Spotify now has 250,000 video podcasts

• Spotify now has a quarter of a million video podcasts on its platform, according to a new blog post. The number of creators actively publishing video each month has grown nearly 70% year-over-year, says the company.

• Podcast hosting company RSS.com has launched a major new update to its podcast web player, which now displays chapters in full screen. It’s especially impressive on desktop; the company sees it as offering an engaging, full-screen presentation. You can test it out here.

• Happy 19th birthday, Apple Podcasts. Podcasts came to iTunes 4.9 on June 28 2005.

• Buzzsprout has rolled out a “fresh new look” - for its customers only, for now. Expect a greener green, a crisper and more modern feel, and… the company’s new logo. Here’s a sneak peek. The new font family for the company is Graphik.

• Google Podcasts appears to have finally been turned off internationally, a week late. It’s still available to install on Google Play, though, which must be confusing for new podcast users, because the app doesn’t do anything any more. We hope they remove it from there soon.

The Tech Stuff - with RSS.com

• A number of Wordpress plugins were compromised last week. This included Blubrry’s PowerPress, a popular podcast Wordpress tool, which was temporarily delisted. If you updated it on June 28, ensure you check it today for updates.

• Some Android phones received a buggy update which makes audio playback on PodcastAddict pause randomly. PodcastAddict recommends updating to the beta version of the app for a workaround.

Tips and tricks

• Lower Street’s Harry Morton writes How Narrative Shows Work Best for Branded Podcasts

• Ausha shares How to Enhance Your Podcast Rankings Effectively: our 5 strategies

Podcast News

On the latest Podcast Perspectives, Jeff Umbro speaks to Sean Howard, the CEO and founder of Flightpath Software Inc., a predictive podcast analytics platform. Together, they discuss the ways that podcast ad buying has evolved over the years, and what Sean predicts this space will look like in the future.

In Podcasting 2.0 this week, Dave and Adam are joined by Ben and Alberto from RSS.com, and discuss a potential option for podcast monetisation in eCash.

Everything Everywhere Daily has just celebrated its 30 millionth download, and its fourth anniversary. Production of the daily educational podcast, which has hit number 1 on the Apple History Charts and #13 overall, remains a solo effort, with host Gary Arndt doing all of the production, research, and recording. Its stats are openly available via OP3.

Ryan Holiday from The Daily Stoic has announced two UK and Ireland tour dates in November. The show has had more than 150mn downloads across the world.

On vacation right now? Space Vacation, The Musical is the sci-fi musical for the whole family - a joyous, fun, uplifting musical romp around the universe. These folks might be from another planet, but they crave a vacation as much any earthling. It’s hosted and created by Jonathan L. Segal.

The American Miracle with Michael Medved is new today - the popular national radio host examines improbable coincidences in American history… coincidences that some call miraculous. It’s part of the Airwave Media network.