Brief news items and worthy reads from around the web:
Checking in on The LA Times’ Dirty John: In August, The Los Angeles Times announced a multimedia project with a heavy podcast element supported by Wondery. Since it debuted, Dirty John has spurred an additional 21,000 subscribers to its Essential California email newsletter, which shared when new episodes of the show would air. The podcast has reached more than 5 million downloads in less than a month.
Labels join the podcast game: The major music labels may be the latest sector to be tapping into the potential of podcasts to reach audiences. Sony Music debuted a romantically-titled show called The Lost Art of Liner Notes in July. “I’m very aware this will become a significant revenue-generator down the road,” an unidentified major label executive told Billboard. “My goal is to start building a library and an audience for our talent, so you can monetize appropriately once the market becomes mature.”