Spotify’s Megaphone to return to IAB certification

• Exclusive: Spotify’s Megaphone is working to be recertified to the IAB Podcast Measurement Guidelines. Earlier this year, Podnews revealed that the company had pulled out of IAB membership, and its companies had been removed from IAB’s certification program. Now, in a welcome move, the company’s enterprise podcast hosting platform Megaphone says it is working to regain certification. A Spotify spokesperson told Podnews: “We have remained committed to IAB’s mission, have maintained compliance with the IAB guidelines, and are currently working with the IAB on the v2.2 certification of the Megaphone platform.”

• Spotify for Podcasters remains the #1 podcast host based on new episodes in May. Megaphone has been falling in share since August, but saw a small increase in episode share last month. Meanwhile, Podtrac is now measuring over 11% of all new podcast episodes, including almost 60% of new episodes on Spreaker. Open analytics service OP3 measured 342,000 new episodes in May.

• In Dubai, the Dubai Press Club has launched the Arab Podcast Programme, an initiative to drive the development of the region’s media industry and build the podcasting capabilities of audio content creators and media professionals. The DBC also released a 22-page report on podcasting in the Arab world.

• Spotify has written an explainer about how it plans to “protect election integrity”. The company has rules and a “tool called Spotlight designed to identify potential risks quickly within long-form audio content like podcasts.”

• Further reading: Opinion: Podcast Monologuing Is the New Mansplaining - “With so many podcasts stretching beyond the three-hour mark, is it any wonder we live in a society where everyone just wants to hear themselves talk?” …

Thank you to CoHost for returning as a gold supporter. CoHost is a podcast analytics and audience insights platform built for brands and podcast agencies - and are IAB certified. The company, and its owner Quill, have been long-term supporters of Podnews: helping us report on the industry. You can join them.

People News

• The co-host of the Kingcast podcast, Scott Wampler has died.

The Tech Stuff - with RSS.com

• The motto for the podcasting community as it was booting up in 2004 was "users and developers party together.” - so says Dave Winer in a blog post.

• Installing transcription software got much easier with the release of whisper-cpp on Homebrew - if you run a Mac, here’s how to get free, high quality transcripts on your own machine.

Tips and tricks - with Memberful

• Wondering how other podcasts like yours are doing in downloads? OP3 analytics are open to everyone, and our sister publication Podcast Business Journal publishes a selection of podcasts measured by the service, to help you compare.

• Wondering how many podcasts there are, and how many you’re competing with? The Podcast Business Journal can help with that. Looks like the number of active podcasts has been slowly declining since March.

Podcast News

Congratulations to James Carter - his podcast PodQuiz weekly trivia quiz reached episode 1,000 last week. It started in May 2005. “It’s really heartening that this independent podcast has sustained so long”, says the reader that sent us the tip-off.

The history podcast Door Key is featuring stories like the Stonewall Uprising and Sally Ride across Pride Month. The show’s host is April, who says she’s “a dork with a deep love of history who wants to talk about it”.

Hit comedy dating and relationships podcast Girls Gotta Eat has joined the Dear Media podcast network. The show will move to twice-weekly.

Lord Lucan disappeared fifty years ago in 1974, after his child’s nanny was murdered. His trial never took place - until now. The Trial of Lord Lucan uses exclusive, never-before-seen documents written by Det Chief Supt Roy Ranson, who headed the 1974 murder investigation, and will finally decide whether Lord Lucan was guilty or not guilty. And you are the jury - it’s up for a public vote at the end of the week.

Animal is new from The New York Times - a six part audio series recorded around the world, asking what we can learn about our lives by looking at the lives of other animals.

Deadman’s Curse: Volcanic Gold returns today for a new season. A historical true crime podcast, produced by Great Pacific Media (GPM), Curiouscast and Corus Entertainment, tells the story of a prospector for a gold mine suddenly disappearing in British Columbia. The first season won three Signal Awards.

Popular fiction podcast Desert Skies returns for its second season today: a quirky, comedic, and heartfelt fiction podcast about life between this world and the next. The story takes place along the road of a lonely highway at a gas station in the afterlife… and every character in the podcast is voiced by one person!

Food on Tour is back for a new season, with touring drummer Mike Robinson having mouth watering conversations with professional musicians and artists to uncover their most cherished bars and restaurants. From hidden gems to 5 star meals at iconic establishments around the world, the show comes out every Monday.