Shure adds a tripod to MV7 Podcast Kit

• Shure has announced a new MV7 Podcast Kit which includes the microphone and a matching mini tripod, allowing a complete out-of-the-box solution for new podcasters for an extra $20 or £10. The company has also produced a guide to How To Record Your First Podcast.

  
  This link is no longer available, as at Sep 5 2023

• Fireside, the social chat service, is now available on the Apple App Store. “Fireside is the next evolution of Storytelling. It is where the world’s greatest creators go to bring the audience into the story through interactive virtual shows.”, it says; it’s still invite-only though. The founders, Mark Cuban and Falon Fatemi, are speaking at Podcast Movement.

• The latest iOS update has been released, and contains a fix for a download bug in Apple Podcasts that was resulting in 27% fewer downloads for many shows.

• Stitcher’s iOS app has had an update, with a new player design, a skip episode button, and additional features.

• FYEO’s premium podcast app in Germany is to close. The shows will now be available through Apple Podcasts and other platforms: advertising will also be sold cross-platforms. It’s owned by ProSiebenSat.1, a German TV broadcaster.

• Also in Germany, Audio Now - a podcast platform - is to close: it, along with TV streaming platform TVnow, will become a new multiplatform content service called RTL+. RTL, another German TV broadcaster, is widely tipped to merge with publisher Gruner + Jahr; their content will also be in this service.

• There’s a new podcast studio in Winston-Salem NC, USA: PinkTalk Podcast Studio has opened in Victoria Hall in Chestnut Street.

• In Australia, DM Podcasts have joined the NOVA Entertainment Podcast Network. They were represented by ARN’s iHeartPodcast Network, but ended the partnership “by mutual consent”. They were also the #10 publisher in April’s Podcast Ranker, but appear to have been removed from the ranker from May. We highlight some of their new titles below.

• The thatpart podcast app allows you to share a clip of a great podcast by simply taking a screenshot of your podcast player. Clever! iOS-only.

• Podcast host Transistor is taking part in Stripe’s Climate program, to contribute a percentage of revenue automatically towards fighting climate change. A number of other startups have joined, including Sounds Profitable.

  
  Sep 5 2023: This broken link now points to the Internet Archive.

• A wildly popular German podcast, Herrengedeck, is to close. The award-winning show started in 2016 and was often a #1 in the Apple Podcast charts; it became a Spotify Exclusive in September 2019, where it became the fifth most streamed podcast worldwide on Spotify. The hosts announced it will end in July.

Tips and tricks

• Resonate has produced a free e-book and revamped guide with 7 easy steps to start a podcast. It includes advice on how to name your show, and on the format.

Podcast News

The Guardian has announced Michael Safi and Nosheen Iqbal as the new hosts of their daily podcast Today in Focus. The pair replace Anushka Asthana who is leaving the Guardian this month, while Rachel Humphreys will continue to present alongside Michael and Nosheen.

We Study Billionaires is celebrating 50 million downloads, as part of their Investor’s Podcast Network. The network has fifteen full-time employees, and “is anticipating seven figures of profit for 2021”.

Yoga Kids Adventure launched over the weekend from Tumble Media: the first yoga podcast for kids, capturing the zeitgeist of mindful movement and screen free edutainment. Host and kids yoga teacher Kathryn invites children ages 3-7 to join her on creative journeys through movement - no screens needed.

Housewarming returns for a new season from DM Podcasts; the first episode launches tomorrow with Abbie Chatfield as a special guest.

Also from DM Podcasts, Have A Go! describes itself as a very unofficial podcsast for the biggest and most controversial sporting event of the decade, and also mentions Tokyo and gold medals. Their press release is a little less coy about which big sporting event with very big lawyers they mean. “We’re encouraging all Australians to suspend all their fears and anxieties over the pandemic, and instead pour all that energy into supporting largely unknown, amateur athletes in various obscure events over the next two weeks”, they say.

Complex Subject: Pop Smoke is new from Spotify. It’s a six-episode series unpacking the life and death of Pop Smoke, his whirlwind final months and a review of the legacy he left behind. The series premiered today (which would have been his 22nd birthday).