Apple Podcasts adds new artwork requirements

• Wanting to get promoted by Apple Podcasts? Apple is now requiring specific artwork for shows it promotes in its app: its feature request form says that “submissions without Showcase Hero art will not be considered for Showcase featuring in the US”. They mean Show Hero art, as documented here. The form is also specifically asking about trailers, so we can guess what’s next there, too. Not looking for Apple Podcasts promotion? Don’t worry; nothing else changes. (h/t John McDermott)

  • If you’ve a trailer, you can also use our own New Podcasts website to promote your show there (and here).
    • (Update: Apple updated its Show Hero page to rename it as Showcase Hero within 24 hours of us publishing this).

• The Podcast Marketing Academy released its 2025 Podcast Marketing Trends Report. The survey contains a lot of quality data around what works - and doesn’t - in terms of podcasting:

  • 55% of shows saw a smaller listenership this year than last year, the study says; though 18% of shows doubled their listenership. It also shows that business shows, and shows with an interview format, grew the most. The length of a podcast grew slightly, with the median episode 5% longer than last year at 36 minutes 42 seconds.

• The APAs from AudioUK are open for entry, as the audio production awards return for the fifteenth year. The awards celebrate audio from podcasts to radio, audiobooks to sound design, production to presenting. Audible returns as sponsor; you’ve until mid September to enter.

• In Australia, Network 10’s forthcoming 10 NEWS+ tv program will be available on Spotify. It’s the first commercial free-to-air news program to launch as “a video podcast” (their words) on Spotify.

• The Rest is Politics and The Rest is Politics: US saw 1.1 million video views and 685,000 audio streams in a single day, in reaction to the US bombing of Iran, says Goalhanger.

• Podscribe released three updates to its platform designed to enhance transparency, add delivery tracking, and give new campaign management tools for advertisers, agencies, and publishers.

• Bananas, toilet paper, paper towels, podcasts. Walmart in Franklin, Nashville TN, really has it all, with the opening of six production studios, for podcasts, vodcasts or even mixing in Dolby Atmos. It’s unclear whether you get savings with a Sam’s Club membership card, though. (h/t Matt Medeiros)

• The Stony Brook Podcast Incubator is now accepting applications for its 2025–2026 cohort. Founded in 2018, the two-semester program provides hands-on editorial, technical, and professional training for audio creators at all levels. Expect guest speakers like Ira Glass, Lauren Passell and Valerie Geller.

• Media-buying platform AdLib has integrated with Audiohook’s premium inventory. The partnership unlocks performance-priced audio advertising.

• SoundCloud has extended its exclusive agreement with AdsWizz in fourteen European markets. The companies have worked together since 2021.

• Eight Premier League soccer clubs have now joined Sport Social, the sports podcast network has announced, with Notts Forest, Aston Villa, and Leicester joining this season.

• We’ve been getting the history of British radio all wrong, says a podcast. The British Broadcasting Century celebrates a century of its own with its hundredth episode, and discovers that the history books are wrong - some of the firsts in British broadcasting weren’t from men, or from London, after all.

Moves and hires

• Amanda Unwin has been made Sydney Director of Audio Sales for Nine Radio, which includes Nine Podcasts.

• Above - at Cannes Lions last week, the NYT podcast The Daily was given the Gold Creator Milestone Award, for hitting 500 million all-time streams on Spotify. Above, from left to right - Michael Barbaro, with Spotify’s Roman Wasenmüller (Global Head of Podcast Business), Dustee Jenkins (Chief Public Affairs Officer), and Emma Vaughn (Global Head of Advertising and Content Business Development). The Daily is the fifth English-language podcast to reach 500mn streams.

Tips and tricks - with Memberful

• Want to make video podcasts for YouTube but don’t want to get in front of the camera yourself? A tool called Jogg will turn audio into “avatar” podcasts. It’s demonstrated here by YouTuber Jonathan’s Jam. Podnews reader (and supporter) Samuel Phelps asks us: “Is this literally better than static nothing or bouncing waves? Or is uncanny valley too strong?”

Podcast News - with Podcast Movement

The Downside with Gianmarco Soresi has been picked up by comedy podcast network Headgum. Stand up comedian and lifelong cynic Gianmarco Soresi and Russell Daniels interview guests ranging from up-and-coming comedians to people more famous than them, and encourage their guests to complain about their childhood, careers and daily lives.

Marketecture has Milly Botes, Acast’s VP of Product, as a guest this week. She shares how ads are becoming more scalable, how Acast is using AI, and reveals what animal Acast would be.

Fly on the Wall with Dana Carvey and David Spade has signed a new multi-year contract extension with Audacy. The show is to expand to video, and its spinoff Superfly will merge into the main show feed.

A brand new podcast promises to explore the life journeys of elite athletes, coaches and professional sports figures. Beyond The Sport is hosted by comedian Jim Daly and sports broadcaster Kenzie Benali, and features a number of different guests.

Abi Clarke: Zookeeper in Training is brand new from Crowd Network today - where popular comedian Abi Clarke learns what it takes to be a Chester Zoo zookeeper. From facing her fears of crocodiles to training a sloth to get an x-ray, Abi is getting fully immersed in zookeeper life. In the first episode, she meets rare giraffes, learns to look after endangered giant otters, and provides commentary on the zookeepers moving more than one hundred flamingos.

Let’s Walk (with Halli) is brand new today from Icelandic entrepreneur, designer, and accessibility advocate Haraldur “Halli” Thorleifsson. Halli takes his motorized wheelchair for a walk, with a guest - to record a conversation that’s not constricted by four walls. His first guest today is Andy Richter, in a conversation that’s as funny, honest, and unexpected as you’d hope.

Former World’s Strongest Man, Eddie Hall, launches his own podcast The Good, The Bad & The Beast today. Eddie is ready to show his 17-million-strong audience a new side of ’The Beast.’ The podcast promises to offer raw, in-depth interviews with elite athletes, adventurers, and celebrities to explore the mindset behind extraordinary achievements - kicking off with an tell-all interview with Love Island-star and undefeated-boxer, Tommy Fury.

When was the last time you felt good about the internet? From cyberbullying to the racism and misogyny on social media, and the violent videos, it might not have been for a while. Long Shadow's new season Breaking the Internet takes listeners on a decades-spanning exploration of how the internet, a tool that once promised to bring people together, has instead torn the world apart. It’s new today.

Find more podcasts, and add your show