Tom Webster joins Sounds Profitable as Partner

• Tom Webster has announced he is to join Sounds Profitable as Partner. Writing in Sounds Profitable with AdvertiseCast, he outlines the future for Sounds Profitable - to share content, research, and run events and advisory services to help set the course for the future of the audio business. Last month, Webster announced he was to leave Edison Research. To learn more, you should subscribe to Sounds Profitable.

  
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• The sixth annual IAB US Podcast Advertising Revenue study was published. It shows US podcast ad revenue growth increasing dramatically during 2021, hitting $1.4bn. Revenues are forecast to hit $4.2bn in 2024.

  
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  • The report also notes a dramatic shift to dynamically inserted advertising, which now accounts for 84% of revenue; and a growth of preroll ads, which are now responsible for a third of income.
  • We’ve updated our podcast market data slides page with the new headline figure.

• Podcast revenues at Audacy were up 37% year-on-year, said CEO David Field in an investor call. Downloads for “high-margin local podcasts” are up 50%.

• Wondery is streaming some shows in Dolby Atmos. You’ll need to be a Wondery+ subscriber to listen. It’s claimed that this is the first podcast experience in Dolby Atmos; CurtCo’s Solar was mastered in Dolby Atmos and was released on Mar 30; and JBM launched the first Dolby Atmos-equipped studio in the Middle East at the beginning of last month. There’s also a Dolby Atmos Experience Sound Studio at The Podcast Show in London in a few weeks.

  
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• Spotify has published its Swedish Podcast Report 2022. 54% of Swedish people from 18-79 listen to podcasts regularly; 60% say they listen on Spotify; SR Play is #2, and Apple Podcasts is #3.

• Less than a week before Radiodays Europe starts, Radiodays Asia has announced that it will be in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on Sep 6-7. It’ll be the third event, with two parallel tracks of sessions, including a high number of speakers about podcasting in the region. Early-bird tickets are available now.

• An audiobook startup launched last year by three founders of Acast, Sesamy is to move into podcasts; allowing listeners to buy individual podcasts without a monthly subscription.

• In India, Binance has launched its crypto-currency podcast in five Indian regional languages. Originally in Hindi, the show is now available in Gujarati, Bangla, Telugu, Marathi and Tamil.

• Production company Audio Always has launched Manchester Amplified, a free podcast production and mentoring scheme for arts and culture organisations in Greater Manchester in the UK.

• There’s a new podcast studio in Washington DC at Penn Social, which is reopening after closing in Nov 2020. There’s also a live concert hall and coffeeshop in the venue.

Moves and hires

• Marissa Rives has been promoted to Director of Sports Podcasts at SiriusXM. It’s her twelfth year with the company; she was PD of the Fight Nation, a combat sports channel.

  
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• Katherine Hutcheson has joined Acast UK+ as Group Business Director. She joins from a career in radio sales in the UK, for Scot FM, Virgin Radio, Absolute Radio, and JACK.

  
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• Nick Southwell-Keely has joined Sony Music Entertainment as Vice President of Podcast Advertising Sales. He joins from Acast.

  
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• Steph Beran-Sanderson is now US Head of Branded Podcasts for Sony Music Entertainment. She joins from podcast producer Meet Cute.

  
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• Avishay Artsy and Jonquilyn Hill are joining Vox Media as senior producers. Artsy, who’ll be working on Today, Explained, moves from a life as a freelancer; Hill joins from WAMU and will be developing new shows.

  
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Tips and tricks - with SoundStack

• Dane Andrews posts How I Changed my Podcast Format to Stand Out

• From Pacific Content, How to sneak your passions into the brand stories you tell tells one story of a podcast producer who enjoyed working on a podcast featuring Seiko so much, he bought a historic watch as a result.

Podcast News - with Lemonada Media

From Lemonada Media: Burnout, hosted by Connor Franta, premieres today. The series explores the story of burnout, discovers how it affects your body and mind, and looks at why the easy solutions simply won’t work to solve a systemic problem. Burnout is produced by Lemonada Media and Mindful.

Todd Cochrane’s Geek News Central hits episode 1,600 this week. One of the first podcasts in the world, its first episode was Oct 9, 2004 - just a few weeks after the word “podcast” began to be used.

Suave has won a Pultizer Prize for its reporting. The podcast, from Futuro Media and PRX, is a story about juveniles sentenced to spend their whole life in prison.

A new season of StoryCorps began last week. Hosted by Kamilah Kashanie, the podcast features stories of people who helped others: who have reached out a hand, even when they didn’t have to. It’s describes as 'a love letter to those whose generosity has had a lasting effect.'