Analyst: Spotify needs a new approach

• In a client note, Richard Kramer, an analyst from Arete Research has criticised Spotify. “Taking shows exclusive reduces their reach and attractiveness to advertisers,” he notes, adding that “few titles are popular enough to bring in new subscribers to offset the loss of ad revenue from greater reach”. Creators also face risks in other areas, like event ticket sales, merchandising, or books: Brené Brown’s book sales dropped after she became a Spotify exclusive. After focusing on financials, he concludes: “We think Spotify needs new management and a new approach”, recommending his customers sell the stock.

• The Australian Podcast Ranker will report on audience reach and download figures by podcast title. The ranker, compiled by Triton Digital, will add these numbers after ad-buyer request; the ranker will now be in order of total audience, aligning with Triton Digital reports in other countries, and with Podtrac.

• In the US, Spotify has launched SoundUp LatinX, part of Spotify’s global program to give underrepresented podcasters the tools to boost their platforms and build their shows. It’s the first program focused at the LatinX community.

  • Here, from Maribel Quezada Smith, are five Hispanic and LatinX bilingual podcasts advancing La Cultura, to whet your appetite ahead of Hispanic Heritage month.
  
  This link is no longer available, as at Sep 7 2023

• Bryan Barletta’s Sounds Profitable did a deep-dive on Podverifi, a new tool from Podscribe. The tool focuses on live airchecks at time of episode publishing and incredibly detailed transcription checks to make sure every scripted point, promo code, or URL was implemented correctly.

• Blubrry have released a brand new user dashboard, overhauled for easier content creation and episode promotion. Todd Cochrane says it’s been focused “toward seamless management and publishing”.

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• Speaker submissions are now open for PodFest Origins. If you’ll be in Tampa, apply here; if you’d like to be a virtual event speaker, apply here.

• Remote recording tool Riverside․fm is now SOC 2 Type 2 Compliant - a test of securely managing client data and privacy.

• Audry has added a gamification aspect to their platform, allowing users to collect achievements.

  
  Sep 7 2023: This broken link now points to the Internet Archive.

• Laundau Media has added 21,000 German-speaking podcasts to its media monitoring service.

Tips and tricks

• Signal Hill Insights suggests that the audio industry is selling audio short, and offers three steps to help audio break out of the box.

• How to Advertise on Podcasts: Sponsorship Costs & Best Practices

Podcast News - with Podcast Movement

Lemonada Media has launched its first Italian-language podcast. In Giro con Fra is created by Francesca Lazzarin, the wife of Jeremiah Fraites of The Lumineers. After a decade touring and raising their family, Fra talks to diverse Italians who have incredible stories.

Cliff Ravenscraft, one of the podcast OG, has relaunched Podcast Answer Man, “to share evergreen insights on the topic of podcasting”, a show that originally started in December 2006.

Weird Darkness, a hit podcast about the paranormal and unsolved mysteries, is to make the leap to US radio, starting this weekend.

Ear Hustle is back for season 8, beginning with an oral history of activist George Jackson’s death in addition to two incarcerated individuals and three prison officers in San Quentin State Prison in 1971.

9News Lunch is a new daily podcast for Australian audiences; it will use resources from the company’s radio stations in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth.

CNN’s Chasing Life with Dr Sanjay Gupta is back for season 2; the first episode is about the fight against pediatric cancer.

And, CNN’s Total Recall: California’s Political Circus is new today, focusing on the 2003 Califormia election that led to Arnold Schwarzenegger being elected governor.

Career Crossroads is a year old; host Jonathan Collaton says the podcast has been heard by listeners from 72 countries and 940 cities around the world.

Who could forget 80s hits like System Addict or Rain or Shine? Happily, The World of Five-Star, which has posted a teaser today, is actually a podcast about Five-Star Basketball, a six-part narrative podcast about the legendary basketball camp, its outspoken founder, and its role incubating basketball’s talents.