Pandora plans podcast expansion

Pandora is adding (more) podcasts to its app, working on a “deep integration” to help listeners browse and discover new shows - if you like, a Podcast Genome Project. “Pandora is also looking to offer podcasters monetization options that will be superior to the current state of podcast advertising.”

• Yesterday, we mentioned that Spotify might be even better if it contained audiobooks. We discover (in Australia) that it does; though it’s one playlist and mostly public domain books. However, in Germany, Blinkist's Ben Schuman-Stoler shows us screenshots of lots of audiobooks in Spotify. “New Releases” has, for example, So klingt dein Herz, a German translation of Cecelia Ahern’s Lyrebird, released in August. Die Deutschen haben mehr Glück als wir.

• An interview with the new chief marketing officer of Gimlet Media, Jenny Wall. She highlights as her strategy an association between show and brand. “When someone says it’s a Gimlet show, you know it’s going to be good,” she says.

  
  Jul 29 2023: This broken link now points to the Internet Archive.

• Stabl, the podcast recommendation service, has a new “less purple” website, and their recommendations are now also taken by the Android app Castbox (in the US only).

• Courtney Carthy of podcasting company Nearly Media covers Australian podcast predictions for 2018.

• PodcastOne has signed a deal with the Associated Press for sports content.

  
  Jul 29 2023: This broken link now points to the Internet Archive.

• A “slowly curated” list of podcasts worth listening to - a blog by Cindy called Pursuing Podcasts.

• (British) music journo Peter Robinson asks for recommendations for “a good podcast that isn’t about music or serial killers?” The answers include many suggestions, and some views on the state of podcasts too.

• Hong Kong: 4 podcasts you need to download if you live there

• Interesting new website/idea: HypeCast, “connecting podcasts with advertisers”.

• Spain: grateful to be made aware of Podium Podcast, a podcast network operated by broadcaster Prisa in Colombia, Mexico, Chile, Argentina and Spain. Here’s their “about us” page. Also, here’s Podcaster@s, a newsletter for Spanish-language podcasts. Thank you, Eric Jon Magnuson.

• Steven Goldstein looks through the numbers from NPR and Edison Research’s Smart Speaker study, unveiled yesterday.

  
  Jul 29 2023: This broken link now points to the Internet Archive.

• ESPN has launched a new weekly sports podcast called Sports? with Katie Nolan.