The Podcast Academy, the preeminent professional podcast organization, announced that season 3 winner of “RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars” Trixie Mattel LA Live Los Angeles. TPA also unveiled that it will bestow upon Malcolm Gladwell the esteemed Governors Award, which recognizes a podcast or individual for the compelling influence they’ve had on the industry.

Additionally, TPA will honor pop-culture podcaster, Ira Madison III with the Impact Award, which recognizes an individual or podcast that has made a significant, positive effect on its listeners.

The show will be live-streamed on The Podcast Academy’s YouTube channel – watch here from 6:00pm PT.

The Ambies celebrate excellence in podcasting and elevate awareness and status of podcasts as a unique and personal medium for entertainment, information, storytelling and expression. The ceremony will highlight 192 nominees across 27 categories with winners to be selected by every voting member of The Podcast Academy (TPA). Community Building Sponsor Wondery will highlight TPA’s Mentorship Program at the Ceremony. Full list of the 2024 nominees may be found here.

“On behalf of The Podcast Academy, we are thrilled to honor Ira Madison III with the Impact Award and Malcolm Gladwell with the coveted Governors Award,” said Donald Albright, chairperson of TPA. “As a writer and a podcaster, Ira is an authentic voice for the industry. He alongside his team have created unique content that spans pop-culture to politics while amplifying underrepresented voices. Furthermore, we are beyond privileged to recognize Malcolm Gladwell with the Governors Award. He’s been instrumental in shaping the medium with innovative content that he has, and will continue to have, a lasting effect.”

Trixie Mattel is an American singer, actor, drag queen and recognized “Skinny Legend.” She is also a Billboard Heatseekers #1 charting recording artist (One Stone, 2018), a wildly successful touring act, and one half of a comic duo with Katya on YouTube (“UNHhhh” & Netflix’s “I Like To Watch”). The New York Times best-selling author is the co-host of the popular podcast with Katya called The Bald and the Beautiful, which received the 2021 Queerties Award for Best Podcast in 2021. She stars in her own Discovery+ reality renovation show, “Trixie Motel” and released her double LP “The Blonde and Pink Albums’ to acclaim from Rolling Stone, Billboard, People, Vogue, NPR and more, as well as a performance on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Stagecoach Festival, and Austin City Limits.

Ira Madison III is a cultural critic, TV writer, and host of the Crooked Media award-winning podcast Keep It. His work has been featured in GQ, Vulture, The Cut, and MTV News. As a television writer, he’s written for “Uncoupled,” “Q-Force”, “Nikki Fre$h”, and “Daybreak”. His debut essay collection Pure Innocent Fun will be published by Random House in early 2025.

Malcolm Gladwell is the author of seven New York Times bestsellers, including The Tipping Point, Blink, Outliers, Talking to Strangers, and The Bomber Mafia. He is the co-founder of Pushkin Industries, an audiobook and podcast production company that produces the podcasts Revisionist History, Against the Rules with Michael Lewis, The Happiness Lab with Dr. Laurie Santos, and Broken Record.

The post Trixie Mattel To Host The Podcast Academy’s Fourth Annual Awards For Excellence In Audio On March 26 In LA appeared first on Podcaster News.

Poddster – a pioneering network of video podcast production studios and Dubai’s first podcasting community — has begun expanding globally with the launch of its first location in Singapore. The new Poddster location in Singapore’s Bukit Merah area is the company’s first to open outside of Dubai. Four large professional studios and an expansive community space for events and workshops occupy the state-of-the-art 4,000-square-foot venue.

Co-founded by serial entrepreneur Vuk Zlatarov in April 2022, Poddster became Dubai’s busiest and most-recognized podcast hub and now has three locations in the city. It aims to democratize high-quality podcast production, empowering individuals and businesses to document their knowledge and stories and experience the transformational power of podcasts.

The idea came in 2020 after Zlatarov launched his own podcast, The Change Officer, in hope of finding a smarter way to build meaningful relationships with people who could positively influence his life and business. Two years, and 200 episodes later, Zlatarov created Poddster, making professional podcast production available to everyone.

On the opening of the Singapore studios, Poddster Co-founder Zlatrov commented: “Our vision is to build a network of hubs that gather some of the most inspiring figures that can learn from each other and grow together through a transformative podcasting experience. Strategically, Singapore is one of the most important cities because it is a focal point for influential figures and commercial ventures across Asia Pacific. The podcast industry in Singapore and the wider region is expanding and listening to podcasts is becoming increasingly popular.”

Poddster’s Co-Founder and Asia Pacific CEO, Borko Kovacevic, added: “Singapore represents a really exciting market for us. It’s long been a premier destination for international organizations. Plus, statistics show the number of daily and weekly podcast listeners has increased by 53 percent over the last year, with listeners now tuning in to three to five podcasts a week. Over 90 percent of listeners in Singapore have reportedly taken action after listening to a podcast advert. This shows the demand is definitely there for high-quality studios like Poddster that prioritize consistent service quality.”

The company is set to continue its global expansion with plans to open in Saudi Arabia, Hong Kong and Australia by 2025. According to YouGov, the number of podcast listeners is projected to rise to 504.9 million in 2024, with the MENA region among the highest proportion of podcast listeners worldwide.

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Libsyn Syndication inc. (“Libsyn”), the leading all-in-one podcasting platform for creators and advertisers, announced the appointment of Rick Selah as Executive Vice President of Sales for Libsyn’s AdvertiseCast. Selah previously has served as Executive Vice President of Content Partnerships and Libsyn since 2022 and, in this new role, Rick will be responsible for spearheading the expansion of the industry leading AdvertiseCast marketplace and driving revenue growth.

“Advertisers are embracing podcast advertising as a trusted media channel that’s now on par with other dominant media channels with advanced audience targeting and attribution measurement capabilities — and our AdvertiseCast marketplace is leading the way,” said John W. Gibbons, Chief Executive Officer at Libsyn. “Rick will be instrumental in scaling our expansive podcast advertising portfolio of host-read, dynamic, and programmatic ad offerings. His wealth of experience in the podcast industry, strong advertiser relationships, and sales track record make him a valuable leader to drive our next phase of accelerated growth.”

As a seasoned sales leader, Selah brings decades of expertise in media industry sales. As Executive Vice President of Content Partnerships at Libsyn, Rick was instrumental in expanding creator partnerships and bringing massive shows like The Vial Files and Lore as well as ABC Audio to the Libsyn AdvertiseCast family.

Prior to Libsyn, Rick served as Co-Founder and President of PodAdReps (PAR), where he led advertising sales efforts for a diverse catalog of independent podcasts. His leadership resulted in the acquisition of PAR by Libsyn, further solidifying his impact on the podcasting industry. Rick’s career journey also includes significant roles such as Vice President of Sales at CastPlus and Vice President of Sales at Westwood One.

“Podcast advertising is gaining prominence with more marketers, and Libsyn AdvertiseCast has built a foundation for accelerated growth with its deep investments in innovative advertising tools and technologies,” said Rick. “I’m thrilled to work alongside Libsyn’s leadership team to lead sales and educate more brands on the immense potential of podcast advertising, empowering them to harness the medium’s power to engage on high-value audiences and achieve measurable outcomes. Together, we’ll continue to elevate the podcasting landscape and drive the proof-of-performance for advertisers.”

The expansion of leadership marks a pivotal moment for Libsyn as the Company celebrates its 20th year in podcasting. Libsyn has made substantial investments in platform tools for creators and advertisers alike.

About Liberated Syndication

Celebrating our 20th year in podcasting, Liberated Syndication Inc. (“Libsyn”) is the leading all-in-one podcasting platform for creators and advertisers to host, distribute, monetize, amplify, and measure their audio and video content. The Company hosts more than 75,000 shows and delivers over 8 billion downloads to listeners globally. Libsyn’s AdvertiseCast marketplace combines an industry-leading ad buying management platform with full-service capabilities that make it easy for podcast advertisers to initiate and manage highly targeted and measurable campaigns across thousands of shows. Visit libsyn.com or investor.libsyn.com for more information on the Company and the platforms that it powers.

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PodRoll unveiled Dynamic Feed Drops, an industry-first solution designed to overcome the limitations of traditional podcast feed drops. Enabled by dynamic insertion, this innovative technology allows podcasters to leverage the audience acquisition power of feed drops with efficiency, control, and targeting.

Dynamic Feed Drops are promotional episodes inserted across PodRoll’s ecosystem of more than 30 podcast networks. The episode is added as the second most recent episode in a feed and works across al major podcast listening platforms. Once the host podcast publishes a new episode, the recommended episode is automatically removed from the feed, requiring no additional work from either podcaster. This innovative approach facilitates simple, standardized, and effective cross-promotion and converts recurring listeners with a direct link to follow the podcast in Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

Unlike traditional feed drops, PodRoll’s Dynamic Feed Drops leverage technology to simplify running feed drops at scale, helping every promotional campaign reach its goal.

“With Dynamic Feed Drops, we’re modernizing one of the most powerful ways to grow a podcast’s audience,” said Jason Cox, CEO/CTO of PodRoll. “This technology ensures that every feed drop not only reaches its target audience, but does so in a scalable way that eliminates the manual work required with the traditional method.”

Dynamic Feed Drop placement is facilitated between buyers and sellers in the PodRoll marketplace. With real-time metrics and full self-service control, podcasters can launch campaigns to grow their show or accept campaigns to earn revenue.

“This technology enables podcasters to sell feed drops programmatically,” said Matt Turck, CEO of PodRoll. “We’re excited to bring a meaningful revenue stream to our partners that does not conflict with advertising inventory or impact any of their creative and publishing operations.”

Key Features for Buyers:

Scale Your Reach: Seamlessly place your episode across many podcasts with a single campaign

Targeted Spending: Control where your show is promoted across the PodRoll network

Pay for Performance: Your investment is tied directly to actual activity on your promoted podcast feed

Track Effortlessly: Natively identify recurring listeners generated from each campaign.

Key Features for Sellers:

Earn Effortlessly: Generate $50+ CPM for every promotional episode, all through programmatic sales

Simplify Your Workflow: No sales team or coordination needed, every campaign is approved and tracked from one dashboard

Maintain Control: Enjoy full content approval rights and manage your feed with ease; feed drops are automatically removed after your next episode is published

Dynamic Feed Drops are available immediately to all podcasters with a minimum $500 budget. This ensures that podcasts of all sizes can take advantage of this innovative growth strategy and set their content in from of active listeners on any podcast.

For more information on how to elevate your podcast growth strategy with Dynamic Feed Drops, visit https://podroll.fm.

About PodRoll

PodRoll is a podcast technology company, offering a range of solutions designed to solve the toughest problems for podcasters and advertisers. With a focus on innovation and transparency PodRoll is committed to enhancing the podcasting ecosystem for creators, advertisers, and listeners globally.

The post PodRoll Announces New Podcast Growth Technology – Dynamic Feed Drops appeared first on Podcaster News.

LiSTNR unveils a new and improved app experience with the introduction of several new features and significant enhancements.

The biggest app update since LiSTNR launched in 2021, the game-changing features were developed following extensive consultation and feedback from LiSTNR’s 1.8 million signed-up customer base.

The enhancements will make the LiSTNR app faster, more intuitive and personalized with a full re-design to deliver an exceptional experience for users.

New features include:

A simpler navigation featuring: Home, Discovery, and Library.

An enhanced, fully personalized homepage with a “For You” tab, giving users easy access to live radio and music stations, radio shows and podcasts they follow or have recently played.

New tabs to showcase the most popular content types including Radio, Podcasts, and Music (with Sport coming soon).

A re-designed Radio tab, highlighting all 99 Hit and Triple M local stations and their associated DAB+ stations. A more relevant experience is achieved by users’ postcodes informing the prioritization of local Hit and Triple M radio stations and local news appearing first.

A new, dedicated Music tab with a range of music stations to suit every mood and music-based podcasts.

The new Discover option enables intuitive search plus browsing by category and genre.

An improved Library provides access to all the content that users follow, have listened to and downloaded, plus the latest podcast episodes.

SCA Chief Technology and Operations Officer, Stephen Haddad, said: “LiSTNR has been developed from the ground up within SCA and this new version of the app, our biggest since LiSTNR launched, will deliver our 1.8 million-plus signed-up users a truly personal experience. We have listened to and taken on board user feedback to produce the ultimate user experience, making content easily accessible and the app faster and fun to use.

“As well as the new features and benefits, the LiSTNR app has undergone a complete re-design to look even more slick and to be even more intuitive. While users are listening, they will feel immersed in a world of great content, with all the information they could want at their fingertips. We are extremely proud of delivering an Australian owned and operated digital audio platform.”

SCA Chief Commercial Officer, Seb Rennie, said: “The LiSTNR app is enabled with best-in-class technology to deliver unique and unrivaled targeting, attribution, contextual solutions and advanced dynamic creative optimization for advertisers ensuring that this, along with LiSTNR’s highly engaged audience of more than 1.8 million users, means the most advanced and effective digital audio solutions are now available at LiSTNR.”

All LiSTNR users retain their user accounts and preferences as the new app launches. If users have auto app updates on, they do not need to do anything. If auto updates are off, users simply update the app on their smartphone and they will already be logged in. Once updated, users will experience a tour of the new features before exploring the app.

The new LiSTNR app is available now.

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Price Brothers, creators of digital audio advertising content using emerging technologies, announced the launch of its Contextual Advertising service for host-read ads.

This new offering improves podcast ads by leveraging dynamic targeting combined with voice cloning technology. The result are ads made more effective by adding context and relevance to heighten engagement.

“Research has shown that host-read ads in podcasts perform well,” said Dan Price, Partner, Price Brothers and Sister company Oink Ink Radio. “Meanwhile, research has also shown that adding context to audio ads, such as localization, increases effectiveness. The hurdle has been scalability. And so we began experimenting with cloning.”

Price Brothers’ Contextual Ad Service provides advertisers the ability to serve dynamically ‘stitched together’ creative content, relevant to a listener’s specific context and environment, while adding scale achieved by utilizing synthesized voice. “It would be impractical for every podcast host engaged by a brand like Staples, for example, to record 1,400 location addresses,” said Jim Price. “So we thought, ‘Why not clone the hosts’ voices (with their permission) and cobble together the new audio to efficiently create versions relevant to the listener.”

While many AI platforms may be created somewhat equally, the implementation of them has not. Says Dan Price, “The secret sauce for use was in perfecting what goes into the platform and how you input the data in order to achieve authentic results. People have been skeptical of the quality of cloned audio, and for good reason. Most sound fake and inconsistent. For months we experimented with the assets being loaded into the platforms we use. The specific sample reference audio and especially the technique of entering the text being processes by the platform is absolutely critical.” The results Price Brothers achieved have been startling.

The whole concept behind Price Brothers was as a creative user of emerging technologies. “We’re not a tech firm,” says Dan Price. “We set out years ago to identify the most promising digital tools at their inception, and then work with the developers as end-users of them. We’d experiment and push the envelope and request upgrades to the programs; we positioned ourselves as already doing creative work with those tools by the time they were being introduced to the industry.” As a result, Price Brothers produced some of the earliest dynamic work in the U.S. (for client Staples) and worked with Instreamatic fully 4 years ago on Interactive Audio executions.

While the results they’ve gotten cloning podcast hosts’ voices is being noticed, it’s the contextual component that is sure to catch the attention of advertisers. A listener’s location, the name or type of app they’re using, the activity they’re engaging in, are all available data points that can drive relevant messaging.

Despite their being significant, wide-spread concern over Artificial Intelligence and the governing of its boundaries, Price Brothers’ Contextual service for podcasts is a solution that not only benefits advertisers, but also provides a more engaging listening experience for audiences. And that is good for hosts and publishers. “We view it as using AI for good, not evil,” says Jim Price.

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Shure, the brand behind the world’s best wireless audio, introduced its newest line of wireless clip-on microphones, the MoveMic Microphone System. MoveMic delivers reliable, true broadcast-quality audio in an ultra-lightweight design ideal for content creators, videographers, and mobile journalists. It is the smallest, best-sounding, dual channel direct-to-phone wireless cavalier solution available, developed with a custom acoustic design and proprietary wireless software to ensure professional audio quality while on the go.

Shure’s discreet and durable MoveMic series connects directly to phones in both single — MoveMic One — and dual channel — MoveMic Two – configurations for use with our MOTIV and MOTIV Video apps on iOS and Android. For those seeking universal compatibility, the standalone MoveMic Receive and bundled MoveMic Two Receiver Kit seamlessly integrates with devices like cameras, computers, and third-party smartphone apps. MoveMic’s patented lavalier design and patent-pending wireless technology make it a reliable and flexible solution regardless of whether users are going direct-to-phone or connecting to the MoveMic Receiver.

“On-the-go interviews have become the primary way journalists, content creators, and TikTokers gather the thoughts, opinions, and experiences of people around the world,” said Eduardo Valdes, Associate Vice President of Global Marketing and Product Management at Shure. “The rise in this style of content has created an ideal opportunity to introduce an incredibly discreet, extraordinary-sounding wireless lavalier microphone system like MoveMic. We’ve applied our expertise as the leaders in professional wireless tools for performance, broadcast, and recording to create this super portable device. Creators will love that they can simultaneously send two channels of audio directly to their phone while keeping mics covert on camera.”

COMPACT, POCKET-FRIENDLY DESIGN – EASILY CONCEALED AND READY FOR ANYTHING: Nobody wants a big, bulky microphone distracting from their next shot. MoveMic was purposely designed to be almost invisible, weighing only 8.2g per microphone and measuring a demure 46mm x 22mm, with only a fraction of the microphone visible while work for an unprecedented level of concealment and portability. With an IPX4 rating. MoveMic was engineered for real-world use and is capable of withstanding spills, splashes, and the demands of recording outdoors.

24-HOURS OF RECORDING PER CHARGE: Each MoveMic wireless clip-on microphone features up to eight hours of battery life. Users can achieve two additional eight-hour charges with the charging case, giving creators an entire day of recording for every full charge. USB-C connectivity makes MoveMic universally chargeable with any USB-C capable charging platform.

EFFORTLESS, BROADCAST-QUALITY AUDIO – DIRECTLY TO YOUR PHONE: The proprietary Shure wireless software and custom acoustic design built into MoveMic makes it easy to capture high-fidelity, broadcast-quality voice recordings with minimal background noise, ideal for hectic, on-the-go recording situations up to 100 feet from the receiver source. The result of endless hours of development by Shure engineers is performance, reliability, and sound quality that you can count on that is only available in MoveMic products.

QUICK SETUP — ONCE PAIRED, ALWAYS READY: After paring MoveMic One and Two with a user’s preferred device, the microphones will automatically reconnect to the last-paired device when removed from the charging case and powered on. By eliminating setup time between shots, creators, journalists, and videographers can be ready to record in an instant.

FULL APP CONTROL: Designed to be paired with the free MOTIV Audio and Video apps, creators leveraging MoveMic One and Two can configure audio settings like gain, limiter, compression, noise reduction, and EQ. Additionally, users can record and livestream content to Facebook directly from the MOTIV Video mobile app, with YouTube livestream integration coming in spring 2024.

The MoveMic system and components are available now at shure.com and select retailers.

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PodBravo launched it’s new platform, an AI service designed to transform podcast content effortlessly. PodBravo leverages AI to generate transcripts, show notes, timestamps, titles, blogs, social media posts, and more with just a single click, revolutionizing the podcast production process.

“We are thrilled to introduce PodBravo, a game-changer for podcasters worldwide,” says George Lejnine, CEO of PodBravo. “With PodBravo, podcasters can effortlessly expand their audience reach and engagement without the burden of additional manual work.”

Key features and benefits of PodBravo include:

Automated content creation: Instantly generate transcripts, show notes, and other supplementary content.

Enhanced audience engagement: Reach a wider audience through multiple content formats tailored to various platforms.

Time-saving solution: Streamline podcast production workflows with efficient AI-driven tools.

“PodBravo empowers podcasters to focus on creating compelling content while our AI technology handles the rest,” adds Lejnine.

PodBravo became available on March 6, 2024, at a competitive price point. For more information on PodBravo, visit podbravo.com.

About PodBravo

PodBravo is a new provider of innovative solutions for podcasters, committed to simplifying and enhancing the podcasting experience. With a focus on leveraging cutting-edge technology, PodBravo aims the empower creators to maximize the potential of their podcasts.

The post PodBravo Revolutionizes Podcast Production With AI-Powered Content Repurposing appeared first on Podcaster News.

Flightpath, a pioneer in podcast ad optimization software, unveiled their latest technological breakthrough aimed at improving the reliability of episode targeted podcast ad sales and inventory management. With this new capability, Flightpath has expanded their industry-leading availability, triage alerts, and projected performance tools to fully support ‘faked-in’ or episode-targeted placements across supported podcast platforms.

“With buyers who prefer baked-in placements, podcast publishers are turning to episode-targeted ads using Dynamic Ad Insertion [DAI],” explains Sean Howard, CEO of Flightpath.  “Promising an episode locked placement is easy, but DAI makes living up to these promises difficult. Buyers expect these placements to be served in every download or listen within a set time period. Flightpath surfaces any problems that will impact delivery in addition to exposing any oversold events in the future.”

These alerts and reports work on all supported DAI platforms and free up sales and operations to offer these placements with confidence, while also maintaining the significant revenue opportunities from traditional DAI placements.

Key Features

Freedom to use baked in sales strategies while also enabling up to 3x gross revenues with DAI technologies

Confidence that episode locks are properly configured and going to deliver 100% of the time, as promised

Identify booked and oversold episode locked inventory across supported DAI platforms

All of this while monitoring all run-of-show and run-of-network campaigns

Trusted availability for episode targeted orders one year into the future

“Podcast publishers and networks need to unlock revenue potential while still addressing buyer demand for locked inventory,” stated Flightpath’s CRO, Laurie Belleau. “At Flightpath, we’re committed to empowering our partners with unparalleled visibility and paving the way for increased revenue by making ad inventory, placements, and campaign performance readily available in the context of multiple sales strategies.”

“As we manage hundreds of campaigns every week, it’s crucial to have a tool that can swiftly pinpoint and resolve any potential delivery issues,” added Ilwira Marciszek, AdLarge’s Senior VP and head of Revenue Operations and Digital Sales. “Flightpath empowers us to deliver with the reliability and accountability that our advertisers have come to trust from AdLarge.”

To learn more about Flightpath, please reach out to laurie@flightpath.fm.

The post Flightpath Gives Publishers Tools To Support Baked In Sales Via Dynamic appeared first on Podcaster News.

A YouTube channel on its own isn’t a podcast. While there have been a number of tools available to audio-first podcasters for getting their shows onto YouTube, there hasn’t been anything that could easily turn a YouTube channel into an audio podcast. That problem is solved with Blubrry’s new Vid2Pod service:

You can now effortlessly publish podcast episodes from your video playlists into high-quality audio podcasts, opening your content to a new audience.

Whether you’re a seasoned podcaster or a YouTube first creator looking to expand your reach Vid2Pod is a set it and forget it video-to-audio podcasting tool, available as part of our Advanced Hosting plans and above.

YouTubers can get Vid2Pod up and running in a few simple steps: sign up for a Blubrry media hosting subscription; link a YouTube channel to Blubrry; enter audio podcast settings (including show artwork). Blubrry will then provide a podcast RSS feed that can be submitted to podcast apps/directories like Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeartMedia, TuneIn, and more. From there, the process is completely automated. Blubrry will pick up new videos from YouTube, convert them to audio podcast episodes, and publish those episodes to RSS.

Vid2Pod users will also get access to features already baked in to Blubrry media hosting like a free WordPress site and access to Podcasting 2.0 capabilities, including Value4Value donations and Live Item notifications. Vid2Pod users will be able to measure the reach of their audio podcasts using Blubrry’s industry-leading IAB certified statistics.

Blubrry’s new Vid2Pod service is available starting today, so YouTubers who want to try the service can get started right now. Vid2Pod should be a real game changer for YouTube-first creators who want to expand their reach beyond the walls of YouTube.

The post Blubrry’s New Vid2Pod Makes Any YouTube Channel Into An Audio Podcast appeared first on Podcaster News.

KS&R, an industry-leading strategic consultancy and marketing research firm, announced the release of its research report, “Podcast Frenzy: Riding the Wive of Ever-Increasing Popularity”.

This report found that podcasts are replacing traditional media consumption across all generations. Additionally, a significant portion of Gen Z (more than a quarter) and Millennials (more than a third) listen to podcasts on a daily basis. In fact, since they began listening to podcasts, listeners reported that 28% of them watch less TV, and 24% browse social media less often. Even one-third of Gen Z listeners said they now spend less time playing video games.

There are generational gaps in the types of podcasts to which aficionados listen, however:

Gen Z prefers comedy (47%) followed by pop culture (34%)

Millennials also prefer comedy (45%) followed by true crime (35%)

Gen X prefers news (33%) followed by comedy (32%)

Baby Boomers also prefer news (37%) followed by politics (36%)

Video podcasting is popular, particularly via Youtube (45%) which is especially popular among men. Looking ahead, K&R expects augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR) and other interactive features to become increasingly common, elevating podcasting experience with more interactive and immersive content

“In this podcasting landscape, we’re witnessing a profound shift, particularly in the loyalty and influence of ‘super listeners,’” said Jennifer Longo, KS&R Telecom, Entertainment and Content Specialist. “It’s an exciting time for podcasting, with boundless possibilities on the horizon.”

Findings are from KS&R’s Entercom & Recreation Landscape Survey. 5,000 online surveys were completed March-April 2023, among consumers ages 13-76, contacted through a nationwide online panel, representative of the US Census population.

Read the full report here.

The post KS&R Report: Podcasts Are Replacing Traditional Media Consumption appeared first on Podcaster News.

Writers Guild of America East members at Spotify Studios (formerly Gimlet Media and Parcast) and The Ringer have both reached tentative agreements with Spotify on new collective bargaining agreements.

Two of the first podcast production companies to unionize with the WGAE, both bargaining units made important gains in wages and achieved first-of-their-kind protections against Artificial Intelligence (AI) during negotiations for their second union contracts.

The tentative agreement will now go to the Spotify Studios Union, The Ringer Union and the WGAE Council for ratification votes. Details of each collective bargaining agreement will be made public upon ratification.

The Spotify Studios Union shared:

“After more than two months of bargaining, we’re delighted to announce that we’ve agreed to a new contract with Spotify. Thanks to the solidarity and strength of our union, we secured pay increases that are on average an inflation-beating 5.7% across the unit. We also made gains on severance, won new protections for employees who are on visas, and secured groundbreaking AI safeguards. To win these gains, 100% of Gimlet Union employees signed a strike pledge and were prepared to walk. 100% of Parcast Union employees signed this strike pledge in solidarity.

This contract also marks a new chapter: beginning with the ratification of this agreement, the Gimlet and Parcast Unions will join together to become The Spotify Studios Union.

Our joint unit went into these negotiations battered by brutal rounds of layoffs. So many of our talented colleagues were cast aside in a restructuring ghat was only necessary because of decisions made by Spotify leadership. Still, during the course of negotiations, Spotify Studio Union members came together and found a unified voice to defend our rights as workers.”

The Ringer Union bargaining committee said:

“The Ringer Union bargaining committee is proud to recommend a contract that includes necessary wage increased for lower-paid members of our unit, severance and layoff protections in an industry that’s been hit so hard, and key safeguards against the creep of Artificial Intelligence into our work. We could not have won this hard-fought contract without the solidarity of our members and our fellow WGAE shop unions at Gimlet and Parcast. Our union remains united in the face of the industry changes and we look forward to continuing to build solidarity through the life of this contract.”

Based in New York, Gimlet has produced such popular shows as The Journal, Science Vs, Every Little Thing, Reply All, Crime Show and many more. The Ringer has proceeded popular shows as The Bill Simmons Podcast, NFL Show, NBA Show, Bandsplain, The Rewatchables, and many more.

The post WGA Members At Spotify Studios And The Ringer Reach Tentative Agreement With Spotify appeared first on Podcaster News.

Blubrry Podcast AI makes your podcast process as easy as pie

Big news — we’ve just rolled out our much anticipated Podcast AI service to power up your podcast production and promotion. Meet the Blubrry Podcast AI Assistant  (Blubrry PAI), your new best friend on your podcasting path.

Blubrry has always had its finger on the pulse of the needs of podcast creators. Our podcast AI was born from many months of extensive research and development aimed at tackling the everyday hurdles podcasters face. We are introducing an integrated podcast AI tool that will help yo increate better content while providing your audience with a richer experience and providing search engines with unparalleled metadata.

Whether you’re brainstorming your next big topic or trying to get the word out on social media, Blubrry PAI promises to make the process smoother, brighter, and more fun.

What’s the Buzz About Blubrry PAI?

AI-Planning

We’ve all hit creative blocks or struggled to align content with the audience’s desires. Blubrry PAI uses AI-driven insights from your episode goals and description, guest bio, and source material to help you choose episode topics, guest questions, and scripts for your episodes. It’s like having a content strategist in your pocket, ensuring your podcast resonates with listeners every single time.

AI-Production

Say goodbye to the hassle of juggling multiple external tools. Blubrry PAI brings it all under one dashboard, offering transcript creation with speaker analysis, title suggestions, complete show summaries, bullet points, episode art generation, and chapter file creation. Integrated with episode publishing, Blubrry PAI provides an editable draft ready for publishing with all elements married to your chosen AI outputs. The best part is that no extra service or special skills are needed.

AI-Clip & Email Creator

We all know the drill: If you want your podcast to thrive, you’ve got to shout it from the digital rooftops. Blubrry PAI’s automated social clip creator for all major social platforms creates custom clips for each episode. The AI also creates a unique promotional email for each episode with all of the contact, social, and follow/subscribe links you designate. Designed to play nice with each social platform’s unique vibe, it ensures your episodes get the spotlight they deserve.

AI-Media Clipping, Coming Soon

Promotional video clips tailored to the unique characteristic of each social media platform for maximum reach and listener engagement.

A Word From the Top

Todd Cochrane, CEO of Blubrry: “I have been using a wide range of tools to accomplish what we have created for you now as an integrated solution within our ever-growing Thrive Bundle. 

All Blubrry hosting customers can test the platform sufficiently to see what elements work best. The production tools have been life-changing, saving me time and giving my listeners a better experience. Blubrry’s mission has always been democratizing podcasting, making it accessible and fruitful for everyone. Blubrry PAI embodies that mission, offering unmatched support for planning, promotion, and social engagement.”

Get Started with Blubrry PAI

Get ready to take your podcasting game to the next level. Blubrry PAI is now available for all Blubrry hosting podcasters via a trial on the Podcaster Dashboard. See AI in the dashboard. Dive into all the details here from some insider tips and tricks. And, of course, the Blubrry support team is just a click away from any questions you might have. 

In a world where everyone’s starting a podcast, Blubrry PAI gives you the edge to not only join the conversation but lead it. Whether you’re crafting your first episode or looking to scale your podcasting empire, Blubrry PAI is your go-to for making every step of the journey seamless and impactful. Let’s start podcasting the smart way!

The post Introducing Blubrry Podcast AI Assistant – Blubrry PAI appeared first on Podcaster News.

Podcast studio Wondery announced an audio first-look deal with Campsite Media, a leading podcast production company known for its award-winning and critically acclaimed journalistic storytelling. Under the multi-project commitment, Wondery and Campside will produce Limited Series podcasts, including non-English language titles, to be distributed by Wondery globally.

Building further on the relationship, Wondery and Campside have collaborated previously, including three seasons of Suspect with the fourth season coming later this year, Sports Explains The World from Wondery and Meadowlark, and Campside Co-founder Matt Shaer reporting and hosting Wondery’s Over My Dead Body. Campside and Wondery both strategically align in creating compelling podcasts that serve as the building blocks for television and film adaptations. Currently, Suspect is being developed as a TV series at Amazon MGM Studios with Wondery and Campside Media producing.

“We have worked with Campside on several projects, including Suspect, and I’m honored we’re expanding our collaboration with them,” said Marshall Lewy, Chief Content Officer, Wondery. “Their instinct for fascinating stories and excellence in journalism fits perfectly with Wonder’s commitment to delivering captivating narratives to audiences worldwide. I am particularly thrilled that this partnership includes global investigative series, and it marks a big milestone as we continue to bring the most bingeable, groundbreaking and thought-provoking series we can to our listeners.”

“Marshal Lewy and George Lavender, now Wondery’s Head of Creative Production, were my introduction to audio — the helped teach me how to make a successful narrative podcast,” Matt Shaer, Co-Founder of Campside Media said. “This deal feels like a genuine full circle moment: From those early days of the medium, to collaborating on the Suspect franchise, and now working in partnership on a broad new range of shows. As a creator, I can’t think of a better home for Campside’s work than Wondery.”

Renowned for their compelling journalism-first approach and creator-driven content, Campside Media was recently recognized as one of Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies in 2023, producing over 40 limited series podcasts, with 20 television and film adaptation projects in development. Wondery is an industry leader in transitioning podcasts into television shows and to date has produced 6 prestige limited TV series.

The post Wondery Strikes Global First Look Deal With Campside Media For A Multi-Project Slate appeared first on Podcaster News.

Instreamatic, whose advanced voice and audio marketing solutions empower brands to better engage with consumers, announced the results of third-party research that analyzed the performance of both generic and personalized AI-generated audio ads compared to a control group exposed to neither. The study was performed by audio research and analytics platform, Veritonic, on a campaign run by dentsu for Intel.

The audio ad campaign focused on the high-performance Intel Evo Edition laptop brand and measured brand awareness, brand favorability, purchase intent, and memorability. The study surveyed three audiences: one exposed to listener-personalized AI-generated audio ads, one exposed to generic AI-generated audio ads, and a control group not exposed to ads. Ads were inserted into streaming radio and podcast listening environments, and the same audience hearing those ads were recontacted and surveyed 48 hours later to measure key brand metrics.

Veritonic’s study results indicate a consumer readiness for AI-generated audio ads, with both generic and personalized AI ad variations outperforming the control group. Audio ads with personalized, context-driven creative also decisively outperformed those with generic creative.

Among the quantitive conclusions from the study:

* Personalized ads increased brand favorability by a staggering 18-22 percentage points. While Generic AI-generated creative increased brand favorability by 9% over those not exposed to the campaign, personalized AI-generated creative across all platforms drove significant brand favorability lifts as high as 22 percentage points. Additionally, 62% of those exposed to personalized ads reported they were likelier to think favorably of a brand that personalizes its message.

* Personalized ads boosted purchase intent by 15-18 percentage points. By comparison, generic AI creative drove a 3% increase. Additionally, 60% of those exposed to the personalized AI campaign reported being more likely to consider purchasing from a brand offering personalized ads.

* Listening to personalized ads increased brand awareness by 6-12 percentage points. Additionally, 73% of those hearing personalized AI-generated ads reported being more likely to pay attention to ads personalized just for them.

Instreamatic’s AI-fueled audio ad technology provides voice AI capabilities that allow agencies and brands to generate entire campaigns — including thousands of personalized and creative ad variations — from a single original voice sample and script. Instreamatic’s platform identifies parameters unique to each listener’s current environment, enabling contextual audio ads to include hyper-personalized details. For example, ads can mention the listeners location, the time of day, their current activity (such as listening to a podcast), and the app or platform they use for that activity. Personalized AI-generated can also include the nearest store and address where the listener can redeem an offer, promo codes for performance tracking, and more.

The study shows how AI can be strategically used to generate better campaign results with a fraction of the time and cost expenditures required by traditional audio ads. Where a single traditional audio platform can prepare that same ad in three minutes. Where recording thousands of ad versions personalized and contextualized to each listener would require months of voice work and be virtually impossible to execute, Instreamatic can prepare entire campaigns in just hours.

The post New Study Finds Personalized AI-Generated Ads Are 22% More Effective At Increasing Brand Favor appeared first on Podcaster News.

Sesamy, the Stockholm-headquartered platform for monetising digital content from the founders of Acast, reveals new data findings from its initial partnerships in the podcasting industry across Sweden, the UK, and Italy.

Podcasts are now a major part of the media landscape. Whereas traditional media outlets may have, in the past, considered a podcast as an addition to supplement more traditional content types, the skyrocketing popularity of podcasts has necessitated that publishers take them more seriously, and direct more efforts into creating a high-quality podcast offering.

Following the industry-changing innovations like Acast and Spotify growing out of the region, the Nordics are now seeing experimentation in how digital content is monetised, especially in light of dwindling ad revenues and consumers facing ‘subscription fatigue.’

Partnership with Kvartal: partially locked podcast episodes driving subscriptions

Sesamy has partnered with leading Swedish independent media publication, Kvartal, to transform the magazine’s podcast model. Kvartal’s existing podcasts continue to be free to access, but the change was implemented by making a segment of certain podcast episodes available to subscribers only. This adaptation of the model of the model led to a jump in subscribers, proving that a publications’ podcast listeners are potential digital subscribers.

Non-subscribers, when reaching the locked part of the episode, are directed to a dedicated page offering them a subscription. Kvartal data reveals that 15.8% of new subscribers came through this gateway over just five weeks at the beginning of 2024, proving the significance of podcasts as a funnel for gaining new subscribers. This compares to a conversion rate of only 6.8% via podcasts previously (October 2022 – December 2023).

Ludde Hellberg, CEO of Kvartal comments, “We have strong reason to believe that our premium podcasts are a far bigger driver of conversation to subscription than even these numbers indicate.

With regards to retention, practically all our paying subscribers become active and continuous listeners to our premium podcast feed, that is only available to subscribers, and that we’ve created in collaboration with Sesamy.”

Data findings from alternative podcast monetisation models:

* Beyond its partnership with Kvartal, Sesamy’s collaborations across Sweden, the UK, and Italy show that there are more options than simply relying on ad funding, or completely locking a podcast behind a paywall.

* Data collected over 30 podcast shows utilizing Seamsy, over a period of 8 months, reveals that:

* The average rate for paid single podcast episode purchasers to convert to subscribers is 10.1%

* Interestingly the conversion rate is higher for female-hosted podcasts (12.8%) compared to male-hosted podcasts (8.1%)

* 85% of subscribers choose to pay for an entire season in a single transaction in advance; the remaining 15% choose to pay for an entire season by monthly installments

* The median preferred payment methods are: Swish (Venmo) 69%; Apple Pay, Google Pay, credit card payment 31%

* Early morning is the best time of day to release a podcast episode.

The data shows the benefits of diversifying podcast monetisation, rather than relying on the outdated ad-funded model which does not adequately renmunerate podcasters, as it is reliant on receiving thousands of listens in order to gain profit. Sesamy’s technology allows consumers a single-purchase option, should they wish to access ‘special’ paywalled episodes, as well as option to buy ‘bundles’ of episodes, or – when it is best value for money for them – subscriptions.

The post New Podcast Data From Acast Founders Reveal Appetite For Alternative Media Monetisation appeared first on Podcaster News.

Ausha, a pioneer in Podcast Marketing, has concluded a groundbreaking study powered by its latest innovation, the PSI (Podcast Search Optimization) Control Panel.

This research reveals actionable tactics for influencing Apple Podcasts Search Results, providing podcasters with unparalleled insights on climbing the ranks of this highly competitive platform.

Until now, the mechanics of Apple Podcasts’ algorithm have been guided by Apple’s official guidelines, which highlight three critical factors that greatly influence search engine result rankings: Metadata, Listener Behavior and Popularity.

With this knowledge, Ausha analyzed over 1,000 keywords and more than 7 million search results to uncover what concretely affects a podcasts ranking on Apple Podcasts. Aisha’s study provides podcasters with detailed insights to boost the visibility of their podcast:

97% of Top 10 podcasts effectively use their main keyword into their metadata.

65% of these top performers also feature the searched keyword prominently in their show title.

Incorporating your primary keyword into the show name can elevate your podcast by an average of 5 positions in search results.

Using your keyword at least 5 times in episode titles can lead to an average gain of 7 positions in search results

Adding your keyword at least 6 times in episode descriptions can also increase your standing by an average of 7 positions in search results.

This study was made possible by Ausha’s latest innovation: The PSO Control Panel, a cutting-edge tool designed to help podcasters hit the top search results in podcast apps by tracking podcast visibility for specific keywords.

The PSO Control Panel, available to Ausha users and to non-hosted users within Ausha PRO offers, has significantly enhanced the visibility of podcasts like those hosted by Amy and Sandra:

Amy, host of the What Fresh Hell podcast, has experienced significant growth utilizing the PSO Control Panel. The podcast climbed to number 15 on Spotify for the keyword “Parenting” and made a notable debut in the rankings for “Moms” – moving to position 26 on Apple and 14 on Spotify, where it was previously invisible.

Moreover, Sandra’s French podcast “Naissance d’une maman” enjoyed a surge of 23% in downloads in 1 week only after applying metadata optimizations based on Aisha’s insightful studies.

The post Ausha Unveils Exclusive Study About Apple Podcast Algorithm appeared first on Podcaster News.

Triton Digital, the global technology and services leader to the digital audio, podcast, and broadcast radio industries, announced its partnership with ID5, the market-leading identity provider for digital advertising targeting and addressability in the audio space while complying with privacy regulations globally.

Through its new product, Identity Enrichment, Triton Digital customers will be able to leverage the identifiers provided by ID5 to enrich audio listener profiles with more detailed and accurate information. ID5’s next-generation universal identifier leverages a variety of consented signals provided by media owners to securely identify users without compromising privacy and data protection. By making audio publishers’ inventory addressable, advertisers can better engage with their audiences within this channel that currently operates without a universal currency.

“At ARN, our partnership with Triton Digital and ID5 signifies a pivotal moment in audio advertising. This collaboration enhances our targeting precision and compliance with privacy regulations, allowing us to create richer listener profiles,” said Farad Tohme, Chief Digital Officer at ARN. “We’re excited about the possibilities this brings, making audio an even more compelling avenue for advertisers to connect with their audiences. Being a partner in the proof-of-concept phase allowed us to convert 60% of our un-addressable audience to addressable, greatly benefiting our advertisers and trading partners.”

“ID5’s ID technology is transforming how the advertising world operates through the creation of listener profiles and its privacy-first approach,” said Benjamin Masse, Chief Product Officer at Triton Digital. “Providing access to these listener profiles, supported by rich data, will enhance the value of the inventory available in the Triton Digital Audio Marketplace. We are encouraged by the promising results we have witnessed so far and are excited to be partnering with ID5 to bring this technology to more advertisers.”

The Triton Audio Marketplace offers access to one of the largest single pools of audio audiences, with billions of audio ad impressions, allowing marketers and agencies to transact on all forms of audio inventory. The availability of listener profiles and improved inventory addressability will help advertisers build more meaningful connections and reach more audiences. In doing so, audio becomes even more of a compelling path to invest in, on par or surpassing other forms of media.

“Audio is an appealing new channel that lacks a unique identifier to effectively monetize publishers’ audiences. By leveraging the power of identity, ID5 and Triton are maturing this channel and effectively enabling media owners to maximize revenue opportunities,” said Catilin Borgmann, ID5’s Chief Commercial Officer. “We are excited to bring our privacy first technology together with Triton’s vast auto audience pool, experience, and expertise to enhance audio addressability.”

About Triton Digital

Triton Digital is the global technology and services leader to the digital audio, podcast, and broadcast radio industries. Operating in more than 80 countries, Triton provides innovative technology that enables broadcasters, podcasters, and online music service to build their audience, maximize revenue, and streamline their day-to-day operations. In addition, Triton power the global online audio industry with Webcast Metrics, the leading streaming audio measurement service and Podcast Metrics, one of the first IAB certified podcast measurement services in the industry.

About ID5

ID5 was created to improve online advertising for consumers, media owners, and advertisers, with the ultimate goal of helping publishers grow sustainable revenue. ID5 provides the advertising ecosystem with a transparent, scalable, and privacy-compliant identity infrastructure. It’s solutions enable user recognition across media owners to better monetize their audiences, advertisers to run effective and measurable campaigns, and platforms to maximize the value of data and inventory for their customers. Created in 2017 by seasoned ad tech professionals, ID5 services clients globally.

The post Triton Digital Partners With ID5 To Enhance Audio Targeting appeared first on Podcaster News.

Veritonic, the industry’s comprehensive audio research and analytics platform, announced an integration with leading measurement company Adjust. Through this integration, Veritonic’s premier audio attribution solution will receive automated data about in-app conversion actions on mobile devices including installs, purchases, subscriptions, and more. This integration allows Veritonic to elevate the holistic, cross-channel audio campaign performance data they provide to clients around the world.

“We take pride in our collaborations with visionary leaders, amplifying the impact of our solutions and elevating the value delivered to our clients,” said Scott Simonelli, CEO and Founder of Veritonic. “This seamless integration empowers us to furnish our clients with even more comprehensive, insightful and actionable data. It equips them to finely tune their audio campaigns, ensuring optimal results while instilling confidence in the allocation of their advertising budget across channels.”

“We are proud to integrate with Veritonic, as they share our passion for credible, independent, and actionable data,” said Reggie Singh, Director of Partnerships, Americas at Adjust. “We look forward to our data supporting Veritonic in the ongoing provision of full-funnel audio campaign measurement insights.”

Veritonic’s Attribution solution enables users to glean actionable insights from top-of-the-funnel branding initiatives through bottom-of-the-funnel conversions and transactions. Through an intuitive and interactive dashboard, brands can determine which publisher and specific ads had the highest impact and use that data to optimize ad performance.

If you are interested in learning more about Veritonic’s Audio Attribution solution or to get started, visit www.veritonic.com or contact sales@veritonic.com.

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Auddia Inc, (“Auddia” or the “Company”), developer of a proprietary AI platform for audio and innovative technologies for podcasts that is reinventing how consumers engage with audio, announced that it has closed on $3.5M of new financing by selling 1.3M common shares from its previously announced equity line.

“We have a number of product enhancements to faidr that are in our pipeline in addition to the innovative Seamless Play and Forward+ capabilities we announced as part of our Enhanced Podcasts suite last week,” said Theo Romeo, Chief Product Marketing Officer for Auddia. “This financing allows us to lock these products into our roadmap in an ongoing effort to improve the user experience and performance metrics.”

Management believes that by strengthening the balance sheet and improving on the premium listening experience available on faidr, which includes commercial free AM/FM listening with the ability to skip content and the enhanced podcast listening experiences facilitated by Seamless Play and Forward+, that the Company is better positioned to execute on its M&A strategy.

“One of the key synergies that makes our M&A strategy so attractive is upselling premium subscriptions to consumers already listening to standard AM/FM streams and podcasts,” said Michael Lawless, Auddia CEO. “We expect that everything we do to enhance the premium experience on faidr will translate directly to increased subscriptions not only from our own user base but from the user bases we are able to acquire and those we are able to reach through our upcoming SAAS offerings.”

Following the equity line activity described above, the Company has 2,150,337 common shares outstanding as of March 15, 2024.

About Auddia Inc.

Auddia, through its proprietary AI platforms for audio is reinventing how consumers engage with AM/FM radio, podcasts, music, and other audio content. Auddia’s flagship audio superapp, called faidr, brings three industry firsts to the audio-streaming landscape: subscription-based, ad-free listening on any AM/FM radio station; podcasts with interactive digital feeds that support deeper stories and create new revenue streams for podcasters; and a proprietary chat interface for music. faidr also delivers exclusive content and playlists, and showcases exciting new artists, hand-picked by curator and DJs. All differentiated offerings address large and rapidly growing audiences.

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New analysis from Gumball, ART19, and Signal Hill reveals host-read ads can share their effectiveness when they are targeted to other podcasts in an adjacent category or genre, outperforming a standard ‘Announcer Read’ on upper-funnel metrics (download study here)

These ads are defined as ‘Talent Reads’ – ads voiced by talent from an existing podcast who are not featured in the specific podcast where the ad is being inserted. The study indicates that ‘Talent Reads,’ with a 4-point absolute lift in purchase intent compared to the 1-point lift for “Announcer Reads’ are the most effective way to extend host influence and improve programmatic revenue in podcasting. Gumball will begin offering ‘Talent Reads’ in its ad platform in Q2 of 2024.

While programmatic revenue has grown considerably since 2021, it still only represents 11% of total revenue according to the IAB’s most recent revenue study, compared to nearly 90% in digital media more broadly. Gumball, the Headgum-founded ad marketplace specializing in host-read advertising, believes podcast publishers and marketers must develop new products to bridge this gap while aligning themselves closely with what makes podcasting so uniquely effective; creator-endorsed messaging.

“The impact of host-read ads remains central to our business,” said Mary Michael, CEO at Gumball. “It was natural for our team to investigate how to extend that influence at scale to benefit both creators and advertisers. Working with ART19 and Signal Hill Insights on this research allows Gumball to confidently standardize the ‘Talent Read’ ad product and leverage our talent’s influence to adjacent shows within our platform and beyond.”

This brand lift study, conducted by Signal Hill Insights, specifically tested a ‘Talent Read’ for Stamps.com voiced by Tom Bilyeu from the podcast Impact Theory, which was inserted into an adjacent show within the Business & Careers category, excluding those affiliated with Bilyeu. In addition to yielding higher levels of familiarity, affinity, and purchase intent, the ‘Talent Read’ also generated significant lifts in agreement for three brand statement extracted from the ad, whereas the ‘Announcer Read’ only generated significant lifts for two brand statements.

As podcast technology continues to advance and publishers optimize their inventory across direct sales, targeted ad marketplaces, and VAST-enabled Supply-Side Platforms, the ‘Talent Read’ can quickly become a premium offering positioned between host-read ads and ‘Announcer Reads.”

“To reach podcast audiences at scale, advertisers need to access the right technology which provides flexibility to run multiple creative types across their campaigns. Publishers need tools to maximize impression on delivery while leveraging the unique voices of their networks,” said Andy Slater, ART19’s Head of Partnerships and Strategy. “Through this study, ART19 is pleased that we can help both brands and podcasters achieve their goals through activating talent read ads, in addition to the already impactful announcer reads, in our Targeted Audience Solutions marketplace.”

This study not only underscores the importance of creator-endorsed messaging but also presents a significant opportunity for publishers and marketers to extend successful host-read campaigns across adjacent podcasts, thereby maximizing the reach and engagement.

“The results point the way to a three-tier strategy — combining host-reads, talent reads, and announcer reeds —that can help advertisers and agencies maximize the value of their podcast ad creatives,” said Paul Riismandel, Chief Insights Officer of Signal Hill Insights.

Signal Hill’s brand lift study surveyed 800 monthly podcast listeners aged 25-54. Lift results were based upon comparing brand metrics for listeners exposed to the podcast ads to a control group who did not hear the ads.

The post Study From Gumball, ART19 and Signal Hill Insights Highlight Effectiveness of ‘Talent Read’ Ads appeared first on Podcaster News.

According to the latest data from Poddindex (Kantar Mediafacts) Podspace was Sweden’s fastest growing podcast platform in 2023, with unique listener reach increasing by 21%. This growth is significantly higher than the 13% average observed among the four platforms included in the measurement (Podspace, Acast, Bauer Media, Swedish Radio).

Today, Podspace announced that several of the largest publishers in Sweden have signed partnerships with Podspace Ads, the company’s advertising network for 15-30 second audio ads.

In 2023, Podspace platform saw a growth of 21%, thereby surpassing the 1 million weekly unique listener mark. This solidified Podspace position as one of the leading podcast platforms in the Nordics.

“Rapid growth in a mature and competitive market is a testament that Podspace has a unique offer. The key, I think, has been our recent decision to focus the platform and our services primarily towards large enterprise publishers, combined with a flexible and results-driven approach. Podspace right to exist is defined by the value we bring to both publishers and advertisers, and thats deeply ingrained in our DNA and way of business,” says Carl Fridsjö, CEO of Podspace.

Podspace reports that several of Sweden’s largest publishers and creators have recently joined its ad network for audio ads, Podspace Ads. This move makes their inventory either fully or partially accessible to advertisers via Podspace’s marketplace. In less than a year since its launch in 2023, Podspace Ads has become the second largest podcast ad network in Sweden, thanks to a recent surge ad inventory.”

“The media agencies have begun to recognize the scale of our ad network and the results we can produce. As a result, we naturally become a key component of our customers’ audio campaigns, which is excellent. There’s been recent discussion about a “podcast bubble.” However, the reality is that the podcast market is expanding quickly, and Podspace is growing even faster than the market,” says Lukas Boo, Director of Sales.

Partners to Podspace Ads 2024 include (among others):



Bonnier News, including its subsidiaries (newspapers Expressen, Dagens, Nyheter, Dagens Industri etc)

Amedia / Moderne Media Perfect Day Media

Make Sense Media Kvartal

NTM

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AMA, the global leader in dynamic creative and personalization for digital audio advertising, today shared revealing insights from its recent survey, which polled over 1,000 U.S. consumer about their podcast listening habits and advertising preferences. Conducted in January 2024, the survey uncovers the pivotal role of social media in podcast discovery. Additionally, it sheds light on listeners’ preference for ad formats and timing, underscoring the growing demand for personalized ad experiences within podcasts.

“The data is unequivocal: Listeners want advertising that speaks directly to them, not just around them,” asserted Steve Dunlop, Founder and CEO of AMA. “Our research confirms that when ads are well-integrated and hit that sweet spot of timing and content, they’re not just heard, they’re listened to.”

Social Media Emerges As A Key Player In Podcast Discovery

Key findings from the research indicate a strong link between social media usage and podcast discovery, with YouTube leading at 61%, followed by 46% of respondents discovering new podcasts through Facebook and 43% through Instagram. Other platforms like Twitter, LinkedIn, and TikTok also played a role, with usage rates of 20%, 9%, and 39% respectively.

Varied Listener Comfort With Ad Personalization In Podcasts

When it comes to personalization, 80% of listeners show a preference for personalized ads in their podcast experience, signaling a substantial market appetite for customization. Nearly 20% of respondents seek highly personalized ads, tailored directly to their individual interests and listening habits. This highlights the importance of hyper-personalization, which can be achieved at scale with dynamic creative.

“Ad relevance is more than just a convenience; it directly leads to purchases,” Dunlop explained. “The study’s findings reinforce that dynamic creative both enhances brand impact, and aligns with listener preferences. Given that tailored ads resonate with listeners and benefits brands, the choice for dynamic audio advertising is clear.”

Listener Preferences Lean Towards Pre-Recorded and Host-Read Podcast Ads

The survey highlights listener preference in ad formats with 38% favoring pre-recorded ads (short commercial messages recorded by someone other than the podcast host and typically last 15-30 seconds) casting a shadow over the belief that host-read ads are more effective. Furthermore, just under a third (31%) of listeners enjoy host-read sponsorship ads, while another 31% prefer branded content (promotional messages seamlessly integrated within the podcast content, like a branded segment or episode.) Regarding ad placement within a podcast, 42% of respondents prefer pre-roll ads at the start of the podcast, one-third favor mid-roll ads, and one-quarter are inclined towards post-roll ads at the end.

Ad relevance proves to be a key driver in listener response, with a combined 42% of respondents finding podcast ads either very relevant (15%) or somewhat relevant (27%) and acknowledging that such relevance has led to actual purchases. This highlights how relevant ads boost listener purchases, demonstrating targeted advertising’s effectiveness in driving consumer action.

Diverse Listening Habits Indicate The Need For Dynamic Creative In Podcast Ads

While 15% of listeners are devoted, never missing an episode, a third of the respondents identity themselves as regular listeners. This highlights a potential risk of ad fatigue, particularly for regular listeners who might encounter the same ad repeatedly. This situation is all too familiar — repetitive ads can become irritating, distracting from the listener experience.

AMA’s dynamic creative technology offers a solution by adjusting the ad content to suit each listener’s context. With features like message rotation, even the same campaign can deliver unique ads to a listener — keeping the content fresh, engaging and reducing ad fatigue. This innovation is crucial for maintaining listener engagement, emphasizing the need for flexible advertising strategies.

“Personalized advertising is the future of engaging listeners,” emphasized Dunlop. “Our study shows that listeners aren’t just open to personalized ads — they prefer them. This shift is monumental, steering us away from one-size-fits-all generic creative ads toward those what resonate with individual tastes and interests. Particularly revealing is the potential for programmatic advertising to transform podcasting, inviting major advertisers to engage at scale. By embracing this evolution, we’re not just reaching audiences but genuinely engaging them — marking a new chapter in digital audio advertising.”

To learn more about AMA and how the company’s technology delivers customized, data-driven, dynamic ads on the world’s largest audio platforms, visit amillionads.com.

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Frequency, the leader in workflow automation and ad management for audio, announces Charlie Smith has joined its team as Technical Account Manager. Charlie reports to Frequency CEO Pete Jimison and will provide technical support to clients, leading the charge on platform onboarding and training, customer support, and new feature releases.

With over a decade of experience, Charlie has a track record of helping clients implement media workflow and ad monetization tools. Having held roles at Gannet, Triad Retail Media, Placements.io, and Operative, Charlie is ideally positioned to guide clients on leveraging Frequency solutions to achieve optimal performance.

“Frequency has been built around the mission of making day-to-day tasks easier and more efficient for audio teams,” says Charlie Smith, Technical Account Manager at Frequency. “I view my role as a direct extension of that mission. As I collaborate with clients, my goal is to identify opportunities to enhance their experience and ensure users are taking full advantage of all the amazing toolsets and features at their fingertips.”

“As a product-driven company, it is important for our team to remain customer-centric in everything we do,” says Pete Jimison, CEO of Frequency. “With extensive product experience and a commitment to exceptional customer service, Charlie will be integral in bringing product and client teams together to fuel better outcomes for our customers.”

With the recent launch of Production Automation, Frequency has completed its suite of podcast workflow tools. The end-to-end solution include Brand Approvals to match brands with shows, Production Automation to streamline ad production, and Ad Management to provide creative tools, targeting and reporting for ad delivery. As new and exciting clients increase adoption of Frequency, Charlie will play an integral role in onboarding teams to ensure success.

Want to see a live demo of Frequency in action? Visit frequencyads.com

About Frequency

Frequency has created the next generation of ad management for the audio industry, providing workflow automation and targeted delivery in one innovative platform. With Frequency, audio networks can increase revenue opportunities, reduce manual operations, and improve ad experiences. The world’s top audio publishers and advertisers use Frequency’s enterprise solutions to centralize campaigns and personalize podcast, radio, and streaming ads. Serving 5B+ ad impressions a month, Frequency is the chosen software for audio operations efficiency and growth. For more information, visit frequencyads.com

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WME has hired Millie Webber as a digital agent, with a focus on creators and podcasting.

Webber has built a career specializing in representing digital talent and commercializing the podcasting industry. She has managed and closed deals for talent including Gemma Styles, Tom Felton, and James Buckley In Sickness and In Health, as well as launching the F1 podcast Pitstop.

Webber will join WME from independent content production company Spirit Studios where she served as Head of Digital, She previously worked at talent agency Gleam Futures for six weeks where she was Talent Director and Podcast Lead. A member of the Global Academy Industry Board, Webber has consulted for talent agencies, providing strategic growth advice and training for entry- and senior-level agents.

Her start date will be April 8 and will be based in the agency’s London office.

WME’s digital department has had a presence in London for over a decade and most recently added former TikTok creator Lola Oyewole as an agent last year. Recent new client signings from the London team — which represents Goalhanger Podcasts and Persephonica — include Alice Levine and Charlie Webber in podcasting, as well as content creators Saffron Barker and Eddie Abbew and author Candice Brathwaite.

WME’s digital department, led by co-heads Jad Dayeh and Ben Davis, includes clients in the podcasting space such as Jay Shetty, Dax Shepard, Bobbi Althoff, and Morbid.

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Audioadpro, the specialist digital audio advertising platform, is delighted to announce the appointment of Jo Bucci as Chair.

With a distinguished career of strategic and commercial leadership in the audio and publishing sectors particularly, Jo Bucci brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to the company.

Currently CEO at The Jewish Chronicle, Jo has also held senior executive roles at News UK, Wireless Group, Peoples Post Code Lottery, Leicester City Football Club, GCap Media, and Century Radio Group.

“We are delighted to have Jo as our Chair at audiopro” said Roger Cutsforth, Co-Founder of audioadpro. “Her remarkable track record of success and deep understanding of the media and audio landscape made Jo our ideal choice and we are blown away she was inspired by our vision. We know that with her guidance, audioadpro will go from strength to strength.”

The announcement of Jo Bucci’s appointment comes at an exciting time for a audioadpro as the company continues to expand its operations in the digital audio advertising market. With her strategic vision and unparalleled expertise, Jo will play a pivotal role in driving the company’s growth and shaping its future direction.

“I am honored to join audioadpro as Chair,” said “digital audio advertising represents dynamic and rapidly evolving space, and I am excited to work with Roger, Michael, and the team at audioadpro to capitalize on emerging opportunities and drive sustained success.”

As Chair, Jo will collaborate closely with audioadpro’s executive team and advisors to provide strategic oversight and guidance, ensuring the company remains at the forefront of digital audio advertising innovation.

About audioadpro:

audioadpro is a leading platform for bespoke digital audio advertising, connecting advertisers to their own specific target audience[s] in specific locations across all digital audio channels and publishers.

The post AudioAdPro Announces Jo Bucci As Chair appeared first on Podcaster News.

Six years ago today, the pink, purple, and blue smiley face you know and love came to be. Today, we want to celebrate all that we’ve accomplished together.

Highlights

Over 1.3 million podcasters in 193 countries have created with Headliner.

In total, podcasters have exported over 72.9 million minutes of content — that’s just over 138 years’ worth of podcasts ! Here are some other highlights:

Podcasters created 17.1 million audiograms in total

Headliner has transcribed over 25 million minutes

We launched three new products

Podcasters set up 166k automations in Make by Headliner

With Automattic Audiograms, podcasters made 5.6 million clips

Podcast Promo has helped podcasters worldwide garner 148.7 million impressions

Now, that’s a lot of podcasts!

Today, Headliner is most famous for our audiogram tool — Make By Headliner. But, Headliner does so much more than “just” audiograms. Today, Headliner boasts a comprehensive tool kit to help podcasters grow their audience,

With Headliner, podcasters can edit, transcribe, promote, advertise, and connect their podcast across the web.

How we started

Did you know that Headliner actually came to be all because of user feedback?

“Headliner was built with feedback from the podcasting community, and our recent products have all been focused on helping podcasts grow, whether through organic or paid means,” – Oliver Wellington, COO & Co-Founder.

In 2015, our team released a social audio app called Sparemin. Sparemin allowed people to connect, record 5-minute interviews, and then share them. While the app did not take off, there was one little feature we found many people liked — audiograms.

“We’ve been working on this since 2018, and our main mission is to connect podcasts with their next great listener… We’re basically just building all the tools that you need to get your podcast on the web and discoverable by people.” – Oliver Wellington, COO and Co-Founder.

Since then, we’ve been growing and adapting our company in many different ways. One thing that has always remained constant-Headliner helps podcasters go from audio to audience.

“Headliner just continues to grow, which is amazing. Thinking about how we started, it is awesome to see how far these simple yet powerful assets have taken us. We’ve iterated and added more tools and ways for podcasters to grow their audience, like Disco. Today, we help millions of people discover podcasts every month! It is a very exciting space to be in and incredibly rewarding helping people get to amazing content they likely wouldn’t have otherwise!” – Neil Mody, CEO & Co-Founder

A Bright Future

Headliner has changed a lot over the pst six years. As a company, we’ve evolved from “just audiograms” to offering a comprehensive toolkit for podmotion (podcast + promotion). Beyond audiograms, podcasters can transcribe, create AI-generated assets, caption videos, connect their podcasts to blogs or websites, dabble in paid podcast promotion, and so much more! (Although we definitely still love our audiograms!)

While we’ve grown, one thing has remained constant — Headliner is for podcasters. Our mission is to help grow podcasting in an easy, friendly way.

The post Headliner Celebrates 6th Birthday Creating Over 72.9 Million Minutes of Podcasts appeared first on Podcaster News.

Sony Music’s Global Podcast Division announced the acquisition of podcast production company Neon Hum, streamlining the company’s U.S. creative division and broadening its work for hire services under Neon Hum Founder/CEO Jonathan Hirsch.

In his new role as Vice President, Global Podcasts and Head of U.S. Creative, Hirsch will spearhead the U.S. creative business and report directly to Steve Ackerman, Executive Vice President and Head of Global Podcasts at Sony Music.

With the acquisition, Sony Music will leverage Neon Hum’s production expertise to continue to develop award-winning premium podcasts for its subscription channel The Binge and across its always-on entertainment slate. In addition, Sony Music will further expand its work-for-hire business to provide more service beyond audio production for its client and branded podcasts.

“We have worked closely with Jonathan and the team at Neon Hum for several years now and value his creative and strategic vision to produce premium shows across our successful true crime and always on slates,” said Ackerman. “This move allows us to maximize Neon Hum’s creative and production input as we further grow our roster of original and client shows.”

“Neon Hum and Sony Music have always been aligned in our audio-first mentality and approach,” said Hirsch. “I’m excited for the next steps as the Neon Hum team becomes a full part of Sony Music Podcasts and we continue to produce premium audio content.”

In 2019, Sony Music announced a strategic investment in Neon Hum. Together the two companies have launched a range of acclaimed shows including Dinners on Me with Jesse Tyler Ferguson and multiple seasons of its true-crime franchise Smoke Screen including current hit My Fugitive Dad. Neon Hum has also produced hit podcasts for top tier clients, including Crunchyroll, Discovery, HBO Max, NBC News, The Wall Street Journal, and more.

About Sony Music Global Podcasts

We are Sonly Music Entertainment’s Global Podcast Division — where podcasters are artists. We put creators first and develop premium shows that loyal audiences keep coming back to. Based in New York, Los Angeles, and London, we are a team of podcast obsessives covering creative, sales, marketing and business development teams focused on one thing — our listeners and the shows we make for them.

The post Sony Music’s Global Podcast Division Acquires Neon Hum appeared first on Podcaster News.

Students save money with Blubrry’s new verified discount.

Blubrry Podcasting, a trailblazer in the podcasting industry, is significantly lowering the barrier to entry in podcasting by announcing a generous 50% discount on its podcasting services for higher education students. Recognizing the importance of empowering the next generation of learners, Blubrry Podcasting is taking the initiative to support new creators who otherwise wouldn’t be able to host a professional podcast due to cost.

Podcasting has become a powerful medium for storytelling, sharing knowledge and building communities. It’s accessibility and versatility have made it an ideal tool for students to meaningfully connect with their communities. Recognizing the importance of nurturing the next generation of learners, Blubrry Podcasting is committed to removing students’ barriers to entry when starting or continuing their podcasting efforts.

For students, podcasting offers an unparalleled opportunity to explore topics of interest, develop valuable digital communication skills, and create a portfolio of work that can impress future employees or educational endeavors. Blubrry’s discount directly addresses challenges, making podcasting accessible to a broader range of college students

Why does podcasting matter for younger generations? It offers a multitude of benefits, including:

• Real-World Skills: Podcast production develops skills in scripting, recording, editing and marketing, preparing students for future careers.
• Continued Growth in the Podcast Industry: Podcasting will only maintain sustainability of younger generations continue to share their voices and can get their ideas off the ground quickly.
• Student Engagement: Podcasting empowers students to become content creators, fostering creativity, critical thinking, and communication skills.
• Flexible Learning: On-demand access to content accommodates different lifestyles, busy schedules, and learning styles.
• Community Building: Podcasts connect students with their peers and in some cases, are used in more academic environments with their teachers and classmates.

Blubrry Podcasting’s commitment to providing this discount to higher education students underscores its dedication to nurturing the podcasters of tomorrow. In an era where technology is reshaping education, podcasting stands out as a tool that empowers educators and students. This is only the first opportunity to lessen the barrier to entry for students and educators.

This initiative is a significant step toward fostering a generation of podcasters who will continue to explore and evolve this exciting medium and the industry. To access this offer, students simply verify their student status and use the discount code available during the podcast hosting checkout. Those interested in learning more about the podcasting student discount can visit Blubrry’s website and blog post.

About us: Blubrry Podcasting is a leading provider of podcasting services, including hosting, distribution, analytics, and monetization. With a focus on innovation and community, Blubrry supports podcaster at every stage of their journey, offering tools and resources to help creators reach their fullest potential. To learn more about how to Publish, Analyze, and Grow, please visit our website.

The post Empowering Creators – Blubrry Podcasting Offers 50% Off For Higher Education Students appeared first on Podcaster News.

This is the first in an ongoing series that focuses on features provided by Blubrry Podcasting.

Whether you’re just starting out in podcasting or a longtime producer, it can be common to feel like you’re just speaking into the void. Is anyone out there? Are they really listening? The answers to these questions may seem difficult to find, but they’re not as complicated as you might think.

Is There Anybody Listening?
In the early days of podcasting, show producers had very few ways to determine if their shows were being consumed. Occasional audience communication like e-mail or social media connections were always gratifying. But direct feedback usually only represents a small percentage of any show’s total audience. To get a better understanding of audience size, it was necessary to sift through server logs, trying to parse raw data into something meaningful.

A Beacon of Hope
Blubrry was founded by podcasters with roots in the very beginning of podcasting. Growing with the medium, Blubrry understood the challenges faced by podcasters, including the need for audience measurement. That led Blubrry to launch its own podcast statistics platform in 2007. Blubrry Stats were immediately open to all podcasters, regardless of what platform they used to publish their shows.

Constantly Growing
The podcasting industry has changed a lot over time and Blubrry’s been right there, growing with it. Blubrry Stats started as a standalone offering and was later paired with Blubrry Podcast Media Hosting to provide the deepest insights possible from any podcasting platform. Blubrry Stats was also the first podcasting stats system to receive full Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) certification.

Options for All Podcasters
Blubrry offers three different tiers of podcast statistics:

• Blubrry Free Statistics: A quick and easy solution for getting a snapshot of how many downloads your podcast is receiving and how/where people are consuming your show. Free Stats can be used with any podcast publishing platform that supports third-party stats providers.
• Blubrry Standard Statistics: This version of Blubrry Stats is available for $5/month and is a big step up from Free Stats. Standard Stats allows you to compare episodes and see download trends across your entire stats history. Standard Stats unlocks Blubrry Media Kit, a great tool for promoting your show. This level of Blubrry Stats is also available as part of Blubrry’s $12/month Standard Media Hosting package, providing an affordable full-service podcast publishing solution.
• Blubrry Advanced Statistics: Available with all Blubrry Advanced Media Hosting plans (starting at $20/month), Blubrry Advanced Stats provides the most comprehensive look at your show’s audience. Along with all of the features included in Standard Stats, Advanced Stats estimates total listeners/subscribers, provides listener retention/partial plays, and impactful play data.

Go Even Further
Knowing your show’s audience goes beyond just the numbers. Each tier of Blubrry Stats allows you to create Listener Surveys that can be used to gain more specific insights into your audience, like age/gender/economic demographics. Listener Surveys are anonymized on the listener side but the aggregate data they provide can help you to get the biggest possible picture of your show’s audience.

Leaving the Void
Sign up for Blubrry Stats today and start getting the full picture of your show’s audience. You’ll never again feel like you’re podcasting into the void!

The post Focus on Blubrry Podcasting: Podcast Statistics appeared first on Podcaster News.