iHeart launches Ruby, a branded podcast unit

• iHeartMedia announced Ruby, a branded podcast unit that’s already working with Quickbooks and IBM. Lst week SMI said that US spending on branded podcasts was up 51% year-on-year in Q1.

• The Podcast Show takes place next week in London, and the show has announced a number of new speakers. Included are Acast CEO Ross Adams; Will Pearson from iHeartPodcasts - focusing on ‘Debunking The Biggest Myths in Podcasting’ - and Ashley Flowers of true crime sensation Crime Junkie. Our Editor will be there, too. You can use PODNEWS for a discount code.

• UK podcast producer Fresh Air has been named as one of the best small companies to work in the UK by The Sunday Times. Neil Cowling tells Podnews: “I honestly couldn’t be prouder of this. When you grow a small business, you have the opportunity to build a culture from scratch, and then the extraordinary, humbling privilege of other people choosing to dedicate their working lives to shaping that further with you.”

• Did you know… that Apple iPhone now offers live captions for any podcast you want to listen to? If your phone uses English (US) or English (CA), you’re good to go. Live captions are also available on Android phones, and any audio you listen to on Chrome (Windows, Mac OS, Linux, Android): we’ve updated our guide on how to get them.

• ARN’s iHeartPodcast Network Australia has signed a representation deal with Producey, a podcast publisher.

• A conference focused on branded podcasts is on right now in Milan, Italy - Called Give Your Brand A Voice and run by the OBE Podcast Committee, the conference includes speakers from Sky, Campari, Spotify Italy, and Podnews.

• The Podcast Host writes a look at the podcasting industry in Africa.

• Do you have a permit for that podcast studio? There might be more podcast studios in Arlington VA after a new zoning proposal would allow them in offices without a permit.

Tips and tricks - with Podnews Live - where podcasting connects

• Pacific Content’s Russ Moore tells us how to work better with Dynamically Audio Insertion to avoid burnout.

Moves and hires

• Candice Lim is joining Slate this week as the new co-host of Slate’s internet culture podcast ICYMI. She guest-hosted an episode of ICYMI in February.

• Seb Rennie, who was hired by SCA in February as Executive Head, LiSTNR Commercial, is to be the company’s new Chief Commercial Officer.

• Kali Navé is one of eight PRX staffers laid off. The round of layoffs “is due to decline in podcast sponsorship revenue felt across the industry”.

The Tech Stuff - with The Podcast Standards Project

• The Podcasting 2.0 podcast played a song by Rusty Gate in Friday’s episode, instantly catapaulting the group to the #1 slot in music player Wavlake. The technology allows money to automatically flow through to music artists while their song is playing. Adam Curry reckons it is “circumventing an entire industry which has been in place for 60 to 70 years”.

• With the podcast namespace, neither chapters nor transcripts appear to work well with shows with dynamic ad insertion, particularly programmatic. In a blog post, Nathan Gathright takes us through the options we have available to us to fix that.

• Crowdcast is a new AI project that turns a subreddit into its own podcast. Here’s an AI-generated daily trivia podcast and a daily show about AI made by AI. Meanwhile, Spotify is throwing out AI-made songs, and banning bot-farms listening to them.

Podcast News

Launching today, Scamanda is the newest podcast from Lionsgate Sound. The non-fiction limited series unravels the surprising and bizarre story behind Amanda C. Riley’s long-running scam to use her growing online presence to take advantage of the social media community.

New today from the BBC World Service and BBC News, Fukushima is a seven-part audio drama series exploring the 2011 nuclear disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in Japan. Simon Pitts, Commissioning Editor, BBC World Service English, said: “Fukushima is a compelling drama that powerfully explores the 2011 disaster.

Behind The Rolling Stone Cover launched last week from the AU/NZ edition of the magazine. It sees Rolling Stone AU/NZ Editor in Chief, and regular Today Show contributor, Poppy Reid, reading the magazine’s latest cover story in full alongside exclusive commentary. Episode One features Amy Shark, who joins Reid later in the podcast to delve behind the scenes of the cover story and photoshoot.