The Rest is Politics now #1 UK-made podcast

• Edison Research published the top 25 UK Podcasts for Q3/24. Goalhanger celebrate improvements in placing for all of its four top-25 shows, including The Rest is Politics, which makes it to #2 in the country, behind the US-made Joe Rogan Experience. There are only two shows from the US in the chart. Acast hosts nine shows, Megaphone hosts seven, and the BBC hosts five.

• John Lee Dumas and Kate Erickson Dumas from Entrepreneurs on Fire have been announced as keynotes at Podfest Expo in Orlando this January.

• Spotify launched Spotify for Authors, for audiobook authors and publishers. “This platform is unique for the industry because it is built to support any author or publisher — we’re not gating any features or limiting them based on exclusivity.”

• RSS.com has automatically removed Chartable prefixes from podcasts hosted on the service, according to the company’s latest release notes. Chartable prefixes stop working on Dec 12, and will render your entire podcast unplayable if you don’t remove them.

• Further reading…

  • Bryan Barletta: The Implications of Spotify for Creators - “By uploading a video podcast to Spotify, no aspect of the RSS feed or your audio podcast will be called for your audience using the Spotify app. That cached file, hosted by Spotify, is played seamlessly for Spotify consumers, regardless of whether they’re watching or listening to your show. Every single play of that episode is now a video.”
  • Neal Veglio: The Hidden Risks of YouTube and Spotify That The Suck-Up Podcast Bros on LinkedIn Won’t Admit (now, there’s the title!) - “The freedom and control that comes from using RSS is worth holding onto. Not just for your future, your independence, and your creativity, but for the longevity of our industry.”
  • James Cridland: BBC Sounds - is it going away internationally? - our Editor, blogging personally, wonders whether the obvious contradictions in the BBC’s podcast strategy means that the corporation’s BBC Sounds is going away for non-UK listeners.

Our events section is currently closed for new entries while we sharpen our anti-spammer axe. It’ll return shortly.

Moves and hires

• Our favourite Acast PR person beginning with the letter “M”, Molly DeMellier has been promoted to Director of Marketing And Public Relations.

Tips and tricks - with Memberful

• When promoting your podcast, one simple link is always best. Our article about universal links contains a bunch of them to try. It also mentions that having a great website is the best idea too.

Podcast News

Blue Sky isn’t a podcast about a social media network. But it is one about optimism. The special Thanksgiving episode features insights from Bill Burke and past guests like Bert Jacobs (Life is Good), David Gardner (The Motley Fool), and neuroscientist Dr. Richie Davidson - exploring how thankfulness can foster optimism and resilience.

Russell Howard’s Five Brilliant Things is the new name for Russell Howard’s Wonderbox and relaunches today, in partnership with Adelicious and Patreon. Each week a different special guest sits down with Russell to explain the items from their lives that bring them happiness.