Articles

Podcasting isn't a technology problem
There appears to be an industry-wide misunderstanding of what will make a new podcast successful.

Questions to... YouTube’s Sandy Wilheim
What is a podcast? And do all podcasts need video? We had questions; YouTube had answers.

Replacing Chartable - alternatives for reviews, marketing and analysis
Chartable is to close. But what can you use to replace it? It all depends on what you used it for...

Questions to... Spotify's Maya Prohovnik
Spotify's future; its attitude to open RSS; and what a podcast is in the first place. We asked - she answered, in an exclusive interview for Podnews.

Smarter, more sustainable deals in second wave of podcasting M&A
The new focus is on scale, profitability and a better long-term business model.

Do ID3 tags matter for podcasts? What about SEO?
Are they a sure-fire way of helping your SEO? Or not used at all?

The iOS 17 changes in Apple Podcasts
A special report, with a timeline of the changes; how automatic downloads work and what changed; how the industry spotted it, and the effect it has had on podcasting.

Is a Lack of Nuance in Brand Suitability Tools Demonetizing News Podcasts?
Is there a negative impact from keyword-based brand suitability measures? And what news podcasts could be falsely flagged?

Our recommendations for a new podcast app to replace Google Podcasts and Stitcher
Two big podcast apps, Stitcher and Google Podcasts, have both gone away. So what's the app most like those if you want to keep listening?

Do we know how to monetise limited-run audio series?
Any limited run series is competing at a disadvantage against such shows within the “free-to-download” advertiser-funded business model, suggests John Scott Dryden.

A week of podcast data shows Spotify’s dominance
We take a look at global download data from OP3 and uncover fascinating differences between countries for podcast consumption

A full test: how do show notes display in podcast apps?
Podcast show notes display, it turns out, in many different ways in over 40 different apps we tested. Here's what to do to make sure they work best.

IAB “Compliance” or “Certified” - the difference
What does 'IAB compliance' actually mean? Spoiler: not much. You want to be looking for IAB Certification.

Podnews report card - results for 2024
The results of the Podnews Report Card for 2024. Good news for almost everyone!

How much are podcast downloads really down year-over-year?
How much has the change in auto-downloads from Apple Podcasts affected podcast downloads? New data suggests wildly different effects based on different categories.

Podcasts with the same name: what to do and how to prevent it
Would a registered trademark help? Or something else?

Missing, presumed deleted
Growing followers, paid subscribers, and an award nomination: and then Spotify for Podcasters deleted the show

The State of Podcasting in Latin America
By 2027, there will be more podcast listeners in Latin America than any other region in the world.

Apple Podcast Connect's terms of service, January 25, 2024
The terms of service, as published by Apple on January 25, 2024, with the major changes highlighted

Is Podcasting 2.0 clear enough?
Is it clear enough to explain Podcasting 2.0?

How many podcasts are there in each category?
How many podcasts are there in each Apple Podcasts category? We take a quick look

2024 Podcast Predictions: Things 'Dun Changed
Podcasts are stepping out from the background to lead new ways in storytelling, learning, entertainment and marketing.

Podcasting Outlook 2024: A Historical View
Marshall Poe has been in podcasting since 2007. As a historian, he helps us look forward to podcasting in 2024.

Leo Laporte announces layoffs at TWiT
Leo's announcement from This Week in Tech

The company asking podcast directories for money
A copyright enforcement company is sending bills to podcast directories for reproducing images from RSS feeds - and asking for just enough to avoid a lawyer.

Mind the gap: why is all the podcast money in the US?
Will Page asks: why are podcast markets outside the US struggling to bring in revenue?

Goodpods adds, then removes, AI-written descriptions
The descriptions weren't always accurate, sometimes misleading, and done without creators' consent or knowledge

The unwritten contract between podcast publishers and apps
What should I be looking for if my podcast is being carried on a new app?

Zencastr's hobbyist plan is going away
An email announcing the closure of Zencastr's hobbyist plan

Was Glenn Beck censored by Apple Podcasts?
Was Glenn Beck censored by Apple? Or was it something else a little less exciting?

Hey, Podcast Marketers and Distributors: Aren’t You Asking the Wrong Question?
Jeff Ostroff suggests that 'how many downloads have you got?' is the wrong question to ask a podcaster

Exclusive advance data from PodPoll 2023: Aussie podcast listeners love trying new shows
Podcast consumption in Australia, including time spent listening and total episodes consumed

The history of the Stitcher app
An app that was ahead of its time; and one of the biggest.

The Stitcher app closes: the internal memo
'We’ve made the decision to sunset the Stitcher app at the end of August.'

Mythbusting: are downloads from 'AppleCoreMedia' mostly Apple Podcasts?
Traffic from an AppleCoreMedia user agent should be lumped into the total numbers for Apple Podcasts. Is that true?

She Podcasts LIVE! cancels June 2023 physical event: the emails
Two emails from the organisers of She Podcasts LIVE!

Opinion: DR's move against open podcasting is not in the public service
Plans to restrict shows are not what public service broadcasters are about

Backtracks closes - the email to customers
A copy of an email sent to customers

What is a podcast?
What is the definition of the word 'podcast'? Are YouTube shows podcasts? How about Spotify Exclusives? It's a simple question: but it doesn't, quite, have a simple answer.

Email from Starburns Audio announcing closure
An email announcing the network's closure

The Podnews Report Card - 2023 results
Podcast creators have their say about the platforms we all use

Podtrac data: total audience and download shares for Jan 2023
Apple's size, and Spotify's size. Who's #1 for podcasts?

How many podcasts are there?
What's the total number of podcasts out there? And how many episodes? And how much has podcasting grown in the last five years?

Have the number of new podcasts really “plummeted”?
Are there really 80% fewer new podcasts?

Podcast app sent your location to any podcast publisher
Rova, the free radio and podcast app from New Zealand's MediaWorks, wants to tell podcast publishers where you live, work and play

Podcasts - do they mean more spam?
If you do a podcast, is your email address being used for marketing emails?

Are Anchor podcasts different?
Is Anchor full of dead podcasts and rubbish? Or is there a plan here for Spotify?

The podcast industry's biggest spammer
Who has sent us more unsolicited commercial email than anyone else?

Fighting podcast spam with RSS.com
Some people are taking advantage of free plans to promote the oldest profession on the planet: the sex trade. Here's how RSS.com stopped that.

The Podcast Academy: Hernan Lopez keynote at Podcast Movement Evolutions
The full video, and transcript, from Hernan Lopez's keynote speech at Podcast Movement Evolutions 2020 in Los Angeles CA, USA.

Analysis: Is Spotify REALLY bigger than Apple Podcasts?
How can Spotify really be #1 when Apple is clearly so much larger?

Apple Podcast Connect's terms of service, March 24, 2022
The terms of service, as published by Apple on 24 March 2022

A note from Daniel Ek to all Spotify staff
A note sent by Spotify CEO Daniel Ek to all staff, focusing on the Joe Rogan Experience controversy

Shown the red card - has Audiochuck's new podcast copied someone else?
Audiochuck's new podcast The Deck seems quite familiar to the producers of Dealing Justice.

iHeartRadio Podcast Awards: the 2022 winners
The most innovative talent and content creators in the industry were honored.

Missing: the shows from these big Spotify announcements
Over the last two years, Spotify have been busy announcing deals for podcasts. But when it comes to the shows themselves, where are they?

The end of open: BBC blocks its podcasts on Google [UPDATED]
The BBC has blocked access to its podcasts from Google Assistant, Google Podcasts and Google Search.

Music supervision and licensing for podcasts
How easy is it to get commercial music cleared for a podcast? It's easy to say no, but there are companies that'll help. Here's what's involved with music licensing.

Audio quality comparisons
What effect does bitrate, samplerate, and mono/stereo have on audio quality?

The 100 most popular podcast names
The most popular podcast names - including Daniel's Show

Apple Podcasts channels
What Apple Podcasts channels exist? How many shows are paid-for in Apple Podcasts?

New podcast apps
Want a full list of new podcast apps with additional features from the podcast namespace? Find it all here.

Is YouTube the answer to Google's Podcast woes?
Why isn't Google bigger with podcast listeners? Matthew Stevens highlights the missteps the company has made in the past, and its bright future

US podcast app downloads and audiences: Sep 2021
Podcast data shows Apple is close to be beaten by Spotify for monthly users; but not for downloads - and significant differences in engagement

The podcast market in Latvia
The country where YouTube rules; where podcasters work together, and around 20% listen every month

Apple Podcasts - top subscriptions and top free channels
The most popular channels on Apple Podcasts, both free and paid-for, is the first publisher-based data from the company

Spotify vs Apple: who's bigger really?
Buzzsprout says Apple is neck-and-neck with Spotify for podcast downloads. Libsyn says Apple is more than four times bigger for downloads. Who is right?

Some unusual terms and conditions from podcast companies
We discover some of the more strange clauses from podcast hosts and similar companies

Apple Podcasts's changes: why it doesn't see your new episode instantly
There's been a big change in the way Apple Podcasts works in iOS 14.5

Is Clubhouse Not Your Thing? Alternative Audio Platforms for Podcasters to Leverage
What are some other platforms that podcasters should consider checking out that may or may not be helpful?

Mythbusting: is Anchor full of dead shows, and does it matter?
Is Anchor really full of dead shows? And what would it mean if it was anyway? Is that really a bad thing?

Is it a lemon? Apple's botched podcasts rollout
A month later, how's the new Apple Podcasts? Not good, it turns out. We ask publishers how things are going.

Audio quality for music streaming - and lossless podcasts?
Audio quality is a new battleground for the music streaming companies. What does it mean? And, particularly, what does it mean for podcasting?

Mythbusting: does Spotify re-download cached episodes?
Does Spotify re-download episodes if their content changes?

Mythbusting: does Spotify deliver downloaded episodes again if they change?
If you change the audio, does Spotify re-download it to any app that has downloaded the show?

Why Podcast Marketing is a Must for Your Business
Fatima Zaidi, the Co-founder and CEO of Quill Inc, posts six reasons why businesses need to take advantage of podcast marketing

A proposal: do we need an Incognito Mode for podcast apps?
How can we let users control their privacy, and publishers control their content?

The team behind podcasting's DDoS
Podnews talks to the person responsible for DDoSing a number of podcast hosts

Escapism and Changing Habits: how 2020 influenced podcasting
Changes to our morning commutes and daily routines meant changes in our listening habits

How podcasts are helping Caribbean people during the pandemic
The podcast boom has revived Caribbean storytelling in a time of uncertainty.

Can you help yourself to free podcasts for your audio app?
Can anyone take your RSS feed and use your podcast audio however they want? Another company doesn't quite understand the way that podcasters work.

The best podcasts in the world - Apple Podcasts 2020
The biggest shows of 2020, according to the largest podcast platform in the world

Podcasting offers novel ways of media reporting in South Africa
Johannesburg-based podcast production studio Volume got creative, using WhatsApp to shed light on how media startups in South Africa were reporting on the toughest parts of the Covid-19 pandemic.

How to pirate someone else's podcast onto Anchor
Pirating someone else's podcast is easy - you don't even need to know the RSS feed of the podcast you want to pirate. Let us show you how: and what Anchor ought to be doing.

Updates in iOS14's Apple Podcasts app for podcasters
What new features in iOS14's Apple Podcasts means to podcasters, and why they matter

All you need to know: podcasts in Amazon Music
Where podcasts in Amazon Music are, how to get yours listed, and how many shows

The podcast app that's eight times bigger than you thought
One of the oldest and best-known audio apps is probably much bigger than you think.

Anchor could automatically delete your account without warning
The robots are coming - Anchor removed an entire account within two hours of posting one piece of new audio.

Will podcasts prove to be recession-proof? One business that’s booming during the pandemic - podcasting
With revenues down in traditional media as advertisers pull out amidst the global pandemic, one platform is proving to be well, recession-proof.

The Podcast Academy: what and why?
Rob Greenlee writes about what The Podcast Academy is there for, and how to join

Podcast transcripts: who's in control?
Is automation a good idea for all transcripts? And who gets to choose?

How much does Anchor add to Spotify's bandwidth bill?
Bandwidth isn't cheap: for many podcast hosts, it's the biggest bill they have. We were curious: how much does Anchor add to Spotify's bandwidth bill?

Podcasting's Growing Market Imbalance
Too many podcasts, not enough listeners?

Today's most popular Android podcast apps
What are the best podcast apps for Android? We look at the data.

The publishers who don't want their podcast to be on every platform
The podcast publishers who are making deliberate choices to stop audiences finding their podcasts on some platforms

Google Podcasts Manager: a first look
We take a look at the new analytics service from Google Podcasts - and discover a way to submit your podcast

New Weekly Podtrac Download and Audience Data Amid the COVID-19 Crisis
Data from the US's largest podcast measurement tool

How the coronavirus is affecting podcast downloads
Are downloads down, or up, because of the effect of covid-19, self isolation, and working from home?

Eight Things I Learned Making a Podcast about How F*cked We Are
Lessons learnt when developing and making the first season of Crazy Town

Opinion: podcast hosts should not be forced to remove fake COVID-19 information
It's a first step towards censorship, argues Gordon Firemark

What app buttons should you have on your podcast website?
The Apple Podcasts one, of course, but which else? We discover something interesting from our own data.

HubHopper republishing hijacked RSS feeds: their response
Our original story, and their response, shows much to be concerned about

In podcasting too, consent isn't optional
Some podcast companies are endangering the strange and potentially fragile equilibrium between the listeners, the creators, and the apps that are connecting them

B2B podcasts: count your meetings, not your downloads
What's the best way to measure success for your branded podcasts?

Why Parcast's SEO makes it a podcast agency to look up to
Parcast's naming strategy for their podcasts is ingenious

iHeartRadio Podcast Channel - confusing, poorly executed
A radio professional takes a listen

Is Hot Hollywood really the #5 podcast in Podtrac?
Two new entries in this month's Podtrac podcast charts highlight the fragility of podcast stats

Podcasting 2020 – The Rise of the Machines
Is 2020 going to be the year that podcasting gets smart?

What happened at PodFest China 2019
PodFest China 2019 was a half-day conference held in Shanghai on November 9, 2019. Here's what you missed.

New and changed Apple Podcasts categories: summer 2019 (updated)
All the changes for podcasters announced by Apple: what's gone, what's new

The iHeart Podcast Awards - how the nominations worked
Think the judges helped choose the nominations? Think again.

The difference between a dynamic microphone and a condenser microphone for podcasters
Do dynamic microphones reject room noise and echo? No. Not unless you use them right.

Details on the Podcast Music deal: a good day for podcasting?
The claim: Think licensing popular music to podcasts is impossible? Think again.

Data: podcast consumption in the Netherlands
Highlights from the first major piece of research amongst Dutch podcast listeners

Share Podnews with others and get unique stuff
Recommend us to others, and get some unique stuff

Anchor bypasses Apple Podcasts approval process with copyright violating podcasts
Anchor's special deal with Apple lets anyone post anything, seemingly

Podtrac admits to error on website as it aims for IAB Certification
An erroneous post on Podtrac's website claimed they were measuring something they weren't

The radio station making money from podcasts
This station is doing something unusual: charging for podcasts

The strategy behind WarnerMedia Podcast Network's first indie podcast
A look at the reason why they're working with Rainstream Media on Somebody Somewhere

What's a proxy server? And why was Luminary using one?
What actually is a proxy server? And why is it a bad thing for podcasting?

Episode number support in podcast apps
How many podcast apps support the episode tag?

Episode numbers in episode titles: all you need to know
People are worried about episode numbers, following an email from Apple this week. Here's what's up.

How much is mobile data worldwide?
We examine typical data costs for mobile phones across the world, and discover wide variety in pricing

Root of Evil launches: Q&A with Tyler Moody
We spoke to Tyler Moody, the GM and VP of Turner Podcast Network, about the company's new podcast Root of Evil, and the state of the industry.

Apple Podcast Connect's terms of service, 31 January 2019
The terms of service, as published by Apple on 31 January 2019.

Our take: Spotify in talks to buy Gimlet Media. Good plan?
Spotify is in talks to buy Gimlet Media for $230m. Is it worth $230m? What next?

Podcast apps, privacy, and GDPR
Is NPR's RAD a privacy violation? No... but yes. We explain how podcasting works, and exactly how much data you're sharing.

Do ratings and reviews really help you get featured in 'What's Hot'?
How do you get into the 'What's Hot' section of Apple Podcasts? Is it anything to do with ratings and reviews? Or is it... something else? By Daniel J. Lewis

Promote Apple Podcasts and Google Podcasts equally: and here's what happens
It turns out that if you promote your podcast on both services equally, you get equal usage. You just have to promote it that way.

Chapter points in podcasts: a waste of time?
Which podcast apps support chapter points? Is it worth your while spending time and effort on them?

Placings on Apple's Podcast Chart can be bought
A company promises to get you into the Apple Podcast Charts. All they want is money.

Is this proof that Apple's Podcast Charts are being manipulated?
Does this show strong evidence that it's easy to game the iTunes Chart?

COO Stuart Last on Audioboom's future
'The future is good', he says

British Podcast Awards: 2018 winners
The British Podcast Awards 2018 took place on Saturday 19th May at Kings Place in King's Cross, London.

Apple kicks out a republisher of 'top 5' podcasts from Apple Podcasts
Apple acted swiftly to kick out a republisher this week. But should they have approved the podcasts in the first place?

Popular podcast app Castbox altered RSS feeds and is still removing links
Castbox has been republishing unauthorised and altered versions of podcast RSS feeds, and deliberately removing links to the websites of the podcasters they link to.

Q&A with Panoply's CEO, Brendan Monaghan
We asked Panoply some questions. They sent us some answers.

Is iHeartMedia really the leader in 'snackable' podcasts?
A configuration error means that their Podtrac stats could be thousands of times too large