This is The Download from Sounds Profitable, the most important news from this week and why it matters to people in the business of podcasting. I'm Gavin Gaddis. The Download is brought to you by Podscribe. You can find out more at Podscribe.com. This week, before I get into the stories proper, just a quick heads up. Sounds Profitable's Tom Webster will be hosting a webinar for the Advertising Landscape 2025.
our newest flagship study of the ad-supported media landscape. This is the largest cross-media study of advertising and podcasting in America and provides the most comprehensive picture to date of podcasting strengths and weaknesses as an advertising vehicle. The webinar is this coming Wednesday, April 16th at 2 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. You can register now with the link in the show notes.
We've got Spotify video and podcasting, Podskate biannual updates coming, Why Podcasts Should Think Like a Network, and Nickelodeon x Starglow. Let's get into it. Thank you. This Thursday from Brian Barletta at Sounds Profitable, the impact Spotify's video has on publishers. Brian kicks off a look at Spotify's video and streaming audio with a strong statement, quote, End quote. End quote. End quote. End quote.
He goes on to detail how Spotify currently handles advertising on the platform and how it impacts podcasts. Uploading even one video episode to either Megaphone or Spotify for creators converts a podcast entirely to a cash delivery of the podcast through Spotify. every episode, eliminating the RSS feed entirely as the content is streamed to users from Spotify to Spotify.
This eliminates publishers' abilities to reconcile IEB-certified downloads and ad delivery, use analytics and attribution prefix URLs, and implement dynamically inserted ads directly as they now have to use Spotify ad insertion. A quote from the article, quote, Dynamic ad insertion, DAI, isn't perfect, but nearly 10 years of use has allowed optimization for success. It uses ad delivery as its core metric, counting when the portion of the episode containing the ad has been downloaded.
SAI, Spotify Ad Insertion, is a live call from the app when the user passes an ad marker, which would make it an ad impression, albeit without third-party auditing or disclosed standards. This was a major selling point for Spotify ad network Span, which often doubles prices for SAI inventory when compared to DAI.
However, Span's performance and lack of transparency didn't justify the added cost, leading Span to announce last year they'd remove publishers' ability to set price floors and a decline in Span revenue for most publishers. End quote. Barletta calls for industry collaboration and discussion to come to a position that can be collectively bargained, because, as things currently stand, he argues it is not in podcasting's best interest to opt into Spotify video and audio streaming.
Shows that have been converted to the system can contact customer support at Spotify for creators or Megaphone and request their podcast be rolled back to RSS support. The Podscape, a joint project between Magellan AI and Sounds Profitable, provides a bird's-eye view of the business of podcasting in one giant infographic. In essence, it functions as a big city map, charting out various neighborhoods. in which logos of podcasting companies belong based on what services they provide.
Every six months, Magellan and Sounds Profitable regroup to process net new submissions and update existing ones who submit for changes, such as a new logo or change of direction that puts them in a new category. This keeps the Podscape a living document that provides as up-to-date a snapshot as we can of the podcast industry at that moment. In anticipation of the summer update, the new Podscape...
In anticipation of the summer update, the new Podscape submission form is live now and will be taking new submissions through the end of day, Friday, June 20th. This Monday from Steve Pratt for the Creativity Business, podcasting is asking the wrong questions about video. A common mindset throughout the podcasting industry is publishers thinking, how do I turn my audio podcast into video?
Pratt challenges that as the wrong approach and ignores the context through which the podcast existed in the first place. Audio content is built for the context where someone cannot use a screen, for example, driving, cleaning the house, cooking, while it cannot be engaging in other situations.
on the living room TV, second screen content while reading the newspaper, for example. A quote from the article, quote, taking audio first content designed for context where people can't look at a screen and putting it on a screen. isn't a great experience. And yet this is what happens when you define yourself by platform and try to use your audio product in a place it wasn't designed for. End quote.
A different framework that still allows for diversifying audio and video content is network strategy thinking. How do I best serve my audience on each platform? Pratt uses ESPN as an example, as they exist across multiple platforms and modes of content with unique strategies for each, but they are all uniquely identifiable as ESPN. In a sentence, the piece challenges podcasting to think like a network. This Tuesday from Salia Blanca Floor at AdWeek.
Nickelodeon partners with Starglow to make family-friendly podcasts for children. Nickelodeon is no stranger to podcast spinoffs and companion shows to their IP, but with this new partnership, production house Starglow will be producing more directly kids and family oriented shows. The slate of podcasts focuses on Nick Jr. properties, including Dora the Explorer and Paw Patrol.
Starglow is set to produce the podcast while Nickelodeon will handle the advertising. Advertising that leans into the power of kids and family podcasts, as 2023 research from SiriusXM shows. According to that study, parents listening to podcasts are quite leaned in with a 2.4% higher likelihood of paying attention to ads on podcasts than they are on social media, and 3.3 times more likely to pay attention to a podcast ad.
versus AM FM radio ads. Kids and family podcasts continue to be an enormous opportunity for brands, especially as parents continue to seek out more screen-free entertainment options for their kids. Finally, it's time for our quick hits. These are articles that didn't quite make the cut for today's episode, but are still worth including in your weekend reading.
This week, why the rise of video podcasting is not killing audio. Jay Nachlas of Coleman Insights teases new data from Coleman and Amplify Media on video podcasting and reassures us that our ears are still relevant. Knackless and Steve Goldstein also have a live webinar scheduled for this upcoming Thursday, April 17th at 2 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. There's a link to register to that in the Quick Hits, by the way.
Quill Podcast Awards nominations are open. The fourth annual edition of the Quill Podcast Awards is now taking nominations for consideration until April 21st. Nominations are free, by the way, and yours truly will be a guest judge this year. Audioboom posts their Q1 2025 finances, including results that show their EBITDA profit is up 10 times year over year.
Amplify Media founder Stephen Goldstein, hey, we've heard about him, writes about the Evolutions by Podcast Movement panel, A View from the Top. in which he moderated a discussion about the evolving state of podcasting with Pete Bursinger, CEO of Podscribe, Stephanie Chan, strategic lead YouTube podcast, Neil Modi, CEO headliner, and Will Pearson, president of iHeart Podcast.
Speaking of Podscribe, Podscribe has launched two new features powered by TransUnion's verified household-level data, including an audience reporting tool that demonstrates how campaigns performed across over 560 household-level audience segments. and the ability to reverse search podcast by verified audience trait.
And finally, what's working in podcast advertising right now? Insights from Libsyn ads at Podcast Movement Evolutions. An overview of presentations and events featuring Libsyn ads team members during Evolutions by Podcast Movement. That was the download from Sounds Profitable. I know I went through today's stories fast. Be sure to check out the links to every article mentioned right in your podcast listening app or at the download section of soundsprofitable.com.
Thank you for sticking with me as I brought you through all the top stories you might have missed this past week. I'm Gavin Gaddis. Our producers are myself. Tom Webster, and Brian Barletta. And I leave you once again with special thanks for listening to this week's episode. Robot. Download complete.