Comprehensive coverage of the podcasting industry and its business ecosystem.
March saw the launch of 12, 408 new podcasts, the fewest in the 13-month period which includes March 2022. That metric from Listen Notes, which produces monthly and annual statistics of podcast creation. The high point of that 13-month span came in March 2022, when 22,533 new shows were created. Click for annual productivity and charts. Continue Reading
From the beginning, podcasting used the open RSS system for distribution. RSS enables any audio app to present podcasts in any kind of directory system. It’s an open, unowned protocol. But when the most popular podcast in the U.S. (The Joe Rogan Experience, according to Edison Research) is purchased by one of the most popular listening apps in the world (Spotify), the door slams shut on RSS. Justin Jackson, a founder of Transistor.FM, posted a detailed advocacy for RSS. Continue Reading
Last October the Planet Money podcast announced that it was starting a record label — with one song: “Inflation” by Earnest Jackson. The song was independently released 47 years previously, but failed to reach any kind of “hit” status. Planet Money thought current economic conditions warranted a re-release, and also wanted to learn about the economics of the music business, so the podcast crew put the song on Spotify. Now it’s a hit. Continue Reading
Synthetic Stories is a new podcast, and the first podcast (as far as we know) produced entirely by Artificial Intelligence (AI). That includes the script, the sound design, the music composition, the artwork, the voice performance, and the promotional materials accompanying the release. The presentation reminds us of synthetically produced audiobooks; we check on Apple’s progress with that. All these example are persuasive … a threat to performers, and a potential cost-cutting option to producers. Continue Reading
A month after announcing upcoming layoffs, NPR has started and possibly completed the 10% workforce reduction. CEO John Lansing calls the action “existential.” The action is NPR’s largest layoff since 2008. Four podcasts will be discontinued. Individual and departmental targets are not specified, but it’s a broad sweep across many functions and types of work. NPM is not affected. Click for more details. Continue Reading
The awaited opening of YouTube Podcasts has arrived. Podcasts have long been posted to YouTube, of course, but until now there has not been a structured presentation of them, or promotion and discovery tools specifically for them. It is detached from traditional RSS distribution. Click through for details and images. Continue Reading
The latest Triton Digital US Podcast Report shows only three new shows in 100 listed, all three in the bottom twenty. Nine of the top ten podcasts are the same month-over-month. Click through for more stats, including a breakdown of sales representation. Continue Reading
Acast completed an interesting survey of podcasters and listeners to gauge sentiment regarding using ChatGPT in podcasting. The survey is a broad gauge of feeling about using AI in a podcast — podcasters and listeners are clearly of different sentiments, but there is a clear takeaway. Continue Reading
by Steve Goldstein
In this latest installment of the Amplifi Media blog, Steve Goldstein summarizes the Podcast Movement discussion panel which he moderated, with plenty of quotes from the panel: James Cridland, Jeanine Wright, Daniel Albright, and Mayowa Ajayi. Under discussion: Is the bloom off the rose in podcasting? Continue Reading
Edison Research has launched an informative series of blog posts in which top podcasts in different topical categories are identified, according to reach. This project skims the top layer of Edison Podcast Metrics, a subscription product. “The Monday after the Academy Awards seems like the perfect time to look at podcasts in some entertainment genres,” Edison observes. Continue Reading
Adam Sachs, a pioneering podcast executive, has been promoted by SiriusXM to the role of Senior Vice President of Entertainment, Comedy and Podcasts Programming. was head of Team Coco, Conan O’Brien’s podcast company, and was CEO of Midroll Media (parent company of Stitcher) when it was acquired by SiriusXM in 2020. Continue Reading
Results of the Podnews Report Card survey have been released, following a first view at Podcast Movement Evolutions. In that entertaining keynote session performed by Podnews editor James Cridland (amusingly interrupted by a faux DAI-inserted commercial), we learned how Podnews-reading podcasters rate distribution apps, directories, and monetization platforms. Click through for results. Continue Reading