Spotify loses another show

• Spotify has lost another exclusive podcast. Where Should We Begin, with Esther Perel, which became a Spotify Original produced by Gimlet in 2019. The show has found a new home at Vox Media. It will become a weekly, always-on show from Q3. The company laid off 7% of its staff in a cost-cutting move in January.

• Has the New Zealand Podcast Summit found one of the country’s first ever podcasters? From Wellington, Jonathan Mosen is one of the speakers for the event: he started podcasting in 2004, which would be impressive enough, but he’s also totally blind. His current show, Mosen At Large, covers living life from a blindness perspective. The summit is on May 13 in Auckland; our Editor is also speaking, and tickets are available now.

• Data: Edison Research has published The Podcast Consumer 2023, a set of data from the Infinite Dial looking at US listeners to podcasting (and perfect for your slide deck). It was presented by Megan Lazovick and Wondery’s General Manager Jeanine Wright at Podcast Movement.

• Shreya Sharma is to write a podcast newsletter, Shreya’s Audio Affairs. We’ve subscribed.

• iHeartMedia announced an Influencer Summit for creators and brands “to discuss the future of podcast advertising”. It’s planned for Apr 26 in New York NY, USA.

• Updates: Transistor has rolled out a full Patreon integration, which displays your patrons on your website or show notes … Blubrry is adding two new podcast analysis tools, “estimated audience” and “episode comparison” … Vizzy Studio is one of the first tools to produce compatible files for Spotify Video, which has specific file requirements … Hindenburg Pro 2 v2.00.2508 has been released, adding a method of mastering audio in video tracks. You import a video file; view the video as you make the audio edits; and then export out the lossless video file with the new, remastered audio.

• Want a list of New Zealand-based & New Zealand-themed podcast series & episodes? You’ll want the New Zealand Podcast Directory.

• City, University of London is putting on a free panel discussion on the evening of Mar 29, looking at the huge growth in the industry and the wide range of careers now available in this rapidly growing sector. Speakers include Acast and Mags Creative.

Moves and hires

• Rob Greenlee has left Podbean, and is starting his own podcast network consultancy business, Spoken Life Media. “For me to be a trusted partner I need to be seen as unbiased in my view on distribution and monetization tools”, he writes in a statement.

• Matt Raz has joined Sony Music Entertainment as an Executive Producer: he will serve as the lead producer on the network’s flagship title, High Low with EmRata. Raz was most recently the Head of Production at Steve Stoute’s UnitedMasters. He will continue to offer freelance development, production and consulting services.

Tips and tricks - with Phantom Producer

• There are a lot of places to find important data about how your podcast is doing. From Bumper, Jonas Woost recently wrote an article on success metrics for indie podcasters in Podcast Marketing Magic.

Podcast News

6 Degrees of Cats is launched today from Amanda B, a finalist of the first Spotify Sound Up accelerator for women and non-binary podcasters. “It unites my lifelong love of cats with my pattern detection skills, my passion for storytelling, and my curiosity for all things art, culture and history,” said Amanda. The bimonthly series is hosted on Podbean.

Daring to Leap is new from entrepreneur and coach Loree Philip, promising a mix of career inspiration, self-development, practical advice, and stories of women taking big leaps in their careers.

On the run up to Easter, you might guess what The Atlantic's Holy Week is about: but it’s not that. A new narrative podcast released as a box set today, it tells the story of the immediate aftermath of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination on April 4, 1968 - and how these seven days diverted the course of a social revolution and set the stage for modern clashes over voting rights, police brutality, redlining, critical race theory, and racism in America. It’s hosted and reported by senior editor Vann R. Newkirk II.

Attacking Jussie: The Osundairo Brothers Story is new from Lionsgate Sound, and is their first companion podcast. It’s to accompany a new five-part series “Jussie Smollett: Anatomy of a Hoax”, which premiered yesterday on Fox Nation.

Podcast ads in the wild

An online video for Apple TV+ podcast The Problem with Jon Stewart is good at promoting a podcast episode with Private Eye editor Ian Hislop. But, as Harry Morton notices… it might have been more convincing had they plugged the microphones in.