rise of other services offering human-narrated audio of newspaper and magazine stories. Responding to GeekWireâs inquiry about the move, an Audible spokesperson provided copies of emails alerting listeners to the change. The messages directed listeners to the lineup of podcasts on Audible, and specifically recommended NPRâs Up First as âanother way to get your news fix.âAudible and Amazon Music added podcasts in 2020. The New York Times is testing a new audio product of its own. The Times acquired Audm, which offers human-narrated stories from a variety of publications, in 2020."More proof-positive that podcasting is not just a disruptive force in journalism, but a valuable type of media in its own right. One that subscribers are eager to add to their media consumption diet.On Saturday, January 9th 2022, four mobile sports betting apps, including FanDuel and DraftKings, went live in New York state, with five more on the way, according to Neal Freyman of Morning Brew. In the four years since the Supreme Court ruled on legal sports betting, half the states in the US now allow sports betting, and twenty states support mobile sports betting specifically.Industries like sports betting and cannabis benefit from geotargeting to states where theyâre legally approved and aligning with contextually relevant content; two things that podcasting does exceptionally well. As podcasting continues to grow its programmatic advertising opportunities, expect to see these categories leading the charts.Brad Hill from RainNews has a breakdown of Audioboom's financial report for 2021. A report that showed increased revenues of over 125% for the company that produces, monetizes, and distributes podcasts. That's a big increase that looks all the more impressive when you learn that Audioboom's growth more than doubled the IAB's tracking of the overall industry growth.Audioboom's growth seemed to hit on all cylinders, with increases in total impressions, advertisers serviced, and even a big jump in effective CPM.CEO Stuart Last reports that his company already havs $45 million on the books for this year, with a âstrong setâ of new shows is in development as they try to ride that train through 2022 and beyond.Tom Webster of Edison Research penned a great article where he looks at the massive shift in spoken-word audio consumption since 2014 to podcasting and from where? You guessed it: radio.As with every issue Tom writes in his newsletter, I Hear Things, this one is as entertaining to read as it is educational, and I highly encourage you to give it a read.Quoting near the end of the issue:"My point here is not to "celebrate" the growth of podcasting in spoken word. It's to take notice of just how much ground commercial radio has ceded to podcasters who have done nothing more than add back in all the colors spoken word audio can paint with. Podcasting's surge isn't only about being an on-demand medium. It's about innovation. It's about taking risks. It's about closing the pool for renovations when it's easier to stick with the swimmers you have.Again, this one is really worth your time to read, and for remembering that the way to succeed with spoken word content is to not only appeal to your audience, but those who might become your audience.And finally, It's not every day that an ad agency writes an opinion piece, but Dan Granger from Oxford Road has done so. And wow, is it an opinion that will probably ring in your ears for some time.In the piece, Dan presents seven key initiatives that would, in his opinion, demonstrably expand and optimize the podcast industry in 2022. You should read the articleâwe've linked to it in the episode detailsâto get his full take on each, but here's a quick rundown:1. A joint effort among the top podcast networks to create standard disclosures for ads 2. Making category exclusivity a standard for host-read ads 3. Networks to stop forcing "combo" buys that contain unwanted inventory 4. Local media publishers joining forces to create their own regional podcast networks 5. Facebook leveraging its advertising toolset to benefit podcasters on the social network 6. Airchecks and transcripts become standard 7. And the podcast Industry finally getting serious about brand safety
Dan goes into detail on each one of these needed initiatives, painting a picture of a future in which podcast advertising finally becomes a multi-billion dollar industry.And that was The Download, from Sounds Profitable! I know we went through these fast, so be sure to check out the links to every article mentioned, right in your podcast listening app. And thanks for sticking with us on this grand experiment to give you the best stories you might have missed from this week. I'm Bryan Barletta.I'm Evo Terra. Thanks for joining us. Robot?[Download complete!]
This is The Download from Sounds Profitable, the most important business news from the world of podcasting, I'm Bryan Barletta.And I'm Evo Terra. Today, The New York Times Bets half a billion on sports, NPR doubles down on paid subscriptions, Spotify goes all-in on in-app digital ads, and I'm clearly making too many gambling references. Let's get started.NYT buys The AthleticThe New York Times has agreed to purchase the sports news company, the Athletic, for $550m. The six-year-old company, which raised $50m in 2020 at a $500m valuation, was originally in talks to sell to the New York Times last summer, but the deal fell through due to disagreements on price. With the New York Times focusing heavily on subscription content and on audio with their new app, called obviously enough "New York Times Audio", acquiring the Athletic with their 1.2m paid subscribers, which is 1/8th the total subscriptions the New York Times has, puts them on track to easily exceed their goal of 10m subscribers.Currently, the Athletic is hosted on Megaphone, part of Spotify, and participates in the Spotify Audience Network. The New York Times hosts on Simplecast, part of Adswizz, which also offers a competing monetization product. Whether we see The Athletic migrate to Simplecast or not likely depends on how integrated the two companies will be with each other.AdvertiseCast has updated their Industry Average Podcast Advertising Rates page as of January 1st, 2022. AdvertiseCast has been tracking the average CPM rates for their client podcasts since the beginning of 2020, grouping the rates charged by podcasts into three bucketsâshows getting less than 10,000 downloads per month, shows getting between 10,000 and 100,000, and those seeing more than 100,000 downloads per month.And it's good news, with the average CPM of all groups at just under $24, up nearly 6% comparing December 2021 to December 2020. And the biggest shows saw an even higher increase, jumping up by more than 8% year over year.The takeaway here is clear: The actual valueânot just the perceived value, but the actual value paid by advertisers on 2,412 podcasts in this sample size, is going up for podcast advertising.Reviewing the programmatic mergers and acquisitions that James Hercher of AdExchanger pointed out this week, thereâs a lot of trends happening in channels outside of podcasting that bode well for our industry.Hercher writes:âHistorically, DSPs and SSPs have been kept separate from ad server businesses. Ad servers are the source of reconciliation data, meaning they decide whether ads were served or visible and whether advertisers should pay for an impression. Although walled gardens can often get away with bundling an ad server and grading their own homework, open programmatic companies generally could not. But SSPs need an ad server for CTV.âThis need has been echoed in podcasting for quite some time. Companies like Triton Digital and Adswizz offer publishers both adserving and SSP capabilities in one package.Similarly, verification vendors like DoubleVerify and Integral Ad Science, whose technology relies on client-side execution to verify ads, have each purchased contextual advertising companies to further their offering. Contextual verification is the easiest path for these vendors to enter the podcast space, enabling their clients to validate their purchased podcast inventory.Axios reports that NPR is taking another run at monetizing their podcasting efforts, working with premium podcast provider Supporting Cast to launch NPR+. The broadcaster plans to add a slate of new shows as well as subscriber-only episodes, including "podcast bundles" as incentives to listeners who become members of local NPR affiliates.Quoting from the article:"Subscription podcasting offers a new digital business model for NPR and its member stations. But its long-standing mission to inform the public limits how much content the non-profit can put behind a paywall.""NPR has been experimenting with podcasts for well over a decade, but it's pushing more aggressively to produce podcasts, particularly daily shows, that it can include in subscription efforts.""Podcast subscriptions will be used to drive revenue from loyalists who want to support their favorite shows and hosts, similar to radio memberships.""It's about the relationship that our journalists, our producers, our editors have with their audiences and their ability to create and craft new relationships," said Sarah Gilbert, vice president for news programming."The new NPR+ service is already live, with nine shows available at the time of this recording, each going for $2.99 per month.Spotify has released their take on a companion ad to accompany their streaming ad insertion offering, called CTA Cards. The unit works by providing a size-variable, banner-like ad, served only to listeners of Spotify's original and exclusive podcasts, and only to users of the Spotify mobile app.Whatâs unique about this ad unit is its staying power. The adâor "card"âwill be visible to the listener on both the episode and show pages for seven days or until the end of the campaign, whichever is shorter. This feature isnât yet available to publishers who use Spotify Audience Network through Megaphone or Anchor, nor is it available to any publisher directly selling their inventory.Spotify is straddling the walled garden of advertising with their in-app streaming audio offering and their mainstream podcast advertising through dynamic ad insertion. But as they release more unique ad features solely to users of their mobile app, it will be interesting to see how Spotify responds to listener pushback for selling and running ads for their Spotify Premium customers who have paid for ad-free listening.And that was The Download, from Sounds Profitable! I know we went through these fast, so be sure to check out the links to every article mentioned right in your podcast listening app. And thanks for sticking with us on this grand experiment to give you the best stories you migh have missed from this week. I'm Evo Terra.I'm Bryan Barletta. Thanks for joining us. Robot?[Download complete!]
Hey it's me. I know this is an odd day for an episode, but that's because it's not an episode of Sounds Profitable the Podcast. Instead it's an episode of another podcast you should be listening to: Podcast Pontifications, by Evo Terra. It's cool, he's cool, and if you like it, search for Podcast Pontifications in your podcast app, and give it a follow. And I'm excited to share with you the next episode of Sounds Profitable the Podcast on Sunday, and the next episode of The Download on Friday.
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This is The Download, the most important business news from the world of podcasting, I'm Bryan Barletta.And I'm Evo Terra. Today, why premium content won't kill advertising-supported podcasts, Facebook podcast activity is over-inflated, Section 230 under fire, and why the "average" podcast consumer is a myth you need to move away from. Let's get started.With Coca-Cola picking WPP to handle their nearly $4 billion in yearly ad spend, Business Insider ran down a list of 10 big brand accounts evaluating new agencies, from Nike to CVS Health. Their list, including Coca-Cola, covers over $7.5 billion in ad spend for next year.New agencies means new strategies. And new strategies include testing new channels, which is how many of these brands view podcasting. Podcast publishers and agencies will be the resources that enable these larger agencies and brands to buy direct podcasting ads at scale, while the adtech companies will further enable programmatic offerings directly in their tools of choice.In Mobile Insider from Media Post, Joe Mandese gives a counter opinion to what's been called The Great App Exodus, where advertisersâspecifically in-app advertisersâare shifting away from ad revenue with a newfound focus on subscription revenue, particularly in a post-ATT world, or Apple Tracking Transparency.Quoting from the article:"[C]onsumers have already taken on vastly higher costs of premium media subscriptions -- especially subscription video-on-demand and music services -- over the past several years, and there is only so much they can bear.In fact, over the past couple of decades, consumers have surpassed advertisers as the primary source of media revenues, and according to estimates from industry economic tracker PQ Media, the average American now pays close to $1,500 annually accessing media and media content. How much more can they take?"So what does this have to do with podcasting, you're probably asking. Well, with both Apple and Spotify leaning heavily into paid subscription models, and other premium services from Glow, Supercast, Acast+ and more continuing to explore premium, ad-free offerings, costs to subscribe to premium or ad-free podcast feeds eats into that annual subscription budget. Which means free, ad-supported podcasts will likely remain the staple of podcast listening behavior for the foreseeable future.Bloomberg Businessweek got their hands on an internal Amazon document, the accuracy of which Amazon disputes, detailing slowed growth for their Alexa voice controlled smart speakers. Considering Amazon employs 10,000 people to work on Alexa and is attempting to move from a $5 loss per device sold in 2018 to a $2 per-unit profit by 2028, things might seem grim. But as an indicator of innovation from the overall audio space, itâs incredibly encouraging.Amazon previously reported that 25% of US households currently have at least one Alexa device. The primary uses of those devices is home automation, timers, and playing music and podcasts. Amazon, Apple, and Google all offer their own voice assistants through dedicated devices, phones, and more. And all three companies are increasingly active in both the podcast and music space. These devices wonât disappear anytime soon, but the rush in 2020 to build unique content specifically for smart speakers might have been a bit pre-emptive.In Podnews, James Cridland uncovers what he calls a coding bug in Facebook's on-page podcast player implementation that grossly inflates the number of counted downloadsâbut only if the podcast hosting company isn't providing IAB-certified stats.Quoting James:"We think that when you see a podcast in your timeline, the Facebook app is pre-downloading a little bit of the audio file to work out how long the audio is, and to ensure that itâs got 30 seconds of audio ready so you can hit the play button and instantly listen to it. This is against IAB guidelines.This is a bad engineering decision by Facebook - it will cause unnecessary bandwidth use by its app, and will cost podcast hosting companies significant revenue in wasted traffic. It would be ideal if theyâd confirm to the IAB standard, and only request audio files when a user has asked for them."Facebook is being a bad actor in this case for a couple of different reasons. Not doing proper fetch requests to IAB guidelines, as James points out, is one. But also is the fact that Facebook seems disinterested in engaging with podcast hosting companies or even podcasters on this initiative. Given the outsized influence Facebook has on... well, everything, a few well-placed strategic calls to some podcast media companies might have saved them this aggravation.2021 was an incredibly rough year to look back on for many reasons. But in the adtech space, the fear of what comes next as we move away from third-party cookies and mobile device IDâs was particularly vexing . A good handful of adtech partners have put forth their best solutions for alternative identifiers, building quickly and getting significant buy-in, but according to DigiDay+âs research panel, nothing was resolved.Two of the five charts in their end of year wrap up point out that â[d]espite nearly a year of testing, development and dealmaking, publishers remain about as worried about the end of the third-party cookie as they were at the beginning of 2021â, with over 50% of their panel still as concerned about the impact these changes will have to attribution and targeting. Even more surprising is that, with all of that concern â[p]ublishers are twice as likely to be using alternate identifiers in none of their ads deals than they are to be using them for a majority of their deals.âWhile those changes donât directly impact podcasting, a third chart highlights that contextual targeting, a mainstay of podcast advertising, is front and center for both agencies and advertisers in 2022. Focusing on contextual skips quite a few of the cookie and ID based problems whose solutions werenât enticing enough to jump on, and lets CTV and podcasting shine, both of which have been seeing incredible growth.Writing in MediaPost's Social Insider, Wendy Davis covers a bill by New York State Senator Brad Hoylman that allows for legal action to be taken against media sites that knowingly promote hateful, harmful, or medically fraudulent content posted on their platforms. And he's not alone.Quoting from the piece:"Hoylman isn't the only one attempting to control how social media companies handle users' speech. Earlier this year, Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minnesota) introduced the âHealth Misinformation Act,â which aims to discourage social media companies from promoting posts with false information about COVID-19. That measure would carve out an exception to Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act for users' posts with false health information, when those posts are algorithmically promoted during a national emergency."These laws face an uphill battle even if they do manage to pass, and some will likely be thrown out as unconstitutional. But these attempts seem to be chipping away at Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. Section 230 certainly seems to be coming under fire, and it's revocation or rewriting could have significant impacts on how all media companiesâincluding podcast media companiesâmanage the content housed on their services.And finally for this week, Neisen released some very interesting demographic-specific insights on podcast listener behavior in their Seen on Screen 2021 study. Podcast companies often look at blended average of all podcast consumers. But this survey shows clear differences and affinities for different groups, a reality that businesses marketing to or trying to reach these distinct podcast audiences should pay attention to.Quoting from the press release published on Podnews:"[T]hese audiences want to hear from trusted voices with similar backgrounds or that have similar interests. Most importantly, the topics need to be inclusive and of interestâfrom credible sources with original voices. And as podcasts more authentically appeal to a wide range of audiences, brands and agencies can track engagement with them and leverage targeted opportunities within marketing strategies and campaigns."So your company has been taking a one-size-fits-all approach to reaching the average podcast consumer, 2022 is the time to course-correct.The Download is brought to you by Bryan Barletta and Evo Terra.
We got such good feedback a few days ago that we decided to test the waters again with another pilot (co-pilot?) episode of The Download. Just in time for Christmas! If you love it, send us a note!Matt Deegan examines Global's acquisition of podcast hosting platform Captivate, comparing and contrasting that acquisition to the other podcasting-related business and services Global has acquired. In particular, he notes how Captiave's hosting solution fills a much-needed gap in Global's offering, and how their audio advertising businessâDAXâshould integrate nicely, giving the company "full-stack" capabilities.Quoting from the piece:Captivate definitely fills a hole, as Global have lacked their own platform for managing the hosting of their podcasts. Up to now they mainly seem to have been using Spreaker, which was acquired by Voxnest, which was snaffled by iHeartMedia last year.DAX has been spending some time over the past couple of years owning the end-to-end technology around digital audio. Its streaming ad platform was originally built on top of Adswizzâs server, thatâs now been replaced by their own in-house tech and Captivate gives them another chunk of the tech stack.Expect to see more as Global's integration of Captivate, DAX, and Remixd continues in the coming months.Full disclosure, Evo was an advisor to Captivate up until their acquisition by Global.Spotify opened Pod City, an on-location recording and production facility as part of their newly opened LA campus.The company's choice to invest in on-site capabilities for an industry that continues to rely on remote work and distributed teams seems odd.Quoting from Wendy Lee's article in the Los Angeles Times:Beyond centralizing its podcasting business in one place, the new Los Angeles operation allows Spotify to reduce the costs of paying outside vendors, attract and nurture new talent, and produce more original shows that it can own and distribute. At least two production houses owned by Spotify, The Ringer and Parcast, are located in Los Angeles.In late November 2021, Spotify's CEO Paul Vogel said the company had earmarked $3.5 billion to spend on expansion, with an emphasis on podcasting. Will a shiny new building attract higher-profile shows to join Spotify? And if more podcast studios are built by other powerhouses, does this signal a shift away from the remote-work nature we've grown accustomed to in podcasting?Sean Hollister of The Verge provided extensive coverage of cancellations from major companies for CES 2022. The article which weâve linked in the episode description is still being updated, but outside of major companies with a podcasting presence like Amazon, Google, Meta, and iHeartRadio confirming they wonât be attending, a substantial portion of the tech media has also decided to opt out as well, including The Verge. Before you hop on your flight to Vegas in just under two weeks, you might want to make sure any meetings you've scheduled are still on.Podcast hosting company bCast found themselves in hot water of their own making this week, when they made the unpopular decision to cancel lifetime accounts for their service purchased via AppSumo, according to Podnews on Monday. But then on Tuesday, Podnews reported an abrupt about-face.Quoting from founder Tom Hunt's social media post:After further discussion and feedback... we have decided to cancel the "cut off" and will continue to support all lifetime accounts as per the original terms. I understand that our original note from Thursday was misguided, irresponsible, and in short: a mistake. We will look to boost revenue from new subscribers, cut costs, and look for other routes of funding."Podcasters are notoriously cash-conscious. And they tend to have long memories. Keep that in mind before you start looking for creative ways to increase your MRR.In Marketing Brew, Ryan Barwick covers the digital ad industry's inability to hire fast enough.Barwick notes that as of December 17th, Roku had 750 openings, The Trade Desk had 572 openings, Criteo had 319 openings and Google had 10,224 openings on LinkedIn.With advertising and adtech continuing to grow in the podcast industry as well, almost all companies are actively hiring for nearly all positions to cover both new growth and attrition. Reading the People category in Podnews every day shines a spotlight on an incredibly painful issue weâre facing; we keep poaching from within the space instead of hiring from outside and training up.The easiest thing to teach while onboarding someone into the podcast industry is the podcast industry itself. As an industry, we need to do better, and if youâre interested in collaborating on a project to fix that, reach out to me. Bryan@soundsprofitable.comThe Download is brought to you by Bryan Barletta and Evo Terra.
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This is The Download, the most important business news from the world of podcasting, I'm Bryan Barletta.And I'm Evo Terra. Today we're covering the entirety of the podcast acquisition and funding that happened in 2021. Let's get started.Libsyn, the public podcast hosting platform founded in 2004 had an incredibly active year. They started by raising 25 million dollars and they definitely put it to work, buying podcast creation platform Auxbus, subscription and membership platform Glow for 1.2 million dollars, host and announcer read self-serve advertising marketplace Advertisecast for 30 million dollars, and longtail podcast advertising marketplace PODGO. With the leadership team from Advertisecast taking a more active role, and former board chairman and investor Brad Tirpak coming on as CEO, Libsyn has a chance to really upgrade their image if they can match the momentum of their competitors and integrate a non-trivial amount of companies into one of the oldest podcast platforms still active.Audacy, started the year as Entercom, and after 53 years, rebranded. Kicking it of by acquiring longtail self-serve ad marketplace Podcorn for $22.5m. Podcorn gives Audacy micro-influencer reach contrasting with their higher-profile owned and repped shows. For $40m, they also bought âan exclusive, perpetual license of WideOrbitâs digital audio streaming and podcasting technology and related assets and operations. Audacy will continue to operate WO Streaming under the name AmperWave.â Today, Audacy builds and hosts their radio broadcast to podcasts solution with Triton Digitalâs Omny Studio, owned by close competitor iHeartMedia, while hosting their Cadence13 and Pineapple Street Media shows on Spotifyâs Megaphone. For a company reporting around $16m in revenue per quarter from podcasting alone, expect to see them fully migrate to AmperWave and bulk up the public offering for the platform.While Global, the UK-based media & entertainment group and parent company of DAX Digital Ad Exchange does offer podcast hosting capabilities, their main appeal for publishers has been monetization opportunities. So acquiring podcast hosting, analytics, and monetization platform Captivate, which is IAB certified and has strong brand appeal for indie podcasts, shows Global's drive to be more accessible. Ad exchanges thrive on inventory, so the purchase of Remixd, which âautomatically converts text articles into audio filesâ provides Global a quick path to more ad supply. With Captivate off the table, hosting platform Buzzsprout, that serves over 100k podcasts, becomes even more appealing for a longtail inventory play.Earlier in the year, iHeartMedia acquired audio ad technology company Triton Digital for 230 million dollars from E.W. Scripps, which purchased Triton Digital for 150 million dollars in 2018 and Omny Studio, part of Triton Digital, in 2019. Like Audacy, iHeart currently uses Spotifyâs Megaphone to host their podcasts. Getting all their assets to their own platform is clearly on the horizon for iHeart, especially with Triton Digital offering radio broadcast-to-podcast capabilities. Coupled with iHeartâs acquisition of Voxnest/Spreaker in 2020 and the announcement of their ad marketplace in both 2020 and 2021, the only offering iHeart currently lacks to compete with their direct competitors, is an attribution product. Will they build it internally like Adswizz or will they acquire a solution?With over 70% of podcasts on Spotify serving from their hosting platform Anchor, Spotify continues their plans of going wide on audio by buying audiobook distributor Findaway and podcast hosting platform Whooshkaa, which specializes in creating podcasts from radio broadcasts. Whooshkaa will be integrated into hosting platform Megaphone, which Spotify purchased last November for 235 million dollars. While Spotify is unlikely to retain Audacy and iHeartMedia as clients, as both purchased their own radio broadcast-to-podcast technology this year, Spotify will continue to attract publishers looking for those features as part of a complete offering. With Whooshkaa acquired, RedCircle is the last independent hosting platform with dynamic ad insertion and programmatic offerings. And SGRecast from StreamGuys is the only independent company offering a broadcast-to-podcast technology. How long either will remain independent is a very good question.Acast started the year by acquiring US podcast technology startup RadioPublic. Keeping inline with their creator-focused image, the main appeal was âRadioPublicâs Listener Relationship Management platform, which allows podcasters to foster even deeper relationships with fansâ, which played nice with the beta launch of Acast+, their subscription offering. Over the summer, Acast went public, which is itâs own kind of acquisition.And though it falls slightly outside of 2021, when Podnews editor James Cridland announced Amazonâs late December 2020 acquisition of Wondery for around 300 million dollars, he made the prediction that ART19 would be the logical next acquisition. After all, former CEO of Wondery, Hernan Lopez was an investor in the platform and all Wondery shows were hosted on ART19. In June of this year, the deal for Amazon to acquire ART19 was officially announced. Nice crystal ball, James.And if that wasn't enough, here's a quick rundown of some of the other deals from 2021: In the podcast player space, the Breaker podcast app team joined Twitter while Maple Media acquired the app itself, Daily Mail and General Trust or DMGT acquired discovery focused podcast app Entale, and Automattic, owner of Tumblr and WordPress.com acquired the podcast app Pocket Casts. In the hosting platform space Castos acquires another hosting platform, Podiant and Sounder acquired audio discovery and analytics company Podnods. In the technology space attribution company Podsights acquired linksharing company pod.link and podcast database Podchaser acquired chart and ranking tool Podcharts and listener review tool Podrover. And in the content production space Amaze Media Labs acquired podcast production company Jam Street Media.Finally, a lighting round of the funding deals that happened, to give you some insight into the money moving into the podcasting space.Production1. Copenhagen-based Podimo raised $15.3m in February and $78m in November. 2. Audio Up Media raised $12m. 3. WaitWhat raised $12m. 4. Sounder raised $2.15m in March and $9.5m in December. 5. Casted raised $7m. 6. French-based Paradiso Media raised $5.9m. 7. Quake Media raised $3.5m. 8. Equity Mates Media raised $900k. 9. UK-based Auddy raised $610k.
Creator Tools1. Verbit raised $157m. 2. Descript raised $30m. 3. Podcastle raised $7m. 4. Zencastr raised $4.6m. 5. Podchaser raised $4m. 6. Riverside raised $2.5m.
Hosting & Monetization1. Instreamatic raised $6.1m. 2. RedCircle raised $6m. 3. Podsights raised $4m. 4. Backtracks raised $1.6m. 5. Castos raised $756k. 6. Podmetrics and Podcast Network Asia raised $750k.
You'll find links to everything we just covered in the episode details, and subscribe to The Download in your inbox so you never miss an episode.I'm Bryan BarlettaAnd I'm Evo Terra
Arielle and Bryan interview Sounds Profitable artist Jake Crowe, and talk about his inspirations, his process for designing the art of SP, and how everybody can draw.
Jake Crowe Article: https://soundsprofitable.com/update/podscape-podcast Join Jakes Newsletter!: https://crowebot.ck.page/7b26e3390b Credits: Hosted by Bryan Barletta of Sounds Profitable - bryan@soundsprofitable.com and Arielle Nissenblatt Audio engineering by Ian Powell Executive produced by Evo Terra of Simpler Media Special thanks to James Cridland of Podnews Podcast hosting and dynamic insertion wizardry by Whooshkaa Sounds Profitable Theme written by Tim Cameron Send us messages with Yappa!
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What are the benefits of having in-app subscription services for your podcast? What are the downfalls? Is it worth the experiment to give them a try? Hosts Bryan Barletta and Arielle Nissenblatt speak with guest Lindsay Graham about his experience with subscription services, and talk about ideas for the future of the technology. Lindsay Graham of Airship Article: https://soundsprofitable.com/update/paid-subscriptions-hidden-costs Link discussed in Episode:https://soundsprofitable.com/update/apple-podcast-subscriptions Credits: Hosted by Bryan Barletta of Sounds Profitable - bryan@soundsprofitable.com and Arielle Nissenblatt Audio engineering by Ian Powell Executive produced by Evo Terra of Simpler Media Special thanks to James Cridland of Podnews Podcast hosting and dynamic insertion wizardry by Whooshkaa Sounds Profitable Theme written by Tim Cameron Send us messages with Yappa!
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This week, Bryan and Arielle chat about podcasts they love, why third party research matters, and why you should care about studies. Guest Gabriel Soto from Edison research speaks with Bryan on the Latino Podcast Segment, studies done by Edison, and how much Bryan loves data.
Gabriel Soto of Edison Research https://soundsprofitable.com/update/invest-in-latino-podcast-segment Link discussed in Episode: https://soundsprofitable.com/update/free-podcast-survey Credits: Hosted by Bryan Barletta of Sounds Profitable - bryan@soundsprofitable.com and Arielle Nissenblatt Audio engineering by Ian Powell Executive produced by Evo Terra of Simpler Media Special thanks to James Cridland of Podnews Podcast hosting and dynamic insertion wizardry by Whooshkaa Sounds Profitable Theme written by Tim Cameron Send us messages with Yappa!
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Bryan's family is a bit under the weather, so we've taken the week off. But this gap in programming has allowed us to replay one of our favorite episodes, with guest Marcus dePaula, discussing how your current audio equipment influences how people perceive you in modern business. Cheers everyone!
Marcus dePaula of Podcast Audio Lab https://soundsprofitable.com/update/audio-quality-and-your-brand Credits: Hosted by Bryan Barletta of Sounds Profitable - bryan@soundsprofitable.com and Arielle Nissenblatt Audio engineering by Ian Powell Executive produced by Evo Terra of Simpler Media Special thanks to James Cridland of Podnews Podcast hosting and dynamic insertion wizardry by Whooshkaa Sounds Profitable Theme written by Tim Cameron Send us messages with Yappa!
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Does your podcast need to be monetized? Or can it just be a fun hobby? And does the normal road to monetization fit what you're looking for, or should you be looking into alternate means? Listen as hosts Bryan and Arielle, and guest Alban Brooke, discuss the differences you should distinguish, and the data behind those decisions. Alban Brooke of Buzzsprout https://soundsprofitable.com/update/anchor-serious-ad-channel Credits: Hosted by Bryan Barletta of Sounds Profitable - bryan@soundsprofitable.com and Arielle Nissenblatt Audio engineering by Ian Powell Executive produced by Evo Terra of Simpler Media Special thanks to James Cridland of Podnews Podcast hosting and dynamic insertion wizardry by Whooshkaa Sounds Profitable Theme written by Tim Cameron Send us messages with Yappa!
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Sometimes the best fix is being provided by someone else, and there's no shame in using it. In fact, that useful tool may be exactly what your company needs, at a more fair price. Arielle and Bryan talk with James Avery of Kevel about how it's even more than buy vs build with podcast technology, in that is should be "buy and then build upon". James Avery of Kevel https://soundsprofitable.com/update/buy-vs-build Credits: Hosted by Bryan Barletta of Sounds Profitable - bryan@soundsprofitable.com and Arielle Nissenblatt Audio engineering by Ian Powell Executive produced by Evo Terra of Simpler Media Special thanks to James Cridland of Podnews Podcast hosting and dynamic insertion wizardry by Whooshkaa Sounds Profitable Theme written by Tim Cameron Send us messages with Yappa!Join the private feed! https://soundsprofitable.supercast.com
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What's the difference between a synthetic voice and a deep fake? And what's the most ethical way to use this amazing technology? Sean King joins hosts Bryan Barletta and Arielle Nissenblatt to discuss the future of synthetic voices, and Sounds Profitable's recent foray into the Spanish language. Sean King of Veritone One https://soundsprofitable.com/update/sounds-proftable-in-spanish Check out the Open Voice Network Credits: Hosted by Bryan Barletta of Sounds Profitable - bryan@soundsprofitable.com and Arielle Nissenblatt Audio engineering by Ian Powell Executive produced by Evo Terra of Simpler Media Special thanks to James Cridland of Podnews Podcast hosting and dynamic insertion wizardry by Whooshkaa Sounds Profitable Theme written by Tim Cameron Send us messages with Yappa!
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Pete Birsinger joins us to talk about the benefits of a Sounds Profitable Product Deepdive, and why Podscribe has been such a huge supporter. Pete Birsinger of Podscribe https://soundsprofitable.com/update/deepdive-into-adtech Credits: Hosted by Bryan Barletta of Sounds Profitable - bryan@soundsprofitable.com and Arielle Nissenblatt Audio engineering by Ian Powell Executive produced by Evo Terra of Simpler Media Special thanks to James Cridland of Podnews Podcast hosting and dynamic insertion wizardry by Whooshkaa Sounds Profitable Theme written by Tim Cameron Join the private feed! https://soundsprofitable.supercast.com Send us messages with Yappa!
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Lets learn about lift reports and audience insights, and what those can do for you and your company. Megan Johnson of Podsights https://soundsprofitable.com/update/audience-insights Credits: Hosted by Bryan Barletta of Sounds Profitable - bryan@soundsprofitable.com and Arielle Nissenblatt Audio engineering by Ian Powell Executive produced by Evo Terra of Simpler Media Special thanks to James Cridland of Podnews Podcast hosting and dynamic insertion wizardry by Whooshkaa Sounds Profitable Theme written by Tim Cameron Send us messages with Yappa!
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This week, Sounds Profitable talks sound quality with Marcus dePaula, and how a good microphone can both save AND make you money. Marcus dePaula of Podcast Audio Lab https://soundsprofitable.com/update/audio-quality-and-your-brand Credits: Hosted by Bryan Barletta of Sounds Profitable - bryan@soundsprofitable.com and Arielle Nissenblatt Audio engineering by Ian Powell Executive produced by Evo Terra of Simpler Media Special thanks to James Cridland of Podnews Podcast hosting and dynamic insertion wizardry by Whooshkaa Sounds Profitable Theme written by Tim CameronJoin the feed at https://soundsprofitable.supercast.tech/Send us messages with Yappa!
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Check out this Bonus Article featuring the synthetic voices of James Cridland of Podnews and Evo Terra of Podcast Pontifications! Here's the article: https://soundsprofitable.com/update/sounds-proftable-in-spanish MARVEL.ai: https://www.veritone.com/applications/marvelai/ Join us for more narrated articles!: https://soundsprofitable.supercast.tech/
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Sounds Profitable chats with Claire Fanning about the IAB fall podcast UpFronts, and how you should be capitalizing on what we've learned.
Claire Fanning of SXM Media https://soundsprofitable.com/update/programmatic-podcast-ads-upfront Credits: Hosted by Bryan Barletta of Sounds Profitable - bryan@soundsprofitable.com and Arielle Nissenblatt Audio engineering by Ian Powell Executive produced by Evo Terra of Simpler Media Special thanks to James Cridland of Podnews Podcast hosting and dynamic insertion wizardry by Whooshkaa Sounds Profitable Theme written by Tim CameronJoin the feed at https://soundsprofitable.supercast.tech/Send us messages with Yappa!
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Join Bryan and new cohost Arielle Nissenblatt as they discuss what's coming in Season Two of Sounds Profitable. ___Credits: Hosted by Bryan Barletta of Sounds Profitable - bryan@soundsprofitable.com and Arielle Nissenblatt Audio engineering by Ian Powell Executive produced by Evo Terra of Simpler Media Special thanks to James Cridland of Podnews Podcast hosting and dynamic insertion wizardry by Whooshkaa Sounds Profitable Theme written by Tim Cameron Join the feed at https://soundsprofitable.supercast.tech/ Send us messages with Yappa!
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The Sounds Profitable podcast started impulsively as a way to test out the amazing ad tech I talk about. It's always been important to me that the people who talk about the technology know how to use it hands on and absolutely know what their clients experience. Now after 30 episodes and just finishing up our first year of Sounds Profitable as a newsletter, we're taking a month to completely reformat and improve the podcast to make it a better listening experience. For the month of September I wanted to share with you four episodes you may have missed. And of course, ask you to please take our survey, at podcast.study/soundsprofitable . Without your feedback, we couldn't have made the improvements we're planning. Understanding if your ad is working is absolutely critical. Brand Lift studies help you know if they are working. Tom Webster and Edison Research do a phenomenal job of telling you just that.Key Links: Tom Webster of Edison Research Article:https://soundsprofitable.com/update/brand-lift-studies-----Send us answers to Tomâs questions at bryan@soundsprofitable.com using the Subject âEpisode 18â. Make sure to answer all 3 questions, and include your address so we can send you a sticker!âWhat section of the library would you find Sounds Profitable under?ââDo you think this show is popular?ââIf Sounds Profitable were to die tomorrow, what would you miss the most about it?â ___Credits: Hosted by Bryan Barletta of Sounds Profitable - bryan@soundsprofitable.com Audio engineering by Ian Powell Executive produced by Evo Terra of Simpler Media Special thanks to James Cridland of Podnews Podcast hosting and dynamic insertion wizardry by Whooshkaa Sounds Profitable Theme written by Tim CameronJoin the feed at https://soundsprofitable.supercast.tech/ Send us messages with Yappa!
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The Sounds Profitable podcast started impulsively as a way to test out the amazing ad tech I talk about. It's always been important to me that the people who talk about the technology know how to use it hands on and absolutely know what their clients experience. Now after 30 episodes and just finishing up our first year of Sounds Profitable as a newsletter, we're taking a month to completely reformat and improve the podcast to make it a better listening experience. For the month of September I wanted to share with you four episodes you may have missed. And of course, ask you to please take our survey, at podcast.study/soundsprofitable . Without your feedback, we couldn't have made the improvements we're planning. Key Links: Matt Drengler of Podsights Articles:https://soundsprofitable.com/update/understanding-podcast-lift-reports https://soundsprofitable.com/update/understanding-podcast-lift-reports-2 -----Credits: Hosted by Bryan Barletta of Sounds Profitable - bryan@soundsprofitable.com Audio engineering by Ian Powell Executive produced by Evo Terra of Simpler Media Special thanks to James Cridland of Podnews Podcast hosting and dynamic insertion wizardry by Whooshkaa Sounds Profitable Theme written by Tim CameronJoin the feed at https://soundsprofitable.supercast.tech/ Send us messages with Yappa!
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The Sounds Profitable podcast started impulsively as a way to test out the amazing ad tech I talk about. It's always been important to me that the people who talk about the technology know how to use it hands on and absolutely know what their clients experience. Now after 30 episodes and just finishing up our first year of Sounds Profitable as a newsletter, we're taking a month to completely reformat and improve the podcast to make it a better listening experience. For the month of September I wanted to share with you four episodes you may have missed. And of course, ask you to please take our survey, at podcast.study/soundsprofitable . Without your feedback, we couldn't have made the improvements we're planning. Heather Osgood of True Native Media and I really explored the value of dynamic ad insertion and why every publisher should be focused on implementing it. Heather was one of the first people to have me on her podcast, The Podcast Advertising Playbook, and I'm always excited to talk more about podcast ad tech with her. Key Links: Heather Osgood of True Native Media Article: https://soundsprofitable.com/update/dai-for-podcasting-----Is DAI actually free to use? (spoiler, itâs not).-----Credits: Hosted by Bryan Barletta of Sounds Profitable - bryan@soundsprofitable.com Audio engineering by Ian Powell Executive produced by Evo Terra of Simpler Media| Special thanks to James Cridland of Podnews Podcast hosting and dynamic insertion wizardry by Whooshkaa Sounds Profitable Theme written by Tim CameronJoin the feed at https://soundsprofitable.supercast.tech/ Send us messages with Yappa!
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The Sounds Profitable podcast started impulsively as a way to test out the amazing ad tech I talk about. It's always been important to me that the people who talk about the technology know how to use it hands on and absolutely know what their clients experience. Now after 30 episodes and just finishing up our first year of Sounds Profitable as a newsletter, we're taking a month to completely reformat and improve the podcast to make it a better listening experience. For the month of September I wanted to share with you four episodes you may have missed, and of course, ask you to please take our survey at podcast.study/soundsprofitable. Without your feedback we couldn't have made the improvements we're planning, so please keep it coming. Moomal Shaikh of Oracle Moat joined me in March, 2021, and we had an absolutely amazing conversation about brands safety. Insight from outside of the podcast industry is absolutely how we're going to grow so definitely check this episode out. Key Links: Moomal Shaikh ofOracle Moat Article:https://soundsprofitable.com/update/podcasting-brand-safety-----Brand Safety can only get better with less exclusion and more inclusion.-----Credits: Hosted by Bryan Barletta of Sounds Profitable - bryan@soundsprofitable.com Audio engineering by Ian Powell Executive produced by Evo Terra of Simpler Media Special thanks to James Cridland of Podnews Podcast hosting and dynamic insertion wizardry by Whooshkaa Sounds Profitable Theme written by Tim Cameron Join the feed at https://soundsprofitable.supercast.tech/ Send us messages with Yappa! Take our survey!: podcast.study/soundsprofitable
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Letâs talk Podcasting! In the last episode of Sounds Profitableâs first season, Bryan speaks with producer Evo Terra, and editor Ian Powell to talk about the ins and outs of making a podcast, and what theyâve learned for Season 2.Key Links: Evo Terra of Simpler Media Productions Ian Powell of Ian Powell Audio Article: https://soundsprofitable.com/update/finally-a-podcast Credits: Hosted by Bryan Barletta of Sounds Profitable - bryan@soundsprofitable.com Audio engineering by Ian Powell Executive produced by Evo Terra of Simpler Media Special thanks to James Cridland of Podnews Podcast hosting and dynamic insertion wizardry by Whooshkaa Sounds Profitable Theme written by Tim CameronJoin the feed at https://soundsprofitable.supercast.tech/Take our survey! Get free stickers, and a chance to win an hour consultation with Bryan!podcast.study/soundsprofitable Send us messages with Yappa!
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Thereâs two sides to attribution. Hang out with Bryan and Omer as they talk about the great feeling of helping creators get the revenue they need to keep their visions going, by getting them good attribution.Key Links: Omer Jilani of Claritas Article: https://soundsprofitable.com/update/tracking-podcast-ad-performance---- ___Credits: Hosted by Bryan Barletta of Sounds Profitable - bryan@soundsprofitable.com Audio engineering by Ian Powell Executive produced by Evo Terra of Simpler Media Special thanks to James Cridland of Podnews Podcast hosting and dynamic insertion wizardry by Whooshkaa Sounds Profitable Theme written by Tim CameronJoin the feed at https://soundsprofitable.supercast.tech/Take our survey! Get free stickers, and a chance to win an hour consultation with Bryan!podcast.study/soundsprofitable Send us messages with Yappa!
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What makes a perfect host-read ad? We talked to Stew Redwine of Oxford Road to find out.Key Links: Stew Redwine ofOxford Road Article: https://soundsprofitable.com/update/copywriting-ads-that-sell-----Which ad was your favorite? ___Credits: Hosted by Bryan Barletta of Sounds Profitable - bryan@soundsprofitable.com Audio engineering by Ian Powell Executive produced by Evo Terra of Simpler Media Special thanks to James Cridland of Podnews Podcast hosting and dynamic insertion wizardry by Whooshkaa Sounds Profitable Theme written by Tim Cameron Join the feed at https://soundsprofitable.supercast.tech/ Take our survey! Get free stickers, and a chance to win an hour consultation with Bryan!podcast.study/soundsprofitable Send us messages with Yappa!
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Sounds Profitable gets to hear some of the best ideas and learn from the best researcher in the business. Unfortunately, that brilliance is sometimes overlooked because we're taught that what the company sells and the education they provide are too intertwined. Itâs hard to sort out sales and marketing from universally valuable data. So we want to highlight those bits of brilliance, and put a spotlight on these incredible ideas and excellent educational resources. This month we're talking with Dave Zohrob, CEO of Chartable, about an amazing study they did looking into Branded Podcasts. Link to Dave's Study: https://chartable.com/blog/why-branded-podcasts-are-exploding-and-why-we-built-chartable-for-brands Take our survey! Get free stickers, and a chance to win a free consultation with Bryan!podcast.study/soundsprofitable
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Weâve been carrying the torch for DAI for a while now. In this conversation with Brian Sherman of A Million Ads, we talk about how this technology is the future of podcast ad tech, and how more people should be working creatively to adopt it.Key Links: Brian Sherman ofA Million Ads Article: https://soundsprofitable.com/update/how-dynamic-ad-insertion-works-----How would you incorporate DAI or DAC into your podcast? ___Credits: Hosted by Bryan Barletta of Sounds Profitable - bryan@soundsprofitable.com Audio engineering by Ian Powell Executive produced by Evo Terra of Simpler Media Special thanks to James Cridland of Podnews Podcast hosting and dynamic insertion wizardry by Whooshkaa Sounds Profitable Theme written by Tim Cameron Join the feed at https://soundsprofitable.supercast.tech/ Take our survey! Get free stickers, and a chance to win an hour consultation with Bryan!podcast.study/soundsprofitable Send us messages with Yappa!
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Are you listening to our Supercast Feed? Good! Are you not? Why not? Itâs free! And Jason Sew Hoy is here to explain why joining the feed is good for you and us!Key Links: Jason Sew Hoy ofSupercast Article: https://soundsprofitable.com/update/premium-blend-----soundsprofitable.supercast.com ___Credits: Hosted by Bryan Barletta of Sounds Profitable - bryan@soundsprofitable.com Audio engineering by Ian Powell Executive produced by Evo Terra of Simpler Media Special thanks to James Cridland of Podnews Podcast hosting and dynamic insertion wizardry by Whooshkaa Sounds Profitable Theme written by Tim CameronJoin the feed at https://soundsprofitable.supercast.tech/ TAKE THE SURVEY! podcast.study/soundsprofitable Send us messages with Yappa!
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How can we get the most out of prefix analytics? And how can everyone use them to their best? Bryan and Karo talk about Prefix-analytics for the everyman.Key Links: Karo Chakhlasyan of Chartable Article: https://soundsprofitable.com/update/prefix-analytics-----Are you using prefix analytics?___Credits: Hosted by Bryan Barletta of Sounds Profitable - bryan@soundsprofitable.com Audio engineering by Ian Powell Executive produced by Evo Terra of Simpler Media Special thanks to James Cridland of Podnews Podcast hosting and dynamic insertion wizardry by Whooshkaa Sounds Profitable Theme written by Tim CameronJoin the feed at https://soundsprofitable.supercast.tech/ Send us messages with Yappa! Take the survey! Get free stickers!podcast.study/soundsprofitable
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Do download numbers matter? Juleyka Lantigua-Williams doesnât think so. Thereâs a better metric for gauging your podcasts success and she has the study to prove it.Key Links: Juleyka Lantigua-Williams of Lantigua Williams & Co Article: https://soundsprofitable.com/update/podcasting-metrics-meaningful-----Do you know how to access your podcasts listen-through rates?___Credits: Hosted by Bryan Barletta of Sounds Profitable - bryan@soundsprofitable.com Audio engineering by Ian Powell Executive produced by Evo Terra of Simpler Media Special thanks to James Cridland of Podnews Podcast hosting and dynamic insertion wizardry by Whooshkaa Sounds Profitable Theme written by Tim CameronJoin the feed at https://soundsprofitable.supercast.tech/ Send us messages with Yappa!
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Hey are you reading this? Good. Promote disenfranchised people. And listen to them. Use your privilege for good. And take this amazing advice from Twila Dang.Key Links: Twila Dang of Matriarch Digital Media Article: https://soundsprofitable.com/update/we-need-more-women-working-adtech-----How are you promoting diversity? How are you helping out your peers and employees?___Credits: Hosted by Bryan Barletta of Sounds Profitable - bryan@soundsprofitable.com Audio engineering by Ian Powell Executive produced by Evo Terra of Simpler Media Special thanks to James Cridland of Podnews Podcast hosting and dynamic insertion wizardry by Whooshkaa Sounds Profitable Theme written by Tim CameronJoin the feed at https://soundsprofitable.supercast.tech/ Send us messages with Yappa!
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Building a new way to do an up front for the podcasting world is tough! Bryan and guest Donelle Brown go into what it took to make the Up Next a reality, and how to make it better in the future.Key Links: Donelle Brown of AdLarge Article: https://soundsprofitable.com/update/up-next-podcast-upfront-----How are you educating your team? Are you encouraging innovation?___Credits: Hosted by Bryan Barletta of Sounds Profitable - bryan@soundsprofitable.com Audio engineering by Ian Powell Executive produced by Evo Terra of Simpler Media Special thanks to James Cridland of Podnews Podcast hosting and dynamic insertion wizardry by Whooshkaa Sounds Profitable Theme written by Tim CameronJoin the feed at https://soundsprofitable.supercast.tech/ Send us messages with Yappa!
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In an industry where influencer marketing is taking strides, how can podcasters get a leg up? Shreya Sharma talks with Bryan about how the lack of differences between the two needs to be recognized ASAP.Key Links: Shreya Sharma of Inside Podcasting Article: https://soundsprofitable.com/update/influencer-marketing-advantage-----How can podcasters best educate themselves?___Credits: Hosted by Bryan Barletta of Sounds Profitable - bryan@soundsprofitable.com| Audio engineering by Ian Powell Executive produced by Evo Terra of Simpler Media Special thanks to James Cridland of Podnews Podcast hosting and dynamic insertion wizardry by Whooshkaa Sounds Profitable Theme written by Tim CameronJoin the feed at https://soundsprofitable.supercast.tech/ Send us messages with Yappa!
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Growing your audience through host-read ads works. But it takes time and effort. Time and effort that Jordan Harbinger has put in.Key Links: Jordan Harbinger Article: https://soundsprofitable.com/update/host-read-ads-----Do you think the system is flawed? What are you doing to grow your audience? ___Credits: Hosted by Bryan Barletta of Sounds Profitable - bryan@soundsprofitable.com Audio engineering by Ian Powell Executive produced by Evo Terra of Simpler Media Special thanks to James Cridland of Podnews Podcast hosting and dynamic insertion wizardry by Whooshkaa Sounds Profitable Theme written by Tim CameronJoin the feed at https://soundsprofitable.supercast.tech/ Send us messages with Yappa!
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Understanding if your ad is working is absolutely critical. Brand Lift studies help you know if they are working. Tom Webster and Edison Research do a phenomenal job of telling you just that.Key Links: Tom Webster of Edison Research Article:https://soundsprofitable.com/update/brand-lift-studies -----Send us answers to Tomâs questions at bryan@soundsprofitable.com using the Subject âEpisode 18â. Make sure to answer all 3 questions, and include your address so we can send you a sticker!âWhat section of the library would you find Sounds Profitable under?ââDo you think this show is popular?ââIf Sounds Profitable were to die tomorrow, what would you miss the most about it?â ___Credits: Hosted by Bryan Barletta of Sounds Profitable - bryan@soundsprofitable.com Audio engineering by Ian Powell Executive produced by Evo Terra of Simpler Media Special thanks to James Cridland of Podnews Podcast hosting and dynamic insertion wizardry by Whooshkaa Sounds Profitable Theme written by Tim CameronJoin the feed at https://soundsprofitable.supercast.tech/ Send us messages with Yappa!
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Lift reports are critical for understanding the efficacy of your campaigns. I speak with my good friend Matt Drengler of Podsights about how you want the honest truth from about attribution.Key Links: Matt Drengler of Podsights Articles:https://soundsprofitable.com/update/understanding-podcast-lift-reports https://soundsprofitable.com/update/understanding-podcast-lift-reports-2 -----Credits: Hosted by Bryan Barletta of Sounds Profitable - bryan@soundsprofitable.com Audio engineering by Ian Powell Executive produced by Evo Terra of Simpler Media Special thanks to James Cridland of Podnews Podcast hosting and dynamic insertion wizardry by Whooshkaa Sounds Profitable Theme written by Tim CameronJoin the feed at https://soundsprofitable.supercast.tech/ Send us messages with Yappa!
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The podcasting advertising landscape is ever changing. Even the most recent map that I helped work on with the help of Magellan AI is already in need of updates. But thatâs the goal of the Podscape. To help people understand the big picture, and to keep us all aware of whatâs happening in this ever growing environment.Key Links: John Goforth and Cameron Hendrix of Magellan AI Article: https://soundsprofitable.com/update/podscape-podcasting-landscape-----The Podscape will only ever have a finalized version when podcasting ends. .-----Credits: Hosted by Bryan Barletta of Sounds Profitable - bryan@soundsprofitable.com Audio engineering by Ian Powell Executive produced by Evo Terra of Simpler Media Special thanks to James Cridland of Podnews Podcast hosting and dynamic insertion wizardry by Whooshkaa Sounds Profitable Theme written by Tim CameronJoin the feed at https://soundsprofitable.supercast.tech/ Send us messages with Yappa!
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If you listen to Sounds Profitable, you listen to DAI. Itâs an amazing tool which allows you to basically assemble the lego blocks of a podcast, and swap and replace things at any point in the future. Building your podcast towards DAI is easy, and should be on everyones mind. Heather Osgood speaks with me on the subject, and we talk about why DAI is the right way to go.Key Links: Heather Osgood of True Native Media Article: https://soundsprofitable.com/update/dai-for-podcasting-----Is DAI actually free to use? (spoiler, itâs not).-----Credits: Hosted by Bryan Barletta of Sounds Profitable - bryan@soundsprofitable.com Audio engineering by Ian Powell Executive produced by Evo Terra of Simpler Media Special thanks to James Cridland of Podnews Podcast hosting and dynamic insertion wizardry by Whooshkaa Sounds Profitable Theme written by Tim CameronJoin the feed at https://soundsprofitable.supercast.tech/ Send us messages with Yappa!
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Spotify isnât ending the world. Theyâre acquiring quite a few properties, and are obviously big and imposing on the landscape, but I believe that theyâre not actively killing the podcasting dream. But how far they have to go to do that is open to debate. A debate we have on this episode.Key Links: Nick Hilton of Podot Pods Article: https://soundsprofitable.com/update/spotify-megaphone-deal-----Are Boston Dynamic Robots going to kill us? Or be cool friends?-----Credits: Hosted by Bryan Barletta of Sounds Profitable - bryan@soundsprofitable.com Audio engineering by Ian Powell Executive produced by Evo Terra of Simpler Media Special thanks to James Cridland of Podnews Podcast hosting and dynamic insertion wizardry by Whooshkaa Sounds Profitable Theme written by Tim CameronJoin the feed at https://soundsprofitable.supercast.tech/ Send us messages with Yappa!
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Getting people to listen all the way to the end of your podcast is already tough enough. How do you plan to entice them further when they know thereâs an ad waiting for them at the end? Dane Cardiel of Simplecast joins us to talk about rebranding post-roll, and figuring out ways to use DCI to make your podcast better.Key Links: Dane Cardiel of Simplecast Article: https://soundsprofitable.com/update/postroll-ads-are-garbage-----How much is too many ads? And what ads work best for keeping listeners interested?-----Credits: Hosted by Bryan Barletta of Sounds Profitable - bryan@soundsprofitable.com Audio engineering by Ian Powell Executive produced by Evo Terra of Simpler Media Special thanks to James Cridland of Podnews Podcast hosting and dynamic insertion wizardry by Whooshkaa Sounds Profitable Theme written by Tim Cameron Join the feed at https://soundsprofitable.supercast.tech/ Send us messages with Yappa!
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Demographics in Podcasting get a bit murky sometimes. With digital households and the death of cookies, figuring out how we use demographics may be the future. I talk with Jay Green about how marketers should be looking at demographic targeting, and how diversifying your campaign strategies can be your best bet for your buck.Key Links: Jay Green of Cadence13 Article: https://soundsprofitable.com/update/targeting-by-demographic-----What is a digital household exactly? And whatâs the best way to figure out who is actually listening to your podcast in that household?-----Credits: Hosted by Bryan Barletta of Sounds Profitable - bryan@soundsprofitable.com Audio engineering by Ian Powell Executive produced by Evo Terra of Simpler Media Special thanks to James Cridland of Podnews Podcast hosting and dynamic insertion wizardry by Whooshkaa Sounds Profitable Theme written by Tim Cameron Join the feed at https://soundsprofitable.supercast.tech/ Send us messages with Yappa!
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Spotify is looking to dominate the marketplace of what goes in your ears. And currently, it doesnât look like anyone is trying to stop them. Join host Bryan Barletta and guest Griffin Caprio as they discuss the future of audio, and what it means to you.Key Links: Griffin Caprio Article: https://soundsprofitable.com/update/spotify-is-in-it-to-win-it-----Is Podcasting still going to be called Podcasting? How far can that definition be stretched?-----Credits: Hosted by Bryan Barletta of Sounds Profitable - bryan@soundsprofitable.com Audio engineering by Ian Powell Executive produced by Evo Terra of Simpler Media Special thanks to James Cridland of Podnews Podcast hosting and dynamic insertion wizardry by Whooshkaa Sounds Profitable Theme written by Tim CameronJoin the feed at https://soundsprofitable.supercast.tech/ Send us messages with Yappa
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Join host Bryan Barletta and guest Jack Rhysider as they delve into the differences between ethical data collection and malicious data collection. Is there an ethical way to get data? And if so, how do we make sure our podcasts are acting ethically? Key Links: Jack Rhysider of Darknet Diaries Article: https://soundsprofitable.com/update/privacy-solutions-----Whatâs the difference between tracking and data collection? Can private feeds provide what major hosting platforms canât?-----Credits: Hosted by Bryan Barletta of Sounds Profitable - bryan@soundsprofitable.com Audio engineering by Ian Powell Executive produced by Evo Terra of Simpler Media Special thanks to James Cridland of Podnews Podcast hosting and dynamic insertion wizardry by Whooshkaa Sounds Profitable Theme written by Tim Cameron Join the feed at https://soundsprofitable.supercast.tech/ Send us messages with Yappa!
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Our second week of diving into international waters. Thereâs far more out there than just the American ideal of podcast advertising. What can we learn from these other countries, and is a more global mindset needed for the future of podcast marketing?Key Links: Sarah Toporoff of Podinstall Article:https://soundsprofitable.com/update/france-podcast-measurement-----Why are we missing out on these markets? And how can we learn to utilize what theyâre teaching us?-----Credits: Hosted by Bryan Barletta of Sounds Profitable - bryan@soundsprofitable.com Audio engineering by Ian Powell Executive produced by Evo Terra of Simpler Media Special thanks to James Cridland of Podnews Podcast hosting and dynamic insertion wizardry by Whooshkaa Sounds Profitable Theme written by Tim Cameron Join our Premium Feed! https://soundsprofitable.supercast.tech/
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IPv6 certainly isnât new, but itâs been ignored by podcasting for a long time. And itâs absolutely the future, as the telecom infrastructure of India is showing us. What are we doing to access those 120 million listeners who are currently being left out?Key Links: Tom Barasso of PodLP Article:https://soundsprofitable.com/update/ipv6-and-india-for-podcasts-----How is the IABv2 working towards utilizing the power of IPv6? What struggles will podcasting have in countries where IPv6 is the main source of addressing?-----Credits: Hosted by Bryan Barletta of Sounds Profitable - bryan@soundsprofitable.com Audio engineering by Ian Powell Executive produced by Evo Terra of Simpler Media Special thanks to James Cridland of Podnews Podcast hosting and dynamic insertion wizardry by Whooshkaa Sounds Profitable Theme written by Tim Cameron Join our Premium Feed! https://soundsprofitable.supercast.tech/
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Programmatic Advertising is so much more than we think it is. Itâs been a scary term for some, but that stigma is unwarranted. Find out the ins and outs of Programmatic Advertising with this episode. Key Links: Benjamin Masse ofTriton Digital Article: https://soundsprofitable.com/update/programmatic-advertising-for-podcasts-----Is Programmatic Advertising your backup plan? Or your main course of action?-----Credits: Hosted by Bryan Barletta of Sounds Profitable - bryan@soundsprofitable.com Audio engineering by Ian Powell Executive produced by Evo Terra of Simpler Media Special thanks to James Cridland of Podnews Podcast hosting and dynamic insertion wizardry by Whooshkaa Sounds Profitable Theme written by Tim Cameron Join our Premium Feed! https://soundsprofitable.supercast.tech/
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Brand Safety safety is often seen from the wrong angles. Algorithms that canât detect tone and context often push advertisers away from markets where their inventory would succeed. Whatâs the future of Brand Safety look like? Key Links: Moomal Shaikh ofOracle Moat Article:https://soundsprofitable.com/update/podcasting-brand-safety -----Brand Safety can only get better with less exclusion and more inclusion.----- Credits: Hosted by Bryan Barletta of Sounds Profitable - bryan@soundsprofitable.com Audio engineering by Ian Powell Executive produced by Evo Terra of Simpler Media Special thanks to James Cridland of Podnews Podcast hosting and dynamic insertion wizardry by Whooshkaa Join our Premium Feed! https://soundsprofitable.supercast.tech/
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Apple Core Media, Chrome, and Safari are being identified as podcast players. Theyâre not. What can you do to figure out how your podcast audience is being misidentified, and where does the industry go from here? Key Links: James Cridland of Podnews Article:https://soundsprofitable.com/update/rss-useragents-----How does refining our data improve our targeting? And why isnât everyone doing this?-----Credits: Hosted by Bryan Barletta of Sounds Profitable - bryan@soundsprofitable.com Audio engineering by Ian Powell Executive produced by Evo Terra of Simpler Media Special thanks to James Cridland of Podnews Podcast hosting and dynamic insertion wizardry by Whooshkaa Join our Premium Feed! https://soundsprofitable.supercast.tech/
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OPAWG is working to build tools to help create a more accessible podcasting community, and is working with creators to make high fees and gatekeeping a thing of the past. Key Links: Mark Steadman of Podiant and founder of OPAWG Article: https://soundsprofitable.com/update/opawg-user-agents -----Why does tracking user agents as a community work better? What is OPAWG doing to standardize these agents? And what does OPAWG hope to achieve in the future?----- Credits: Hosted by Bryan Barletta of Sounds Profitable - bryan@soundsprofitable.com Audio engineering by Ian Powell Executive produced by Evo Terra of Simpler Media Special thanks to James Cridland of Podnews Podcast hosting and dynamic insertion wizardry by Whooshkaa Join our Premium Feed! https://soundsprofitable.supercast.tech/
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How does the loss of digital ID impact podcast advertising? Does it really matter for podcasting, or will evening the playing field between digital and podcast advertising impact how we gather data? Key Links: Rishabh Jain formerly of LiveRamp Article: https://soundsprofitable.com/update/apple-privacy-and-podcasting How do we responsibly manage data stewardship? Does usersâ agency to choose whether or not to be tracked by third party apps affect data collection? What data do we need to target users, and what can we do with the data we get currently?-----Credits: Hosted by Bryan Barletta of Sounds Profitable - bryan@soundsprofitable.com Audio engineering by Ian Powell Executive produced by Evo Terra of Simpler Media Special thanks to James Cridland of Podnews Podcast hosting and dynamic insertion wizardry by Whooshkaa Join our Premium Feed! https://soundsprofitable.supercast.tech/
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Was the Apple Watch double dipping numbers on podcast downloads? Did the IAB do anything to fix it? Does the fix actually help?Key Links: Dave Zohrob of Chartable Article: https://soundsprofitable.com/update/apple-watch-os-downloads-----Download numbers are an incredibly important metric, but how can we regulate their legitimacy? Dave Zohrob and Chartable have answers, and Bryan is more than eager to talk about the good practices of advertisers, as well as the bad.-----Credits: Hosted by Bryan Barletta of Sounds Profitable - bryan@soundsprofitable.com Audio engineering by Ian Powell Executive produced by Evo Terra of Simpler Media Special thanks to James Cridland of Podnews Podcast hosting and dynamic insertion wizardry by Whooshkaa Join our Premium Feed! https://soundsprofitable.supercast.tech/
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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In the world of advertising and marketing, geotargeting is an incredibly important tool. But where is geotargeting going? Whatâs the next stage of this tool? Key Links: Jason Hanson of Wrapify Article: Geolocation Misses The Mark In Podcast Targeting------Like podcasters running geotargeted advertising campaigns, Wrapify has to combine a large sample size with mobile device IDs to prove their worth. Did the right audience encounter the ad? Did the exposed consumers take the intended action? And how much can we rely on the accuracy of an IP address? Advertisers and marketers tryâand failâto boil all advertising down to the same thing. But as Jason says, every medium serves its own purpose and informs the buyerâs journey. Local advertisingâespecially hyper-local advertising that podcast can provideâplays an important role. But itâs important that we not over-reach with its capabilities. Podcasts ads arenât the same as digital. Podcast ads arenât the same ad radio. Podcast advertising is a worthy channel that can and does stand on its own, while also supporting other larger campaigns.-----Credits: Hosted by Bryan Barletta of Sounds Profitable - bryan@soundsprofitable.com Audio engineering by Ian Powell Executive produced by Evo Terra of Simpler Media Special thanks to James Cridland of Podnews Podcast hosting and dynamic insertion wizardry by Whooshkaa Join our Premium Feed! https://soundsprofitable.supercast.tech/
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.