Podtrac admits to website error; Apple slips to below 60% of podcast downloads

• Exclusive: Podcast analytics firm Podtrac has removed a statement that it made in error on its website, Podnews can reveal today. The company is working towards IAB certification.

• The “awesome guest” for the live edition of Masters of Scale, the podcast hosted by LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman, has been announced as Tory Burch, the American fashion designer and businesswoman who owns 250 stores worldwide.

• Following our story yesterday about Anchor seeming to bypass the Apple approval process, Anchor have responded denying that’s happening; and other podcaster publishers confirm that they are able to bypass the approval process. We’ve updated the story.

• Only 18% of podcasts added a new episode in the last three months, according to the report we linked to yesterday from Amplifi Media. Tom Webster from Edison Research, writing the wonderfully alliterative A Pointed Perspective on the Purported Podfading Problem, also compares this number to TV schedules, adding that the word “podfading” is derogatory. Ta, Tom - top.

  
  Aug 14 2023: This broken link now points to the Internet Archive.

• Rob Walch from Libsyn has released the latest download figures for podcasts hosted on Libsyn on mobile apps: Apple Podcasts 59.9%; Spotify 10%; Overcast: 2.9%; Castbox 2.5%; Stitcher 2%; Podcast Addict 1.6%; Google 1.3% and Pocketcast 1.2%. This is the first time, he notes, that Apple have slipped below 60%. (Libsyn’s podcasts aren’t all in Spotify, incidentally.) You can hear commentary on this in The Feed.

• Guggenheim Partners, an investment firm, has released a report on Spotify’s podcasting strategy. They like it.

• Cabana has published their 2019 Podcast Buying Guide, a guide for brands wanting to advertise in podcasts. It’s a free download, with data, advice and case studies.

• Storyboard, an app that offers private podcasts, is now available in the Google Play store for Android devices. It’s been available for iPhone for a while. Over 140 organisations are using the product to bring podcast-style content to their companies and teams.

• Bossjock Jr, a podcast app for iOS, has had an update: the new version allows the ability to share audio as video with custom artwork, title and byline.

• Is crowd-funding the future for French podcasts? Podcastéo take a look, including at French Patreon-supported podcasts. They conclude that you need an audience that is engaged enough for at least 2,500 followers and 50 Apple Podcasts reviews to fund a podcast.

  • Talking about Apple Podcasts reviews… any chance you could leave one here? We’ll be your best friend*.

• Audioboom and Main Event Media are collaborating to produce Never Thought I’d Say This, a new podcast from Jodie Sweetin (Fuller House) and life coach Celia Behar that tackles parenting taboos.

• The Austin Film Festival are sharing Tricks of the Trade: Writing for Audio Fiction, which contains tips from “the leading writers in the world of fiction podcasts”.

• Spotify is hiring for an Executive Producer for a new weekly music podcast. The job’s in Los Angeles CA, USA.

  
  This link is no longer available, as at Aug 14 2023

• Advice: 5 things every podcast guest must have, and how to promote a podcast.

  
  This link is no longer available, as at Aug 14 2023

Podcasts

Sometimes that quick fact check turns into a five hour fall down the rabbit hole. A new podcast reveals research done instead of sleeping. This new podcast alternates between supernatural and true crime stories. (Audioboom)

How was an email sent by someone who died 6 months earlier? Clouded, a podcast that looks into internet mysteries to decipher fact from fiction, has returned for season 3, and the first episode looks at the dead man’s email.

Ballots and Dollars is a brand new podcast from Yahoo Finance, “a must-listen for anyone interested in how politics are impacting their finances”. It’s co-hosted by Yahoo Finance anchor Alexis Christoforous and Yahoo Finance columnist Rick Newman.

The Bundyville podcast has returned for a new season, exploring the world beyond the Bundy family and the armed uprisings they inspired. (Longreads / Oregon Public Broadcasting / Spreaker)

* Friendship not guaranteed