Spotify: now #1 for podcasts in Spain, Indonesia and India

• Spotify is continuing to grow: it’s now the #1 podcast player in India, Spain and Indonesia, report Voxnest. Unsurprisingly, says YouGov, Spotify users are far keener on podcasts than users of Pandora.

  
  Aug 12 2023: This broken link now points to the Internet Archive.

• Some BBC podcasts are back in Google Podcasts following a spat last week: a search for BBC Womans Hour, for example, finds the podcast within the app. However, a closer look reveals that the RSS feed, and others like it, is being re-published by the BBC’s advertising partner Acast, and the BBC’s block is still in place. It’s not clear whether this is a deliberate move.

  
  This link is no longer available, as at Aug 12 2023
  • The ability for anyone to copy RSS feeds and have their copies automatically show up in Google Podcasts was mentioned to us by a different public service broadcaster whilst at Radiodays Europe. Their concern was that spiked versions of RSS feeds, with edited content, could be made available: bringing the broadcaster into disrepute or spreading fake news. We think they have a point: there’s no clear and obvious way to know that this page is not directly coming from the BBC.

• Audioboom have posted record quarterly revenue of US$4.6m. The company has also signed a number of new shows, and says that its revenue per thousand listens is up 67% to $23.77.

• Ben Cave has joined Apple Podcasts in a senior role, and moved to California. He’s worked for Apple for eight years, and was previously with production company Somethin’Else.

  
  This link is no longer available, as at Aug 12 2023

• Formerly known as Kimberlite, a subscription podcast platform called Glow promises to “make it easy for your fans to pay for your podcasts”.

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• Podcast app Castro announces a new personalisation feature at 8am Pacific today.

• Podchaser has announced 21 data partnerships of podcast websites and apps using Podchaser creator data. Services include RadioPublic, Player FM, and Podnews. “Podnews links to Podchaser from our podcast pages whenever we mention a podcast in our free daily newsletter,” says our Editor, James Cridland.

  
  This link is no longer available, as at Aug 12 2023

• Podtrac released some data about podcast categories. News and comedy are the fastest-growing categories, according to the company. Important caveats: it’s only relevant for the US, and only relevant for those podcasts that measure through Podtrac. RAIN has analysed the data, revealing possibly under-served podcast categories.

  
  Aug 12 2023: This broken link now points to the Internet Archive.

• A text-book example of marketing a podcast is James Corden’s comments about chubby actors being typecast as funny friends, rather than love interests. Made on the David Tennant podcast (Somethin’Else), the comments were widely reported in the UK, including ITV, The Guardian, The BBC, The Independent, Metro, and news outlets near you.

• Tom Webster and another guy were interviewed after their session at Radiodays Europe.

• NPR is looking for a Podcast Audience Strategist in Washington DC, USA.

Podcasts

Filling a void in podcasting and online culture, Derek mansplains it all contains a white man explaining things to people who aren’t like him. (The white man in question: New York City-based stand up comedian Derek Humphrey, is actually using this to understand other cultural groups, but don’t let that get in the way). (Podbean)

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• Thank you Peter Nankivell for becoming a new Podnews supporter today. That’s kind of you. Be like Peter.