Exclusive: the top 100 podcasts in your country on Spotify

• Spotify has revealed the “Top podcasts of the summer”, based on number of listeners from June 1 - August 15th, 2020. Even though it only launched on July 29, The Michelle Obama Podcast was the global #1 (“with millions of listeners”); the rest of the top 5 were: NPR News Now, The Daily, Call Her Daddy, and the TED Talks Daily.

  
  Aug 27 2023: This broken link now points to the Internet Archive.

• Exclusive: Michelle Obama may be the #1 global podcast: but what was the #1 podcast, by total listeners, in the US? Or the UK? Or another 56 countries? We’ve got all the data - everywhere from Belgium to Bolivia. (This is based on listeners - not downloads - during this ten week time period).

• Spotify has also announced that Rock Star by DaBaby (featuring Roddy Ricch) was the most-streamed track, with more than 380m streams. They’ve published a playlist of the most-streamed songs and a way of sending a virtual podcast to your friends.

  
  Aug 27 2023: This broken link now points to the Internet Archive.

• In an email to podcasters, Apple Podcasts has announced that their audio search has been expanded to a number of different languages, and that their Podcaster Support website has been further enhanced. Not got it? We’ve got you covered.

• Babbel, which says it’s the top-selling language learning app, has added an in-app podcast player containing all the podcasts from Babbel. Podcasts for Italian, Spanish, English, and French learners are available, with additional content designed specifically for English and German speakers. They say that they’ve seen a 200% increase in new registrations as a result of the global pandemic.

  
  Aug 27 2023: This broken link now points to the Internet Archive.
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• Premium podcast service Supporting Cast has added a new feature - Dynamic Subscriber Messaging. This allows you to send personalised audio messages to your subscribers to thank them, upsell them to a higher priced tier, or even warn them about an expiring credit card.

• Triton Digital has released its latest Latin American Podcast Report. Total downloads for the top 100 podcasts have declined from 20.3m to 19.6m this time around, coinciding with the highest number of new cases in the pandemic in the region.

• US automaker Chevrolet has made their first podcast sponsorship, working with Blue Wire Media to sponsor TE1 with Greg Olsen.

• Blubrry has highlighted Top Podcasts Hosted, Produced, Or Promoted By Women for today, National Women’s Equality Day.

Podnews now links to Sonnet from our podcast pages, if you’re using Android - “a simple, clutter-free podcast player on Android that is a joy to use”.

Tips and tricks - with Spotify for Podcasters

• How to understand podcast statistics - we’ve updated this guide to help you understand how the Apple Podcast charts work, and charts of other services.

• How to create a YouTube podcast channel (Wavve)

Podcast News

Podcasting Essentials focuses on the law about music, piracy, and privacy (in this case, Australian law, but most law aligns on these things). The podcast also features three people called Nicole, which was the #10 most popular name in Australia in 1990, but which fell out of the top 100 chart in 2003.

BFFU - Best Friends Forever University - is a new podcast from Dallas LGBTQ personalities Brad Pritchett and Ryan Brockington which aims to teach you a thing or two about being your most authentic self, even if that means acting like someone else along the way.

True-crime podcast In The Red Clay is the sixth series from Imperative Entertainment’s podcast division, launched yesterday with Cumulus Media’s Westwood One. It follows the most dangerous man in Georgia history, Billy Sunday Birt.

In Lipstick & Vinyl’s MILK (“Moms I’d Like To Know”) Mallory Kasdan interviews “sharp, groovy, inspiring women who happen to be moms”, to help Moms feel less isolated, less competitive, and more tethered to each other.