Audacy’s ‘onerous’ podcast advertising agreement with APM

• Last week, Audacy’s financial results included note of “an early exit to an onerous podcast ad representation contract”. They didn’t say who at the time; The Verge reports it is this agreement with APM. The final para of the press release: “UTA brokered the deal on behalf of American Public Media.”

• Fiction podcasters highlighted their efforts to unionise outside Amazon’s offices in New York, NY. The WGA Audio Alliance wants Amazon to enter into negotiations with podcast writers.

• Bad news: YouTube’s Kai Chuk is no longer answering questions at Podcast Movement (Wed, 2.30pm, Aurora C). Good news: his place will be taken by the Product Lead Podcasting at Google, Steve McLendon. A former co-founder of 60dB, he’s been involved in the launch of podcasts on YouTube, but also looks after Google Podcasts - so knows a thing or two about the whole space. We hope to be there (if we can squeeze in) - the session’s sponsored by Ausha.

• In the UK, the Audio Production Awards has announced a Pay What You Can scheme. The scheme is sponsored by Amazon Music and Wondery.

• Bandrew Scott has published his annual YouTube podcast earnings from Bandrew Says. We learn that YouTube Premium users contribute 30% more to creators over a year than ads.

• Podstash is a new website that lets you turn any link into a short podcast.

• A free ebook, Tools for Podcasting, has been updated in honour of podcasting’s 20th anniversary. It’s written by Jill Olmsted, an Associate Professor at the School of Communication, American University in Washington DC; and is available in both PDF and EPUB formats.

• Further reading: A new start after 60: I came out of my shell when I retired. Now, I’m a podcast star at 67 (The Guardian)

Tips and tricks - with Pod Predictor by Coleman Insights

• Mike Dell and MacKenzie Bennett from Blubrry share Dos and Don’ts for Podcast Show Notes. “Don’t forget SEO”, they suggest.

The Tech Stuff - with RSS․com

• Adam Curry’s Boostagram Ball value4value music podcast has, so far, sent over $1,191 to music artists, he says. We note it’s had 6,249 downloads so far; so that’s $0.18 per download, or an equivalent of $185 CPM.

• Adam would also like someone to build a leaderboard tool for songs played in podcasts.

• Dave Jones highlights the benefit of the podcast:guid - a universal ID that follows the podcast, rather than the feed URL.

• Dave Jones has also launched a new API endpoint for the Podcast Index - /api/1.0/value/byepisodeguid. It’s not, yet, in the API documentation.

Podcast News - with Airwave

Part of the Airwave podcast network: What if a dragon lived in my closet? What if there were a never-ending bowl of ice cream? What if there was a podcast with stories just like these? What if it was hosted by Mr Eric? What if the stories you heard kept kids laughing while fostering their curiosity and imagination? What if you started listening to What If World - Stories for Kids

Nocturnal Worlds is a new podcast perfect for relaxation: field recordings of the Australian bush, a symphony of melodic nature sounds and captivating storytelling in an audio experience that highlights Australia’s unique nocturnal ecosystems. It’s new from Audiocraft and the Australian Museum.

Swipe Your Sign is, says the BBC, the first Black, queer-focused astrology-based dating podcast ever. You’re invited to explore the intersection of astrology and dating by following a series of blind dates with a diverse mix of potential partners, carefully chosen based on their zodiac signs. The show launches Aug 19, to coincide with UK Black Pride 2023.

It’s two years since El Salvador said Bitcoin was legal tender. The Spanish-language Plan Cuscatlán: de las Pandillas al Bitcoin investigates how Nayib Bukele, president of El Salvador and self-proclaimed “world’s coolest dictator”, took the world by surprise when he announced the Bitcoin Law that would make his country the first in the world to adopt crypto. Almost all voices in the show are Salvadoran; it’s made by Argentinian production studio Mantel.

Podshape has used artificial intelligence to help recreate social media posts in their latest podcast Out Of The Ordinary. The show is launched today in Apple Podcasts subscriptions, and looks at the story of Brandon Truaxe, a Canadian skincare entrepreneur who suddenly began to start posting some very odd social media messages.