Why women are fascinated with true crime

• Women are fascinated with true crime, according to social psychologist Amanda Vicary. Spotify has signed five new true crime shows, and says that My Favorite Murder was the most listened-to true crime podcast on their platform in 2019.

• In the UK, new research claims that 37% of people listen to podcasts every month, and that 27% of weekly podcast listeners discover new brands via voice advertising.

• Podcast host Buzzsprout has released an updated How To Start A Podcast guide. The guide is updated every year, and looks at eight stages in the process.

• The self-service audio ad buying service from AdsWizz for smaller buyers, AudioGO has announced new partners. Entravision is the first Spanish-speaking media company on the platform. AudioGO is being promoted by Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices as an ad platform to over 50,000 network agents across the US.

• A former Chairman and CEO of HBO, Richard Plepler has joined Luminary as a board member. Variety reports he has also invested in the company.

• Casino company Penn National has bought Barstool Sports, a sports podcasting and publishing company. Penn National gets a third of the company now for $163m, and will increase its share to 50% after three years.

• Audio ad personalisation company AMillionAds shares a recent campaign with McDonald’s and Uber Eats, which used “real-time data including the time they were played as well as the weather, location and even whether the listener had heard the ad before”, and achieved 37% more purchase intent than standard audio.

• PRX’s Podcast Privacy Symposium is less than four weeks away. We can’t afford to go (boo!) but if you’re interested, you can request an invitation.

  
  Aug 20 2023: This broken link now points to the Internet Archive.

• Google Podcasts is to get a redesign soon, says 9to5Google. It appears to have better discovery tools and a play queue, adds XDA Developers. Also: isgoogleplaymusicpodcastsstillathing .com

From the new book Make Noise by Eric Nuzum, available now

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Reader’s letters

(Hit reply with your thoughts, and tell us if we can quote you by name)

Yesterday, from NPR’s guide about pronouncing foreign names on-air, we plucked the advice to remove a name if you don’t know how to pronounce it. This was, as T.H. Ponders on Twitter and an emailer correctly noted, “by far a last resort”. Our emailer adds: “This is not the key takeaway from this article. … Given the way in which people read and interact with link-filled newsletters such as Podnews, I encourage you to think about the impact of what you pull out as the only thing someone might do or think as a result of reading a single sentence, without clicking for more information. This is an unfortunate oversimplification of a nuanced guide to the vast diversity of names and people in the world, navigated with respect and dignity.” We agree, and will try harder.

On an article about “podfasting” yesterday, Daniel J Lewis says: “I suggest we use the terms ”podspeeders" and “podspeeding” instead of any form of “podfasting.” To fast is understood to mean taking a break from something. Thus, to “podfast” would mean taking a break from podcasts or podcasting. But the definitions of “to speed” are far more fitting for describing someone who listens to podcasts at speeds faster than 1×. After all, we call people who exceed driving speed limits “speeders,” not “fasters.”"

We mentioned “a podcast exclusive to Spotify” yesterday. Kevin Finn asks: “Would Podnews be open to the idea of no longer referring to exclusive audio content as podcasts?” Yes. So, from hereon in, we’re using John Gruber's fine suggestion, and calling these things “shows”. Kevin adds: “I think the word ”podcast" is worth protecting."

Our apologies to Breakmaster Cylinder for using “he” when discussing their work yesterday: they’re “they”.

Tips and tricks - with Acast Open

• Evo Terra notes that making it harder to podcast can make your podcasting better.

• What bitrate and samplerate should you use for your podcast? We’ve updated our audio comparisons page with a new example of audio, and a guide of things to listen for.

Podcast News

The Topical, a new daily news podcast from The Onion, went live yesterday afternoon. As “America’s Finest News Source” reports, the launch of this podcast means eyeballs are now rendered officially obsolete.

The Decibel Geek Podcast has been removed from Spotify. When we listened, the first half-hour of this music podcast’s current show contained a full track from a 1975 Heart album; from a 1970 James Gang album; and from a 1973 Bachman Turner Overdrive album, which may be connected to its removal. Here’s how to use commercial music in your podcast.

WeCrashed is new from Wondery, focusing on the rise and fall of co-working space WeWork. Hosted by David Brown from Business Wars, it’s a six-part series about chasing unicorns. (Wondery)

Thirty Minute Mentors is a new podcast to the IndustryPods network. Adam Mendler interviews “leaders to listen to”, like the CEO of Kayak.

Scene of the Crime, recorded in Coalfield WA by two former KIRO reporters, gets profiled by Seattle Weekly. “(Our) purpose is to do what we love, which is storytelling,” they say. (Blubrry)