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April 26, 2024:
April 24, 2024:
April 23, 2024:
April 22, 2024:
April 19, 2024:
    Spotify launched 1619: The Podcast Edition - the result of a Spotify-funded NextGen podcast course with Howard University and Pulitzer Prize-winning author Nikole Hannah-Jones, Knight Chair in Race and Journalism. The student-produced podcast makes compelling connections to the ways that slavery still impacts their lives and ours. A listening party was held earlier this week.
April 18, 2024:
April 17, 2024:
    Spotify bought Parcast in 2019 for more than $100mn; Cutler left Spotify in Feb 2023, the Parcast brand was combined into Spotify Studios last year.
April 16, 2024:
April 15, 2024:
April 12, 2024:
    Hot Pod, one of the longest-running newsletters about podcasting, is to suspend publishing. Lead reporter Ariel Shapiro has announced that her last week with its owner, The Verge, will be next week; Deputy Editor Jake Kastrenakes adds: “We won’t have a new writer in place by next week, so we’re planning to put Hot Pod on hiatus while we figure out next steps.” The publication’s writers, Ariel Shapiro, Ashley Carman and Nick Quah, have been a vital part of the industry since 2014 and inspired Podnews to produce this daily newsletter in 2017. We hope the publication is back soon.
April 11, 2024:
April 8, 2024:
    Audioboom is to expand its sales division with the appointment of Molly Harvey as VP, Brand Sales (joining from SiriusXM and CBS Radio) and Shaun Wilson as Vice President, UK Sales (returning from Spotify and Sony Music).
April 5, 2024:
April 3, 2024:
April 2, 2024:
April 1, 2024:
March 29, 2024:
March 28, 2024:
March 27, 2024:
March 26, 2024:
March 22, 2024:
    Joe Rogan has 14.5mn followers on Spotify, reveals Ashley Carman in Bloomberg; that’s smaller than his total subscriber number on YouTube of 16.4mn. Her compilation includes the top shows on the platform, taken from a new UX feature.
March 20, 2024:
    Spotify has launched Podcast Streams, a tool to let creators of all sizes promote their shows to music listeners on Spotify. The tool includes a number of attribution measurement targets.
March 19, 2024:
March 15, 2024:
March 14, 2024:
    Spotify is to launch Countdown Pages for Audiobooks, a way for authors to pre-promote new books coming out soon, for readers to pre-save the books. (For a second, we thought: that would be great for podcasts, wouldn’t it? But, of course, we have pre-launch trailers.)
March 13, 2024:
    Spotify's The Ringer and Bad Robot Audio launches Dear Felicity today - an all-new star-studded podcast based on the JJ Abrams and Matt Reeves TV show. The show won't be an episode-by-episode rewatch; rather, we're promised an "innovative structure". It also has JJ Abrams and Matt Reeves as executive producers.
March 12, 2024:
March 11, 2024:
    Episodes of The Joe Rogan Experience podcast are now available, in full, on YouTube - after the podcast ended its exclusivity deal last month with Spotify. Some industry observers had expected the video version to remain exclusive on the Spotify platform. However, the biggest podcast in the world is not marked as a “podcast” within YouTube Studio, and therefore doesn’t appear on the YouTube Podcasts index page.
March 8, 2024:
March 7, 2024:
March 6, 2024:
    Violence. Retaliation. Disappearances. Spotify's Stolen has returned for its third season, Trouble in Sweetwater, this week. The Navajo Nation is 27,000 square miles of remote terrain with just over 200 tribal police officers. Connie Walker looks into the cases of two missing women, taking her on a search for justice in a place where people say you can get away with murder. The first season made history last year when it won a Pulitzer Prize and Peabody Award in the same year. Notably, it's lost its Gimlet branding.
March 4, 2024:
March 1, 2024:
February 28, 2024:
February 27, 2024:
February 26, 2024:
    Half-Arsed History has joined Acast, boasting six million listens. WME brokered the deal; it comes after Spotify included the show in its 2023 RADAR program. The show takes listeners on a journey through the ages, blending humour, insight and unforgettable tales from the past.
February 21, 2024:
    In France, a charity event called Podcasthon is planned for next month. The idea is to make a special version of your show that highlights a cause or charity; and to co-ordinate its release at the end of March. Last year, 300 podcasts took part; this year, it has the support of Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and Spotify. 400 shows have already registered for this year - et vous? (Next year’s Podcasthon will be in English and other languages, too).
February 20, 2024:
February 15, 2024:
February 14, 2024:
    Spotify’s Megaphone is looking for more inventory for political advertising this year, aiming to take advantage of a predicted election spend across all media of over $15bn. Podcasters who block political categories won’t get that incremental revenue, the company is saying to publishers via email.
February 13, 2024:
February 9, 2024:
February 8, 2024:
    Somewhat surprisingly, he’s hosting on Spotify for Podcasters, rather than Megaphone. (His old Libsyn feed redirects here, too).
February 7, 2024:
    Spotify released its Q4/23 results. Total revenue grew 16% Y/Y to US$3.9bn; all the company’s figures met or exceeded expectations, with the company now having 602mn monthly users. The company lost $81mn in the quarter, a better figure than was flagged in December.
February 6, 2024:
February 5, 2024:
February 2, 2024:
February 1, 2024:
    Call Her Daddy is no longer a Spotify Exclusive - and is now available on all platforms. Video remains exclusive to Spotify. The podcast had been exclusive since July 2021, in a deal worth $60mn; it’s part of an apparent strategy change by Spotify to open up its programming to all podcast apps to benefit from increased ad sales.
January 31, 2024:
    Triton Digital has released its US Podcast Report 2023. The free 32 page report says there has been a 12% growth of monthly podcast users in the last two years, and that 55% of podcasts get fewer than 10,000 US downloads per month. Apple Podcasts gets 45% of all episode downloads; Spotify just 15%.
January 30, 2024:
January 29, 2024:
January 26, 2024:
January 25, 2024:
    In Stockholm, it’s all going on! Man kastade bajs på Spotifys kontor, reports Expressen, a news website. We’ll leave that to you to translate, but perhaps he couldn’t find the unsubscribe button.
January 24, 2024:
January 23, 2024:
    The Louis Theroux Podcast is back for a "star studded second series", including Hollywood icon Sharon Stone, visionary filmmaker Baz Luhrmann, fellow podcast maestro Adam Buxton, and breakout music sensation PinkPantheress, with more to be announced. Paul Mescal is the guest today. We have to tell you that "The Louis Theroux Podcast is a Spotify podcast, now available everywhere, with new episodes every Tuesday" apparently.
January 22, 2024:
    Caution: The Elfsight Podcast Player widget, a paid-for podcast player, is downloading audio on page-load: against IAB guidelines, and defrauding advertisers. We contacted the company last week to report the issue and invited them to comment. We’d suggest you use Spotify or Apple’s players.
January 17, 2024:
January 11, 2024:
January 10, 2024:
January 9, 2024:
    Spotify's The Receipts podcast (marked in the artwork as "A Spotify Video Exclusive") returns after a two month break, following the departure of former co-host Milena Sanchez. Milena made her unexpected exit via an out-of-the-blue email resignation; hosts Tolly T and Just Call Me Audrey have plenty of life news to catch you up on.
January 8, 2024:
    Ten podcast companies are still not certified for the latest version of the IAB’s podcast measurement guidelines v2.1, in spite of being asked to do so by the end of 2022. More than a year later, the IAB’s list of compliant companies still shows AdsWizz, Anchor (now Spotify), Buzzsprout, Captivate, Chartable, Libsyn, Megaphone, Podbean, Podtrac and Simplecast as only compliant to v2.0 of the guidelines, something that means “they will lose current status”, according to the IAB Tech Lab.
January 5, 2024:
January 2, 2024:
December 28, 2023:
December 25, 2023:
December 21, 2023:
    Rob also notes that Spotify’s numbers are down, too: a point we also made on Dec 4.
December 20, 2023:
    Tom Connaughton, the Managing Director of Spotify UK & Ireland, has announced that he has left the company. His announcement appears to have been made a week after Spotify announced 1,500 job cuts. He had worked for the company since 2018, moving from Vevo and MySpace.
December 14, 2023:
    Flagged in October 2019, NPR has closed the NPR One app to simplify its offerings in app stores, moving NPR One’s functionality to the main NPR app. The new NPR app offers podcasts, the NPR One personalised radio flow, curated stories and access to flagship news shows. You can listen to Podnews’s daily updates there too.
December 13, 2023:
December 12, 2023:
    For consuming podcasts, YouTube has more than twice the users of Apple Podcasts, and almost twice that of Spotify, according to a study of YouTube’s growth as a “power podcast player”, highlighted in a new study from Cumulus Media and Signal Hill Insights.
December 11, 2023:
    Spotify’s 2023 Wrapped appears to have highlighted how many people have had their Spotify accounts hacked. Looks like in May, a lot of accounts were playing Lil Durk, a Chicago-based “drill rapper”. In May, his album had three times the plays that Taylor Swift did.
December 8, 2023:
December 7, 2023:
December 6, 2023:
December 5, 2023:
    After reporting its first quarterly profit for more than a year, Spotify is laying off 17% of its workforce, according to an email sent by Daniel Ek to employees. Approximately 1,500 jobs will be affected by the cuts. “I realize that for many, a reduction of this size will feel surprisingly large given the recent positive earnings report and our performance,” Ek wrote - the layoffs are in addition to 800 already announced this year. The stock price went up 7.5%.
December 4, 2023:
December 1, 2023:
    In the Podnews Weekly Review, we talk to Anna Sian from Spotify for Podcasters; Christiana Cromer from Descript; and Neil Mody from Headliner. Neil thinks YouTube is good for podcasters; Christiana shares what Descript is doing in terms of AI, and Anna talks about the new Spotify 2023 Wrapped for Podcasters. It's sponsored by Buzzsprout.
November 30, 2023:
November 29, 2023:
    Pocket Casts is rolling out its "thing-a-bit-like-Spotify-Wrapped", Pocket Casts Playback 2023. It'll appear in your app. Seemingly, our Editor likes "Adam and Dave" and "Todd and Rob". Anyway, we reckon Spotify's 2023 Wrapped will be along any minute now (looks at watch), and as last year, we gather they'll have a special Wrapped for podcast creators as well (looks at watch again).
November 24, 2023:
    As threatened earlier this year, Spotify is to close in Uruguay by February. It's a reaction to a new copyright law in the country which would, Spotify says, mean it would effectively pay twice for music use in the country. (It means that Spotify won't offer podcasts there either.)
November 21, 2023:
November 20, 2023:
November 17, 2023:
November 16, 2023:
November 15, 2023:
    Spotify's Megaphone published its Podcast Trends 2023 report. The data shows significant growth in podcast listening by older listeners: in Italy, people aged 55-64 are listening twice as long as last year; in the US total time spent listening for 55-64s has increased by 50%, and by 49% for those over 65.
November 14, 2023:
November 10, 2023:
November 9, 2023:
    While daytimes are for audio podcasts, evenings are when people seek out video podcasts, according to new consumption information from Spotify. Spotify's podcast edition of its Fan Study 2023, published today, contains data-driven insights from the platform. The data also says that 54% of people find new podcasts by hearing about them on a show they already listen to.
November 7, 2023:
November 2, 2023:
    The biggest independent podcast host Buzzsprout released its network stats for October. Year-on-year, Apple Podcasts has increased download share by 3.5%; Spotify by 3.6%; and Google Podcasts increased its share by 0.3%. Total downloads were up 12.6% on the year, though dropped slightly month-on-month.
November 1, 2023:
October 30, 2023:
    Spotify's 2023 Wrapped is coming this holiday-time... the feature lets listeners share their favourite podcasts of 2023 — including yours. Spotify wants you to ensure that your show page is ready, with recommendations, links to your social media, and other tools to get the most out of it.
October 27, 2023:
    The Podnews Weekly Review has John and Mark from Caloroga Shark Media on the show this week, explaining how their short-form podcast network came about. Plus, Sam and James look at Spotify's surprise profit.
October 26, 2023:
October 25, 2023:
    Spotify is in profit again (PDF); surprising analysts who were expecting the company to lose money this quarter. Revenue was up 11%; operating expenses were down 13%.
October 24, 2023:
    On Friday, we carried feedback from Megaphone customers that all data was lost about podcasts within Megaphone when moving to Spotify's "streaming-powered tools", which offer new analytics.
October 20, 2023:
    Gen Z is Spotify's fastest-growing generation of music and podcast listeners, says a new UK report from the company. In the first half of 2023, the demographic has seen 58% more podcast plays year-on-year; 39% listening at a faster-than-normal speed. Around half of Gen Z podcast listeners in the UK (53%) say they’ve learned about a community they’re not a part of as a result of listening to a podcast.
October 19, 2023:
October 18, 2023:
October 16, 2023:
    Exclusive: Ausha is launching a Podcast Search Optimisation tool today. The tool monitors and optimises show appearance in podcast app search results, suggests keywords to rank for, and monitors Apple Podcasts and Spotify to measure the effect of any change. It's available in beta for selected customers today, before a full launch later in the year.
October 13, 2023:
October 12, 2023:
October 11, 2023:
    The Riddler: Secrets in the Dark, the third project to be released as a part of Spotify’s multi-year agreement with DC, and Warner Bros, is out now: exclusively on Spotify. All eight episodes are available to stream now.
October 9, 2023:
October 5, 2023:
October 4, 2023:
October 3, 2023:
October 2, 2023:
September 29, 2023:
September 27, 2023:
September 26, 2023:
September 25, 2023:
    Spotify appears to have dropped all support for unencrypted http:// links in episode descriptions. In our tests, only https:// links appear to be clickable in descriptions. We discovered this because some of our supporters, who are credited in most podcast players, have been supporters so long, they didn't have https:// websites in 2017…
September 22, 2023:
September 21, 2023:
September 19, 2023:
September 18, 2023:
September 15, 2023:
    Goalhanger has recently agreed a new podcast with Richard Osman and Marina Hyde to host an all encompassing entertainment podcast called All Things Entertainment. The announcement was made at a Spotify event in London.
September 14, 2023:
    The better tools he's demanding? OP3, which is open and free; here are our stats and those of many others. We'd agree that an API into Apple and Spotify's proprietary data would be useful, though.
September 12, 2023:
September 11, 2023:
September 8, 2023:
    Global Resonance - Women's Voices Across Borders is an online event next Wednesday at 5pm London time (12pm New York time). The panel are Rhea Chedid of Spotify, Lory Martinez of Ochenta Studio, Imriel Morgan of Content is Queen and Molly Jensen of Afripods.
September 7, 2023:
September 6, 2023:
    "Criminal gangs behind a rise in bombings and shootings in Sweden in recent years are using fake Spotify streams to launder money", is the unusual claim in Swedish newspaper Svenska Dagbladet. The article, reported in The Guardian, suggests that Swedish gangster rap is actually funding Swedish gangsters. Spotify says it has not found “any data or hard evidence that indicates that the platform is being used at scale in the fashion described”.
September 5, 2023:
September 4, 2023:
    Spotify has changed the eligibility for the company's Ambassador Ads that can be used to earn money from podcasts. From Oct 1, creators must have 1,000 unique Spotify listeners within the past 60 days to qualify (the old limit was 100), and "we will limit the types of content eligible for this program", the company has said.
August 30, 2023:
    Five US late-night hosts are producing a limited series podcast to raise money for their out-of-work staff during the WGA strike. Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel, Seth Meyers, and John Oliver are making Strike Force Five, a limited series ("at least twelve episodes"), with Spotify.
August 29, 2023:
August 24, 2023:
    At Podcast Movement, Spotify's Director of Podcast Product, Austin Lamon, announced a number of enhancements and features for podcasters, including show page customisation, creator controls for podcast previews, and a rollout of automated ads to more countries. There's a full description of the enhancements on Spotify's website
August 23, 2023:
    Expect an announcement later today from Spotify for Podcasters, unveiling new tools for creators. (If you’re at Podcast Movement, it’s 10.30am in Aurora D).
August 22, 2023:
August 21, 2023:
August 18, 2023:
August 17, 2023:
    Acast has announced that from September 1, it will no longer accept new campaigns that use Spotify's Ad Analytics. "Acast remains focused on fostering an open and transparent environment, working together with partners who share the same vision for the podcast industry's future." Acast said it will offer attribution from independent analytics company Podscribe for free to all advertisers, as well as work with a set of local companies in each region.
August 15, 2023:
August 10, 2023:
    An integration between Patreon and Spotify has been announced, allowing all creators to offer patron-only content to Spotify listeners. "You can connect your Spotify and Patreon accounts to access patron-exclusive podcasts right where you’re already listening to your favorite audio content," the company says; Supporting Cast and Supercast are also supported in the Spotify app.
August 9, 2023:
August 4, 2023:
August 2, 2023:
    The number of episodes published (on open RSS) by Spotify for Podcasters, formerly Anchor, dipped to a new low last month says Livewire; but it still hosts one out of every five new episodes; and Spotify's Megaphone also posted another record high. The biggest increases were seen by Omny Studio and its owner Triton Digital.
August 1, 2023:
July 26, 2023:
July 25, 2023:
July 24, 2023:
    Found a 404 error in Podnews's archive? In an effort to maintain our archive as a usable, historical resource, we're automatically checking links and replacing any broken ones, where we can, with links to the Internet Archive. Here's an example from June 15, 2017; three broken links, with two rescued from the archive; and a Variety story focusing on Spotify, saying that “Exclusive audio content […] is not within our playbook.” Ha! Anyway, here are the technical details of how we achieved this if you're interested. We'd love feedback as to best practice.
July 20, 2023:
July 19, 2023:
July 18, 2023:
July 17, 2023:
July 14, 2023:
    Wellness app Calm and Spotify announced a partnership. Spotify listeners can access a variety of Calm content in the Spotify app without a Calm Premium subscription. Calm Premium subscribers can link their Calm and Spotify accounts to unlock a wider selection of content in Spotify, powered by Spotify Open Access.
July 12, 2023:
July 11, 2023:
July 6, 2023:
July 3, 2023:
June 30, 2023:
    Android is still highly fragmented for podcast apps, according to data from the Open Podcast Prefix Project, analysed by Podnews. Data from 4.75mn downloads in May suggests that, while Spotify is the clear leader, the app ecosystem on Android remains significantly more fragmented than that of Apple - even when combining downloads from iOS, iPadOS and macOS.
June 29, 2023:
    Spotify will announce today that the company now lists over 100,000 video podcasts on the platform: the most video shows are produced in the US, Brazil, Mexico, the UK and Germany. In the Philippines, video podcasts account for over half of all podcast consumption - and adding video gets you more listeners who stick around longer, the company says. Spotify doesn't support open video RSS feeds though, and requires video uploads to be made via Spotify for Podcasters (though you no longer need to host your audio podcast with them). 100,000 shows represents less than 2% of Spotify's total podcast catalogue.
June 27, 2023:
    When asked which platform listeners use most often for podcasts, Spotify is #1 with 34%; YouTube #2 with 24% and Apple Podcasts #3 with 11%. (Apple Podcasts isn't on Android; Kantar says Android has a 51.6% share in Australia).
June 26, 2023:
    Former head of Spotify's Parcast, Max Cutler, spoke to Foundr magazine about what's next in podcasting. He appears to gently criticise Spotify; suggesting that it's a mistake to go after Hollywood talent, and discussing the slowness of decisions at the company. Shows that are "resourceful" rather than entertaining are what's next, he suggests.
June 23, 2023:
June 22, 2023:
June 21, 2023:
June 20, 2023:
June 19, 2023:
    Archewell, the podcast company owned by Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, will not have its contract renewed with Spotify. The decision was mutual, according to a statement. However, speaking on his podcast, Bill Simmons (who is a senior Spotify podcast executive) called them "fucking grifters".
June 16, 2023:
June 15, 2023:
    In Sweden, Spotify has been fined more than US $5mn (58mn SEK) for not adequately explaining how it uses personal customer data, particularly in languages other than English. The Swedish Authority for Privacy Protection said that "it has been difficult for individuals to understand how their personal data is processed and to check whether the handling of their personal data is legal."
June 14, 2023:
June 13, 2023:
June 12, 2023:
June 9, 2023:
June 8, 2023:
June 7, 2023:
June 6, 2023:
    Spotify is to cut 200 jobs from its podcasting division. The company says that's 2% of Spotify's global workforce; but these are substantial cuts to the podcast division. While Spotify couldn't tell us how many staff work in podcasting overall, various reports suggest Gimlet has around 125 employees, Parcast has about 40, and The Ringer about 120.
June 5, 2023:
June 2, 2023:
May 31, 2023:
May 29, 2023:
May 26, 2023:
May 25, 2023:
May 24, 2023:
    BBC Sounds has announced a set of new shows, and that the BBC is to work with Spotify's Megaphone to "recommend relevant content to audiences on other podcast platforms in the UK". The deal means that Spotify's Megaphone will programmatically schedule trailers, for UK listeners, on BBC shows carried on third-party platforms. The BBC has confirmed to Podnews that this does not affect the BBC's deal with Acast for monetising their shows outside the UK.
May 23, 2023:
May 22, 2023:
    "I'm never going to click a podcast app to try and get into podcasting [for the first time]." Spotify's CEO Daniel Ek spoke to the Acquired podcast in a Spotify studio in Stockholm, and focuses on podcasts. Ek describes why podcasts are in the main Spotify app, rather than in a separate one; and when asked if Spotify should pay podcast creators, he replies that the company's goal is to be "the best partner for creators". (It's also in video).
May 17, 2023:
    A new podcast search experience in Google is being rolled out in the US. Users on mobile who search for generic terms like "kids podcasts" or "news podcasts" now get individual podcast cards, which, when clicked on, include links to players: Spotify, Apple Podcasts and Google Podcasts. The podcast pages also contain recent episode titles (and display on tablets as well as phones). Links to Apple Podcasts appear on Android, too (taking you to the web experience); the new search experience does not contain any podcast links to YouTube.
May 16, 2023:
    The Made by Google podcast returned yesterday (switching hosts from Podigee to Acast). The announcement tells us to "subscribe on Google Podcasts (of course), Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts". The newest podcast platform made by Google is, of course, YouTube, but this podcast from Google hasn't been uploaded there.
May 15, 2023:
    A conference focused on branded podcasts is on right now in Milan, Italy - Called Give Your Brand A Voice and run by the OBE Podcast Committee, the conference includes speakers from Sky, Campari, Spotify Italy, and Podnews.
May 12, 2023:
    In the Podnews Weekly Review this week, we hear from two different companies doing "broadcast to podcast" - Triton's Omny Studio and Spotify's Megaphone. Plus, we get a preview of the Podcast Show 2023 in London.
May 11, 2023:
May 10, 2023:
May 9, 2023:
May 8, 2023:
May 5, 2023:
    Want some more numbers? The Podnews Daily podcast did 70,427 downloads in April on podcast platforms; and got 653 views on YouTube (an additional 0.9%). More than Spotify, though - it might be the biggest podcast platform by reach, but we had just 492 "starts" according to the Spotify for Podcasters dashboard.
May 3, 2023:
    Spotify for Podcasters is rolling out the company's monetisation programs, Automated Ads and Ambassador Ads, to more countries. As part of a closed beta, the company will reach out to select podcasters in the UK and Australia to invite them to take part: they plan to test more markets later this year.
May 2, 2023:
May 1, 2023:
April 28, 2023:
    Rogan and renewals and corrections: Our correction yesterday hopefully had the context to make it clear that Spotify pointed out that Joe Rogan's podcast is not up for renewal this year. They wouldn't tell us when it is up for renewal: it might have been renewed already, or it could be up for renewal next year. Sorry for our loose writing yesterday, which we've corrected on the web version. Trust us, if we discovered that Rogan's show wasn't being renewed, it wouldn't have been buried in a one-line correction in the middle of a newsletter.
April 27, 2023:
    Correction: Joe Rogan's contract isn't up for renewal this year, Spotify tells Podnews following our story yesterday. Spotify wouldn't tell us any more details, though. 🤔
April 26, 2023:
    Spotify released its Q1/23 financial report. Podcast revenue grew by nearly 20%, "driven by Original and Exclusive podcasts where sold impressions grew strong double-digits and CPMs increased high single-digits. The Spotify Audience Network saw double digit Q/Q growth in participating publishers and shows."
April 25, 2023:
April 24, 2023:
    Spotify is the most popular platform in the country (by reach), with BBC Sounds, YouTube, and then Apple Podcasts also in the top platforms.
April 21, 2023:
    Spotify believes that podcast advertising could be easier and more efficient for ad buyers. In an interview to be published later today for the Podcast Business Journal, Nina Harvey says the Spotify Audience Network is "able to bring to an advertiser a single buying point to supply an efficient way to access audiences at scale." You can subscribe to the Podcast Business Journal here.
April 20, 2023:
    Spotify's All Ears summit is taking place in Berlin, Germany. The largest German podcast summit, the event features six simultaneous tracks including keynotes and panels, and has 1,800 people attending today, including all major publishers - "an open event just like we're an open platform", Spotify's GM for Europe, Michael Krause, told Podnews. Javier Piñol, Global Head of Markets for Talk Content at Spotify, is interviewing our Editor, James Cridland, on stage later.
April 19, 2023:
    A generally held truth is that none of Spotify's The Ringer shows are exclusive to the platform. That's not quite true: The Ringer MMA Show has been mainly exclusive on Spotify. The show was once produced on Spotify Greenroom; it appears to now be made using Twitter Spaces.
April 18, 2023:
April 17, 2023:
April 14, 2023:
April 13, 2023:
April 12, 2023:
April 10, 2023:
April 7, 2023:
    Podtrac measures participating publishers only, and doesn't measure either Spotify's podcast studios nor SiriusXM.
April 5, 2023:
April 4, 2023:
April 3, 2023:
March 30, 2023:
    Highlighting the stories of never before told Jewish entrepreneurs who overcame the odds and built legendary businesses, Big Shot launches today - a podcast that looks like a documentary and feels like a conversation at a deli. Hosted by Harley Finkelstein (Shopify) and David Segal (DAVIDsTEA), the show is also in video on YouTube and Spotify.
March 28, 2023:
March 27, 2023:
March 24, 2023:
March 23, 2023:
March 22, 2023:
    Audiobooks are now available to Spotify users in Canada. The company says the catalogue has reached more than 350,000 audiobook titles. It's available in English and French, marking the first time that Spotify has launched audiobooks to a non-English audience - it's joining US, UK, Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand.
March 21, 2023:
March 20, 2023:
March 17, 2023:
March 16, 2023:
    YouTube Music on the Google Play store has more than a billion downloads on Android. (That makes it ten times more downloaded than Google Podcasts.) However, it has 1m ratings on iOS (Spotify has 25m) and 4.56m reviews on Android (Spotify has 28m).
March 15, 2023:
March 14, 2023:
March 13, 2023:
    Data: Exclusive: Who's biggest? Spotify is biggest for total listeners to podcasts, but Apple is biggest for downloads, according to new US data from Podtrac. The company also reveals that Spotify has the lowest number of episode requests per listener, at just three: Apple Podcasts users download more than nine times as many.
March 10, 2023:
    Our Editor James Cridland shared the results of the Podnews Report Card at Podcast Movement. We'll have this data in full in Monday's Podnews; but overall, Apple has increased its lead over Spotify as the most favoured podcast platform used by podcast creators. YouTube is eagerly awaited by many publishers; and Google Podcasts saw a disappointing fall in ratings from those in the industry.
March 9, 2023:
    Anchor, the free podcast host, is now called Spotify for Podcasters. The new podcast hosting service from Spotify includes automated ads (US-only, invite-only), and podcast subscriptions (in 34 markets). Spotify will now allow any podcaster to use Q&A and polls - wherever they're hosted.
March 7, 2023:
March 3, 2023:
March 2, 2023:
February 28, 2023:
February 27, 2023:
February 24, 2023:
February 23, 2023:
February 22, 2023:
    In another high-profile management change, Max Cutler is to leave Spotify. The founder of Parcast, he was Head of Audio Talk Shows and Partnerships, reported to oversee Joe Rogan's contract among others. He'd posted positive thoughts on the industry recently. There'll be more reorganisation as a result - Julie McNamara will now supervise licensed exclusives, and Bryan Thoensen will oversee third-party content partnerships. Bill Simmons will have more of a focus on podcast monetisation.
February 16, 2023:
February 15, 2023:
    In Toronto ON, Canada, the police have made 24 Shades of Blue, a podcast giving the Toronto community a behind-the-scenes view of police activities. A CBC investigation has discovered that the interview show, produced by Obie & Ax Inc ("North America's leading podcast production firm"), has cost more than $330,000 so far in a sole-source contract. That money hasn't gone on hosting though: Podnews can tell you that the show's on Spotify's free podcast host Anchor.
February 14, 2023:
February 13, 2023:
February 10, 2023:
February 8, 2023:
February 7, 2023:
February 6, 2023:
February 3, 2023:
    Companies like Spotify and Amazon are "ultimately bad for podcasting," according to "Chief TWiT" and longtime podcaster Leo Laporte. Speaking in today's Podnews Weekly Review, he says: "Their complete model is to get you to listen in their app so that they know everything about you. They know exactly what you listen to, when you listen to it, how many times you listen to it, and which ads are listened to, and they want to sell that information ... Advertisers foolishly, I think, want that information." You can hear his interview in full.
February 2, 2023:
February 1, 2023:
January 31, 2023:
    Harley Quinn and The Joker: Sound Mind is new today on Spotify, in partnership with DC and Warner Bros. The seven-episode series is the highly-anticipated second project to be released as part of Spotify’s multi-year agreement with DC, and Warner Bros. following the global sensation, Batman Unburied. It stars Christina Ricci and Billy Magnussen.
January 30, 2023:
    The Times carries a long article behind the paywall: Party’s over at Spotify as celebrity podcast deals fall flat. Will Page, former chief economist at Spotify, is quoted as saying: “I think podcasts were a natural extension for an audio company to go into. What I think we’re struggling to understand is that podcasts are really a sea of niches. They are not like every other media model in the world where you’ve traditionally had a small handful of blockbusters that dominate demand.”
January 27, 2023:
January 25, 2023:
January 24, 2023:
January 23, 2023:
    Seven audio workers have been laid off by Vox Media, reports Vox Media's Hot Pod, including the team producing Cover Story. Vox Media declined to give exact figures. Around 130 people were laid off in total, or 7% of the workforce. Spotify is also to cut staff this week, according to Bloomberg.
January 20, 2023:

Thank you to Gilded Audio, who have become our latest supporter today. The only award-winning podcast production studio to ever send us a picture of their logo in cheese, they describe themselves as good-natured and trustworthy, producing shows for Spotify, Audible, Accenture and Chobani (so we assume a picture of their logo in greek yoghurt is coming soon). You can be like them - not the cheese but the support - by following this link.

January 19, 2023:
January 16, 2023:
January 13, 2023:
    46% of podcast listeners say they prefer listening to podcasts with video, according to a Morning Consult survey. Among the reasons why: "to see facial expressions and reactions from the hosts and guests", and "to better focus on the podcast". The same survey unsurprisingly puts YouTube as the most preferred podcast platform among podcast listeners; Spotify, Apple Podcasts and then Pandora.
January 11, 2023:
    "If you are a creator or entrepreneur, there has never been a better time for you," says Spotify's Max Cutler in a LinkedIn post today, designed to combat what he calls "pessimistic industry views around the future of podcasting". However, he predicts that "there will be desperate M&A activity this year as companies with fundamentally bad business models will flirt with going bankrupt."
January 6, 2023:
    Spotify has lost an exclusive podcast. Brené Brown has released the final episodes of Unlocking Us and Dare to Lead after the company didn't renew a two year deal. Brown paused her podcasts during the controversy about Joe Rogan's comments earlier in the year; she's taking a break from podcasting for now.
January 3, 2023:
    Exclusive: Spotify appears to have enhanced chapter support within the Spotify podcasts app. Nic Ivanov, founder of Vizzy, notes that there's a new Chapters section in an episode page, and chapter marks and titles within a new player which is rolling out to both iOS (above) and Android. However, Spotify isn't supporting either ID3 embedded chapters, nor chapters via the new podcast namespace: instead, Spotify uses timestamps in the episode description, much like YouTube. See these chapters in action on Spotify in the Decorating by the Book podcast, which Vizzy has helped build.
January 2, 2023:
December 30, 2022:
    Podcast producer David Rosen releases a new album of instrumental music today, called More Content (YouTube Music|Spotify). In the Piecing It Together Podcast today - an album length commentary track featuring the songs from the new album, with Rosen recounting the stories behind the music.
December 29, 2022:
    While neither Apple or Spotify support the new podcast:transcript tag yet, transcripts are supported on websites and in some new podcast apps: so Dan Barnett has evaluated about 15 different tools so far. He wrote about the first few on his website, including Microsoft Word and OtterAI. "Would be great to know if anyone is interested in these kind of comparisons to convince me to keep going and speed it up!" he tells us. We're interested.
December 28, 2022:
December 26, 2022:
    In Podcasting 2.0 this week, Adam Curry notes that he's not hearing many ads on some big shows; Adam's views on Dawn Ostroff from Spotify's recent interview; and the show notes also include a picture of Dave's window.
December 23, 2022:
December 22, 2022:
December 21, 2022:
    Variety interviews Spotify's Dawn Ostroff. She talks about Joe Rogan, though doesn't say whether he's going to sign again at the end of 2023 - or Meghan Markle, come to that. She promises to cancel shows on a regular basis, as they do in TV, she says.
December 20, 2022:
December 19, 2022:
December 16, 2022:

The Meteor, Spotify, HBO, Apple, VOX, The Daily, Crimetown, The New York Times, Pivot, California Love and Dustlight, to name a few. Help them continue celebrating the most innovative, creative, and transformative work that shapes the online zeitgeist.

December 14, 2022:
    Spotify also uses "follow"; so between them, more than two-thirds of podcasts are already consumed using a service that uses the phrase "follow". Listeners follow shows to add them to their Library, receive new episodes, and be notified when they’re available. They can subscribe to support their favorite shows and unlock premium audio experiences.
December 12, 2022:
December 9, 2022:
December 7, 2022:
    SXM Media is, once more, #1 for podcasts according to Edison Podcast Metrics data for the 12 months ending Q3/22. Spotify is down to #2, while iHeartMedia is #3. The data was produced by surveying 11,675 listeners from across the US.
December 5, 2022:
December 2, 2022:
    Data: Spotify's Anchor continues to lose market share: it was down to 21.6% of all new podcast episodes in November. However, Spotify's overall market share remains the same after Megaphone posted the biggest share increase in the top 15 podcast hosts.
December 1, 2022:
November 30, 2022:
    A number of shows disappeared from Spotify yesterday. It was a bug, which they've since rectified.
November 25, 2022:
November 24, 2022:
    Audiobooks are now available on Spotify in the UK, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. They'd launched in the US in September.
November 22, 2022:
    Spotify's Anchor has added "audio enhancement" to its app. The company says "A single tap can automatically reduce background noise while leveling your voice and bringing it to the forefront." Alternatives are Auphonic, which is used by a number of podcast hosts, and Descript's "studio sound".
November 21, 2022:
November 18, 2022:
    Spotify has signed another exclusive: Anything Goes with Emma Chamberlain, described as one of the world’s most listened-to podcasts, will be exclusive on Spotify early next year. The deal includes video podcasts. The show was with UTA and Cadence13's Ramble Podcast Network, and is another loss for owner Audacy which is threatened with stock market de-listing.
November 17, 2022:
November 16, 2022:
    Spotify has released video podcasts everywhere - "in 180 global markets". Spotify and Anchor's blog posts, made in July, have been updated. Until now they've only been in twelve markets; the proprietary service launched in April.
November 11, 2022:
November 10, 2022:
November 3, 2022:
November 2, 2022:
October 28, 2022:
October 26, 2022:
    Spotify has reported its Q3/22 earnings. It has 456m monthly active users (up 20% y-on-y). Ad revenue, led by podcasting, is up 19% y-on-y and 7% q-on-q, at €385m (12.8% of the company's total revenue). The company lost €228m in the quarter; they predict a loss of €300m in Q4 (but suggest they may also raise their prices, following Apple's price hike).
October 25, 2022:
October 24, 2022:
October 21, 2022:
    Spotify now indexes 5,523,475 podcasts, according to an app notification. We notice that Distractible was the #1 show on Spotify yesterday in the US, rather than Rogan.
October 19, 2022:
October 18, 2022:
October 17, 2022:
    Still with attribution, Podscribe has launched what they call independent, third-party attribution for advertising. The company already offers verification and reporting. (Independent? Third party? Both attribution companies Chartable and Podsights are owned by Spotify).
October 14, 2022:
October 13, 2022:

Can you help us grow? So far in October, we've welcomed 293 new subscribers from companies like Spotify, NPR, Pandora, Nova Entertainment, the Washington Post, TED, the BBC and Veritone. At the time of writing, we're on 24,963 subscribers. We'd quite like to be 25,000 by the end of this week, because that's a nicer number. Can you help by mentioning us on your favourite social networking platform, or telling your colleagues? We'll be your friend for life.%%promo-end%%

October 11, 2022:
October 10, 2022:
    The Gimlet Union and Parcast Union have tweeted a statement about the 38 layoffs across Spotify. They say that some shows lost as much as three-quarters of their audience when going exclusive; and that employees were given as little as an hour to close out their work and leave. Parcast Union has tweeted some of its members who are now available for hire.
October 7, 2022:
    Exclusive: Launched in September 2020 by Spotify, Sex, Lies and DM Slides appears to have relaunched with new hosts - without the knowledge of the podcasters who say they created the show. Gizzi Erskine has posted on Instagram that the show, made by Spotify UK, "is being made again without us". "If Spotify don’t want to make it with us - then that’s fine, but DO NOT STEAL our format and name. WE created it (the format and name) in MY kitchen over a series of months. Spotify just paid for it to be made. I am absolutely up to my […] eyeballs at being exploited by the big corporations and money people. We are SO angry and upset", she continues in the post, noting that the original shows have been removed.
October 6, 2022:
    Spotify has acquired platform safety company Kinzen. "The technology the Kinzen team brings to Spotify combines machine learning and human expertise - backed by analysis from leading local academics and journalists - to analyze potential harmful content and hate speech in multiple languages and countries." Kinzen is based in Dublin, Ireland; no terms were given.
October 5, 2022:
October 4, 2022:
    Apple Podcasts is still in the lead in Australia, according to new data from the Australian Podcast Ranker, revealed at Podcast Day 24. Apple accounts for 46% of all downloads for shows in the ranker, according to the data; Spotify for 19%. The data covers over 750 million downloads for the year ending June 2022.
October 3, 2022:
    Spotify released a Fan Study for podcast creators. Fans who "follow" (aka subscribe to) your podcast will listen to 4x the number of episodes of those who don't, says the data; and episode completion rate varies from genre to genre, with true crime and fiction podcasts having the highest completion rates (at about 87%), while tech shows have one of the lowest (about 72%). Also in new research, The State of Branded Podcasts 2022 Report was released by CoHost, a podcast hosting company. Two-thirds of branded podcasts post every week, says that data.
September 30, 2022:
September 29, 2022:
    After announcing a move to Times Radio earlier this week, podcast and radio presenters Jane Garvey and Fi Glover have been confirmed as speakers for next Tuesday's Podcast Day 24 in London. Podcast Day 24 in Sydney will also include Spotify's new signings Toni and Ryan, and Waleed Aly. Tickets to each event include catchup from the other side of the planet: PODN1215 will get you around half price.
September 28, 2022:
September 26, 2022:
September 22, 2022:
    Are European telcos harnessing digital audio’s full potential? WARC and Spotify have released research on how digital audio channels are being adopted within the media mixes of European telecom brands. While digital audio has over 17% share of total media consumption in the UK, France, Germany, Italy and Spain, the report claims that the spend on digital audio as a percentage of telcos’ total spend in 2021 was below 0.6% in each market. The report is a free download here.
September 21, 2022:
September 20, 2022:
September 19, 2022:
September 16, 2022:
    What happens if you make a show and put it live without any marketing at all? Danny Brown tells Podnews that following a story about white noise being popular… "I launched a white noise podcast on June 15, and put zero promotion or marketing behind it. No sharing, no talking about it to anyone, nothing. Just under 3 months later, it had reached 1,000 downloads with over 400 unique listeners. It's not a huge amount, but does show that maybe a new show in a popular niche can still get results with zero marketing."
September 15, 2022:
September 14, 2022:
    Spotify is the top podcast network in the US based on reach, according to new data from Edison Research. The data measures total listeners to shows from each podcast publisher for the 12 months ending June 30 2022. Spotify's numbers include Spotify Originals, as well as shows from The Ringer, Gimlet, Parcast and others. iHeartRadio remains in third place, behind SXM Media.
September 13, 2022:
September 12, 2022:
September 9, 2022:
    Exclusive: Toni and Ryan, Spotify's big new signings in Australia, have just been confirmed for Podcast Day 24 in Sydney on Oct 4. They'll be interviewed by Spotify's Prithi Dey. Part of the global Podcast Day 24 event, use code P24partnerZ1 for a discount.
September 8, 2022:
September 7, 2022:
September 5, 2022:
September 2, 2022:
August 31, 2022:
August 26, 2022:
    At the time of writing, Meghan Markle's podcast has made it to #1 on Spotify in the US. It's relatively unusual to see anything but Rogan on the top spot.
August 25, 2022:
August 24, 2022:
    Spotify and Archewell Audio have released the highly anticipated original podcast series Archetypes, with Meghan, The Duchess of Sussex. The first episode and trailer are available now; the show is produced by Gimlet.
August 23, 2022:
August 22, 2022:
August 19, 2022:
August 18, 2022:
August 17, 2022:
August 16, 2022:
August 11, 2022:
    Spotify is adding additional filter tabs in its app to allow users to choose separated views for podcasts or music from the front page. (Contrary to reports, it isn't separating podcasts and music - just allowing users to see an additional view that does that.)
August 8, 2022:
August 5, 2022:
August 4, 2022:
August 3, 2022:
    The music industry is set for a dramatic post-lockdown comeback, suggests Will Page, the former Chief Economist of Spotify and PRS for Music. The average music artist saw a cut in income of 70% in 2020, but Page argues there's a "coiled spring" of demand for live events. (The same could be said for podcast live events, too).
August 1, 2022:
    Good news: Spotify's Chartable has a new Spotify integration - promising a more reliable connection with Spotify stats. Bad news: you've got until Friday before the old integration goes away.
July 29, 2022:
    New from Spotify (and an exclusive), The RapCaviar Podcast is a weekly show extending Spotify's most influential playlist in hip-hop, RapCaviar. It's hosted by Brandon "Jinx" Jenkins, and launched yesterday.
July 28, 2022:
    Spotify published its Q2/21 financial report. which out-performed market expectation. Ignoring currency fluctuations, ad-supported revenue (including podcasting) is up 31%; the platform now has 4.4m podcasts. "The number of (monthly active users) that engaged with podcasts grew in the substantial double-digits Y/Y and per user podcast consumption rates continued to rise," though no numbers were given.
July 26, 2022:
July 25, 2022:
July 21, 2022:
    NYT best-selling author Heather McGhee is to host The Sum of Us, a new podcast on Spotify from Higher Ground. The show is a road trip from rural Maine to the California coast, looking at the real impact of inequality and racism on everyday Americans. It's one of the remaining shows on Spotify from the Obama's production company; they signed a deal with Amazon's Audible in June.
July 20, 2022:
July 19, 2022:
July 18, 2022:
July 15, 2022:
    Next Stop, Nonstop is new from Erica Gregory, promoting the importance of travelling and mental wellness for women. The show is available everywhere, including in video on Spotify.
July 14, 2022:
July 13, 2022:
July 12, 2022:
July 11, 2022:
July 8, 2022:
July 6, 2022:
    Buzzsprout's data for June shows a small drop for consumption share via Apple Podcasts: down from 40.7% to 39.4%. Spotify has increased by a percentage point to 26.4%.
July 5, 2022:
June 30, 2022:
June 29, 2022:
June 28, 2022:
    The number of open video podcasts are on the rise. In November last year, Podcast Index listed 39,194 video podcasts. As of June this year, Podnews can reveal the number had grown by over a quarter to 50,863. We measured these by looking for enclosure files with the extension mov, mp4 or m4v, the three filetypes Apple Podcasts supports. Apple has recently put video podcasts in the spotlight again; Spotify launched its own proprietary video podcasts tool in April (which we can't measure).
June 27, 2022:
June 24, 2022:
    This isn't really the place for our own opinions, but we'd suggest the official buttons for Apple, Spotify and Google Podcasts should be on any podcast website.
June 23, 2022:

SECURITY ADVISORY: If you are a podcast host or directory, and have any redirects or links pointing to panoply(dot)fm feeds or websites, we would suggest removing them to protect your visitors (and your SEO). Spotify, which now owns Panoply - now known as Megaphone - allowed this domain name to lapse earlier this year, and it has been purchased by a company that hosts viruses and malware. We've removed all links.

June 22, 2022:
June 17, 2022:
    Does Spotify use playback data to help its studios spy on the competition? HotPod Insider quotes Bill Simmons, Spotify's Global Head of Sports Content, in the Recode Media podcast this week, suggesting it's part of their process (our bold): “One of the reasons we wanted to go to Spotify was they have an incredible war chest of intelligence on the habits of people who listen to podcasts, right? So if we like a certain podcast, we can actually go and see how many people are listening to it. If we feel like there’s a piece of kind of turf available, then that can inform — like who’s in that turf, who’s doing well, can we beat this, can we have a bigger audience than this.”
June 16, 2022:
June 15, 2022:
    The Reuters Institute and University of Oxford has released the Digital News Report 2022. Interviewing a total of 92,000 people across 46 countries, the data shows podcasting use is growing again after a pause due to the pandemic. Spotify is continuing to gain ground over Apple and Google Podcasts, and YouTube also shows increasing use. Now, 34% of people in surveyed countries listen to podcasts (up from 31% in 2021): they are most popular in Ireland, Sweden and Norway. Choice quote: "In our qualitative research in both the UK and US, it was striking how many younger people regularly listen to The Joe Rogan Experience, even as they worry about some of the content."
June 14, 2022:
June 13, 2022:
June 10, 2022:
    What were "X, Y and Z" - the new content areas mentioned in Spotify's Investor Day briefings? Just listen to Alex Norström, as Audiobooks, then "X, Y and Z" appear on-screen: "There are additional markets and verticals that we believe are natural fits for our platform and audience. There’s Audiobooks. There’s News, Sports and Education. Those are vast markets."
June 9, 2022:
    Spotify held a virtual Investors Day, with speakers from the company including Maya Prohovnik, above. The company said it brought in around €200m ($215m) in podcast revenue last year. Podcasting lost the company €103m ($110m), though is expected to turn a profit within two years.
June 8, 2022:
June 7, 2022:
June 6, 2022:
    The only global statistics produced to the IAB standard, Buzzsprout's download stats suggest that Apple Podcasts is still growing. Apple had 40.7% of all downloads in May, vs Spotify's 25.3% (and Google Podcasts's 2.5%). Separate data from other sources suggest that Spotify reaches more people, though.
June 3, 2022:
June 2, 2022:
June 1, 2022:
May 31, 2022:
    One of podcasting's largest hosting companies, Megaphone, was down for more than nine hours. All the Spotify-owned company's audio and RSS feeds disappeared at 8pm Eastern on Monday, after a certificate expired. In our tests, the feeds were restored at 5.39am Eastern this morning; the status page notes it fixed at 5.54am. Spotify hasn't returned our requests for comment.
May 30, 2022:
    Last week we reported that Spotify is to bring back political ads. Protocol notes that they'll not be available within Spotify's music service: just Spotify's podcast network.
May 27, 2022:
May 26, 2022:
May 25, 2022:
May 24, 2022:
    Campari Group has suspended all advertising with Spotify, following an error we reported yesterday promoting Campari's Wild Turkey whiskey brand on a number of podcast pages. In the company's statement, it says "We are disappointed that the implementation of the campaign by Spotify was inconsistent with our advertising code and have paused all media with Spotify pending results of the investigation".
May 23, 2022:
May 20, 2022:
    YouTube is now the most popular podcast app in the US, according to new data from Signal Hill Insights. The data suggests that listeners prefer podcasts with video. The question was "Which of the following places do you use the most to access the podcasts you listen to"; YouTube got 24.2%, Spotify 23.8%, and Apple Podcasts got 16% (despite being unavailable on Android).
May 19, 2022:
May 18, 2022:
May 13, 2022:
May 11, 2022:
May 10, 2022:
    Spotify has published its Swedish Podcast Report 2022. 54% of Swedish people from 18-79 listen to podcasts regularly; 60% say they listen on Spotify; SR Play is #2, and Apple Podcasts is #3.
May 9, 2022:
May 6, 2022:
May 5, 2022:
    Of interest, Anchor artwork appears as Google's Knowledge Graph image for My Favorite Murder, rather than the real podcast image. On Spotify, a search for "My Favorite Murder" takes you to a poorly produced music album by "Penny Bank", called "Murder Podcasts", with somebody reading out a critique of podcast artwork over a cheap electronic drumbeat; and a set of more than ten playlists with the artwork and shows jumbled up into a random order. "Spotify respects the rights of intellectual property owners", they say, though when we tried to find that quote, Spotify's main website had fallen over.
May 4, 2022:
May 3, 2022:
    Announced in Apr 2021, and initially a Spotify-powered player, Facebook's podcast player appeared in Jun 2021, though it was only ever available in the US. It could be that Spotify's public content moderation issues had given the company second thoughts. It's a blow for podcasting, though.
May 2, 2022:
    More than a quarter of new podcast episodes published in April were on Anchor, according to data from John Spurlock: Spotify's free podcast host was responsible for 25.8% of all new podcast episodes in April, breaking 25% for the first time. The rest of the top five were Buzzsprout, Spreaker, Libsyn, and at #5, Podbean which overtook Omny Studio last month. More ranking detail in The Tech Stuff, below.
April 29, 2022:
April 28, 2022:
    Are you selling access to your show? The free ride for Spotify’s paid podcast subscription service is coming to an end. In Spotify’s earnings call yesterday, Daniel Ek said that from 2023, the company will take a 5% cut (plus payment costs). Apple Podcasts takes 30% (including them).
April 27, 2022:
    Breaking: Spotify has just released its financial results for Q1/22. "Growth in the number of (Monthly Active Users) that engaged with podcast content continued to outstrip total MAU growth, podcast consumption rates grew in the double digits Y/Y, and podcast share of overall consumption hours on our platform reached another all-time high," the company says. The company also reports "a favorable revenue mix shift towards podcasts and growing marketplace activity".
April 25, 2022:
    Podbean appears to be seeing a large number of migrations away from the service, according to our sample: a large amount making their way to Anchor. Worthwhile also noting AfterBuzzTV switching from Anchor to Megaphone; and our sample continuing to see iHeart podcasts shifting from Spotify's Megaphone to iHeart's Omny Studio.
April 22, 2022:
April 21, 2022:
    Spotify is the clear leader for "apps and websites used to listen to podcasts" - in terms of people, with 41% of respondents claiming to use it. BBC Sounds and YouTube are #2 and #3, with Apple Podcasts at #4 with 23%.
April 20, 2022:
April 19, 2022:
April 18, 2022:
April 15, 2022:
April 14, 2022:
April 13, 2022:
April 11, 2022:
April 8, 2022:
April 7, 2022:
    PodMov Daily writes that Archewell Audio is applying for a trademark for "Archetypes", which is apparently the title of Meghan Markle's long-awaited Spotify podcast. PM have posted the class 9 & 41 application. We think it might focus on "the fields of cultural treatment of women and stereotypes facing women", given that phrase appears in the application twenty times. Here's more about trademarks for your podcast in the Podnews® website.
April 5, 2022:
April 4, 2022:
    Spurlock has also published the top episode trackers for March. Both Podsights and Chartable saw an increase in market share, despite their purchase by Spotify.
March 31, 2022:
March 30, 2022:
March 29, 2022:
    Apple Podcast Connect has a new terms of service document. Comparing the old and the new, we notice new clauses about the "right to label or remove" your shows (¶1); a new clause about confidentiality (¶4); and a new license clause (¶8). It may allow Apple in future to label shows (as Spotify are doing for COVID-19), and promote guests on your show.
March 28, 2022:
    Spotify is working on a brand new podcast interface. Spotted by Chris Messina, who posted a screen recording archived by Podnews here, the new interface adds a dedicated Podcasts tab, vertical scrolling, and live captions for all shows. Messina is running a pre-release version of Spotify; it's unclear when this will be released, if at all. #exciting
March 25, 2022:
March 23, 2022:
    Chartable is deprecating its SmartAds product, starting this week. June 30, 2022 will be the last day that new impressions tagged with Chartable SmartAds will be measurable; you'll be offered the opportunity to switch to Podsights. Both companies were bought by Spotify earlier this year.
March 21, 2022:
    Who are they? Webster didn't spell those out in his post, but here's the data, released last month. The four biggest, now reaching 50% of all weekly podcast listeners, are SXM Media, Spotify, iHeartRadio and NPR.
March 18, 2022:
March 17, 2022:
March 16, 2022:
    Am I leaving Spotify? That question is dumb, says the writer Damon Young, writing in The Washington Post. Mind - he thinks lots of other things are dumb, including the fact that "a man best known for hosting a show where people ate rats for money is now influential enough to cause a company to lose $2 billion in market value in a single week."
March 15, 2022:
March 14, 2022:
March 11, 2022:
    Profoundly Pointless is celebrating a nomination in The Ambies. The press release starts: "They have celebrities, studios and a wide array of producers, marketers and engineers. Nick VinZant has an iPhone, a trial Canva subscription and a full-time job. But despite these massive differences, VinZant’s show Profoundly Pointless has just been nominated for an Ambie for Best Interview Podcast, alongside Jon Stewart (Apple), Jemele Hill (Spotify) and shows created and promoted by major podcast networks."
March 9, 2022:
March 8, 2022:
March 7, 2022:
March 4, 2022:
    Spotify is removing content from RT and Sputnik, two Kremlin-backed media companies, and closing its office in Russia; but it's keeping Spotify available in the country even without an office there, which in violation of a Russian law.
March 3, 2022:
March 2, 2022:
    Are indie podcast apps gaining ground? Buzzsprout report Apple had 35.7% of all downloads in February (down from 37.2%); Spotify 27.9% (also down from 28%). Google Podcasts has grown to 2.5%; Amazon Music has grown to 0.8%; and Facebook is up slightly to 0.5%. In their official podcast, Buzzsprout also mentions "a big update soon".
March 1, 2022:
February 28, 2022:
February 25, 2022:
February 24, 2022:
    Yesterday, we wondered about Spotify's new auto-downloads feature - here are some more settings screens - and asked Spotify whether it is just a test, and whether the app stops downloading if you stop listening. It's just a test, says Spotify; a spokesperson tells us: "We’re always working to enhance the Spotify experience and we routinely conduct tests to inform our decisions. Some tests end up paving the way for new offerings or enhancements while others may only provide learnings. We don’t have any additional information to share at this time."
February 23, 2022:
    Responding to Spotify purchasing Podsights and Chartable, Bryan Barletta writes this week in Sounds Profitable that "Grading your own homework isn’t third-party measurement," adding "it’ll be a hard case to make to continue using Podsights when your actions in aggregate benefit a tool that is most beneficial to Spotify and their direct clients." You should subscribe to learn why he thinks we need to take collaborative action.
February 22, 2022:
February 21, 2022:
February 18, 2022:
February 17, 2022:
    Spotify has acquired Podsights and Chartable. Spotify describes Podsights as "a leading podcast advertising measurement service that helps advertisers better measure and scale their podcast advertising", and Chartable as "a podcast analytics platform that enables publishers to know and grow their podcast audiences through promotional attribution and audience insight tools". No terms were given.
February 16, 2022:
    Jeff Vidler from Signal Hill Insights is in the latest Broadcast Dialogue podcast, talking about research about attitudes towards Joe Rogan and Spotify's editorial policies.
February 14, 2022:
February 11, 2022:
February 9, 2022:
    Our very own daily podcast, Podnews, is now achieving over 100,000 downloads a month, we're quite excited to note. Our latest data tells us that many of those listens are on smart speaker news briefings, and that Pocket Casts is doing excellently well, though some less well - Spotify (27 listens on Monday), Facebook (20 listens), and Amazon Music (um, 20 fewer than Facebook).
February 8, 2022:
    Exclusive: After the Joe Rogan controversy, 40% of Americans, and 53% of Canadians, think Spotify should exercise editorial control over controversial content. Opinions are highly polarised, however, with 37% of Americans and 24% of Canadians suggesting Rogan should be free to feature whatever guests or commentary he wants. The research, which will be released today, also shows a significant difference of opinion between listeners and non-listeners to the show; and reveals that, in Canada, 29% of paid subscribers are considering cancelling their Spotify subscription because of the controversy. The research was conducted by Signal Hill Insights, before the additional accusations of racial slurs.
February 7, 2022:
February 4, 2022:
February 3, 2022:
    Spotify released its Q4/21 financial results. Total monthly active users grew 18% year-on-year to 406m, and ad revenue grew 40%. The company fell back into operational loss, losing $44m in the quarter, and expect to lose $75m in Q1/22.
February 2, 2022:
February 1, 2022:
    Last week, we quoted Supercast saying they were the only membership service offering Spotify Open Access support to all its podcasters. Supporting Cast also does so. We regret the error.
January 31, 2022:
January 28, 2022:
January 27, 2022:
    Acast was announced as a launch partner for Spotify's Open Access subscription tool in July last year; but Acast+ doesn't work with the tool. Memberful and Libsyn's Glow were also announced as launch partners; but have also yet to roll out support. We hear whispers that Spotify Open Access requires mandatory caching of audio, which cedes considerable control away from podcast hosting companies.
January 25, 2022:
January 24, 2022:
    Castopod joins Spotify, Podchaser and Podnews in adding copious amounts of JSON_LD to podcast pages. Our schema includes RSS feed addresses, descriptions and the podcast:guid.
January 21, 2022:
January 20, 2022:
    Thanks to Spotify, qualifying independent podcast creators can get in for free. Details here.
January 19, 2022:
January 17, 2022:
January 14, 2022:
January 12, 2022:
January 11, 2022:
    Amanda Nazereno has been hired as Director of Education at The Podcast Academy. She was selected for Spotify's first Sound Up! cohort, and has been podcasting since July 2018.
January 10, 2022:
    Rate This Podcast, which offers a simple link to help your listeners rate your show (like ours), now supports Spotify. The company also says that more than 3,500 podcasters have signed up to use the tool.
January 7, 2022:
January 6, 2022:
    Higher Ground, President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama’s media company, has announced a new show. The Big Hit Show "is a thought-provoking exploration of fandom that analyzes some of cultures’ biggest movements that have never been dissected before". It'll start as an exclusive.
January 5, 2022:
    Ashley Carman reports on programmatic ad mis-steps in podcasting. One example: a Spotify Ad Network spot for The Sex Lives of College Girls, which appeared in an APM children's show; APM has since opted out of programmatic ads for these shows.
January 4, 2022:
    Coincidence corner: Last week, we linked to another positive client note from Morgan Stanley about Spotify - fastest-growing music service, #1 platform for unique podcast listeners, satisfaction increasing, etc. Spotify shares rose 0.6% that day. Meanwhile, page 79 of Spotify's financial report discloses that Morgan Stanley owns $3.2bn worth of Spotify shares.
January 3, 2022:
    The Podnews RSS feed is also now paged. Good podcast apps that support paging, like PodcastAddict, will now see all 986 episodes. We've also added all these episodes to Spotify's feed, since it shows them all.
December 31, 2021:
December 28, 2021:
December 27, 2021:
    Spotify quietly updated their Podcast Delivery Specifications last month to v1.9. "Updated wording & added few tags with more allowed values", they say; notably, it now seems to allow AAC audio files, but not for passthrough.
December 23, 2021:
December 21, 2021:
December 20, 2021:
    Thank you if you were one of the fourteen people who rated Podnews on Spotify over the weekend. Except if you were that person who didn't vote five stars. Anyway: visibility of that rating is now rolling out globally; we've had confirmed sightings from Austria,
December 17, 2021:
December 16, 2021:
December 15, 2021:
    Want to advertise on Joe Rogan's podcast through Spotify? The minimum spend is $1 million, according to Ashley Carman in The Verge. Her article suggests buying podcast advertising is changing and becoming more impersonal; that dynamic ads have less value for advertisers, and as you'll read from the links in our show notes and newsletter, podcast publishers are becoming greedy.
December 14, 2021:
December 10, 2021:
    Spotify has responded to our story on Wednesday wondering where their announced shows are, by giving a statement to, er, HotPod Insider. "Many of our agreements are announced at the deal stage and it’s important to recognize that like any production house or studio, building an audio arm takes time and requires significant planning, from hiring the right audio experts with audio specific technical skills, to pre-production, writing, development, casting and recording", says the company.
December 9, 2021:
    Fly Delta? You'll get free Spotify access on Viasat-equipped aircraft from now until Jan 19, including to podcasts - no need to pay for the wifi access. Go podcasting!
December 8, 2021:
December 7, 2021:
    Spotify has pulled a number of comedy albums from its service, after claims they weren't licensed correctly. Meanwhile, Jeff Price has announced a $3.5m investment round for his Word Collections company, which "focuses on getting comedians and other spoken word performers paid for the use of their works for the first time".
December 6, 2021:
    A Sky News investigation in the UK has discovered antisemitism, racism and white supremacist material in podcasts on Spotify. Spotify has removed 150 hours of content after the news channel's report. "In some cases, explicit slurs could be found in episode titles and descriptions while album artwork displayed imagery adopted by white supremacists," the story says. The podcasts are still available on Google Podcasts, it adds.
December 3, 2021:
    Data: The Infinite Dial 2021 for the UK was released. 41% of the UK population (16+) listens to podcasts every month - around 23m people. The data is directly comparable to the US (41%), Canada (38%) and Australia (36%). The data was paid-for by Bauer Media and Spotify. Adam Bowie looks at the data.
December 2, 2021:
    Exclusive: Slate Plus podcasts are now available on Spotify. Through their integration with Supporting Cast, Slate becomes one of the first and largest publishers in the world to distribute paywalled audio through Spotify’s Open Access Platform. Slate's CEO Dan Check told Podnews: “The challenge with premium podcasts has always been offering listeners an easy way to use their preferred podcast app. A large and growing share of our listener base uses Spotify, and Supporting Cast’s integration with the Open Access Platform lets us deliver exclusive content seamlessly to a greater share of our audience.”
December 1, 2021:

Crooked Media, Spotify, The Washington Post, The Daily, Pivot, California Love and Lemonada Media, to name a few.

November 30, 2021:
November 29, 2021:
    Boostagram Corner: Dave Jones thanks us for our daily coverage last week during the US holiday season (2112 sats); Adam Curry gave us 2222 sats, while another person notes that "Spotify has done exactly zero for “podcasting”. You’ve only helped yourself". In total, that's 9,858 sats last week.
November 26, 2021:
November 25, 2021:

Happy Thanksgiving! We're thankful to our supporters and our more than 500 new subscribers so far this month, including people from Podimo, Novel, Samsung, Wondery, Acast, Veritone, Spotify, Squarespace and the BBC.

November 24, 2021:
    Joe Rogan isn't the #1 podcast in Spotify again - The Always Sunny Podcast has beaten Rogan to the top slot. Hosted on Simplecast, it's a fan podcast about It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, a sitcom which returns for a fifteenth season on December 1. (It's not an exclusive show; and while we're sure they're there on merit, we've heard whispers that there's some chart manipulation going on elsewhere in Spotify. We're at editor@podnews.net if you want to give us a tip).
November 23, 2021:
November 22, 2021:
November 19, 2021:
November 18, 2021:
    The Joe Rogan Experience is still #1. Call Her Daddy has climbed, even though it became a Spotify Exclusive in the last quarter; Serial has also climbed a place, in spite of not releasing an episode since 2018. NPR host 19 of the top 50; Megaphone 13; Simplecast 10. The highest new entry is True Crime Garage at #43. The top 10 is 50% hosted by women.
November 17, 2021:
November 15, 2021:
    The Khaleej Times reports from the Dubai PodFest which was held on Sunday at the Dubai Press Club. Over 200 podcasters attended, and the Arab world was said to have great potential for growth. The club also announced an agreement with Spotify, though no more detail was given.
November 12, 2021:
November 10, 2021:
November 8, 2021:
November 4, 2021:
    The current #3 podcast in the UK on Spotify is The RSK Podcast. Podnews can reveal that, hosted on Podbean, it consists of 50 pirated episodes of Ricky Gervais podcasts from 2005-2013, from a user who "just made this as I wanted a way to listen to these myself on Spotify". Some episodes have been downloaded more than 150,000 times. A search for "Ricky Gervais" on Spotify reveals that podcast, as well as another pirated copy of his XFM shows.
November 3, 2021:
November 2, 2021:
November 1, 2021:
    Podnews's news ranker for October shows Spotify overtaking Apple Podcasts, with Acast reaching #3, in terms of total mentions in our newsletter. Adam Curry is the second most-talked-about person in our ranker, which also includes overall gender balance data.
October 29, 2021:
October 28, 2021:
October 27, 2021:
    BREAKING: Spotify have just released their Q3/21 results. They say: "Podcast MAU continued to increase, accelerating relative to Q2 trends. Among MAUs that engaged with podcasts in Q3, consumption trends remained strong (up 20% Y/Y on a per user basis) while month-over-month retention rates continued to trend positively. Podcast share of overall consumption hours on our platform also reached an all-time high during the quarter." We'll have more tomorrow.
October 25, 2021:
    There's a proposed schema․org type of PodcastSeries, which looks interesting. It looks like Spotify and iHeart's individual podcast pages support it: Podnews added support for it over the weekend in our podcast pages too.
October 22, 2021:
October 21, 2021:
    First look: Chartable has just launched Chartable Sales Sheets - a service that combines Chartable's IAB-verified stats with their Audience Demographics service (and Spotify's data, too). Chartable will help you share this independent data with prospective advertisers.
October 20, 2021:
    Spotify is hiring hundreds of ad staff across Europe, Australia and Canada, they've announced. That will include support staff as well as ad sales, we're told by a spokesperson.
October 19, 2021:
    We're... not entirely sure what the company is announcing here. Megaphone tells us that the Spotify Audience Network is not launching there yet; and we're told the platform will continue to be only available in English. It doesn't appear to include any local support (support is "through email or chat"); and we can only find one Megaphone staff member in these countries on LinkedIn: that person is not a new hire. Further, Engle, a French podcast publisher, signed with Megaphone 16 months ago.
October 18, 2021:
    From May, but worth a look - Den Delimarsky posts how to download your podcast analytics data from Spotify. It makes us wonder whether this works using the standard API bearer header. Also - why are we having to jump through these hoops to get API access to data for our own podcast?
October 15, 2021:
October 14, 2021:
October 13, 2021:
    Spotify has launched two new shows about Spotify this month. Spotify: Mic Check launches on Oct 19 with "intimate conversations with musicians and podcasters from around the world, sharing exclusive recordings and personal stories in their own words".
October 12, 2021:
    Exclusive: Spotify is closing in on Apple Podcasts and indie podcast apps are becoming less popular, according to new data released to Podnews by Podtrac today. Calculated from over a billion US podcast downloads in September, for monthly audience, Spotify is now less than three percentage points away from Apple. But, for monthly streams/downloads, Apple is more than seven times larger - and that number's growing.
October 8, 2021:
    Exclusive: A look at the podcast market in Latvia. Andrejs Siliņš tells us that Apple Podcasts is the #4 platform, with just 10% of Latvians saying they use it. Spotify is more than three times as popular; but there's a bigger platform still.
October 7, 2021:
October 6, 2021:
    Want to reach 13-23 year-olds with your podcast? You'll be wanting to promote Spotify, not Apple Podcasts. A Gen-Z survey published by Transistor (and compiled by a Gen-Z'er) shows that Spotify is almost three times more popular than Apple Podcasts - which, in the long run, could "have detrimental effects on both the creators and listeners using Spotify".
October 4, 2021:
October 1, 2021:
September 30, 2021:
September 29, 2021:
September 28, 2021:
September 24, 2021:
September 23, 2021:
September 22, 2021:
September 21, 2021:
September 16, 2021:
September 14, 2021:
September 13, 2021:
September 9, 2021:
    In a client note, Richard Kramer, an analyst from Arete Research has criticised Spotify. "Taking shows exclusive reduces their reach and attractiveness to advertisers," he notes, adding that "few titles are popular enough to bring in new subscribers to offset the loss of ad revenue from greater reach". Creators also face risks in other areas, like event ticket sales, merchandising, or books: Brené Brown's book sales dropped after she became a Spotify exclusive. After focusing on financials, he concludes: "We think Spotify needs new management and a new approach", recommending his customers sell the stock.
September 8, 2021:
September 7, 2021:
September 6, 2021:
    Data: in Germany, the Online Audio Monitor 2021 has been released. 25% of Germans are listening to podcasts at least once a month, a figure that's increased by 26% year-on-year. Spotify is the #1 podcast platform (48.5%), YouTube is #2 (44%), Apple Podcasts is #7 (12.5%), and Google Podcasts is #9 (9.5%). (Thanks, Steffen!)
September 3, 2021:
September 2, 2021:
September 1, 2021:
    The founder of Google Podcasts, Zack Reneau-Wedeen, has left Google. He's now working on cryptocurrency for investment platform Robinhood - though we understand he hadn't been working on podcasts within the company for some time. Gabe Bender, Google Podcasts' product lead, left in April. So who's driving Google Podcasts today? Steve McLendon, a former co-founder of 60dB (which Google bought in 2017), describes himself on Twitter as "working on podcast stuff at Google". The team is also working on a tech refresh of Feedburner.
August 31, 2021:
August 30, 2021:
August 26, 2021:
August 25, 2021:
    Spotify will now let all US-based Anchor podcasters sell podcast subscriptions. They have added more price points, and - if a listener opts-in - publishers will have their email address. Unlike Apple, you can't subscribe in-app: and also unlike Apple, Spotify won't take any revenue cut (after payment platform fees) until 2023, when it'll be just 5%. International listeners gain access to paid content next month; and international creators can sell shows "shortly after".
August 24, 2021:
    How's podcasting doing for Spotify? Internal Spotify podcast consumption data has been leaked to Business Insider. It says that in September 2020, 331.8m hours of podcasts were listened-to on Spotify; 18.7% of that was made by Spotify. But, shows from Spotify's Gimlet (bought for $230m) account for just 0.4% of all podcast listening.
August 23, 2021:
    "Some have pointed out to us that their favorite Spotify-produced podcasts have disappeared from their usual podcast feeds. We wanted to take the time to explain why these changes have been made" - in a blog post, Spotify explains that they get better statistics from exclusive shows. The company has reportedly pulled more shows from other platforms.
August 20, 2021:
August 19, 2021:
August 18, 2021:
August 17, 2021:
August 16, 2021:
August 13, 2021:
August 11, 2021:
    The language you use can make your podcast more successful - and there's proof. Use "I, we, you" not "her, him, them", don't swear, use positive language and don't talk slowly - and people will listen to your show more, according to research by Spotify's Research and Development department. The team published data learnt from transcripts and playback data of over 5,000 English episodes.
August 9, 2021:
August 5, 2021:
August 3, 2021:
July 30, 2021:
July 29, 2021:
    Spotify's podcast ad revenue has jumped 627% year-on-year, according to their revenue announcement today: Joe Rogan and Megaphone helping the increase. We learnt that Podz cost the company $53.4m; and Greenroom $67.7m. The company appears to have stopped reporting the number of monthly users who listen to podcasts. They have 365m monthly users; last we heard, 25% of them (91m) listen to podcasts.
July 28, 2021:
July 27, 2021:
    Spotify has added a "what's new" feed, containing new podcast episodes and music from people you're following. You'll find it by tapping the bell on the home tab; it's rolling out to all users.
July 26, 2021:
July 23, 2021:
    Spotify Greenroom records in 64kbps 48kHz mono MP3, in case you're wondering.
July 21, 2021:
July 20, 2021:
    A wildly popular German podcast, Herrengedeck, is to close. The award-winning show started in 2016 and was often a #1 in the Apple Podcast charts; it became a Spotify Exclusive in September 2019, where it became the fifth most streamed podcast worldwide on Spotify. The hosts announced it will end in July.
July 16, 2021:
    Listening to fiction podcasts have grown by as much as 338% in Sweden in the past year, according to Karin Bäckmark, Spotify's Nordic podcast manager (pictured, left). The company has announced a new audio drama, called De Fria, which will start recording on location near Nynäshamn in September. It'll be released in 2022, and will be directed by award-winning director Peter Grönlund (pictured, right), produced by Munck Media.
July 15, 2021:
July 14, 2021:
    Fiction podcasts are growing in Asia, with the launch of Fey Hollow: The Fairy Tale Murders. A new true crime thriller podcast from Singapore's AXN, the podcast has a dual ending that allows listeners to choose how they want the show to finish - "making them the creator and the audience at the same time", says the producer, KC Global Media. The show's already hit #1 in the island state.
July 8, 2021:
July 6, 2021:
    According to our records, neither Apple, Spotify or Google have ever shown podcast episode notes this consistently before.
July 2, 2021:
    Analysis: One podcast host tells Podnews that the slump started in late May (the new iOS app was rolled out on May 24); two hosts we've spoken-to report a 27% drop in Apple downloads month-on-month. Podcast publishers have contacted us reporting similar. Since Apple accounts for around 40% of all downloads, the industry might see an overall 11% drop in June: perhaps translating to a $7.7m loss in ad revenue. It will be fixed, of course; but because the Podcasts app is part of the operating system, it needs to wait for the next iOS update.
July 1, 2021:
    Key Notes is a new interactive music show on Spotify hosted by Dissect's Cole Cuchna. The first episode focuses on why sometimes music makes your skin tingle.
June 29, 2021:
June 28, 2021:
June 25, 2021:
June 24, 2021:
June 23, 2021:
    The Reuters Institute Digital News Report 2021 was released this morning. The most valuable international data available, it gives podcast consumption figures for 20 countries in a comparable manner, and says 31% of people (302 million) accessed a podcast in the last month: a similar number to 2020. It also says that the platform mix is changing, with Spotify overtaking Apple in some markets. (Here's our take on that).
June 22, 2021:
June 21, 2021:
June 18, 2021:
June 17, 2021:
June 16, 2021:
June 15, 2021:
June 14, 2021:
June 11, 2021:
June 10, 2021:
    Ashley Flowers is launching a new true crime podcast with Spotify's Parcast. International Infamy will premiere on June 15, exploring high-profile cases from around the world.
June 9, 2021:
June 8, 2021:
June 7, 2021:
    The Australian Podcast Ranker revealed that Apple is the 'big dog of podcast aggregator apps' with Spotify a distant second for downloads in the country.
June 4, 2021:
June 3, 2021:
    Spotify has launched a new in-app experience, Only You, an algorithmic tool with artist pairings and data about the podcast and music genres you listen to the most. Blend, also launched today, is a way to blend your musical tastes with a friend for an playlist with the best (and possibly worst) of both.
June 2, 2021:
    Spotify is to make another podcast exclusive on its platform. Irish podcast The 2 Johnnies goes exclusive on Spotify from 14 June. James Cator, Head of Studios for Spotify UK and Ireland: "There’s so much great talent coming out of Ireland and we’re massive fans of Johnny and Johnny: what they’ve achieved in such a short space of time as the fastest-growing Irish podcast is pretty inspiring!"
May 31, 2021:
May 28, 2021:
May 27, 2021:
May 26, 2021:

How's Apple Podcasts now? A month after the new Apple Podcasts Connect launched, we hope everything's all fine: but we're curious as to your experiences. For a story on Friday, we'd like to be able to report to our 19,000 podcast industry subscribers that the system responsible for around 40% of all podcast downloads is now working well. If that's not the case with you, please hit 'reply' and tell us what you're seeing when publishing to Apple Podcasts. And don't worry - we'll keep your details private, so you won't jeopardise that New & Noteworthy spot. Thanks.

May 25, 2021:
May 24, 2021:
May 21, 2021:
May 20, 2021:
May 19, 2021:
    Libsyn has released its most popular platforms for April, in The Feed: Apple has 60.01% and Spotify 13.65% of all podcast downloads. Earlier this month, Buzzsprout released its April figures: it reports Spotify and Apple Podcasts both tie at 29.3%.
May 18, 2021:
May 14, 2021:
    No Skips with Jinx and Shea is a new show with music from Spotify from The Ringer, looking at thirty rap albums where every track is a winner. Each episode focuses on a single album.
May 13, 2021:
May 12, 2021:
    Adobe Audition has been updated: the audio editor now runs natively on Apple M1 chipsets, includes a loudness meter (with presets for Apple and for Spotify), and adds a new strip silence feature.
May 11, 2021:
May 10, 2021:
May 7, 2021:
    How long can your episode notes be? Preliminary tests seem to show that PocketCasts, Overcast and Spotify deal with at least 10,000 characters; Google Podcasts (Android) truncates after about 5,000 characters; and we gather that Apple Podcasts currently truncates after about 4,000 characters.
May 5, 2021:
May 4, 2021:
    Ricky Gervais is to launch a new podcast called Absolutely Mental, with neuroscientist and philosopher Sam Harris. Available May 10, according to Deadline it will be paid-for, at $14.99 for the season. The story says 'listeners will be able to air them on their podcast players', but no word yet on whether he's using Apple or Spotify's subscriptions.
April 30, 2021:
    Spotify's crawler also broke for a time yesterday, with some new episodes not showing.
April 29, 2021:
April 28, 2021:
April 27, 2021:
April 26, 2021:
April 22, 2021:
April 21, 2021:
    NPR will be a launch partner on Apple and Spotify's paid podcast subscription platforms, according to a staff email obtained by Podnews. The NPR Board has also approved development of NPR's own sponsorship-free public radio podcast subscription service, which member stations will also have access to. However, sponsor-supported shows will still be free: “NPR remains committed to making news and other content available to the public free of charge as part of its public service mission,” Podnews is told.
April 19, 2021:
April 16, 2021:
April 15, 2021:
April 14, 2021:
April 13, 2021:
April 9, 2021:
    The writers and producers at Spotify's Gimlet Media and Spotify's The Ringer, two of the first podcast production companies to unionize with the Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE), both ratified their first collective bargaining agreements. The agreements mean, among other things, increases for salary minimums and a limit to the use of contractors; and should set a template for others.
April 8, 2021:
April 5, 2021:
April 1, 2021:
    PodClock is a new podcast about time, focusing on the days, hours and minutes that we all experience in our own way. Hosted by Podnews Editor James Cridland, it's updated regularly with new information, and is in Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, and all your favourite podcast apps except Spotify which, let's face it, is nobody's favourite.
March 31, 2021:
    Spotify is to hold a new round of Sound Up programs: a global program that gives under-represented podcasters the tools to boost their platforms and build their own shows. The website lists shows from previous Sound Up alumni, and the full details about where they are taking part.
March 26, 2021:
March 25, 2021:
March 24, 2021:
March 23, 2021:
    The home screen in Spotify's mobile app is being refreshed with additional features for podcast listeners to help them finish shows they'd already started. "Global Premium users can view new and relevant podcast episodes right within the Home hub. New episodes will be marked with a blue dot, and episodes you’ve already started will display a progress bar indicating how far into the episode you are."
March 19, 2021:
March 18, 2021:
    The Rugby Pod, "the most-listened-to rugby podcast in the world", has been acquired by Spotify's The Ringer sports podcast division.
March 16, 2021:
    Play just one second of a podcast on Spotify, and you've downloaded over 90 seconds of audio - enough to count as an IAB certified podcast download. Writing in Sounds Profitable this week with Claritas, Bryan Barletta concludes: "podcast streaming is a myth". A fascinating deep-dive into listener-initiated downloads and player-initiated downloads - worth getting it every week.
March 15, 2021:

Welcome to almost 300 new subscribers followers over the past week, from companies like the ABC Australia, Europe 1, the Broadway Podcast Network, NPR, Spotify, Bayerischer Rundfunk and TWiT.

March 12, 2021:
March 10, 2021:
    Playing with the beta, it appears the new Apple Podcasts app will not automatically download new episodes when you follow a new show: bringing it into line with Spotify and Google Podcasts.
March 9, 2021:
    This seemingly small change could dramatically affect the industry. Tom Webster from Edison Research says 47% of people who don't currently listen to podcasts think that 'subscribing' to a podcast will cost money, describing it as a stone in the shoe of podcasting's growth run. He tells Podnews: “Today, Apple, Spotify, and YouTube are the three most widely used services to play podcasts, and now the word Subscribe means ‘automatically download for free’ in exactly none of them. Podcasters will have no choice but to adapt their language accordingly or risk confusing listeners.”
March 8, 2021:
    Spotify has announced a new focus on women creators. Called EQUAL, it includes a set of new playlists and content, and also establishes an EQUAL Board, offering a grant to fifteen organisations across the world to work on making the audio industry more equitable for women creators.
March 5, 2021:

Can we help you? We've asked all week for your help in sharing Podnews with others. Thanks to you, 165 more people are now getting Podnews, from companies like ABC Australia, Pushkin Industries, Magnificent Noise, Westwood One, Canadaland, the CBC, Acast, A Million Ads, Sony Music and Spotify. Today, we'd like to help you - grab our stuff for your site, intranet, podcast, Slack or Basecamp feed. Get in touch if we can help with something bespoke.

March 4, 2021:
    Paula Rogo, "the Podcast Shuri", writes delightedly that Spotify is coming to much of Africa. Until now, they'd only been available in one sub-saharan country: South Africa.
March 3, 2021:
March 2, 2021:
March 1, 2021:
February 25, 2021:
February 24, 2021:
    Cumulus Media, owners of Westwood One, says it achieved more than 1bn downloads in 2020, and podcasting is "pacing up more than 30% in Q1". Podcasting revenue grew 40% last year. "We've made our bet on partnership arrangements with talent as opposed to going out and spending a lot of money on IT or infrastructure," said CFO Frank Lopez-Balboa. The company uses Spotify-owned Megaphone.
February 23, 2021:
    Anchor announced the launch of paid subscriptions later this year. Podcasters will be able to give their supporters additional paid-for features within Spotify. You can sign up for the waitlist. This will be "a limited beta in the US", starting this Spring, we're told. The demo in the announcement shows a podcaster being able to choose from $2.99, $4.99 and $7.99/month subscriptions as price points. Podnews was told that Spotify will take a small cut of the fee.
February 22, 2021:
February 18, 2021:
February 17, 2021:
    Spotify has announced a live-streamed event, Spotify Stream On, on Monday Feb 22. It's not clear what it is; but Daniel Ek's comments recently may give a clue: "We are very bullish on the opportunity to provide meaningful ways for podcasters (to) monetize through the platform efforts. And I hope to be able to talk a little bit more about what our plans are in the near future on that."
February 16, 2021:
    Seems someone agrees: The Joe Rogan Experience has started posting clips of shows on its old, open RSS feed. Currently, a clip from a recent Elon Musk interview ends with a 40 second promotion for Spotify at the end, voiced by Rogan. The show went exclusive on Spotify on Dec 1.
February 15, 2021:
    The Verge asks "Can anyone moderate podcasts?" - following up on the story that Steve Bannon's War Room podcast is still available on Apple Podcasts. Interviews suggest most podcast apps are trusting Apple to choose what's acceptable and what isn't; and the story claims that podcasting "isn't ready for moderation".
February 12, 2021:

Our cover story: Kacie Willis, from You Heard Me Write, Spotify's new podcast from their SoundUp program. See Podcast News, below.

February 11, 2021:
    Spotify is in the mood for some lovin'. The platform "saw an increase of 49% of global listeners streaming love-themed podcasts compared to this time last year". They've worked with Tinder to make a playlist.
February 10, 2021:
February 8, 2021:
    Meditation and wellness podcasts are on the rise, says new data from Spotify. The company reports a 250% increase in people listening to meditation podcasts, and a 160% increase in people listening to wellness podcasts. Where is my mind is a Spotify exclusive show which the company mentions as one of the most popular.
February 5, 2021:
February 4, 2021:
    25% of the 345m monthly active Spotify users now use the app to listen to podcasts, up from 22% the previous quarter. Speaking on the company's Q4 2020 earnings call, Daniel Ek said he's "reasonably confident" that he can see benefits in user growth and retention from podcasts.
February 3, 2021:
February 1, 2021:
    to the almost 200 people who subscribed to Podnews last week, including NOVA Entertainment, Cadence13, Discovery Networks, iHeart Media, Lantigua Williams, Warner Media, Spotify and Radio France. If you get value from Podnews, please tell your colleagues to subscribe too.
January 29, 2021:
January 27, 2021:
    Spotify's consumer podcast host, Anchor, has had a redesign. A new 'wave' logo, a new typeface (Maax), and a new direction in photography: "less about podcasting, more about podcasters". And yes, there's a podcast, Branding Out Loud, to hear more.
January 25, 2021:
    A far-right publisher The NOQ Report's podcast has been removed from Spotify, and all its podcasts removed from Transistor. Meanwhile, in Niagara NY, the Niagara Arts & Cultural Center has decided to evict Yowawa Media Services, whos podcast studio was being used to produce a YouTube show for a right-wing group, the NY Watchmen.
January 22, 2021:
January 21, 2021:
January 20, 2021:
    From Podcast Network Asia: Walwal Sesh is a Spotify Exclusive podcast that tackles issues and topics that people normally talk about whilst having drunken heart to heart sessions with friends.
January 19, 2021:
    From Podcast Network Asia: The Eve's Drop is a Spotify Exclusive podcast that features real women discussing relevant issues through drama, truths, and tears.
January 18, 2021:
January 14, 2021:
    The most popular podcast in France, Choses à Savoir, now has a US edition. You'll Die Smarter hopes to emulate the success of its French parent, which was voted Podcast of the Year on both Spotify and Deezer in France.
January 13, 2021:
January 11, 2021:
January 6, 2021:
January 1, 2021:
    Spotify's listener privacy policy has been highlighted by Pat Walshe, a privacy advocate. He points out that his premium Spotify account in the UK shares his listening data with 246 different third party advertising vendors (each with their own privacy policy), and alleges the company is using 'dark patterns' in user interface design to confuse.
December 31, 2020:

the last big piece of M&A activity in podcasting? It was certainly the largest company still available: but there will be more acquisitions on the horizon. In particular, Amazon lacks the long tail that a consumer podcast host can give them - just as Acast bought Pippa, Spotify bought Anchor and SiriusXM bought Simplecast, Amazon could own a host of its own as a way to reach other platforms and to incubate new talent. Amazon also lacks any podcasting ad-tech companies; ART19, which hosts a number of the largest podcasts in the world, remains privately-owned. Let's watch this space.

December 29, 2020:
December 24, 2020:
December 23, 2020:
    Spotify's Jay Richman, who is Head of Global Advertising Business & Platform at Spotify, says that Spotify's ad business is different to the rest. "I think the space is starting to bifurcate between our approach with streaming ad insertion versus what I see [the] rest of industry doing, which is flooding podcasts with radio style and programatic style ads," he says in an interview with Axios.
December 21, 2020:
December 17, 2020:
December 16, 2020:
December 15, 2020:
December 14, 2020:
December 11, 2020:
    In Sweden, Spotify launched Spotifys julkalender, a playlist with curated christmas music and "three brand new Spotify Original Christmas podcasts with adored Swedish personalities". It's updated daily, and will be until December 24th. (Sweden celebrates Christmas on… Christmas Eve. Vilket konstigt land!)
December 10, 2020:
December 9, 2020:
December 7, 2020:
December 4, 2020:
    Spotify have published their 2020 Podcast Hall of Fame, a podcast playlist with hand-picked episodes showcasing the best of 2020. Expect some of the best episodes from ReplyAll, 99% Invisible, WTF, Miley Cyrus on Call Her Daddy, Gimlet's Resistance, and a curious absence of anything from Joe Rogan (who has a new logo! Kind of).
December 3, 2020:
December 2, 2020:
    For the month of November, Buzzsprout report that 32.3% of their downloads went to Apple Podcasts, with 25.5% of downloads to Spotify, and Google Podcasts getting 2.6%. The company tells us that, after some tweaks to their algorithm, this is a more accurate reflection of total downloads to Apple Podcasts than previous data from the company.
December 1, 2020:
November 30, 2020:
    Joe Rogan interviewed Alex Jones in October - but that episode, #1555, mysteriously disappeared from Spotify. Rogan claimed it was just a 'cache issue' - however, DigitalMusicNews claims it was a deliberate removal by a Spotify employee; and that Rogan was fed a different story to hide the real reason.
November 27, 2020:
November 26, 2020:
    Spotify is producing "60-second podcast mini-series" about the US Postal Service, which will run across the Spotify platform on an assortment of Spotify-owned podcasts.
November 24, 2020:
November 23, 2020:
November 20, 2020:
November 18, 2020:
    Spotify hasn't finished spending on podcasting. Paul Vogel from Spotify spoke in an RBC Capital Markets Global Technology, Internet, Media and Telecommunications conference call, dropping heavy hints that the company will continue to purchase in 2021 and 2022. "That will be really driven by some of the successes and learnings we have from the current investments," he said. "The more podcasts grow, the more ad inventory there is to sell across podcasts. From a business perspective over the long-term, it's a lot more fixed price content, which is great for us. … We feel really good about the demand for podcasts and podcasts advertising on our platform." He also added that Joe Rogan has done better than expected so far - that podcast goes exclusive on December 1.
November 17, 2020:
    Apple Podcasts has launched an embeddable podcast player, allowing anyone to embed the audio from any podcast on their own website. We've added it to our list of embeddable podcast players; you can add your podcast's player by visiting your podcast's page on Apple Podcasts on the web, or the Apple Podcasts Marketing Tools website.
November 16, 2020:
    Spotify is taking a bite out of Apple. Buzzsprout has shared the top podcast 'agents' on their platform. Apple Podcasts accounts for just 47% of all plays and downloads, Spotify for 24.4%, and Google Podcasts is third with 2.4%. These are the lowest numbers yet for Apple Podcasts from a podcast host. (Libsyn's data only shows mobile app downloads, and has a higher percentage of US downloads).
November 13, 2020:
    "I think this will be a very savvy move for Spotify that helps them sell ads on their own shows as well as on third party podcasts, while also gathering whatever data they want." - Jeff Umbro, The Podglomerate, on LinkedIn
November 12, 2020:
    Australia's largest podcaster, the ABC, is to put 23 of its most popular podcasts onto Spotify in a six-month trial, after placing Coronacast on the platform earlier this year. The ABC's Cath Dwyer told Podnews: "It's a big opportunity for the ABC, and we're really excited to reach audiences that might not find us on other platforms." On Spotify, some shows will carry advertising, like YouTube and other platforms; revenues will help fund content making, and shows continue to be ad-free in the ABC's own apps. In total, the broadcaster, which is government funded, has more than 175 shows.
November 11, 2020:
November 10, 2020:
    First look: Acast and Patreon have just announced a collaboration, enabling creators to publish subscriber-only content across different podcast platforms, allow creators to simply and securely distribute their free and paywalled content, and make it easier for fans to financially support Patreon creators. It works on almost all podcast players (excepting Spotify).
November 9, 2020:
November 6, 2020:
    In the same Billboard article, iHeart's Conal Byrne says "Spotify accounts for somewhere between five and 12% of listening" of podcasts from iHeart, and suggests that exclusives are bad for creators, brands, and listeners. iHeart remains the top US podcast publisher, according to Podtrac's October numbers.
October 30, 2020:
October 29, 2020:
October 28, 2020:
October 27, 2020:
    Spotify executive Sten Garmark is quoted in a story behind the paywall at Business Insider: "The thing we are most excited about right now is finally getting to the point where we have so many consumers and so many creators on the same software stack, and that hasn't really happened in audio before ... So continuing the journey on format innovation to go solve problems that no other company can solve but Spotify."
October 26, 2020:
    Podshape, an Australian podcast publisher, has got one of its shows into a new Spotify "Daily Wellness" podcast playlist; and launched three new shows.
October 23, 2020:
    The University of Canberra in Australia has released Podcast Trends and Issues in Australia and Beyond: Global Perspectives. It claims that 32% of Australian news consumers have listened to podcasts in the last month; and that 42% of Australian podcast listeners use YouTube to consume podcasts (Spotify at 33%, Apple at 21%, Google at 15%). It asked 692 podcast listeners in the country.
October 22, 2020:
    MIDiA has posted a survey claiming that Spotify is now the most widely used podcast platform. It says that 42% of podcast listeners use Spotify, with Apple at 32%, and Google Podcasts at an un-disclosed third place; and that 14% are weekly podcast users. The data covers the US, Canada, Australia, UK, Germany and France, weighted to country population size.
October 21, 2020:
    Google Podcasts is now the third-biggest podcast app. Libsyn's Rob Walch unveiled the company's download statistics in The Feed. It is, though, still five times smaller than Spotify, the #2. According to Libsyn, which gets 62% of its downloads from the US, total downloads to Pocket Casts dropped below 1%.
October 20, 2020:
October 19, 2020:
October 16, 2020:
October 15, 2020:
    Always wanted music in your podcast? Now's your chance. Anchor and Spotify have launched Shows with Music - a chance for proper, full radio-type shows with full tracks. However, shows only appear on Spotify and your listeners only hear the songs in full with Spotify Premium - but musicians do get paid as they would with any other Spotify play. If you're in the US, you can earn with Anchor sponsorships, but you can also upload your own ads, too. Available now in the US, the UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Ireland, episodes containing music will undergo a review process before being published to Spotify.
October 14, 2020:
    Apple has introduced "HomePod Mini", a small, $99 smart speaker. It will play podcasts, among other things - from Apple Podcasts, not Spotify. "Hey, Siri - play news from Podnews" is probably the best feature.
October 13, 2020:
October 12, 2020:
October 9, 2020:
October 8, 2020:
October 7, 2020:
October 5, 2020:
    A review of metadata fields associated with podcast RSS feeds is a specific look at the itunes:type, itunes:season and itunes:category data fields in podcasts. Written by a Spotify employee, and using data also from Spotify user behaviour, it concludes that the itunes:type field is often misleading or confusing, and is not of much use for recommendations.
October 2, 2020:
    Spotify has signed a new exclusive - the Just Break Up podcast. Of note - it was hosted on Libsyn; had a short incubation period on Anchor some time between September 7-14, and then announced its exclusivity a week later on September 21. It'll become exclusive from October 19.
October 1, 2020:
    Spotify has launched Spotify Pumped, where hosts of Spotify's biggest podcasts, like Dani Dyer from Sorted With The Dyers, take you through an HIIT workout of your very own. It's launched in the UK and Ireland (though seems to work in other places too). A clever idea to promote their podcasts and music choices.
September 30, 2020:
    Spotify says the number of shows on its platform has increased by 240% so far in 2020. Since the last International Podcast Day, the number of podcasts created on Anchor, the company’s free podcast host, has increased by more than 380%. Today, the company has launched:
September 25, 2020:
September 24, 2020:
September 23, 2020:
September 18, 2020:
September 17, 2020:
September 15, 2020:
September 14, 2020:
    Podcast listeners are listening longer, says Cumulus's Westwood One - who has published its Podcast Download Fall 2020 Report. It's their fourth annual study. Among the findings, Spotify is closing the gap with Apple Podcasts - by total listeners, it's close (22% say they use Apple the most; 20% Spotify). (Also see this data). However, 16% of podcast listeners use the site or app of the podcast itself to listen; and weekly podcast listeners are using more podcast platforms than ever.
September 11, 2020:
September 9, 2020:
    Exclusive: Podtrac has shared total downloads and audience, split by platform. Based on 1.5 billion US downloads from participating publishers measured by Podtrac during August, Apple has 61.1% of all podcast downloads; but when measured by total audience, Spotify is closing in on Apple in the country. Founder and CEO of Podtrac, Mark McCrery, told Podnews "Apple continues to provide the largest US podcast audience, podcast downloads and streams, and downloads per audience member. Spotify has become a popular podcast player in the US but with fewer monthly downloads and streams per audience member currently."
September 8, 2020:
September 4, 2020:
September 3, 2020:
September 2, 2020:
September 1, 2020:
August 31, 2020:
August 28, 2020:
August 27, 2020:
August 26, 2020:
    Spotify has revealed the "Top podcasts of the summer", based on number of listeners from June 1 - August 15th, 2020. Even though it only launched on July 29, The Michelle Obama Podcast was the global #1 ("with millions of listeners"); the rest of the top 5 were: NPR News Now, The Daily, Call Her Daddy, and the TED Talks Daily.
August 25, 2020:
August 24, 2020:
August 18, 2020:
August 17, 2020:
August 12, 2020:
    An update from Anchor, following our story yesterday that Anchor could automatically delete your account without warning. Anchor say that they do not have an algorithm that automatically deletes duplicates; instead, the company uses a combination of automated and human-detected signals to assess potential infringement, and they tell Podnews that podcasts are always elevated to a human before any action is taken. In the case we reported on, the podcast had "similar content to the Libsyn-hosted Spotify listing", and it had other negative signals which led to its removal.
August 11, 2020:
August 10, 2020:
    Joe Rogan's new Dallas podcast studio is beginning to take shape. His show shifts to Spotify on September 1; and Rogan physically shifts to Texas "soon".
August 7, 2020:
    Dear Dearest is a new exclusive podcast on Spotify. The podcast is in Indonesian, and focuses on letters written and read by writers, musicians, and actors. It's made by journalism podcast company KBR Prime (via Splice Slugs)
August 6, 2020:
August 5, 2020:
August 3, 2020:
    Libsyn report that Apple continues to be the #1 podcast app, accounting for 68.2% of mobile downloads. According to the podcast host, which is the largest paid podcast host in the world, Spotify is at 8.3% and Google Podcasts at just 1.3%. Sharing these figures on The Feed, Rob Walch adds: "The death of Apple Podcasts has been greatly over-stated".
July 31, 2020:
July 30, 2020:
July 29, 2020:
July 28, 2020:
    Music bootleggers are using Spotify's podcast section to sneak in "user-uploaded, bootleg music and audio masquerading as podcasts". Document focuses on one podcast that gets over two million listeners a week. This may be the reason for the increased amount of takedown requests from record companies.
July 27, 2020:

Thank you to more than 600 new subscribers so far in July, helping us reach 14,500 subscribers just before we published on Friday. Welcome to new faces from Veritone, Lawson Media, Pocket Casts, Oxford Road, Seeking Alpha, Spotify, Podimo, Nielsen, Tagesschau, the BBC, Wondery and Pandora. (Tell a friend!)

July 23, 2020:
July 22, 2020:
    Spotify now does 'video podcasts'. The technology only plays the video when the screen is on - switching to audio-only (and using less bandwidth) when video isn't required, according to the release. This functionality will, of course, be required for Joe Rogan when he comes to the platform in September. Want to see it? Here's one (available on mobile app and desktop app, but not the web player yet).
July 21, 2020:
    How diverse is UK podcasting? Fewer than 5% of the top 100 podcasts in the UK are hosted by Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic women or non-binary people, according to new research from Spotify. Spotify has announced UK/IE applications are open for their annual Sound Up podcast accelerator programme for BAME women and non-binary people in the UK and Ireland. You've got until 4th August to enter for access to a four week virtual training course with equipment. (It's also open in Sweden, where entries close Jul 26, by the way).
July 20, 2020:
July 17, 2020:
July 16, 2020:
    It wasn't mentioned in Spotify's launch yesterday, but their launch into Russia does not include podcasting. "The market for them is nascent", Spotify told Reuters; “It’s something that will be important to us over time,” added a Spotify VP, Gustav Gyllenhammar. Spotify Russia's Instagram account says "we're working on it". (Thanks, Dmitry!)
July 15, 2020:
July 14, 2020:
    Spotify's Gimlet Media is being sued for failing to make its podcasts accessible to the deaf and hard of hearing. The New York lawsuit argues that Gimlet violates the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) by failing to provide closed captioning on various podcasts.
July 13, 2020:
July 10, 2020:
    Americans are spending less time listening to YouTube, according to new data from Edison Research. 6% fewer Americans used it 'last week' according to the data. Joe Rogan comes off the platform in September. YouTube Music, the company's Spotify competitor, is likely to replace Google Play Music later this year: and hopefully Google Play Music Podcasts will stop being a thing.
July 9, 2020:
    Omnicom Media Group (which owns ad agencies like OMD and PHD, representing companies like McDonald's, AT&T and PepsiCo) has signed a $20m podcast advertising deal with Spotify. “With its landmark content deals, established audience, and breakthrough tools that make podcasting addressable, Spotify has become the premier player in the category,” says Catherine Sullivan, Chief Investment Officer, Omnicom Media Group North America. See our analysis, below.
July 8, 2020:
    Exclusive: App company Maple Media, which purchased podcast app Player FM on Apr 30, has bought another: Android podcast app Podkicker. Podkicker has had more than 500,000 downloads (Player FM has more than 5 million). We're told a formal announcement is to be made in the coming weeks.
July 7, 2020:
July 6, 2020:
July 3, 2020:
July 2, 2020:
    Spotify is leading Apple in more than 80 markets, according to Voxnest, who have published a mid-year version of their State of The Podcast Universe report. The report also contains details of the impact of the pandemic on listening.
June 30, 2020:
June 25, 2020:
June 24, 2020:
    Spotify stopped ingesting new podcast episodes for a while yesterday: delays of over five hours were seen for some new episodes. Spotify told Podnews: "We can confirm that we have experienced an ingestion issue this morning, resulting in some delays in certain podcasts episodes being uploaded to the service. The issue has been addressed and we expect to have everything back to normal shortly."
June 23, 2020:
    Spotify have announced in-app offers for podcasts, adding visual banners allowing listeners to redeem offers "when the time is right". They've alpha-tested it in the US and Germany (we're told Last Podcast on the Left and Herrengedeck were the two shows). It's a potential replacement for having to remember an offer code.
June 22, 2020:
    Brittany Luse, host and EP of The Nod, points out in a Twitter thread that even though the show is their idea, they don't own "not one single percent of The Nod podcast or brand: Spotify does!"
June 19, 2020:

Thank you to podcast editor and voiceover Harlie who became our 14,000th subscriber today, joining new subscribers this week from Spotify, NOVA Entertainment, Condé Nast, Megaphone, Simplecast and Gimlet Media among many others.

June 18, 2020:
    Analysis: The podcast market appears to be horizontally consolidating. SiriusXM already owns Pandora and ad-tech company AdsWizz: their acquisition of Simplecast adds a capable podcast host and analytics company, and means they have capabilities in all sectors of the business. They join EW Scripps, who own Omny Studio, Triton Digital, Midroll and Stitcher; Spotify, who own Anchor, Gimlet et al; and Acast, who acquired Pippa and set up their own content studio last year. It's not enough, it seems, to be a great hosting company or a content-creator: the podcast companies of the future appears to need a foot in all parts of the business.
June 17, 2020:
June 16, 2020:
June 11, 2020:
June 9, 2020:
June 5, 2020:
    Meanwhile, Spotify has announced the return of Sound Up, their program for underrepresented voices in podcasting. This year it's open to people in more countries than ever - the US, UK, Ireland, Germany, Brazil, Sweden and Australia. The US applications are open now; others soon.
June 4, 2020:
    Hubl is a new podcast app that offers "the best way to find, review and share podcast episodes". It links with Apple Podcasts and Spotify, and uses the Listen Notes directory.
June 3, 2020:
    An estimated 8% of all Canadians listened to Joe Rogan in the past month: that's an audience the size of Vancouver. But will they follow him to Spotify? New data from The Canadian Podcast Listener suggests that not all will - 18% say they will listen or watch less often, and 23% will stop altogether. His viewers on YouTube are even less likely to carry on, with 50% saying they'll watch less often or stop. Spotify users, however, say they'll listen more. The full data is at The Canadian Podcast Listener website.
May 29, 2020:
May 28, 2020:
    The Podcast Academy have posted an updated Board of Governors. Rob Greenlee from Libsyn has been confirmed as the Chair; governors include Conal Byrne from iHeartMedia, Ben Cave from Apple, Anya Grundmann from NPR and Courtney Holt from Spotify. The Board also includes podcast producers, talent agents, and studios. Google is absent.
May 25, 2020:
May 22, 2020:
May 20, 2020:
    In one of podcasting's biggest deals, The Joe Rogan Experience, generally held to be the biggest podcast in the world, is to move to Spotify in a licensing deal. It will remain free, but will become an exclusive-to-Spotify show by the end of this year. The show is currently hosted on Libsyn.
May 18, 2020:
    The BBC had 230m podcast downloads in Q1 2020, it says, excluding its own UK-only BBC Sounds app, which claimed a further 123m plays of on-demand radio and podcasts. That roughly translates to 117m downloads per month, making the British broadcaster bigger than the New York Times, but smaller than NPR or iHeartRadio. The number of podcast downloads in Q1 2020 was flat based on last quarter. The BBC is still blocking Google Podcasts.
May 15, 2020:
    Spotify is going local - and has produced a regularly-updated local music and podcast playlist for New York NY, USA, called Listen Local: New York.
May 14, 2020:
    Automatic transcripts could be coming to Spotify. The terms and conditions for Spotify for Podcasters have been updated, although disappointingly, the company hasn't indicated what's changed. Thanks to a cached copy of the terms and conditions from a year ago, here are the new changes that we can see:
May 11, 2020:
    "Take me to the magic of the moment on a glory night, where the children of tomorrow dream away in the Wind of Change"... The song by The Scorpions from 1990 captured the zeitgeist of the disintegrating Iron Curtain and the fall of the Soviet Union. But what if it wasn't a song by The Scorpions at all, and was actually written... by the CIA, in a dastardly plot to bring down America's long-time enemy? A new podcast released today, Wind of Change investigates - with Pineapple Street Studios, Crooked Media and Spotify.
May 8, 2020:
    Daniel Ek, CEO of Spotify, was interviewed on Bloomberg. "There will be millions of podcasts around the world, but few that are daily rituals. For us to build and invest in them, it's a much better fit by owning them than having them as a third party relationship."
May 7, 2020:
    Spotify has removed a COVID-19 podcast featuring an interview with conspiracy theorist and idiot David Icke, after he tried to claim that 5G was to blame for the coronavirus, which it isn't, and then says he doubts the virus exists anyway, which it does. CNBC reports that Apple Podcasts has yet to remove the episode, however. Icke also believes that we're ruled by shape-shifting reptilians, and that the universe is made from vibrational energy.
May 6, 2020:
    The BBC blocked their content from Google Podcasts last year, saying that Google wasn't sharing any audience data with them. Now Google Podcasts Manager has launched, the BBC have confirmed to Podnews that they still have concerns about Google Search. As we investigate today, they remain one of the publishers who don't want their podcast to be on every platform, along with Radio France and the Australian ABC.
May 4, 2020:
May 1, 2020:
    Spotify's continuing to increase its hold on podcasting. In February, Spotify was more popular than Apple for podcasts in Apple's home state of California, according to new data from Voxnest. Spotify's also continuing to overtake Apple in many countries, including Ireland and Australia, according to the data.
April 30, 2020:
April 28, 2020:
    First look: In the last few minutes, Spotify have announced that This American Life is now available to stream on Spotify. The top-rated podcast hadn't, apparently, been there until now.
April 27, 2020:
April 24, 2020:
    Podjobs isn't new, but it is a fine (and free) place to post jobs in the podcast industry. Current jobs include some from Spotify, Gimlet, Apple and NPR.
April 23, 2020:
    This video from Pulse Conference 2020 comes highly recommended: one of the panelists, Lauren Jarvis, is Spotify's Head of Content Partnerships for North America. "She's the best Podder inside the Spotify business: I love her vision, grounded in practical realities", says our informant.
April 22, 2020:
April 21, 2020:
April 20, 2020:
April 15, 2020:
    Spotify is apparently testing profile pages for hosts, limited to Gimlet's talent. We don't see these tests as yet; we did though see a couple of full-page promos for podcasts (like this for Song Exploder) on hitting the home button. (We have an ad-free, premium subscription).
April 14, 2020:
April 13, 2020:
April 8, 2020:
    How many takedowns have Blubrry and Libsyn had from Spotify because of coronavirus-related concerns? Hardly any - "under double digits" according to Todd Cochrane of Blubrry, speaking on The New Media Show.
April 6, 2020:
    Following our story on Friday, Spotify has told Podnews that they are not automatically removing episodes just for mentioning the words 'coronavirus' or 'covid-19'. Some shows, mainly with titles around prevention or treatment, were manually removed following violations of Spotify's terms of service. Spotify also has a coronavirus section, by the way.
April 3, 2020:
    Spotify appear to be removing some podcasts about the coronavirus, particularly from alternative health podcasters, claiming that they are "in violation of their content policies". There is no opportunity for appeal. Spotify didn't respond to our request for comment.
April 1, 2020:
    First look: Downloads are down; listening is down more. So says Chartable, which has just published how coronavirus is changing podcast listening. Unlike other download numbers that we've linked-to so far, Chartable also has access to Spotify and Apple Podcasts listening data, which it aggregates into its platform. "Listening has dropped off much more than downloads have. This is likely because many podcast apps, like Apple Podcasts, will continue downloading podcast episodes even if they are not actually played." The number of reviews also dramatically dropped, as have downloads over cellular networks. There is a slow recovery on the way though.
March 30, 2020:
March 27, 2020:
    Conan O'Brien Needs A Friend - hosted by Omny Studio and produced by Stitcher's Earwolf - got a heavy promotion in Spotify's PR email this week. Curious.
March 25, 2020:

Thank you to our many new subscribers, helping us hit 12,600 readers earlier this week. Among the 200 recent subscribers in the past two weeks, welcome to those from SCA, Megaphone, Crate Media, JAR Audio, Spotify, the Jordan Harbinger show, Cavalry Media, Media Radar, Deutschland Radio, Pushkin, Condé Nast, ABC News, FOX News, and Radio France. Please consider becoming a supporter or advertising.

March 24, 2020:
    ABC Australia, the public service broadcaster, is now listing selected podcasts on Spotify. Their Coronacast podcast is now also on Spotify. (Our systems can't match them up, yet, since they use different publisher names - but we'll work on that). The BBC, however, is still witholding its Coronavirus Newscast podcast from Google Podcasts.
March 23, 2020:
    Spotify has published a set of Podcast APIs, allowing developers to build alternate front-ends and recommendation services for Spotify's podcasts, as well as "episode resume points", so you can help listeners come back to a podcast at the position they left. The APIs were first requested by developers in May 2017; and an undocumented API has been used since October 2018.
March 13, 2020:
March 12, 2020:
    Spotify is a "frenemy" to podcasters, said News Corp Australia’s head of audio Del Fordham at a conference last week. Triton Digital's Sharon Taylor also acknowledged that publishers are in a "weird position", given Spotify is both a successful platform and a content producer.
March 11, 2020:
March 10, 2020:
    Coronacast is available from the ABC in Australia. (Like other ABC podcasts, it is disappointingly unavailable via Spotify; and isn't, yet, in Google Podcasts either) (ABC Australia)
March 9, 2020:
March 2, 2020:
February 28, 2020:
February 24, 2020:
    Paul Bae has announced he is to produce two original fiction series for Spotify. Meanwhile, music website Digital Music News dialed up the pressure on Spotify's bootleg podcasts problem. "One cannot help wondering how much longer the world’s largest music-streaming service will stand by while criminals flagrantly violate the law," the website says.
February 21, 2020:
February 20, 2020:
February 19, 2020:
February 18, 2020:
February 12, 2020:
February 10, 2020:
    Will Spotify ruin podcasting? argues that Spotify plan to, eventually, "force podcasters to live in its ecosystem." The author, Matt Stoller, also argues that Spotify should be blocked from purchasing The Ringer.
February 7, 2020:
February 6, 2020:
February 5, 2020:
    Spotify is #1 again - but this time for music streaming. NotiPod links to research from Mexico, indicating that Spotify has 84.8% of the music streaming market in the country. Apple Music is second, with 6%.
February 3, 2020:
January 30, 2020:
January 29, 2020:
January 27, 2020:
January 24, 2020:
    Just when we thought we'd got the final comprehensive answer, Jack Rhysider wades into the "Apple Podcasts vs Spotify" debate, sharing his stats. A few choice quotes: "Psshhh. This clears up nothing!", "What? Again I'm lost," and "Whoa what is this!?"
January 23, 2020:
January 22, 2020:
    Exclusive: Apple vs Spotify: who is number one, really? Morgan Stanley and MIDiA have both released recent data showing Spotify could be #1 for "people", aka "unique devices" - but both surveys are based on human recall, not data. We were keen to see what the data said: so Podnews asked two podcasting companies whether they were able to work out "devices" vs "downloads". Libsyn did not reply to our email; but Chartable - which has oversight of a number of podcasts across different podcast hosts and services - has crunched the data and given a categorical, and final, answer to who is #1 for podcasting. Researchers may like to note that Chartable's "unique downloads" per app are, pleasingly, within 1% of Libsyn's reported percentages.
January 21, 2020:
    Is Spotify or Apple #1? They both are, explains our Editor. Depends what you're measuring.
January 20, 2020:
January 17, 2020:
January 16, 2020:
January 15, 2020:
January 13, 2020:

Thank you - we hit 11,500 subscribers over the weekend. Welcome to new readers at Spotify, YEA Networks, Muddy Knees Media, The Orchard, Castbox, Acast, and Ngā Taonga - New Zealand's audiovisual archive.

January 10, 2020:
    Walt Mossberg, a respected US tech journalist, says that Spotify's podcast ad targeting technology (Jan 9) is a planned violation of privacy, adding: "Most podcasts are already narrow enough that sponsors can do a decent job of figuring out where to place their ads. There’s no justification for offering them targeting based on personal information."
January 9, 2020:
    Spotify has announced Spotify Podcast Ads, a method of targeting advertising for listeners within its exclusive podcasts. The announcement promises that advertisers can target listeners based on age or gender, as well as reach and frequency. Covering the story, The Verge says that premium users will still hear these ads (just as they do with non-Spotify Original podcasts).
January 8, 2020:
    In a private note for investors, Morgan Stanley has published its 6th Annual Audio Entertainment Survey. The survey notes that Spotify is now the most popular podcast platform in the US, claiming 24% of podcast listeners surveyed used Spotify while 21% used Apple Podcasts. Spotify seems to be growing, rather than Apple declining. The research also claims that people are finding it harder to discover new podcasts, not easier. The survey was conducted online, interviewing a nationally representative 1,961 US adults.
December 26, 2019:
    In Libsyn's The Feed, Rob Walch shared growth stats for Libsyn-hosted podcasts in Jan-Oct 2019. Listening on Apple Podcasts increased by 13.1%; but since Apple Podcasts accounts for 58% of all podcast listens, that growth accounts for 44.5% of total podcast growth in 2019. Listening to podcasts on Spotify doubled in 2019, accounting for 39.5% of total podcast growth. We reported on Libsyn's overall podcast app market share numbers in late November; Walch also clarified that almost all Libsyn shows are now on Spotify.
December 24, 2019:
December 23, 2019:
    Podfollow, a free URL that redirects your listeners to the right podcast app on their device (Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, your website) has just had its 1,000,000th click thru. The service now offers free stats as well as automatic social images and has announced more features in the new year.
December 17, 2019:
    Spotify is now more popular than Apple Podcasts in Canada, according to new data released by Voxnest as part of The State of the Podcast Universe 2019. Spotify also became more popular than Apple in another ten countries in November.
December 16, 2019:
December 13, 2019:
    Getting people to listen to their first podcast is important: so it's good to see that Spotify is adding a new feature for users who don't yet listen to podcasts. "Get podcasts for you" is now appearing in the app, encouraging non-listeners to use a topic picker to find podcasts that will interest them most. This appears for Spotify Free users in the US, Germany, UK, Brazil, Canada, Sweden, Australia, Mexico, Ireland and New Zealand. (Podnews is on Spotify).
December 12, 2019:
    Run your own website? Want a nice-looking embedded player for your podcast? Here are three embedded players that work with any podcast host. (Interestingly, they all use episode images.)
December 10, 2019:
December 9, 2019:
    Don't put HTML in your description tag. That's the result of Podnews research on every popular podcast app out there, to help you to get beautiful HTML episode notes into podcast apps. In short: put HTML into the content:encoded tag. Podcast apps that support HTML episode notes always use it. Apps which don't support HTML, like Spotify, always fall back to the description tag instead.
December 5, 2019:
    Spotify for Podcasters has launched 2019 Wrapped, a look back at your year as a podcaster. Log into the Spotify for Podcasters dashboard, and you'll see your top episodes, top countries and the "two farthest countries in your listening base". The last quarter for Spotify saw a podcast listening growth of 39%. (You can listen to Podnews on Spotify).
December 3, 2019:
November 29, 2019:
    The LA Times published the latest in its Audiosphere series, focusing "on the people who are making some of the genre’s most fascinating shows", including A Date with Dateline, a fan podcast of the NBC show; Mob Queens; Spotify's Dawn Ostroff; Last Podcast On The Left, and plenty more.
November 27, 2019:
    In the latest episode of The Feed, Libsyn report which mobile apps downloaded podcasts from them in October. Apple Podcasts is the highest, at 58%. Of note: only around 40% of Libsyn shows are published on Spotify (so the app will be under-represented in these figures). Libsyn won't publish any numbers next month, because of work they're doing on Spotify passthrough.
November 26, 2019:
    Clarification: plays from Spotify are counted in all Libsyn accounts: they are broken out per destination for accounts paying $20/month or over ("advanced statistics"). Destination data, and IAB v2 certified figures, are not available for those with basic statistics. We meant to say that yesterday but didn't make that very clear.
November 25, 2019:
    Magellan report that DraftKings, a US gambling company, is now in the country's top 15 podcast advertisers list. The top is Geico, an insurance broker; Spotify is at #9.
November 22, 2019:
    Spotify's new Your Daily Podcasts feature appears to give us some understanding of the total amount of new people using it: at the time of writing, it's showing 85,036 followers, a figure that appears to be rapidly increasing. Most people would never hit 'follow', but it's a useful guide to its growth. (h/t Mark Moriarty) We can also reveal that if you go to sleep listening to "Your Daily Podcasts", it'll still be playing when you wake up. Yawn.
November 21, 2019:
November 20, 2019:

Welcome to new subscribers in November from companies including Acast, Spotify, the South China Morning Post, Sony Music, Mamamia, Magellan, RedCircle, PRX, Luminary, Megaphone, ART19, Voxnest, the BBC, Entale, and iHeartMedia. If you find us useful, please tell your colleagues! (And, use your unique link at the bottom of our emails and we'll send you nice stuff.)

November 19, 2019:
    Breaking: Spotify has (just) launched Your Daily Podcasts, an algorithmically-driven podcast discovery playlist that promises "an easy way to discover new shows while also keeping up with old favorites". If you’ve listened to at least four podcasts in the past 90 days, you’ll find the playlist in the “Your Top Podcasts” shelf on Home or in the “Made For You” hub on browse. It's available for free and premium users within the US, UK, Germany, Sweden, Mexico, Brazil, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.
November 15, 2019:
    How is Spotify using podcasting? An interesting example is Harmonize, a branded music podcast "from P&G and Spotify", featuring conversations about conscious and unconscious racial bias. Using interviews with musicians, the podcast launched with a companion playlist on the Spotify platform.
November 14, 2019:
November 12, 2019:
November 11, 2019:
November 7, 2019:
    JetBlue, a US airline, has signed a deal with Spotify for podcasts in their in-flight entertainment system. As the airline’s exclusive podcast partner, the agreement will bring podcasts from Anchor, Gimlet, Parcast and Spotify Studios to seatback screens.
November 5, 2019:
    Brazil is the #2 country for podcasting in the world, according to new statistics released by the Brazilian Association of Podcasters. Spotify hosted a podcasters summit in São Paolo last weekend, announcing that monthly podcast consumption in the country, on Spotify, has been growing by 21% every month since January last year.
November 1, 2019:
    Netflix is to launch its first original scripted podcast. The podcast, a companion podcast for Daybreak, will stream exclusively on Spotify until Dec 12. "The podcast will branch off from season 1 to tell a story of a group of teens, who decide to make a podcast during an apocalypse."
October 31, 2019:
    Spotify has a new app: Spotify Kids launched yesterday in Ireland as a beta, and contains music and podcasts curated for children aged between 3-10. It's for Premium customers only, and contains no ads.
October 30, 2019:
    Voxnest claim that Spotify is now more popular than Apple Podcasts in most of continental Europe, South and Central America: Spotify claimed another six countries in September, the company says, based on listener data from the Voxnest Audience Network. The main holdouts are the US, Canada, the UK and Australia (all countries where Apple has around 50% market share).
October 29, 2019:
    Spotify has released its Q3 2019 earnings report, claiming a 39% increase in podcast listens in just three months. It made an operating profit of US $60m, in comparison to a $6.7m loss in 2018, reports Engadget. There are some calls for podcasters on the platform to be paid; and other calls for podcasters supplied to Spotify Premium subscribers to be ad-free.
October 28, 2019:
    Sky, a European pay-TV broadcaster, has made a pilot of a Spotify Studios podcast, The Receipts. (Of interest, possibly: that podcast is hosted at Soundcloud).
October 17, 2019:
    Sounder - "the smarter way to podcast" - has launched. The podcast host offers free hosting, transcription, in-audio search, and analytics to help grow your audience; it also offers an audio search technology called P inpoint Audio Search to help searching through a publisher's podcasts. It's launched by former executives from Google, Spotify, WeWork and others.
October 16, 2019:
    A few small tweaks to Google Podcasts on the web have been spotted. Most importantly, the service is now prominently linking to publishers' websites (rather than hidden behind a menu option as previously). (Neither Apple Podcasts nor Spotify appear to link to publisher websites at all, depriving podcasters of potential revenue).
October 15, 2019:
    Plink, a service that makes smart-links to podcasts that work on any device, has unveiled a way of sharing episode-level deep-links. Their blog contains more information, with an excellently-chosen example of a podcast.
October 14, 2019:
    Radio Sodoma has topped the Finnish podcast charts, with the dark comedy podcast achieving 800,000 downloads in 14 days (not bad for a podcast in a language only spoken by 5.5m people). The podcast was released on Spotify and Apple Podcasts after spending a short time as an exclusive on YLE's Areena app.
October 11, 2019:
October 9, 2019:
    Spotify's "Your Daily Drive" feature, which gives commuters a mix of their favourite music and news podcasts, has launched in Germany. Podcasts from Handelsblatt, Spiegel, Zeit, Süddeutscher Zeitung, and Deutschlandfunk are all included.
October 8, 2019:
    Podcast host Captivate now has Spotify passthrough, which means Spotify stats appear in the same place as the rest of stats on the Captivate platform.
October 3, 2019:
    In a talk that was praised as 'refreshingly frank', CEO of Pocket Casts Owen Grover spoke at OzPod 2019, an Australian podcast conference, earlier today. In a wide-ranging Q&A with ABC Audio Studios boss Kellie Riordan, Grover predicted a continuing decrease in Apple's influence, and said that Pocket Casts is planning for a future where there is no market leader in podcast discovery. "Spotify are helping non-podcast listeners to discover content: but we're fooling ourselves if we believe they'll indefinitely do this for the love of the medium," he said, highlighting the benefits of RSS. "We just got over what Facebook did to journalism - we don't want that to happen with podcasting." Asked whether Pocket Casts will share individual audience listener data in future: "No," he said, adding "We won't do that. Is that clear enough? No."
October 2, 2019:
October 1, 2019:
September 30, 2019:
September 27, 2019:
September 26, 2019:
    Amazon has announced new podcast integration for their Alexa smart speaker service. US users will now be able to ask for podcasts on Spotify - "Hey Alexa, play My Favorite Murder on Spotify" - as well as adding a preferred podcast setting so that you can pick your default podcast provider. If you listen to content through Spotify, SiriusXM or iHeartRadio, Alexa will sync progress between individual speakers, too. (Here's how to set up Spotify on Alexa).
September 25, 2019:
September 23, 2019:
    5 million people in the Netherlands listen to podcasts, according to new research, "a quarter of whom have a subscription". Interestingly, most podcasts are listened-to via music services (Spotify, Deezer) or via the app or website of a radio station. They listen for 41 minutes per day (radio is 144 minutes a day). (via PodPraat)
September 19, 2019:
    Maggie McGuire, the CEO of Pinna, an ad-free children's audio network, talks to Podcast Movement. They advertise themselves, though: "We’re running advertising across audio networks including Spotify, Pandora, and NPR, and across podcast networks like Megaphone and Midroll."
September 18, 2019:
    Spotify has announced the results of their second 'Sound Up' Podcast Accelerator for Women in Color. Christina Orlando, Janae Burris, Shayla Martin and SK were each awarded US$10,000 to fund their own podcasts. Meanwhile, Paul Vogel, Spotify’s "VP and head of financial planning & analysis, treasury and investor relations" (imagine the business card) said in a conference that podcast audiences on Spotify increased by 50% from Q1 to Q2 2019, and that it has a positive effect on user retention and churn.
September 17, 2019:
September 16, 2019:
September 13, 2019:
    Spotify has bought SoundBetter, a music production marketplace. It will be integrated with Spotify for Artists, the company's equivalent of Spotify for Podcasters, but for, er, music artists.
September 12, 2019:
September 11, 2019:
    Voxnest reports that Spotify is now beating Apple Podcasts in three more countries: Portugal, Algeria and Bulgaria. Apple managed to claw Romania back. Voxnest also point out that there is a strong correlation between podcasts listened-to in Brazil and Portugal.
September 10, 2019:
September 9, 2019:
    Spotify has hired David Rhodes (ex CBS News) to help develop their news programming; and Amy Hudson (ex Facebook, Turner Sports, NBC Sports) to oversee their sports shows.
September 6, 2019:
    The recent announcement that Spotify is supplying podcasts to Delta Airlines isn't the first time podcasts have been seen on planes: in fact, as we show above, a limited (and usually out-dated) selection is available on most plane entertainment systems. Taking a ride soon? We'd welcome more images of Podcasts On A Plane, to updates@podnews.net
September 5, 2019:
    Simplecast has enabled "passthrough" from Spotify, and integrated Spotify data in their dashboard. Of note: "You may notice differences between your Dashboard’s Spotify numbers and what you see in your Spotify Podcast Portal - typically Simplecast will be lower."
September 4, 2019:
September 3, 2019:
September 2, 2019:
    Now all we need is for Spotify to do it properly... <-- editorially independent note
August 29, 2019:
August 27, 2019:
    From today, Spotify is rolling out user-generated Podcast Playlists. The feature is designed to help discoverability of podcasts. Users will be able to make their own podcast playlists, and also mix podcasts and music; and share those lists with others. Spotify will also continue to work on their own curated Podcast Playlists. The rollout will be complete by the end of next week.
August 23, 2019:
    Some people listen to podcasts on a webpage, but most listen in a podcast app, says Pacific Content's Dan Misener. (We'd suggest - based on no data at all - that websites are used for initial discovery, and podcast apps are used for regular listening, so don't remove that webplayer quite yet).
August 22, 2019:
August 21, 2019:
August 20, 2019:
August 19, 2019:
    Spotify appears to have problems linking direct to episodes in their web player. While a link to a show works fine, a link to an episode appears to fleetingly appear, followed by an error message.
August 16, 2019:
    A detailed study into Spanish-speaking podcast listeners has been released by Podcaster@s. Based from a self-selecting sample, it shows that Spotify is most popular, and that Apple is just as popular as YouTube for podcast listening. It also touches on ideal podcast length, attitude to advertisers, and more. (Go to the end for a summary).
August 14, 2019:
    Spotify has brought their platform, called Spotify for Podcasters, out of beta. The enhanced podcaster portal offers a new blog, support for teams, and most interestingly - a way to discover "the top music artists that their podcast listeners play on Spotify". Podnews listeners like Taylor Swift at #1, and Elton John at #2. Disappointing.
August 9, 2019:
August 8, 2019:
August 2, 2019:
August 1, 2019:
July 31, 2019:
    Got (exactly) the same name as another podcast? Spotify won't let you in, it transpires - it rejects your podcast if it shares the name of one already on its platform.
July 29, 2019:
    Marketing podcast Future Proof interviews Danielle Lee, Spotify's Partner Solutions Global VP, on the company's aspirations - and why marketers should be "leaning in" to audio. (Saïd Business School / Oxford University / Kantar / Libsyn)
July 25, 2019:
    Spotify's winning the battle - enterprise podcast host Voxnest has published an Apple vs Spotify comparison for June 2019, comparing usage on the two podcast apps. Since May, Spotify has become the most popular of the two apps in the Netherlands, Germany and Bulgaria. (Earlier this year, our Editor made some suggestions about how Apple could regain their place.)
July 23, 2019:
July 19, 2019:
    Spotify is keen for more Spanish-language podcasts. Mia Nygren, director of Spotify for Latin America, has published a short video, the ABC of making podcasts on Spotify, on Forbes México. She also said that there are now 250,000 podcasts on Spotify.
July 17, 2019:
    For an indication as to how important podcasting is for competitor Spotify's investors, their stock price fell by 3% following the news.
July 12, 2019:
    Music Business Worldwide looks at Spotify's recent appearance in the Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity, and how the company is earning money from podcasting.
July 11, 2019:
    Meanwhile, Acast has launched in Germany. The Managing Director is Stefan Zilch, formerly with Spotify. "In Europe, we’ve already paid out over 50 million Euros to podcasters and publishers since Acast began."
July 10, 2019:
    Spotify Lite has been released for Android phones. It's a cut-down version of the app, built for slower phones and poorer networks, and is available in parts of Latin America, Africa and Asia. Conspicuously absent from any publicity, and from the Google Play listing - any mention of podcasts. (Thanks to Dean who installed it, we can confirm that podcast aren't in this version.)
July 9, 2019:
June 27, 2019:
    Rob Walch from Libsyn has released the latest download figures for podcasts hosted on Libsyn on mobile apps: Apple Podcasts 59.9%; Spotify 10%; Overcast: 2.9%; Castbox 2.5%; Stitcher 2%; Podcast Addict 1.6%; Google 1.3% and Pocketcast 1.2%. This is the first time, he notes, that Apple have slipped below 60%. (Libsyn's podcasts aren't all in Spotify, incidentally.) You can hear commentary on this in The Feed.
June 26, 2019:
June 24, 2019:
June 21, 2019:
June 20, 2019:
    Spotifywatch: since the company released the “Your Daily Drive” playlist in the US, NPR News Now and PRI’s The World Audio Segments Feed both went to the top of the Top Podcasts chart on the service (The Daily was already there). (ht: My Spotify Ideas)
June 18, 2019:
    Spotifywatch: your Editor has now been given the new interface which gives parity for music and podcasts.
June 17, 2019:
June 14, 2019:
    Help wanted: we'd like to enhance our how to embed the Spotify podcast player page into one that focuses on all freely-available embedded podcast players for websites. Any that you want to suggest? We're at updates@podnews.net
June 13, 2019:
    Spotify has launched The Daily Drive, their personalised playlist for commuting, that includes music and selected news podcasts.
June 12, 2019:
June 10, 2019:

Thank you to almost 200 new subscribers so far this month, including folk from Spotify, Dave Ramsey, WhatPods, Emmis, ART19, Le Monde, Luminary, Acast, Megaphone, GFK, NPR and Poland's RMF. We'd appreciate your help in getting the word out - any chance of a Tweet or LinkedIn mention today about us?

June 7, 2019:
    Spotify is the global #2 podcast app, but it's beating Apple in many countries in the world (partially due to Android's popularity in many places). According to Voxnest, Spotify's beating Apple in much of Southern and Eastern Europe, Latin America, India and Indonesia.
June 6, 2019:
June 5, 2019:
May 30, 2019:
    Podcast host Spreaker has launched a new tool - one-click distribution, making it easier to get a podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeartRadio, Google Podcasts and Castbox.
May 27, 2019:
May 24, 2019:
May 22, 2019:
May 21, 2019:

Welcome to almost 400 new subscribers in May so far, including people from Himalaya, PodcastOne Australia, Media Monitors, Cadence13, Vox Media, ESPN, Luminary, Acast, NRK, NPR, Spotify, PRX, ARN and Radio-Canada. Please, tell your colleagues (and tell your HR people about our free jobs board).

May 20, 2019:
May 17, 2019:
May 15, 2019:
    Spotify has launched Soundtrap, a browser-based podcast editing suite. Offering editing, transcription, and some additional audio processing features, the software costs US$15/month and has been compared to "Google Docs for podcasting". Spotify purchased Soundtrap at the end of 2017. We've had a short play and it seems remarkably capable. (Of note - it should work on a Chromebook, opening podcasting up to a whole new set of people including education).
May 14, 2019:
May 10, 2019:
May 6, 2019:
May 3, 2019:
May 2, 2019:
May 1, 2019:
April 30, 2019:
    Spotify paid €50m (US$55m) for Parcast, their financial results say. More than 50,000 shows have been submitted through their podcast portal - and there are 250,000 podcasts in their system overall (the differences being Anchor's catalogue, presumably, as well as automated API-driven submissions from partner hosts like Libsyn or Omny Studio). Apple has over 700,000.
April 29, 2019:
April 25, 2019:
    Three more publishers have pulled their content off Luminary. Mikey Fowler, EP of Podcasting for Barstool Sports (8th currrently in Podtrac), tells us that they have requested all of their RSS feeds be removed from Luminary, which would mean a total of 26 shows will be unavailable. Endeavor Audio podcasts have been withdrawn from the service, and the Joe Rogan Experience is also removed - that's been replaced with another characteristically snippy message. The subscription podcast app launched earlier this week with high-profile podcasts from Spotify, Gimlet Media, Parcast and the NYT's The Daily being unavailable.
April 24, 2019:
    Libsyn's The Feed usually contains some nice stats. In the latest show, for March, 62% of Libsyn's podcasts were downloaded from Apple Podcasts; 9.6% from Spotify, and 2.8% from Overcast (with Google Podcasts at #8, with 1.2%). (Fewer than 40% of Libsyn shows are available on Spotify).
April 23, 2019:
    Luminary, the self-styled "Netflix of podcasting", launches officially today. As The Verge points out, Luminary doesn't have The Daily from the New York Times in it - an in-app message grumpily recommends alternative podcasts. Podcasts from Spotify, Gimlet Media and Anchor are also unavailable. Perhaps surprisingly, it does contain BBC content. The Verge's Dieter Bohn calls this "the upcoming podcast wars".
April 18, 2019:
    If your podcast was submitted to Spotify by your podcast host, you may have looked enviously at those who have direct access to Spotify's analytics, which contain demographic details and more information. You can now see that, too: just add your podcast and you'll be able to see your stats; you need access to the email address in your RSS feed.
April 17, 2019:
April 16, 2019:
April 12, 2019:
April 11, 2019:
    33% of listeners use Spotify to listen; 32% use Apple Podcasts; and surprisingly 70% claim to use YouTube.
April 10, 2019:
    The BBC's podcasts reappeared in Google Podcasts late last week, as we reported. We expressed doubt that it was deliberate; they've mostly disappeared, again, from the app. The BBC's press office haven't responded to our request for comment.
April 9, 2019:
    How I Found My Voice explores how some of the world’s greatest artists and thinkers became such compelling - and unique - communicators. It was featured by both Apple and Spotify at launch. (Intelligence Squared / Acast)
April 5, 2019:
April 4, 2019:
    Spotify is continuing to grow: it's now the #1 podcast player in India, Spain and Indonesia, report Voxnest. Unsurprisingly, says YouGov, Spotify users are far keener on podcasts than users of Pandora.
April 3, 2019:
April 1, 2019:

Welcome to over 230 new subscribers last week, including folks from YLE, Nova Entertainment, MediaWorks, Spotify, Himalaya, BFM, RTL, SRF, The Guardian and Radio-Canada.

March 29, 2019:
    Chartable say that we've just hit a total of 700,000 available podcasts. The company monitors Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher and other podcast apps. (Interesting fact: our average lifespan, in hours, is also 700,000).
March 28, 2019:
    Spotify has published new podcast terms and conditions. It'll take 40 minutes to read. Meanwhile, the Financial Times reports on Spotify's recent purchase of podcast production company Parcast: "one person close to the negotiation said that Spotify is paying more than $100m in cash and earn-outs to buy Parcast. The price equates to an enormous multiple on Parcast’s limited revenues, this person added."
March 27, 2019:
March 25, 2019:

Welcome to over 300 new subscribers over the last two weeks, including from companies like ABC Australia, Scripps, Gimlet Media, Stitcher, NPR, SRF, Buzzsprout, Acast, Turner, Megaphone, iHeartMedia, Spotify, Deezer, Westwood One, Radioplayer Germany, Entercom, ACE Radio, and the BBC.

March 22, 2019:
    Acast has launched in France; Yann Thébault will run the French business (formerly, he was in charge of Spotify for continental Europe). Over 4m people in France listen to podcasts every month (roughly 8% of the country), says the country's Médiamétrie research.
March 20, 2019:
    The Audiocraft Podcast Festival (Sydney NSW, Australia: May 31 - June 2) has announced its initial lineup, promising Avery Trufelman (99% Invisible, Radiotopia), Jonathan Zenti (Voxnest/Meat), Natalie Tulloch (Spotify, NYC), Mark Pesce (The Next Billion Seconds, PodcastOne), Travis De Vries (Broriginals), Stephanie Van Schilt (Sisteria) and Tim Roxburgh (Unravel, ABC) + others. Tickets here.
March 18, 2019:
    Our podcast pages now include direct links to Stitcher. We've also updated our podcast availability snapshot to include Stitcher links. As at publication time, Google Podcasts lists virtually everybody; Spotify has about 75% of the most recently published podcasts; and just under half are in Stitcher.
March 14, 2019:
    The staff at Gimlet Media, bought by Spotify last month, are looking to launch a worker's union. With the Writer's Guild of America East, the Gimlet Union posted their reasons why on a tweet. Gimlet's management have acknowledged the request for union recognition, but otherwise have yet to respond. It would be a first for the podcast industry.
March 12, 2019:
    Steven Goldstein has been poring over the latest Edison Research and Triton Digital results, and has discovered some interesting data - not least, how successful Spotify could be for podcasting.
March 11, 2019:
    Spotify, the #2 podcast platform, will be pre-installed in new Samsung phones, it's been announced. (The Google Podcasts app is not even pre-installed on Google's own Pixel phones, though the player is).
March 6, 2019:
March 5, 2019:
    Spotify is now more popular than Apple for podcast listening in many countries, according to new data from Voxnest. In particular, Spotify beats Apple across almost all of Central and South America. The podcast consumption data is based on February's downloads of podcasts powered by Voxnest including a number of third-party platforms, and reflects Android's success in many of these markets.
March 4, 2019:
    "Everything is continuing as it was," says Matt Lieber of Gimlet, (still) trying to calm nerves that the Spotify acquisition of the company will stop us all listening to Reply All. He was speaking at the Hot Pod Summit, at the On Air Festival in New York NY, USA. (We heard lots more about the Hot Pod Summit over dinner last night, but a "cone of silence" prevents us from telling you.) Meanwhile, the Spotigimchor deal is validation for the industry, says Renee Wang, CEO of Castbox.
March 1, 2019:
    Spotify has hired Liz Gateley as Head of Creative Development. She's ex Lifetime, a TV network, and "will oversee the original content development teams in both New York and Los Angeles as they develop projects in the comedy, sports, YA Fiction, scripted, news and documentary and music genres."
February 26, 2019:
February 25, 2019:
    So, is Spotify bring more new audiences to podcasting? Panoply have published the data which claims to show that yes, Spotify is growing the pie, reaching different people in different places than other podcast platforms.
February 20, 2019:
    Since Spotify, Google Podcasts and others default to streaming (rather than downloading), does that matter? It sure does if mobile data costs a lot. Today, we went to look for the price of mobile data across the world - and found some astonishing differences between countries. A deal in India for $5.50 a month is twice as good as a deal costing $147 per month in Canada. (Coincidentally - podcasting appears to be growing fastest in India).
February 14, 2019:
    How much did Spotify pay for Anchor? Spotify's filing with the SEC says (right at the bottom) that "the Group entered into agreements to acquire Gimlet Media Inc. and Anchor FM Inc. for purchase consideration totalling approximately €300 million, primarily in cash." That's US $338m; so if Gimlet went for $230m, as Nick Quah reported, then Anchor looks like it went for $100m.
February 13, 2019:
    The new Turner Podcast Network show Root of Evil has its first episode today: it's a companion podcast to a TNT TV show, produced by Cadence13 in partnership with TNT, written and directed by Emmy® award-winner Zak Levitt, EVP of Documentary Content at Cadence13. We caught up with Tyler Moody, GM and VP of Turner Podcast Network, to ask more about it and the concept of companion podcasts in general for TV shows: and, of course, we also had to ask about the Spotify acquisition news. Read our Q&A in full.
February 12, 2019:
February 11, 2019:
February 8, 2019:
February 7, 2019:
    Relax, Reply All listeners. Here's a full transcript of the investor's call - including Daniel Ek saying: "Just to be very clear, the goal is not with Gimlet nor with Anchor to make any of their existing content exclusive, but to focus on the content that we're developing at Spotify and make more exclusive deals going forward."
February 6, 2019:
    Spotify+Gimlet: Paul Colligan thinks that Gimlet will contain ads for Spotify, and that this is a valuable part of a purchase (if it comes). HotPod today contains lots more about the deal, and the promise/threat that "we’re going to [be] talking about every implication of this for a long time". Spotify has an investor's call today, so we've not heard the end of this story yet.
February 5, 2019:
    Spotify and Gimlet - Kevin Goldberg shares his thoughts, pointing out "Apple has been mostly complacent on their podcast strategy, only minimally innovating their app, slow rolling their hyped analytics, and overall squandering their massive head start." Eric and Ely from the Bello Collective have a conversation about whether it's a good thing or not. And radio executive Stephen Martin makes an interesting point... "Does this mean that Gimlet podcasts could contain commercial music, at least within Spotify's castle walls? It could mean the advent of a new class of podcast; one that benefits music owners."
February 4, 2019:

Welcome to our new readers who've joined in the past week, including people from the BBC, the Sunday Times, KUOW, NPR, Turner, Himalaya, Entercom, the Washington Post, and from our new beneficent overlords, Spotify.

January 29, 2019:

Welcome to the nearly 300 people who've subscribed over the past week, including folks from Acast, Bengo Media, the BBC, Edison Research, Entercom, NPR, Slate, USA Today, Condé Nast, Spotify, iHeartMedia and Himalaya. If you like Podnews, please let others know, and consider supporting us.

January 24, 2019:
    Ad Age notes the current fight for podcast dominance by Spotify and Pandora. We'd note that the article claims Castbox is the #1 podcast app; it also says Spotify has 170,000+ podcasts on its platform, while the US-only Pandora apparently has 100,000+ podcasts - Pandora's official blog claimed "hundreds of podcasts with over 100,000 episodes" a month ago.
January 23, 2019:
January 17, 2019:
    Spotify has added podcast recommendations - "you might also like" - to their podcast pages for some users. This was discovered by James of MySpotifyIdeas, a man who Spotify should be employing.
January 16, 2019:
    Spotify now has 200m global active users, up by 10% over the past six months. 87m of those are paying customers. Morgan Stanley says users listen for 4.4 hours a week - Apple Music is 3.7m. However, 50% of Spotify users say that all the podcasts they want aren't on the service. Notwithstanding this, it's the #2 most popular podcast app. (Search for a podcast, and we'll show you a Spotify link if it's there.)
January 14, 2019:
    Stephen Goldstein went to CES, and reports back about Spotify's exclusivity announcements, 5G, smart speakers, and a toilet with Alexa built in. Alexa? Use the air freshener.
January 11, 2019:
    Meanwhile, Spotify is planning more exclusive podcasts on their platform, reports TechCrunch at CES. According to the company, "podcasters who joined Spotify exclusively were actually able to grow their audience, despite leaving other distribution platforms. For example, the Joe Budden podcast had its highest streaming day ever after joining Spotify."
January 9, 2019:
    Justin from Transistor, a podcast host, has written his 2019 podcast predictions. He sees growth for Spotify, doesn't see smart speakers as being very helpful for podcasting, and wonders whether this is the year Apple will start monetising podcasts. Nick Quah has also written his trends to watch for podcasting in 2019 - the 17-minute read includes a number of themes and context-setting.
January 4, 2019:

Welcome to our recent new subscribers, including folk from Spotify, Havas Edge, Audioboom, Vox Media, Gimlet Media, and broadcasters BR, NPR, SRF, ITN and NPO. Tell your colleagues!

December 31, 2018:
    There are over 2,000 audiobooks on Spotify - not that you'd know. Spooks - Spotify + Books, we assume - is an app which attempts to find them all for you.
December 28, 2018:
    "Most would classify [Google Podcasts] as a big disappointment", says the report, placing the app at #5, and noting that Android is responsible for only 23.7% of all podcast listens (and smart speakers just 1.3%). Spotify, the company's data shows, is a strong second - responsible for 25% of the downloads of Apple Podcasts.
December 12, 2018:
    Apple, Google and Spotify have yet to comment about whether they'll support RAD. It's fairly clear that Overcast's Marco Arment won't: he commented earlier this year that "Big data ruined the web, and I’m not going to help bring it to podcasts. Publishers already get enough from Apple to inform ad rates and make content decisions — they don’t need more data from my customers. Podcasting has thrived, grown, and made tons of money for tons of people under the current model for over a decade. We already have all the data we need."
December 10, 2018:
December 7, 2018:
    Spotify has published the most listened-to podcasts on the platform. Focusing on Spotify-exclusive content, Amy Schumer's much-promoted podcast only reaches #4. Most popular: Fest und Flauschig, a German-language podcast. Erstaunlich!
November 20, 2018:
November 19, 2018:
November 14, 2018:
    Pandora is only available within the US, and has about 76 million users. Spotify, which also offers podcasts, has 56 million users within the US, and 180 million users worldwide.
November 13, 2018:
    Spotify, which is the #2 podcast platform according to Anchor and Libsyn, is testing shareable podcast playlists. A test has been seen by My Spotify Ideas which allows users to share individual podcast episodes (and, like all playlists, ask for the entire playlist to be downloaded). The test has disappeared.
November 5, 2018:
    What's behind Spotify's move into podcasting? Rolling Stone think it's simple - it could save Spotify's business. Every podcast listened-to within Spotify means none of those pesky record companies to pay.
November 2, 2018:
November 1, 2018:
October 31, 2018:
    Dissect, a podcast "about the albums you love", has launched a Spotify-exclusive miniseries about The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill. (Cole Cuchna/Spotify/Anchor)
October 30, 2018:
    Waze has launched a new 'audio player', a way of listening to audio while using the app to avoid traffic on your commute. In addition to Spotify, the partner list includes Pandora, Deezer, TuneIn, and podcast platform Stitcher. Google Maps added Spotify a few weeks ago (but not Google Podcasts, because...).
October 26, 2018:
    In Canada, the CBC launches its daily news podcast on Monday. Called Front Burner, it is hosted by Jayme Poisson, as we reported on 1 Aug. Rogers has been running The Big Story as a daily news podcast since June; and Corus's weekly This is Why launched at a similar time.
October 24, 2018:
    Medium writer uché makes the point that Spotify is missing some "low-hanging fruit" to make their podcast experience better:
October 22, 2018:
    Spotify, the #2 most popular podcast platform, has launched a dedicated Wear OS app for smartwatches, allowing podcast listeners to consume podcasts on their watch. (Apple watches have had this feature - through Apple's podcast app - for some time). It's also updated its mobile phone app for better discovery.
October 15, 2018:
October 9, 2018:
    Spotify has announced Sound Up Bootcamp Australia, for aspiring podcasters who identify as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islanders to take part in a four-day residential podcasting workshop to be held in Sydney on November 26-29. Sound Up Bootcamp US received over 18,000 applications.
October 4, 2018:
October 3, 2018:
    Under Cover is a Spotify exclusive podcast, interviewing musicians about their cover versions.
October 2, 2018:
    Spotify, the second-largest podcast platform in the world, has today released a dedicated podcasters portal. The website now lets you instantly add your podcast, even if you're not with a partner host; and promises audience consumption data including gender, age and location. Unlike Apple Podcasts, there is no editorial approval process.
October 1, 2018:
    Spotify now appears to be supporting podcasts in Android Auto a little better than they used to - there's now a skip-forward button in the display for podcasts, rather than just "skip track". It's still impossible to select a podcast to listen to in Spotify's Android Auto interface.
September 28, 2018:
    Spotify say that podcast listening on the platform is growing. "In Germany, podcast listening on Spotify has increased 150% year-on-year. Growth rates globally are 367%" The company also discusses video advertising within the app - it's unclear whether this occurs around podcasting content.
September 25, 2018:
    Yesterday, we reported incorrect information about Spotify's measurements, as heard on an industry podcast. Spotify measures a "listen" in a way similar to the IAB's guidelines - as long as you listen for 60 seconds or more, you count. They additionally give "stream starts". (The difference between the two shows how many listeners you lose within 60 seconds). We've updated the post, and our podcast statistics article, and regret the error.
September 24, 2018:
    What do your Spotify stats actually say? Blubrry's Todd Cochrane comments on the New Media Show that they measure "listens", not downloads, and that someone just needs to listen for 30 seconds to count.
September 18, 2018:
    We hear that, yes, Spotify is testing passthrough. According to someone with knowledge of the matter, NPR were the driving force who requested that Spotify no longer cache their podcasts; they're now beta-testing with a number of podcasters "who are big enough", and more are in the queue.
September 14, 2018:
    Is Spotify doing passthrough for some publishers? Recent announcements of BBC and Turner Podcasts joining the platform led Todd Cochrane and Rob Greenlee to speculate in the New Media Show that Spotify are not caching podcasts for larger networks like these, thus enabling dynamic ad content and other elements. They cache all audio for others, though.
September 7, 2018:
August 30, 2018:
August 29, 2018:
August 28, 2018:
August 27, 2018:
    Spotify is moving too slowly and tentatively, says Fast Company's David Lidsky. It points out that the $1m Amy Schumer 3 Girls, 1 Keith podcast isn't exclusive (it's on Apple and Google), and that 'windowing' has historically "failed miserably".
August 23, 2018:
August 17, 2018:
    This, of course, breaks dynamically-served content, including advertising, and means analytics will no longer be visible to podcast hosts. Spotify also caches files; but Stitcher no longer does after sustained criticism. While podcast use on smart speakers is otherwise negligible, the flash briefing feature can deliver significant traffic.
August 10, 2018:
    Spotify have made it possible to share podcasts from Spotify directly to Instagram stories, "deep links and all", according to @jacobschulman who works in Product Marketing. (Thanks, James from My Spotify Ideas)
August 7, 2018:
    Buzzfeed News reports that Apple has now removed Alex Jones's podcasts from its platform, saying "Apple does not tolerate hate speech". Previously, Spotify had removed specific episodes. Infowars content has additionally been removed from Stitcher, Facebook, YouTube and Pinterest. Spreaker, who describe themselves as the "secondary host" of the podcast, have also removed the podcast from their listings: "it violates our Terms and Service Conditions because of Hate Speech," said a spokesperson for the company. Spreaker's action will effectively pull it off most third-party podcast apps. In a response, the radio host claims "this is the modern day electronic equivalent of book burning"; as of press time, his self-hosted RSS feed is still available.
August 6, 2018:
    On Friday we reported that Spotify have removed 'selected episodes' of the Alex Jones Podcast. Stitcher has removed the lot.
August 3, 2018:
    On Aug 1, we reported that Spotify was under pressure for hosting The Alex Jones Show Podcast. AP reports that the company has now 'removed specific episodes', citing hate content. Most episodes remain. Apple Podcasts and Google Podcasts, among others, still appear to link to all available episodes. The podcast is hosted with Spreaker.
August 1, 2018:
July 30, 2018:
    The #2 global podcast platform Spotify published their financial results. The company has 83m premium subscribers, and 180m monthly active users - up 40% and 30% year on year. The company has 3,969 employees.
July 24, 2018:
July 23, 2018:
    Podcast host Transistor is set to launch publicly on 1 August. It says it offers "podcast hosting and analytics for professionals who want more listeners". It's also announced it has completed integration with Spotify.
July 18, 2018:
July 10, 2018:
June 21, 2018:
    UTA and Cadence13 have launched a new podcast network called Ramble, which will use YouTube stars. UTA, a talent agency, were behind Amy Schumer's Spotify deal, and claim they represent half of Apple's top 20 podcasts.
June 18, 2018:
    Spotify is adding new shows to their system again, and working through a large backlog, including 2,500 shows from Libsyn alone. They suspended new submissions in early May while they retooled their podcast service.
June 15, 2018:
    The announcement also detailed an API that the company has with Spotify which enables pre/post-roll advertising. "Its partnership with Spotify boosted listens and live read ad inventory by 10% over the 12-month-period to May 31".
June 14, 2018:
    James at MySpotifyIdeas spots a few changes with Spotify's handling of podcasts: you can now see your "top podcasts" within the app - click the home tab, and scroll to the bottom. The Mighty, the offline Spotify player, will also support podcasts in a new update.
June 13, 2018:
June 8, 2018:
    A promotional idea from Wondery - a set of Spotify playlists of music inspired by their podcasts. Enjoying their 90s computer games soundtracks for the computer game episodes of Business Wars. And on that: "Business Wars is back with a brand new series to tell the big, bold story of Hearst vs. Pulitzer and how their publishing rivalry came to a head over one particularly salacious case: the mystery of The Headless Torso."
June 7, 2018:
    Spotify is offering advances to managers and indie acts in exchange for licensing their music directly to the streaming service, according to Billboard.
June 6, 2018:
    Google's DoubleClick's BidManager now lets you buy audio ads on "Google Play Music, Spotify, SoundCloud and TuneIn — with Pandora coming soon."
May 30, 2018:
    Apple was responsible for 62.5% of all podcast downloads; Spotify was second with 6.18% of all downloads. Other larger apps: Overcast (2.9%); Podcast Addict (2.1%); Castbox (2.1%); Stitcher (2.0%); Pocket Casts (1.5%). Rob points out that only around 20% of all Libsyn podcasts are listed on Spotify.
May 28, 2018:
May 22, 2018:
    Kinderling Kids Radio podcasts, from an Australian kids radio station, are now on Spotify: eight series are there, including The Beanies and Bedtime Explorers.
May 17, 2018:

Welcome to our new subscribers this week, including lovely people from ABC Australia, Spotify, Midroll, Harper Collins, Audiogram, KQED, Havas Edge, Penguin Random House, Whistledown Productions, Slate, Audioboom, the BBC, Turner, Univision, Spreaker, SRF Switzerland, Bauer Media, Global, Somethin'Else and Townsquare Media.

May 14, 2018:
    On Mar 30, we reported a bootcamp run by Spotify: "a weeklong intensive program for (10) aspiring female podcasters of color". Total number of applicants? Over 18,000. If you applied, you'll get to learn the decision by 20th May.
May 11, 2018:
May 9, 2018:
May 3, 2018:
    Spotify (the second-largest source of podcast listening) posted their first quarterly earnings data as a public company. 170m users, 75m paid subscribers. Revenue €1.14bn (US$1.36bn). It's still losing money.
April 27, 2018:

Thank you to our new subscribers this week, including fine folk from Hindenburg Systems, FBI Radio, Castbox, Panoply, Wondery, Spotify, NPR, VOX Media, Storiyoh, ABC Australia, SBS Australia, Engle, the BBC, the Belgian Standaard and MTG Radio. You're very welcome!

April 25, 2018:
April 19, 2018:
April 18, 2018:
April 17, 2018:
    Spotify are doing some behind-the-scenes work on their podcast platform. Libsyn warns of delays in new shows. (We're on Spotify with a special weekly version of our podcast).
April 13, 2018:
    LibSyn's The Feed ep 177 was out last week. From the stats section: 1,432 is the sensibly-adjusted average episode download figure for downloads. 6.9% of all downloads have 5,000 downloads or more. Spotify is up again: 5.75% of all downloads. Tip: the show notes let you skip in this 90-minute podcast.
April 11, 2018:
April 9, 2018:
March 30, 2018:
March 26, 2018:
    Spotify, the second-biggest destination for podcasts, is testing its own voice assistant and wanting to launch its own smart speaker, The Guardian reports.
March 22, 2018:
    Spotify have launched a new simple service for small businesses to advertise on the service. Radio creatives Get Carter Productions are less than impressed at the concept. (A brilliant client-made ad is included in this blog post)
March 19, 2018:
    Ever wondered how to get music tracks onto your podcast? The Verge explains how music copyright works; what it has to do with mechanical pianos; and why it's rather complicated.
March 7, 2018:
    The latest edition of Fest und Flauschig, a German-language podcast exclusive to Spotify, is now excitedly sponsored by eBay. We were tipped off by a Spotify Premium customer, who spends €9.99 a month to get "Keine Werbung" - no advertising. Nobody mention the Buergerliches Gesetzbuch!
March 2, 2018:
    Spotify, the #2 destination for podcasts, has finally filed for an IPO. No date has been set, unusually.
February 23, 2018:
February 22, 2018:
    Triton Digital release their new webcast metrics ranker for December 2017. It measures streaming audio; Pandora and Spotify are at the top of the list, with NPR at #4.
February 21, 2018:
    Spotify are going to launch their own speaker hardware, according to a job ad, at least. (They're the second-most popular way of getting podcasts, according to Libsyn.)
February 8, 2018:
January 29, 2018:
    As the Apple HomePod becomes available, Business Insider posts "7 reasons why you shouldn't buy Apple's HomePod right now" - one quite big one is that it doesn't actually work with Spotify, and won't work with any Android phone. And here's how it works (or doesn't) with your many and various music libraries.
January 23, 2018:
    The BBC announce they're making all their podcasts -18 LUFS - LKFS if you speak American. (If you're keeping tabs: Google wants -16 LUFS, Amazon want -14 LUFS (as do Spotify), YouTube normalise to -13 LUFS, and the AES want anywhere between -16 and -20 LUFS. I try hard to keep personal opinion out of podnews, so won't pass comment as to how crazy this situation is.
January 19, 2018:
    On Jan 17 we reported on Spotify's aim, in 2018, to become a "podcast destination". Today, Spotify announces Spotlight, which adds visual layers to podcasting. "Spotlight gives fans a deeper insight to their favorite artists, playlists, books, publishers and more by offering contextual visual elements, such as photos, video and text, that appear as users move through each episode."
January 12, 2018:
    Yesterday, we mentioned that Spotify might be even better if it contained audiobooks. We discover (in Australia) that it does; though it's one playlist and mostly public domain books. However, in Germany, Blinkist's Ben Schuman-Stoler shows us screenshots of lots of audiobooks in Spotify. "New Releases" has, for example, So klingt dein Herz, a German translation of Cecelia Ahern's Lyrebird, released in August. Die Deutschen haben mehr Glück als wir.
January 11, 2018:
    Here's a guy who really wants to work for Spotify - we think he's called James Desin. He's posted, among other things, some nice ideas for making podcasts look better in Spotify - and suggests, not unreasonably, that Spotify should also offer audiobooks too. Worth taking a look: not just for the Spotify folk who get Podnews, but also for other podcast apps. This is the sort of super-fan worth talking to.
January 9, 2018:
January 3, 2018:
    Germany: comedian and author Heinz Strunk is making a podcast for Spotify, promoted by the service as the "first fictional Spotify Original Podcast". There are ten episodes, each around fifteen minutes long. It's called Heinz Strunks Familienaufstellung and it's here.
December 21, 2017:
December 6, 2017:
November 16, 2017:
    Data (in dutch) from dutch broadcaster BNR Nieuwsradio about their podcast numbers, split between "iTunes and Spotify" and "BNR web and app". Excepting a spike when a podcast was featured by iTunes, their own web/app delivers twice as much audience. 600,000 downloads in September. The population of the Netherlands is 17m; all programming is in Dutch. Also - watch Sjors Fröhlich at Next Radio talk about how they use data to help their programming.
November 9, 2017:
November 6, 2017:
    Spotify reveal data showing, counter-intuitively, that podcasts are workday friendly. Intuitively, they also show that the NYT's Daily podcast is listened-to most in the morning.
October 31, 2017:
    Original: How podcast show notes actually display - so, can anyone read those podcast show notes you're making? Not if they listen in TuneIn; nothing's clickable and everything's scrunched together in Spotify; and Apple Podcasts isn't very consistent either. Our first long-form article tests 17 different apps. (Please share it!)
October 9, 2017:
    Quiz: according to Variety, does Gimlet Media want to become a) the Netflix of audio, b) the Spotify of audio, c) the HBO of audio? Answer here, in this view of the company. “Nobody says, ‘Do you watch video?’” says Blumberg. “We’re now getting out of the stage of people asking, ‘Do you listen to podcasts?’”
October 3, 2017:
    More on Spotify's "61% of UK adults listen to podcasts regularly" claim, which we reported yesterday. "UK adults", as reported in this story? No: 15-44s, apparently - an online sample of 1,400 adults in that age group. We still don't know what "regularly"? means. This press release hasn't been published on Spotify's brand website, so we're still a bit in the dark.
October 2, 2017:
    Spotify release some research apparently showing that 61% of UK adults listen to podcasts regularly, with 21% listening once a week. The data's not linked to from here, so there's no definition of 'regular'. UK audio measurement company RAJAR reported in June/July a figure of 10% weekly.
September 7, 2017:
    Spotify swiftly replaces their head of video and podcasts. The new guy is Courtney Holt. He was previously CEO of Maker Studios, a YouTube channel company acquired by Disney, and EVP of media and strategy at Disney. It would appear he is a) a video guy, not a podcast guy, and b) owns a very impressive beard.
September 1, 2017:
    Tom Calderone - the head of video and podcasting for Spotify, leaves the company. "Building out our video and podcast content remains a priority for Spotify and we will have more information to share on our future plans soon."
August 28, 2017:
August 25, 2017:
    Spotify reaches a licensing deal with Warner Music. WMG is the third largest record company in the world, and the last of the deals that Spotify needed to proceed with a much-awaited stock market listing in the US. Of note: the deal was announced on Instagram.
August 11, 2017:
August 4, 2017:
    A German newspaper publishes a long piece about "Netflix for the ears", talking about both Spotify and Netflix adding German-language podcasts to its service. Spotify appears to have some exclusives, too - and as the article says, neither Spotify nor Deezer can differentiate themselves with music alone. (via Edison Research's Larry Rosin)
August 1, 2017:
July 28, 2017:
    Meanwhile, Gimlet is running ads in its podcasts, notably Reply All, saying that all of its podcasts are now available in Spotify. (Not new, but interesting to hear the sponsorship).
June 30, 2017:
    Want your podcasts in Spotify? They've just added this submission form. (While hosted on Google Forms, it is legit - at least, it was created "inside Spotify", according to the Google-produced footer.)
June 19, 2017:
    After we reported that Spotify doesn't like exclusives, its exclusive podcast Mogul: The Life and Death of Chris Light is now available everywhere. "With its break beats, its memories, its anguish and joy, [Mogul] is a potent story about the complexities of art and the American experience."
June 15, 2017:
    Spotify talks about avoiding exclusives in this Variety interview. "Exclusive audio content [...] is not within our playbook."

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