Spotify to bin around 600 jobs

• Spotify has announced that almost 600 people (6%) will be laid off. It’s unclear which locations or divisions are affected. Daniel Ek announced in a memo that Chief Content Officer Dawn Ostroff is to leave the company; “Alex [Norström] will take on the responsibility for the content, advertising and licensing work going forward”.

  • We also note that Spotify’s careers website has removed all open positions, except for internships.
  • For more on the garbage truck, see below.

• Buzzsprout has announced a podcast subscriptions tool. You can choose from recurring support, or premium content only available to your supporters; the company takes a fee of 15%. The Podnews Weekly Review has added the opportunity to become a PoWeR supporter if you’d like to see it at work.

• The top spender in podcast advertising last month was Betterhelp, who spent an estimated $9.1m according to new data from Magellan AI. JP Morgan Chase, a US bank, was the biggest new spender, spending $1.3m.

• New podcast app Fountain and payment provider Zebedee have announced a partnership to enable pay-per-minute streaming for podcasts. Podcasters can earn money as listeners pay what they want to listen to shows. You can top up using Apple Pay, Google Pay, or a credit card (and support Podnews Daily that way).

• Media company Global has published a report into news podcasting. It promises to explain “why news podcasts are proving so popular, how they stack up against other news formats, and the best way to ensure success with a podcast ad campaign”.

• Transom is wanting to feature one-off, short passion projects. Producers will get a fee, distribution and editorial support; and retain the rights to their work. You’ve until Feb 24 to apply.

• Larry Wilmore, a comedian and host of Black on the Air, is to host the 2023 Podcast Academy Awards.

• Former NY Governor Andrew Cuomo has launched a podcast company. Quake Media will reportedly rely on Apple Podcasts subscriptions for revenue, not advertising.

Thank you to Meggan Ellingboe and to Kerry Donahue who became our latest personal supporters over the weekend. Our personal supporters mean we can be more independent in our coverage: we’re very grateful to you. Here’s our Patreon.

Tips and tricks - with Podcast Movement Evolutions

• Want to choose a podcast host? Thinking of changing? Want to help a friend? We’ve got lots of recommendations for you.

Moves and hires

• Podcast industry veteran Jay Green has joined Soundrise as Senior Vice President of Strategy & Operations.. He was at Audacy’s Cadence13. Lovlyn Corbett moves from Kantar to become the new Director of National Accounts.
• Brittany Bernardo has been named as Senior Director of Revenue and Sales Strategy at True Native Media. She was Director of Podcast Sales at iHeartPodcast Network.

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Podcast News - with editaudio

From editaudio: More Right Than Wrong Angie Lee and Rachel Yoo explore the tensions that women often face in the modern workplace in conversation with creative leaders from across industries.

A new show from the BBC, Buried, has revealed what could be one of the country’s biggest environmental crimes in history: dumping almost a million tonnes of waste, some now toxic, near a drinking water supply in Northern Ireland. It was produced by Smoke Trail Productions and launched yesterday.

Where’s the oddest place you’ve had an interview? Sauna Sessions, new today, features filmmaker, speaker and curator Prince EA joined by special guests in an infrared sauna to have longform conversations focused on the mind, body and spirit. “As we detox our bodies we will also detoxify the BS in the world and get to the truth about how our audience can REALLY be healthy, happy and connected.”

From a completely indie podcaster, Growing Joy with Plants has generated over 2 million downloads (50-60K/month), a Webby Honoree, features in the NYT, Washington Post and Refinery29, and got a book deal with Macmillan. The show, hosted by Maria Failla, helps people care for plants successfully and cultivate more joy in their lives by connecting with plants and nature.

Adelita: Changing the Key is new today from iHeartMedia’s My Cultura podcast network and Sonoro, and features actor Diane Guerrero and chronicles the culturally rich coming-of-age story of an audacious Tejana singer (played and sung by Guerrero) who seeks to cross over to pop stardom in the U.S. and in doing so, leaves her Tejano music roots behind.
Over the weekend, Spotify Original Toni and Ryan invited listeners to ceremoniously throw their boyfriend’s holey undies and garish Christmas sweaters in the garbage truck, grab a free coffee or gelato, and meet the partners in grime themselves. The branded garbage truck was in St Kilda in Melbourne VIC, Australia. Clothes were donated to charity; here’s their social ad (contains swears and a bum joke), and below, another picture of the garbage truck lest you think we made it up.