Spotify sees ad revenue increase by 19%

• Spotify has reported its Q3/22 earnings. It has 456m monthly active users (up 20% y-on-y). Ad revenue, led by podcasting, is up 19% y-on-y and 7% q-on-q, at €385m (12.8% of the company’s total revenue). The company lost €228m in the quarter; they predict a loss of €300m in Q4 (but suggest they may also raise their prices, following Apple’s price hike).

  • In other news, Spotify has added podcasts to its app in South Korea and the company has complained about anti-competitive behaviour from Apple, after Apple “forced” Spotify into what they consider a sub-optimal purchase flow for audiobooks. Apple requires a 30% cut from any in-app purchase.

• In Sounds Profitable with Podsights Advisor this week, Bryan Barletta looks at the transparency issues around podcast downloads brought up by the recent revelation that podcast publishers have been buying plays in mobile games. “It’s clear that we are reaching a breaking point of confidence in the download,” he says.

• PodcastOne, which closed an $8.1m funding round in July, has posted a number of increased metrics for podcasts in its slate.

• Magellan AI says that BetterHelp remains the #1 podcast advertiser, spending $7.3m in September; Amazon and Hello Fresh are also in the top 3. Samsung is the advertiser that increased spending the most, spending $2.2m.

• iVoox has launched a new ad marketplace called AdVoices. The first marketplace in the Spanish language, it allows advertisers access to podcasts and videopodcasts that best fit theit target audience.

• Data: A case-study into 14 daily news podcasts in Spain has been published (in English and Spanish). The sixteen-page report includes some download numbers, resourcing details, and where they’re listened-to.

• The Asia Podcast Festival Awards are open for entry. Submission deadline is Nov 13; it’s just SGD$15 (US$10) to enter.

• The Publisher Podcast Awards 2023 are now open for entry. Submission deadline is Dec 9.

• The monetisation platform Podetize is raising $1m in funding. The listing claims it is used by over a thousand podcasters, and has $1.2m in revenue. In April it raised $187,077, after an initial target of $100,000. /ht Justin

Moves and hires

• Annie-Rose Strasser has joined the New York Times as Executive Producer of Opinion Audio. She was with Buzzfeed and Gimlet, and ran The Journal.

• Mia Lobel has been promoted to Head of Content at Pushkin Industries. She is a founding member of the company and has helmed Pushkin’s flagship show, Revisionist History, since its inception in 2016.

• Peter Clowney has joined Pushkin Industries as VP, Content. He will executive produce and edit Revisionist History while developing new episode formats, envisioning live experience extensions, and formulating strategy to usher the show into a new era. He joins from Stitcher.

Tips and tricks

• Why Joe Rogan is one of the best communicators that Max Marchione has ever seen

Podcast News - with Lemonada Media

From Lemonada Media: On Funny Cuz It’s True Elyse Myers interviews well-known individuals about their most awkward moments. Relentlessly unfiltered and relatable, we’ll laugh at and learn from the moments that keep us up at night.

Photo website Smugmug, which purchased Flickr in 2018, has acquired popular photo podcast This Week in Photo (TWiP). The podcast, which is not part of Leo Laporte’s TWiT, started in 2018. The host, Frederick Van Johnson, is also joining the company.

Foul Play: Crime Series is one of 31 crime podcasters who have collaborated on a two-part, five hour, podcast called A Nightmare Before Halloween - each crime podcaster shares an average of an 8 minute spooky tale. The special show is on all the podcasters’ feeds.

Happy birthday to No Agenda, which posted its first episode on October 26, 2007. The show is currently on episode 1,497, and is hosted by John C Dvorak and Adam Curry, widely credited as one of the inventors of podcasting.

Podcast ads in the wild

Spotted by James Atkinson, the local podcast Inner West Icons is marketing itself on supermarket noticeboards in Sydney’s inner west.