How the Apple Podcast Charts work: the patent

• Have you ever wondered how the Apple Podcast Charts worked? Today we link to its patent application from Apple, filed in 2006. Computing popularity based upon subscriptions appears to contain all the information we already know about the chart: that it’s based upon subscriptions not downloads, and that more recent subscriptions count for more in the chart than older ones (that’s the equation you can see in the excerpt above). The patent application, which has been abandoned, may not be the method that Apple now uses to calculate the charts, which seem to have been significantly strengthened since there was evidence of manipulation in mid 2018.

• In the UK, Spotify has launched My Dog’s Favourite Podcast, an exclusive podcast for dogs produced with the RSPCA, an animal charity. Episodes are five hours long, and designed to keep your doggy company while you do human things. One UK newspaper has given it a review from a five year-old cockapoo called Herbie.

  
  Aug 20 2023: This broken link now points to the Internet Archive.

• iHeart-owned Inside Radio interviews former iHeart employee Owen Grover about Pocket Casts. “We have seen well over 20% growth in our number of users just in the past two months,” Grover says.

• Libsyn has decided to “set the record straight” about whether Spotify is #1 or not, by publishing their app download figures for December to “help debunk the erroneous stories”. They show 59.6% of downloads from Apple Podcasts and iTunes, and 11.6% from Spotify. Interestingly, Spotify has dropped from the 13% Libsyn reported in October. (In November, Libsyn became a passthrough destination for Spotify).

  • The MorganStanley and MIDiA data both measure people saying what podcast apps they use, not downloads. Everyone could be right: Spotify could be #1 for number of users; but Apple Podcasts appears to be #1 for downloads. Our Editor writes more on that.

• “I don’t really listen to podcasts” is the most important point of view in podcasting, says Dan Misener.

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• uStudio, a secure corporate podcasting company, has produced a Podcast Content Guide, containing information on how to plan, market and set objectives for private podcasts.

• Developers: if it’s interesting, here’s how our podcast images work now.

Tips and tricks - with Acast Open

• Do you need a co-host for your podcast? Some questions to help you decide, by Frank Racioppi

This link is no longer available, as at Aug 20 2023
• Does your podcast need a trailer? Why, yes it does, says We Edit Podcasts. (It’s also the thing Spotify will look for to help promote you, by the way). Here’s ours

Podcast News

NPR News Now is a brand new entry at #3 in the Podtrac top 20 US podcasts chart for December. The podcast, consisting of the latest hourly news bulletin from NPR, was previously excluded from the chart.
Aug 20 2023: This broken link now points to the Internet Archive.

The hosts of Call Her Daddy appear to have upset a columnist at the NYPost. “They lack the basic savvy and grace to make it in this industry”, says Kirsten Fleming, adding “they’re just really uptight frauds”. Ouch. (Barstool Sports)

The Murder Squad, a true-crime podcast released in March 2019, has helped lead to the arrest of a suspect in a 1980 killing, reports the Rolling Stone. (Exactly Right Media / Omny Studio)

Give them Lala… with Randall launches next week: a new podcast from Lala Kent and her film producer fiancé Randall Emmett. WarnerMedia Podcast Network have signed a deal for the production, sales and promotion of 50 episodes. (Knit)

In The Feed, Rob Walch shares total download numbers. “If your show is getting more than 130 downloads after 30 days you are better than half the shows out there.” (Libsyn)

Underunderstood, has been apologised-to, after it was told it had to pay $1,995 in licensing if it wanted to tell people it was chosen as one of the HuffPost’s Podcasts of the Year. Lydia Polgreen, HuffPost’s Editor in Chief, apologised “for the miscommunication”, adding “we’ve made it clear to our third party that we do not want anyone charged for this” and “celebrate in any way you choose”.