Sounds Profitable - podcast cover

Sounds Profitable

Bryan Barlettawww.spreaker.com
The pace of change the podcast industry is undergoing is staggering. The implications for podcasters, hosting providers, podcast listening app developers, and advertisers and agencies are enormous. And so is the growth potential. Presented as a companion to the weekly newsletter of the same name, our podcast provides you with direct access to our narrated articles, interviews with industry experts, bleeding-edge research, and can't miss industry news recaps. That Sounds Profitable, right? Assumptions and conventional wisdom will be challenged. Easy answers with no proof of efficacy will be exposed. Because the thinking that got podcast advertising close to a billion dollars annually will need to be drastically overhauled to bring in the tens or hundreds of billions of dollars podcast advertising deserves.

Episodes

Audible Grows Originals, True Crime's Advertiser Appeal, & More

Here's what you need to know for today in the business of podcasting: Audible rides audio boom with big investments, the issue with DTC brands courting influencer investors, GroupM to double investment commitments in women's sports, and why true crime podcasts are great for advertisers. Find links to everything discussed and the full write-up on Sounds Profitable.

Mar 28, 20245 minEp. 293

2024 Ambies Winners, Top Executives Love Podcasts, & More

Here's what you need to know for today in the business of podcasting, brought to you from the floor of Evolutions by Podcast Movement: The 2024 Ambies happened last night, Signal Hill Insights shares the podcast listening habits of influential exeutives, why marketers need to embrace the funny when it comes to podcasting, how to turn a comedy podcast into a comedy documentary, and Indigenous Screen Office pairs with Acast. Find links to everything mentioned in today's episode and the full writeu...

Mar 27, 20244 minEp. 292

Political Podcasting Survey, Spotify's Education Experiment, & More

Here's what you need to know for today in the busines of podcasting: Sounds Profitable will be returning to Evolutions by Podcast Movement with the Partner Lounge and two public panels, Podcastle's U.S. survey finds which podcasts are hot with politically-attentive respondents, eMarketer finds poltical ad spend is nearly triple what it was in 2016, and Spotify is testing video-based learning courses in the UK version of the app. Find links to everything mentioned and the full write-up here at So...

Mar 25, 20244 minEp. 291

Podcasting's March Madness Potential, New Host-Read Programmatic Tool, & More

Here's what you need to know for this week in the business of podcasting: March Madness TV ads are sold out, RedCircle launches new tool for host-read programmatic ad management, RadioDays Europe talks podcasting’s power, and advertisers are skittish on TikTok spending after recent political developments. Find links to every article mentioned in this episode and the full write-up here on our website.

Mar 22, 20248 minEp. 290

AdvertiseCast to Rebrand, Podcasting's Ad Responsibility, & More

Here's what you need to know for today in the business of podcasting: LibSyn is rebranding AdvertiseCast to Libsyn Ads, Bryan Barletta's article on owning pocasting's responsibility to audiences, a Podimo survey shows Finns are 62% likely to pay a premium for podcasts, and why Super Fans are something brands should prepare for. Catch links to everything discussed here on Sound Profitable....

Mar 21, 20246 minEp. 289

Streamlining Host-Read Ads, BBC Proposes UK Podcast Ads, & More

Here's what you need to know for today in the business of podcasting: Ad Results Media announces platform-agnostic programmatic host-read ad management tool, a server anomaly that caused millions of dollars in false bids last week, BBC to potentially run ads on podcasts accessed on third-party platforms in the UK, Spotify is launching a new Ad Studio product, and TikTok's podcast boom might be a bust. Find links to every article mentioned and the full write-up here on Sounds Profitable....

Mar 20, 20245 minEp. 288

Owning Podcasting’s Responsibility

Podcasting has long dealt with double standards when it comes to adtech problems that are part of larger systemic problems. The industry is in a position to establish a higher quality baseline than others who get away with murder. Written by Bryan Barletta Edited by Gavin Gaddis Audio edited by Gavin Gaddis Hosted by Spreaker Sounds Profitable: Narrated Articles is a production of Sounds Profitable. For more information, visit soundsprofitable.com ....

Mar 20, 202411 minEp. 287

March Madness Podcast Potential, YouTube's Teen Userbase, & More

Here's what you need to know for today in the business of podcasting: March Madness men's games all but sold out of ad inventory, how third-party cookie deprecation will change ad buys, teens use YoUTube on a daily basis more than TikTok, how advertisers are reacting to TikTok's shaky future, and Amazon's opportunity in the cookie-free future. Find links to everything discussed and the full write-up right here on Sounds Profitable....

Mar 19, 20246 minEp. 286

Podcasting's Once-in-a-Century Opportunity, BBC Podcasts x Amazon Music, & More

Today in the business of podcasting: a report from Radiodays Europe, news podcasts and ad buyers aren't seeing the anticipated election cycle bump yet, Rich Greenfield proposes streaming needs to spend more time on time spent, The Ringer's union wins generative AI protections in contract, and Kast Media has filed for bankruptcy. Find links to every story discussed, and a full write-up, all here on Sounds Proftiable....

Mar 18, 20246 minEp. 285

Podcasting's SXSW 2024, Video Adopts Podcast Techniques, & More

This week in the business of podcasting: Bryan Barletta talks about building a better umbrella for podcasting at conferences like SXSW, Edison Research's Share of Ear data shows how much time podcasting takes out of an average hour of ad-supported audio listening, reflections on SXSW for podcasting, Apple has published new resarch on humanizing word error rates in podcast transcripts, and Digiday explains WTF is server-side ad insertion. Read the full write-up and get links to everything mention...

Mar 15, 20248 minEp. 284

U.S. Latino Podcast Growth, Letting Brand Studies Breathe, & More

Here's what you need to know for today in the business of podcasting: My Cultura plans for major growth, the power of Alex Cooper's fandom, Joe Rogan's return to YouTube podcasting is a successful one, abd the case for longer brand lift studies. Catch links to every story mentioned and the full write-up here on Sounds Profitable.

Mar 13, 20244 minEp. 283

Podcasting's Share of Audio, GenZ Pays for Premium, & More

Here's what you need to know for today in the business of podcasting: Edison data shows podcasting takes up 12.2 minutes of the average hour spent listening to ad-supported audio, iHeart publishes the winners of the 6th annual iHeartPodcast Awards, IAB data shows Gen Z is the most likely generation to spend money on premium apps and services that used to be free, Digiday explains what server-side insertion is and what it does video (spoiler alert, podcasting has done it for years), and AdNews pu...

Mar 12, 20245 minEp. 282

Who's Buying Indie Podcast Companies, Flightpath to Fix "Faked-In", & more

Here's what you need to know for today in the business of podcasting: 2024 is looking up for indie podcast company acquistions/partnerships, SiriusXM isn't sweating lower Pandora numbers, and Flightpath debuts a new way to do "faked-in" host-read ads. Find the full write-up and links to every article mentioned here on Sounds Profitable.

Mar 11, 20244 minEp. 281

Apple Podcasts Transcripts Arrive, Bringing Music to Podcasting, & More

Here's what you need to know for today in the business of podcasting: iOS update adds Apple Podcast transcripts, a roundup of podcasting Q4 earnings calls, it's time for licensed music to enter podcasting, automated transcription and translation isn't quite ready yet, and PRX debuts new fundraising resources for local radio stations. Find links to everything covered and the full write-up on Sounds Profitable....

Mar 08, 202410 minEp. 280

New British Podcast Festival Announced, The Roost Thrives, & More

Here's what you need to know for today in the business of podcasting: Tom Webster writes about how it's time for the music industry and podcasting to embrace each other, a new podcast festival is coming to the UK this spring, Rooster Teeth is shutting down (but The Roost will continue on), and the parasocial power of political podcasts. Find links to everything discussed and the full write-up here on Sounds Profitable....

Mar 07, 20244 minEp. 279

Apple's Podcast Transcripts Live, PRX Helps Radio Fundraising, & More

Here's what you need to know for today in the business of podcasting: Apple Podcasts launches transcripts in-app, Right Side Up's analysis of $3 million worth of podcast advertising, PRX expands their digtial fundraising resources for local radio stations, and a new study from Morning Consult shows trust in audio has jumped in the past four years. Find links to every article mentioned and the full write-up here on Sounds Profitable....

Mar 06, 20246 minEp. 278

Podcasting Licensed Music - It’s Time

Tom Webster reflects on a talk he gave this past week in Nashville, and music’s place (or lack thereof) in the podcasting industry. There’s room for great innovation and growth with properly licensed music and podcasts, and it’s time to make it happen. Written by Tom Webster Edited by Bryan Barletta Audio edited by Gavin Gaddis Hosted by Spreaker Sounds Profitable: Narrated Articles is a production of Sounds Profitable. For more information, visit soundsprofitable.com ....

Mar 06, 20249 minEp. 277

Podcasts Are Transforming Digital Strategy, Markle to Keynote SXSW, & More

Here's what you need to know for today in the business of podcasting: KS&R releases the Podcast Frenzy report. Jen Soch of GroupM talks about how podcast advertising is changing digital ad strategies, Digiday looks into the rocky start of AI-powered podcast translations, and reps from The New York Times and Vox Media discuss their podcast strategies. Catch links to every article mentioned and find the full writeup here on Sounds Profitable....

Mar 05, 20245 minEp. 276

Earnings Call Roundup, Australia's Audio Advertising Revenue, & More.

Here's what you need to know for today in the business of podcasting: A new batch of earnings calls rounds out the financial data for major podcast players in 2024, and numbers look good. IAB Australia publishes new report showing the state of podcast ad investment Down Under. Podcast CPMs increase inf Feb. on AdvertiseCast's tracker. Newsguard has launched new automation tools to "fingerpint" political disinformation, and CoHost is running a survey of professional podcasters. Find links to ever...

Mar 04, 20245 minEp. 275

Making Space for Podcasting @ SXSW, Decision-Makers Listen to Podcasts, & More

Here's what you need to know for this week in the business of podcasting: How Podcasting is Making ITself Known at SXSW "Trojan-horse style" Radio and Podcasts Deliver Decision-Makers to B2B Marketing Podcasting’s Place in Advertising as Google Closes the Cookie Jar Keeping Audio Ads Simple for Better Attention Metrics Get links to every story covered, quick hits, and data from Podscribe, all on the episode's Sound Profitable post....

Mar 01, 20248 minEp. 274

Podcasting's Attribution Gap, Untapped Rural Listeners, & More

Here's what you need to know for today in the business of podcasting: Edison Research discusses data showing podcasting's share of ear trends higher in urban areas than rural, podcasting's place in a post-cookie advertising future, and Ad Results Media announces their Pro platform. Find the links to every article mentioned and the full write-up here on our site....

Feb 29, 20244 minEp. 273

Turning Up Ad Audio, Canadian Podcasting's Continued Growth, & More

Here's what you need to know for today in the business of podcasting: Radio Connects finds podcast growth continues steadily upwards with Canadian respondents 18+ A recent report from Veritonic and RealEyes finds ads with too much complexity or too little volume for the voiceover lose attention faster. Normalized audio shows higher returns. Criteo predicts $30 to $40 million in signal loss due to the death of third party cookies. Krystina Rubino of Right Side Up weighs in to give a podcasting pe...

Feb 28, 20245 minEp. 272

B2B's Spending Big on Podcasts, IAB Australia Tracks 21% Podcast Growth, & More

Today on your daily recap of news in the business of podcasting: Cumulus Media's Pierre Bouvard highlights how podcasting brings B2B marketers to descision-makers at comapanies, the future of TV upfronts is programmatic + audience data, and podcast advertising grew 21.7% in Australia last year. For links to everything covered, the quick hits, and the full write-up, click here....

Feb 27, 20244 minEp. 271

Spotify's $10b Goal, Podcasting's SXSW Experiment, & More

Here's what you need to know for today in the business of podcasting: Digiday covers why media companies are pushing podcasts at this year's SXSW "Trojan-horse style," Spotify's Head of Sales for the UK and Northern Europe talks about the company's long-term ad goals, and Brian Morrissey talks the pivot to performance with Dotdash Meredith's CEO. Links to every story discussed, as well as the full writeup, can be found on this episode's post at Sounds Profitable....

Feb 26, 20244 minEp. 270

Making SXSW Count, Spreaker's Supporter Club, Podcasting with AI & More

Here's what you need to know for this week in the business of podcasting. As always, links to every story discussed can be found in this episode's full write-up, available here. Our top stories: Edward Fuller'sGuide to Making the Most of SXSW as a Podcast Professional Tom Webster Pitches AI as a Podcast Cohost Spreaker Supporters Club Announced New NPR SVP of Podcast Strategy Sees an Optimistic 2024 Ahead And in our quick hits: 2024 Marketing Trends Report . A new report from Quill and Carney co...

Feb 23, 20247 minEp. 269

Your AI Co-Host, Temu's Sonic Branding Win, PodPod's Merger, & More

Here's what you need to know for today in the busienss of podcasting: PodPod will be merged into Campaign, Tom Webster writes on using AI as a podcast co-host, why Temu's Super Bowl ad is a sonic branding success story, and US scripted TV numbers dropped last year. Find links to every story covered, as well as the full write-up, on Sounds Profitable.

Feb 22, 20245 minEp. 268

Top Podcast Advertisers, Middle East Brand Safety, & More

Here's what you need to know for today in the business of podcasting. Top stories include Barometer and Next Broadcast Media teaming up to create a podcast brand safety tool for Arabic podcasts, 2024 political ad spend could affect advertising overall, Audacy receives approval for reorganization plans, and the top podcast advertisers for January. Find links to all articles covered and the full write-up on Sounds Profitable....

Feb 21, 20244 minEp. 267

Meet Your New Co-Host

A lot has been said about AI replacing human-made content. This week Tom Webster proposes a person-first future deploying AI-powered tools where they work best: as a support structure. Written by Tom Webster Edited by Bryan Barletta Audio edited by Gavin Gaddis Hosted by Spreaker Sounds Profitable: Narrated Articles is a production of Sounds Profitable. For more information, visit soundsprofitable.com ....

Feb 21, 20248 minEp. 266

Maximizing SXSW Podcast Potential, Opportunity @ NPR, & More

Here's what you need to know for today in the business of podcasting: Edward Fuller writes about how to take full advantage of the podcast-heavy SXSW sessions this year, why NPR's Collin Campbell sees opportunity after a turbulent 2023, marketers are underinvesting in radio brand campaigns, and more. Find links to everything covered in today's episode, as well as the full write-up, here....

Feb 20, 20244 minEp. 265

Spreaker's Supporter Club, Spotify entre dans ACPM, & more

Here's what you need to know from today in the business of podcasting. Spreaker introduces new Supporters Club, Quill publishes 2024 Marketing Trends Report, Spotify embraces French podcasting, Business Insider looks at ad load on video streamers, and Adelicious' Andrew Goldsmith talks about the importance of targeting 50+ demographics. For links to all stories covered, check out the full writeup on Sounds Profitable....

Feb 19, 20245 minEp. 264