Resound adds five new AI-powered editing tools

• The AI podcast editor Resound, launched out of Resonate Recordings, announced new tools to automate your podcast workflow. Resound will now automatically mix and master your podcast, detect filler sounds, trim audio manually, detect long silences, and preview instantly. Resound is available to start free.

• Spotify is to make more than 150,000 audiobooks available to Spotify Premium subscribers. These audiobooks are available to users in the UK and Australia today, with the US coming later this year. Subscribers get 15 hours of listening of audiobooks included per month.

• Who is supposed to register for the upcoming Canadian regulation of podcasts? The CRTC tells us: “online services that operate in Canada and offer podcasts, such as Apple and Spotify”.

  • The regulator adds: “The CRTC will not censor content Canadians listen to and watch online. You will be able to continue to listen to and watch the content of your choice. The goal is to better support Canadian and Indigenous content and ensure it is available on radio, TV and online streaming services.”

• Libsyn’s AdvertiseCast unveiled its September 2023 podcast ad rates. The average CPM rate was $22.91, up 3.8% month-on-month. The company also highlighted their brand safety tools from ComScore.

• YouTube Music is adding auto-downloads for podcasts. Google Podcasts, which is top be replaced by YouTube Music, has this feature already.

• Podcast data tool Rephonic now estimates cost per podcast ad, works out which podcasts accept sponsors or advertisers, and has now imported Spotify charts alongside Apple.

• PodcastOne is to translate its podcasts into Spanish, starting with a Spanish translation of true-crime podcast Bad Bad Thing. The company is using technology from Rask AI.

• TED has launched TED中文 worldwide: a Chinese version of the TED podcast. The company is working with Acast to host and monetise the show, which includes Mandarin Chinese speakers as well as thirty iconic TED talks dubbed into Chinese by professional voice talent.

• Blue Wire has announced a strategic partnership with Sounder to offer brand safety and suitability tools, including ad targeting, to advertisers.

• Acast has released data following a podcast ad campaign for a hair care product, which achieved a 43% increase in intent to purchase. The activity included fully branded episodes and sponsored stories.

Moves and hires

• Adam Curry was recognised with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Spark Media Ignite Conference Awards. The awards also gave out a number of awards for Christian podcasts.

• Voiceworks Sport has hired three new senior people to the company’s team. Ruth Fitzsimons (ex Podfront UK, Audioboom) joins as Head of International; Chloe Yates (ex Sony Music) as Account Director; and Laura Davies (ex Bauer Media and Wireless Group) as Podcast Relationship Manager.

Podcast News

A new season of What Had Happened Was has been announced by Talkhouse and Stony Island Audio. Open Mike Eagle will focus on the life, legacy and legendary catalog of Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson. Together, they unpack the stories behind The Roots’ first four albums, as well as Questlove’s personal rise alongside Black Thought, Dilla, D’Angelo, Jill Scott and more. It will be released from Oct 11.

It’s America’s most controversial, protected and lethal industry - guns. In The Gun Machine from WBUR, which launches today, find out how America was forged by the gun industry on this new podcast series from WBUR & The Trace.

Nothing To Wear is new from Mamamia - a show that dives into fashion dilemmas and solutions through relatable advice. It’s hosted by Mamamia’s Executive Editor, Leigh Campbell.

Best-selling author Amy Chan has released Breakup Bootcamp, a podcast based on her HarperCollins book Breakup Bootcamp - The Science of Rewiring Your Heart and the founder of Renew Breakup Bootcamp, a retreat that takes a scientific and spiritual approach to heal the heart. The podcast is from CAKE MEDIA.

About a Boy: The Story of Vladimir Putin is new from Audacy and Puck. It is a five-part documentary podcast exploring the forces that shaped Russian President Vladimir Putin’s childhood: and why it’s critical to understanding what he might do next in the war against Ukraine.

In 1889, two female journalists raced each other around the world: one for Cosmopolitan, one for the New York World; one going east, one going west. A Race Around the World: Based on the True Adventures of Nellie Bly and Elizabeth Bisland is launched today. Will they make it under 80 days? And who will come first?

Surviving El Chapo: The Twins Who Brought Down A Drug Lord is back for a new season today. From their wives to their children, the decision by Jay and Pete Flores to go to the cops drastically changed the lives of everyone around them. This season focuses on the consequences of their decision to bring down the infamous drug lord. It’s from Lionsgate Sound and iHeartPodcasts.