Descript acquires SquadCast

• Editing tool Descript has purchased Squadcast, a remote recording service. Terms weren’t given. The announcement says that the two services will continue separately for now, but Descript customers will get remote recording included immediately in their subscriptions for free; and SquadCast customers can choose to switch their subscription to Descript to get its editing capabilities at no additional cost.

  • The Podnews Weekly Review this week will have an interview with Squadcast CEOs Zachariah Moreno and Rockwell Felder.
  • Descript will be at Podcast Movement, booth #700.

• First covered in Podnews way back in March, Shure have released the MVX2U, a way to turn any XLR microphone into a USB one. The tool works with the ShurePlus Motiv app, allowing in-built EQ and compression.

• Blubrry (booth #500) has unveiled an update simplifying mid-roll ad insertion for podcasters.

• Short-form podcast app Jam has launched a podcaster beta program. The app now includes podcasts of all lengths, and is adding community and social features to all podcasts.

• Brand safety and targeting tools are helpful - if there are enough ad slots to advertise in. Sounder has partnered with podcast yield analysis company Flightpath to combine brand safety and contextual targeting with availability predictions.

• With all the negative headlines elsewhere about podcasting (thanks, Harry and Meghan), companies are still investing in audio. Chris Peterson, DWNLOAD Media CEO and founder, is being interviewed by Sara Fischer from Axios and CNN at Podcast Movement next week (Wed 4pm, Industry Stage).

• The Australian Podcast Ranker was released by Triton Digital (booth #201). There’s no change in the top positions this month.

• Want to catch up with Podnews at Podcast Movement? Find us next to the puppies, in booth #801. Come for the strange Australian mints (if we remember to buy some). Bring swag!

• Today, Explained will be aired nightly on 90.5 WESA in Pittsburgh PA. The show, made by Vox Media, has been slowly appearing on public radio across the US.

  • Meanwhile, The World from GBH and PRX is now on 376 American public media stations - a record number for the program, which is the longest-running daily global news program on US public radio.

Tips and tricks - with Pod Predictor by Coleman Insights

• How to get more listeners to your podcast is a look at some of the articles we’ve covered in the last five years.

• Is it worth registering a trademark for your podcast? We think it might be.

Podcast News - with Airwave

Part of the Airwave podcast network: Most Notorious! A True Crime History Podcast looks at true-life tales of crime, criminals, tragedies and disasters through history - with historians and authors who have studied their subjects for years. Gangsters, gunslingers and serial killers are all here, with host Erik Rivenes.

The Cricket Unfiltered podcast is now ten years old. It was founded in 2013, and was the first ever regular weekly cricket podcast in Australia. It has featured over 20 international captains and numerous cricketers and broadcasters. It’s from Piccolo Podcasts.

Everyone’s Happy is a new sci-fi audio drama which launched yesterday. It’s set in a futuristic UK, where everyone living in the Dome cities is required to take a government-mandated drug to eliminate any negative emotions. But it turns out some people are immune to it…

Two years ago, the US pulled out of Afghanistan, and a desperate sea of humanity rushed to Kabul airport to escape with them. More than 80,000 refugees made their way to America - but what happened to those families, arriving in the middle of a pandemic with a lack of affordable housing? Stranger Becomes Neighbor is a new six-part series from KSL Podcasts.