Spotify loses podcast boss, HowStuffWorks gets $15m

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."

• HowStuffWorks, behind podcasts like Stuff You Should Know, raises $15m in funding.

• A new platform to listen to podcasts - Feedcast. Being developed open-source, with a crowd-funding plan for infrastructure costs; using machine learning for recommendations. "If you can imagine netflix's recommendation with youtube's content, that is close to what we think."

• 10 takeaways for radio from Podcast Movement. Includes a fascinating data point: 25-50% of podcast listeners drop out in the first five minutes. Also on the same website, The Hidden Rockstars of the Podcasting World.

• Another look back at Podcast Movement, from a computer programmer's point of view. "Everybody is predicting growth for podcasting, there are virtually no naysayers. It.Is.That.Obvious."

• Sony announces a premium speaker with Google Assistant built-in, joining Panasonic, Anker and Mobovi. However, probably of minimal benefit for podcasting, which isn't really accessed through smart speakers according to two set of recent research.