Acast has paid €9mn to French podcasters

• In France, Acast has given more than 9 million euro to podcasters in the country (US$9.5mn) since launching in 2019. The company says Apple Podcasts is #1, seeing three times the downloads per user than Spotify.

• A news publisher has taken Newsguard, a content rating and 'misinformation’ service, to court, saying it incorrectly marked the publisher as “disinformation”. Newsguard launched a podcast ratings service in May, and works with Barometer for misinformation detection.

• A new tool to help you get podcast sponsors has been shared - Sumanth Jois has gone through 100 different podcast advertisers to discover the types of shows they sponsor, and who to contact. (Is this useful? Let us know.)

• PodAllies, a “done-for-you podcast production and marketing agency”, has been launched by podcast platform PodUp.

• WhisperTranscribe is a new podcast transcription engine. You can get up to 150 minutes free; it supports a number of different languages apart from English.

• W!ZARD Radio Media has partnered with Sounder for precision targeting across the W!ZARD Studios podcast network catalogue.

• Libsyn’s AdvertiseCast has signed exclusive ad partnerships with ReversABLE: The Ultimate Gut Health Podcast and The Killing Month August 1978 from WRAL, which was previously only available on Wondery+.

• PocketCasts is adding native ratings to its app; and adding bookmarks for paid subscribers, according to an email sent to subscribers yesterday.

• Podcast producer Neal Veglio sent an open letter to Libsyn yesterday, criticising the company’s direction. Acting CEO John W Gibbons (who’s Twitter bio now says he is “reinventing Libsyn”) responded.

Tips and tricks - with Spotify for Podcasters

Wherever your podcast is hosted, Spotify has free tools to help you find new fans and grow your show. And our latest updates give you even more ways to personalize your presence on one of the most important surfaces on our platform: your show page. This is where many of your fans began their listening journey, and now you can customize that experience to help turn more visitors into loyal fans. Guide first-time listeners to your favorite content by pinning a “Best place to start” episode. Then add up to two “Host recommendations” to cross-promote with another show or just share some of your favorite content on Spotify. Start curating your show page, and check out all the ways Spotify for Podcasters can help your show stand out.

• 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, too. Looks like the number of active podcasts (updated in the last thirty days) is on the up.

Podcast News

The Kids of Rutherford County is new today from Serial Productions, ProPublica and Nashville Public Radio. The four-part narrative podcast builds on a joint investigation by the two news organizations, whose reporting uncovered that a Tennessee county was arresting and illegally jailing children for over a decade.

The Solutionists is new from Deadset Studios and the University of Sydney. Hosted by Vice Chancellor and President Mark Scott, the show talks to the people working on crucial solutions to the world’s greatest challenges. The first episode explores heat, health and environment research with world-renowned Professor Ollie Jay.

We spend 90% of our lives in buildings - and the new podcast Better Buildings For Humans talks to world-leading experts in architecture, design and more, about how buildings impact our physical and mental well-being and how we perform at and think about work. The first ten episodes are available now.

PORTRAITS from the US National Portrait Gallery is back for a fifth season. The museum’s director, Kim Sajet, and expert guests will delve into some of the most remarkable portraits in the museum’s collection. It’s recorded in the National Portrait Gallery’s own podcast studio.