Sony Music Entertainment highlights powerhouse talent and previews growing slate of blockbuster shows

Sony Music Entertainment’s (SME) Global Podcast Division today highlighted some of its top powerhouse talent to preview the company’s robust slate of shows at the 2023 IAB Podcast Upfront.

Headlined by New York Times bestselling author, actress and model Emily Ratajkowski, comedian Heather McDonald, Tony award-winning actor Jesse Tyler Ferguson, and author and journalist Michael Harriot, the presentation outlined SME’s focus on building engaging narrative franchises and big entertainment shows with premium hosts and stories. The Company’s presentation also featured a video from Emmy-nominated television personality, 2x New York Times best-selling author, podcaster, comedian and hairstylist Jonathan Van Ness, to announce that his hit podcast Getting Curious with Jonathan Van Ness will be joining SME’s network of always-on shows this summer.

Ferguson joined the conversation to discuss his newly announced podcast Dinner’s On Me, while Ratajkowski delved into new details about her podcast High Low with Em Rata and Heather McDonald expanded on the loyal audience behind Juicy Scoop, a show that has averaged +10% MoM growth since joining SME in November. In addition, Michael Harriot joined the stage to announce Drapetomaniax: Unshackled History, a new podcast premiering June 19 in partnership with Pharrell’s production company OTHERtone.

“Sony Music’s Global Podcast Division is proud to be a place where podcasters are artists. Our premium shows and top creative talent provide robust opportunities for advertisers to work with us to go beyond the midroll and engage listeners in a variety of ways across our network.” said Nick Southwell-Keely, Vice President of Ad Sales, Sony Music Entertainment.

SME, whose Q1 podcast downloads were up 70% vs. 2022, continues to partner with best-in-class storytellers, journalists, and creators to deliver premium experiences to passionate audiences. The company engages listeners with bingeworthy content and develop loyal audiences with popular franchises – including the 2022 Ambie Podcast of the Year Chameleon: Wild Boys and the Apple Podcasts chart-topping Witnessed: Devil in the Ditch with partner Campside Media.

For more information on all our podcasts, follow @SonyPodcasts on Twitter and Instagram.

Sony Music Podcasts

We are Sony 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 only on one thing – our listeners and the shows we make for them.