How The Piketon Massacre was made

Below, in our Tips and Tricks section, read how The Piketon Massacre was made

• Spotify has acquired Sonantic, a “a dynamic AI voice platform that creates compelling, nuanced, and stunningly realistic voices from text” (hear a clip in our podcast today). No terms were given.

• Media and entertainment group Global has made a strategic investment in audio ad company Odeeo, which puts audio ads in mobile games. Global’s DAX will become exclusive sales partner in the UK and US. Global also owns podcast hosting company Captivate, as well as a significant radio and outdoor business in the UK.

• Acast has announced a “virtual audio pride parade” to celebrate LGBTQIA+ events over the next three months, according to an email from the company. Acast has also announced a partnership with Spring (formerly Teespring) to allow podcasters to create their own merch.

• Acast has been misleadingly claiming that one of its companies has Public Benefit Corporation status: that means legally-defined goals for positive impact on society, workers, the community and the environment. The website for RadioPublic, a company Acast bought in February 2021, includes a seal claiming it’s a “public benefit corporation”, while its privacy policy starts with a similar claim. Yet, RadioPublic PBC ceased to exist on Dec 31 2021 when its registration was revoked after failing to file; and RadioPublic’s new owner, Acast, has no such legal status. Acast used the RadioPublic user database in February this year to send unsolicited commercial emails.

  • We’ve been asking Acast for a statement on this since March 17. On notifying the company that we were publishing this story today anyway, the company emailed us that the website will be, coincidentally, amended later this morning, US time.

• The RØDECaster Pro II will be launched in the next 24 hours. Unsually, units already shipped have been disabled until launch, which is 10am Sydney time tomorrow; or 7pm New York time tonight.

Moves and hires - with Podjobs.net

• Tony Moorey has been appointed Bauer Media Audio UK’s Content Director of Digital Platforms. He was Group Content Director for two of Bauer’s biggest radio stations, Absolute Radio and Magic Radio. He will “oversee the audio and visual content that consumers can access on Bauer owned digital platforms”.

Tips and tricks - with RedCircle

• How I make: The Piketon Massacre looks at the work that goes behind a #1 podcast. From the producer of The Piketon Massacre, learn what tool is invaluable to staying organised, what tech they use, and who they use to host (and why).

• Dave Wells, an online marketer, posts ten podcast marketing tips. His first? Start with a great podcast. Easily overlooked!

Podcast News - with Post Script Media

From Post Script Media: Investor Shayle Kann is asking big questions about how to decarbonize the planet: How cheap can clean energy get? Will artificial intelligence speed up climate solutions? Where is the smart money going into climate technologies? Every week on Catalyst, Shayle explains the world of “climate tech” with prominent experts, investors, researchers, and executives.

In Build Your SaaS this week, Justin Jackson talks to Dave Zohrob from Chartable on what it’s like to be acquired by Spotify.

Marvel’s Wastelanders: Wolverine, the latest instalment in the Marvel’s Wastelanders audio epic, was launched yesterday. It’s a paid exclusive this week, but goes live next week on RSS everywhere.

Launching today as a paid exclusive, and live on RSS next week, Queen of Hearts is new from Wondery and Rococo Punch. It’s a “blind date game show”, hosted by drag queen Jujubee, who claims “dating can be a serious drag”. We see what they did there.

The Why? Curve is new from journalists Phil Dobbie and Roger Hearing. It’s a half-hour podcast looking into current events, supported by facts and numbers. The first edition looks at the UK government’s deal to send some asylum seekers arriving by boat to Rwanda.