Spotify and Anchor unveil new podcast monetisation options

• Spotify has made a series of announcements about podcast monetisation. First up, top Anchor podcasters in the US can now be part of the Spotify Audience Network. That allows ad-buyers to buy ads on your show, and improves your potential to earn revenue. These ads are called “Automated ads”, since they’ll be automatically inserted: if you’re with Anchor, you can join the waitlist today.

• Anchor has also launched “Premium sponsorships”, where they sell host-read sponsor credits on your behalf. It’s for “select creators with a higher level of listener engagement”: you’ll be contacted if you qualify.

• Anchor’s original Anchor Sponsorships is now rebranded “Ambassador ads”, where you spread the word about Anchor to your listeners.

• Spotify Ad Studio, Spotify’s self-serve ad buying service, will offer podcast ad buying “in our podcast network” (again, for the US only). (This could be an interesting place to promote your own podcast.)

• Spotify has also announced it’s joined the Global Alliance of Responsible Media, added the ability to exclude sensitive topics, and improved their contextual targeting tools.

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• Separately, Spotify has published a whitepaper on the evolution of podcast advertising, including a short and selective section on podcasting’s history, which doesn’t mention Adam Curry nor Apple.

• First look: Supercast has opened their integration with Spotify Open Access, which enables publishers to offer gated content within Spotify’s app. It’s the first subscription platform to offer the Spotify Open Access integration to all its users.

• Podcast editing software Descript has annnounced 'season one’ a number of updates: “studio sound” is graduating from beta, and now has an intensity dial to control the effect; their artificial voices feature is now improved; and they’ve added a number of audio processing effects, like compression, limiting, noise gates and ducking.

• Watch out, Zoom - Clubhouse has added private Clubhouse links, allowing you to share links to private rooms.

• Lena Moss Glaser has been hired as VP and EP of Audacy’s podcast studio 2400Sports. She’ll oversee all production and content operations for 2400Sports podcasts.

  
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• Kristi Boulton is now Marketing and Content Manager for Fable and Folly, the audio fiction network.

  
  This link is no longer available, as at Sep 7 2023

• Jack Hughes has left podcast platform Reason. He was co-founder and COO.

  
  This link is no longer available, as at Sep 7 2023

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