Spotify's Greenroom Creator Fund closes, doesn't pay

• In June 2021, Spotify announced the Spotify Greenroom Creator Fund for US creators to “support and reward creators for the communities they build and the experiences they create”, as part of the launch of Spotify Greenroom. However, the fund never launched; and yesterday, Spotify emailed applicants, admitting that the program had been cancelled.

  • While the launch website's FAQs promised that the Fund would begin payouts “later in summer” 2021, the website still said “later in summer” in Oct 2021, and by Mar 2022, it had been amended to say that the Fund “goes live in 2022”. We can find no evidence that the fund ever paid out any money.
  • Spotify has a track record of announcing exciting things that never materialise but which have the effect of improving its share price. In this case, the Spotify Greenroom Creator Fund, and app, allowed Spotify to outperform the market on its launch day by 0.13% (adding around $60m to its market capitalisation).

• Spotify has quietly rolled-out a new misinformation policy that says it may hide shows, or in their words “restrict content’s discoverability”. NiemanLab has discovered the company’s new rules, which Spotify have yet to announce: and nor have they added them to their public Platform Rules page.

• Will podcast content be regulated? The Brookings Institution has written a document that highlights current platform policies, describes how Spotify and Apple allow listeners to report shows, and suggests areas that policy-makers might focus on.

• First look: TED Audio Collective has signed with Supercast to offer paid subscriptions for TED Talks Daily. TED members will be able to enjoy a premium ad-free version of TED Talks Daily, plus all of the existing perks they get with TED membership, like exclusive programming, social events, and more. Supercast works in Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, and many other apps.

• In the UK, the Hospital Broadcasting Association has launched its own podcast hosting network, working with Captivate. Radio station members will be able to add their podcasts at no charge.

• In the Netherlands, the owner of the NRC Handelsblad newspaper NRC Media has launched the Audiohuis Podcast Network. The company will sell advertising across the network, including third party shows and AdsWizz’s PodWave audio marketplace in the country. “We want to become the authority in the Netherlands in the field of podcasting,” said Madelon Fortuin, NRC Media’s Commercial Director.

• There’s a new global #1 - the Brazilian artist Anitta’s Envolver. How did Anitta do it? By apparently asking her fans to game the Spotify algorithms - and by giving instructions on how to inflate her streaming numbers in ways that wouldn’t be spotted by Spotify’s systems.

Tips and tricks

• The Logitech M650L wireless mouse (US $39) has near-silent buttons (so your microphone won’t hear you clicking), can work using Bluetooth (so no USB dongle required), and has two additional thumb buttons, which you can configure for each application. We’ve configured one to 'cut’ in our audio editor; thus removing any need for us to use the keyboard or the toolbar when editing out bad takes.

Sep 13 2023: This broken link now points to the Internet Archive.
• “To help me check for level - what did you have for breakfast this morning?” - many people don’t eat breakfast, so Australian radio journalist Avani Dias asked for better questions to ask. She got plenty.

Podcast News - with Acast

From Acast: The last episode of Unraveled drops tomorrow, after five seasons; it’s an investigation into the most elusive criminal to ever strike - the “one and done killer.” These mysterious offenders commit one brutal murder and disappear back into society, which makes them nearly impossible to catch. But could that be changing?

Too Much Information is new from the iHeartPodcast Network, and will give listeners the secret history, behind-the-scenes details and little-known fascinating facts about our favourite movies, music, TV shows and more – like Pop Up Video for a new generation. The first three episodes came out yesterday, including a deep-dive into Abba’s Dancing Queen, and Rugrats.

Marvel’s Squirrel Girl: The Unbeatable Radio Show! launches today - the newest original scripted podcast from Marvel Entertainment and SiriusXM. Milana Vayntrub stars as Squirrel Girl, helping people navigate AT&T’s mobile plans save New York City from certain destruction. It’s produced by Radio Point.

Live from Mount Olympus returns for a second season today. The acclaimed Greek Myth podcast for tweens (and, possibly the only Greek Myth podcast for tweens) focuses on the story of Persephone, goddess queen of the underworld, and wife of the god Haides. It’s from PRX, TRAX and the Onassis Foundation.

There’s a new season of Decoder Ring launching today from Slate. Host Willa Paskin takes on a cultural question, object, idea, or habit and speaks with experts, historians, and obsessives to try and figure out where it comes from, what it means, and why it matters. Expect one episode on Convoy from CW McCall, good buddy, and why some razor blades have five blades now.