1-31-23 intro

1-31-23 body

1-31-23 outro

This week Tom Webster demonstrates how even seemingly small pieces of data can have big implications if given the right context and a story.

Credits:
Written by Tom Webster
Edited by Bryan Barletta
Produced with Spooler.fm
Hosted with Omny Studio
Sounds Profitable theme written by Tim Cameron

Sounds Profitable: Narrated Articles is a production of Sounds Profitable. For more information, visit soundsprofitable.com.

This week Tom Webster demonstrates how even seemingly small pieces of data can have big implications if given the right context and a story.
<hr>
Credits:
<ul>
<li aria-level="1">Written by Tom Webster</li>
<li aria-level="1">Edited by Bryan Barletta</li>
<li aria-level="1">Produced with <a href="https://www.spooler.fm">Spooler.fm</a></li>
<li aria-level="1">Hosted with <a href="https://omnystudio.com">Omny Studio</a></li>
<li aria-level="1">Sounds Profitable theme written by <a href="https://www.timcameronmusic.com/">Tim Cameron</a></li>
</ul>
Sounds Profitable: Narrated Articles is a production of Sounds Profitable. For more information, visit<a href="https://soundsprofitable.com/"> soundsprofitable.com</a>.

The pace of change the podcast industry is undergoing is staggering. The implications for podcasters, hosting providers, podcast listening app developers, and advertisers and agencies are enormous. And so is the growth potential. Presented as a companion to the weekly newsletter of the same name, our podcast provides you with direct access to our narrated articles, interviews with industry experts, bleeding-edge research, and can't miss industry news recaps. That Sounds Profitable, right?

Assumptions and conventional wisdom will be challenged. Easy answers with no proof of efficacy will be exposed. Because the thinking that got podcast advertising close to a billion dollars annually will need to be drastically overhauled to bring in the tens or hundreds of billions of dollars podcast advertising deserves.

The pace of change the podcast industry is undergoing is staggering. The implications for podcasters, hosting providers, podcast listening app developers, and advertisers and agencies are enormous. And so is the growth potential. Presented as a companion to the weekly newsletter of the same name, our podcast provides you with direct access to our narrated articles, interviews with industry experts, bleeding-edge research, and can't miss industry news recaps. That Sounds Profitable, right?
Assumptions and conventional wisdom will be challenged. Easy answers with no proof of efficacy will be exposed. Because the thinking that got podcast advertising close to a billion dollars annually will need to be drastically overhauled to bring in the tens or hundreds of billions of dollars podcast advertising deserves.

Sounds Profitable

It's Right There In Front Of You

1-intro

2-spotify layoffs

3-TikTok podcasts

4-exclusivity deals lose appeal

5-Buzzsprout premium subscriptions 

6-Quick hits

7-outro

Robot

This week: Spotify layoffs, TikTok Podcasts feature spotted in the wild, exclusivity deals seem to be  losing luster, and Buzzsprout launches premium subscriptions.

Spotify lays off six percent of workforce. 

Manuela: We start today on a dour note, but it’s the largest story to happen this week and bears covering. This Monday Spotify CEO Daniel Ek announced the company is downsizing six percent of its workforce. Chief Content and Advertising Business Officer Dawn Ostroff is also leaving the company. Todd Spangler’s coverage of the announcement for Variety does the math on what six percent actually means.

“The layoffs will eliminate nearly 600 jobs; Spotify most recently reported having 9,800 full-time employees worldwide as of Sept. 30. The company estimated that it will incur approximately €35 million-€45 million in severance-related charges.”

In the Tuesday issue of Podnews, editor James Cridland notes that in addition to the layoff announcement, Spotify’s job website has removed all open full job positions. As of this writing the site only has 23 open positions, all of which are internships. From Spangler’s article: 

“Employees who are getting laid off will on average receive about five months’ salary in severance payments, per Ek’s memo. In addition, all unused vacation time will be paid out to any departing employee, and all terminated employees will be eligible for outplacement services for two months.”

Ostroff was a big name behind a lot of Spotify’s big-ticket podcasting acquisitions. Between her departure and the overall downsizing, this news seems to signal Spotify is down-shifting into treating podcasts like it has treated music. It’s not necessarily the end of Spotify expanding into podcasting, but they likely will be focusing on expansion without owning content. 

New TikTok Podcast feature appears

Arielle: Last Wednesday Sydney Bradley and Dan Whateley of Business Insider published new details in the months-long windup to TikTok officially getting into podcasting. 

As covered as far back as the October 10th episode of The Download, there has been a breadcrumb trail of evidence the social media platform has intentions of launching some form of podcast listening application. In December of 2021 TikTok users were prompted to complete a survey gauging user interest in both listening to podcasts and creating podcasts. In May a trademark was filed for an application called TikTok Music, which listed podcasts as a form of audio that could be played in-app. 

Then, this last October, Podnews got word bots associated with TikTok’s parent company were spotted scraping publicly-available RSS feeds. Clearly TikTok was up to something.

Now, Business Insider has discovered an unannounced feature has been added to some TikTok accounts allowing users to play video hosted on TikTok as a podcast, a distinction which allows users to browse other apps or lock their phone while the audio continues to play. This is a similar functionality to one YouTube has had for Premium subscribers for years and last year was testing enabling it for all users to promote podcasting listening in certain markets.

As Bradley and Whateley’s reporting suggests, once podcasts are implemented, TikTok could be primed to become a serious Spotify competitor. 

Exclusivity deals lose appeal

Manuela: Last Friday Tyler Aquilina , writing for Variety, published a piece that became somewhat prescient in hindsight: Circling back to the topic of podcast companies expanding by acquiring podcasts: Podcast Exclusivity Is Quickly Becoming an Outdated Strategy. From the intro of the article: 

“If it’s still too early to declare platform-exclusive podcast deals dead as we move into 2023, it’s becoming ever clearer that this business model is likely not long for this world.”

Aquilina’s piece presents several data points suggesting the exclusive podcast strategy, most typified by Spotify acquisitions in recent years, is falling out of favor. The article cites reported frustrations from producers who signed big-name deals and went exclusive, including the Obamas choosing not to renew their exclusivity deal with Spotify last year. 

One interesting data point is that of the Rogan Twitter Bump, the short-term engagement boost relatively smaller guests on The Joe Rogan Experience get in the week after appearing on the podcast. According to data collected from Social Blade by The Verge, JRE guests with fewer than 500,000 Twitter followers started to experience far smaller influxes of new followers starting December 2020, the month JRE went Spotify-exclusive. Conversely, podcasts that leave exclusivity to wide release are reporting more success in open podcasting. Aquilina reports he was given data from Acast that shows Spanish-language podcast Se Regalan Dudas has seen its listens increase 56% over their first year after leaving Spotify exclusivity. From the end of Aquilina piece:

“Podcasting remains a growth business, even if that growth is decelerating. But as in any maturing market, business practices must shift with the times — and in this case, that means the walled gardens are going to start opening up soon.”

Buzzsprout to implement premium subscriptions

Arielle: Back on January 12th we reported on Apple launching Delegated Delivery, a feature from which several podcast hosting providers can allow their users to upload content to their Apple premium podcast from the dashboard of said host. 

The initial rollout included  Blubrry, Libsyn, Triton Digital’s Omny Studio, and RSS.com, with Acast, ART19 and Buzzsprout named as the next in line to get the feature in the coming months. 

In a surprise twist, this week Buzzsprout announced their own premium podcast subscription offering. Dubbed Buzzsprout Subscription, the feature allows podcasts hosted on the platform to process payments from subscribers. Currently, users can choose between a Patreon-style pricing structure that gives audience members custom incentives, such as a shoutout in an episode, to a more Apple-like paywalled feed. 

Revenue collected from the subscriptions can be applied to pay for Buzzsprout hosting fees or converted to cash via a Paypal transaction. As it stands, Apple Podcast Subscriptions pay out 70% of their revenue for new subscribers, with the revenue share going up to 85% payout for subscribers who have stuck around for a full year. According to Tuesday’s Podnews, Buzzsprout Subscriptions is a flat 85% payout. 

With this new feature implementation, as well as the availability of Buzzsprout Ads, it’s becoming far more difficult to think of a reason why someone hosting on Buzzsprout would need to leave their dashboard to accomplish something for their podcast elsewhere online. 

Quick Hits 

Arielle:Finally, it’s time for our semi-regular roundup of articles we’re calling Quick Hits. These are articles that didn’t quite make the cut for today’s episode, but are still worth including in your weekend reading. This week: 

AdTheorent Is Using Machine Learning To Predict Effective Inventory by Allison Schiff for AdExchanger. In which Schiff breaks down a new application that uses machine learning to score programmatic inventory based on probability the impression will lead to a desired outcome. Application of this tool to podcasting, or any media, would be incredibly interesting. 

Here are the brands starting 2023 with new CMOs by Minda Smiley for MarketingBrew.  While there are no directly podcasting-related companies getting new CMOs in this article, new CMOs often mean new perspectives and interest in new channels. Don’t be surprised if your kids are listening to a Chuck E Cheese branded podcast by this time next year. 

P&G looks to replicate $65m success after taking media planning, buying in-house in fabric care by Julia Cannon for Digiday. A piece covering Procter & Gamble’s in-house media planning and buying strategy saving millions over a year. Brands bringing things in-house means fresh eyes and direct access. More contacts overall, but direct to the people that it matters to.

The Download is a production of Sounds Profitable. Today's episode was hosted by Shreya Sharma and Manuela Bedoya, and the script was written by Gavin Gaddis.

Bryan Barletta and Tom Webster are the executive producers of The Download from Sounds Profitable.

This week: Spotify layoffs, TikTok Podcasts feature spotted in the wild, exclusivity deals seem to be  losing luster, and Buzzsprout launches premium subscriptions.
<hr>
Spotify lays off six percent of workforce. 
Manuela: We start today on a dour note, but it’s the largest story to happen this week and bears covering. This Monday Spotify CEO Daniel Ek announced the company is downsizing six percent of its workforce. Chief Content and Advertising Business Officer Dawn Ostroff is also leaving the company. <a href="https://variety.com/2023/digital/news/spotify-layoffs-dawn-ostroff-exiting-1235499118/">Todd Spangler’s coverage of the announcement for Variety</a> does the math on what six percent actually means. “The layoffs will eliminate nearly 600 jobs; Spotify most recently reported having 9,800 full-time employees worldwide as of Sept. 30. The company estimated that it will incur approximately €35 million-€45 million in severance-related charges.”
In the <a href="https://podnews.net/update/spotify-job-losses">Tuesday issue of Podnews</a>, editor James Cridland notes that in addition to the layoff announcement, Spotify’s job website has removed all open full job positions. As of this writing the site only has 23 open positions, all of which are internships. From Spangler’s article: 
“Employees who are getting laid off will on average receive about five months’ salary in severance payments, per Ek’s memo. In addition, all unused vacation time will be paid out to any departing employee, and all terminated employees will be eligible for outplacement services for two months.”
Ostroff was a big name behind a lot of Spotify’s big-ticket podcasting acquisitions. Between her departure and the overall downsizing, this news seems to signal Spotify is down-shifting into treating podcasts like it has treated music. It’s not necessarily the end of Spotify expanding into podcasting, but they likely will be focusing on expansion without owning content. 
<hr>
New TikTok Podcast feature appears
Arielle: Last Wednesday <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tiktok-testing-podcast-tool-feature-for-background-listening-2023-1">Sydney Bradley and Dan Whateley of Business Insider</a> published new details in the months-long windup to TikTok officially getting into podcasting. As covered as far back as the October 10th episode of The Download, there has been a breadcrumb trail of evidence the social media platform has intentions of launching some form of podcast listening application. In December of 2021 TikTok users were prompted to complete a survey gauging user interest in both listening to podcasts and creating podcasts. In May a trademark was filed for an application called TikTok Music, which listed podcasts as a form of audio that could be played in-app. 
Then, this last October, Podnews got word bots associated with TikTok’s parent company were spotted scraping publicly-available RSS feeds. Clearly TikTok was up to something.
Now, Business Insider has discovered an unannounced feature has been added to some TikTok accounts allowing users to play video hosted on TikTok as a podcast, a distinction which allows users to browse other apps or lock their phone while the audio continues to play. This is a similar functionality to one YouTube has had for Premium subscribers for years and last year was testing enabling it for all users to promote podcasting listening in certain markets.
As Bradley and Whateley’s reporting suggests, once podcasts are implemented, TikTok could be primed to become a serious Spotify competitor. 
<hr>
Exclusivity deals lose appeal
Manuela: Last Friday Tyler Aquilina , writing for Variety, published a piece that became somewhat prescient in hindsight: Circling back to the topic of podcast companies expanding by acquiring podcasts: <a href="https://variety.com/vip/podcast-exclusivity-is-quickly-becoming-an-outdated-strategy-1235495652/">Podcast Exclusivity Is Quickly Becoming an Outdated Strategy</a>. From the intro of the article: “If it’s still too early to declare platform-exclusive podcast deals dead as we move into 2023, it’s becoming ever clearer that this business model is likely not long for this world.”
Aquilina’s piece presents several data points suggesting the exclusive podcast strategy, most typified by Spotify acquisitions in recent years, is falling out of favor. The article cites reported frustrations from producers who signed big-name deals and went exclusive, including the Obamas choosing not to renew their exclusivity deal with Spotify last year. 
One interesting data point is that of the Rogan Twitter Bump, the short-term engagement boost relatively smaller guests on The Joe Rogan Experience get in the week after appearing on the podcast. According to data collected from Social Blade by The Verge, JRE guests with fewer than 500,000 Twitter followers started to experience far smaller influxes of new followers starting December 2020, the month JRE went Spotify-exclusive. Conversely, podcasts that leave exclusivity to wide release are reporting more success in open podcasting. Aquilina reports he was given data from Acast that shows Spanish-language podcast Se Regalan Dudas has seen its listens increase 56% over their first year after leaving Spotify exclusivity. From the end of Aquilina piece:
“Podcasting remains a growth business, even if that growth is decelerating. But as in any maturing market, business practices must shift with the times — and in this case, that means the walled gardens are going to start opening up soon.”
<hr>
Buzzsprout to implement premium subscriptions
Arielle: Back on January 12th we reported on Apple launching Delegated Delivery, a feature from which several podcast hosting providers can allow their users to upload content to their Apple premium podcast from the dashboard of said host. 
The initial rollout included  Blubrry, Libsyn, Triton Digital’s Omny Studio, and RSS.com, with Acast, ART19 and Buzzsprout named as the next in line to get the feature in the coming months. 
In a surprise twist, this week <a href="https://www.buzzsprout.com/help/183-subscription-set-up">Buzzsprout announced their own premium podcast subscription offering</a>. Dubbed Buzzsprout Subscription, the feature allows podcasts hosted on the platform to process payments from subscribers. Currently, users can choose between a Patreon-style pricing structure that gives audience members custom incentives, such as a shoutout in an episode, to a more Apple-like paywalled feed. 
Revenue collected from the subscriptions can be applied to pay for Buzzsprout hosting fees or converted to cash via a Paypal transaction. As it stands, Apple Podcast Subscriptions pay out 70% of their revenue for new subscribers, with the revenue share going up to 85% payout for subscribers who have stuck around for a full year. According to Tuesday’s Podnews, Buzzsprout Subscriptions is a flat 85% payout. With this new feature implementation, as well as the availability of Buzzsprout Ads, it’s becoming far more difficult to think of a reason why someone hosting on Buzzsprout would need to leave their dashboard to accomplish something for their podcast elsewhere online. 
<hr>
Quick Hits 
Arielle: Finally, it’s time for our semi-regular roundup of articles we’re calling Quick Hits. These are articles that didn’t quite make the cut for today’s episode, but are still worth including in your weekend reading. This week: 
<a href="https://www.adexchanger.com/online-advertising/adtheorent-is-using-machine-learning-to-predict-effective-inventory/?oly_enc_id=7865D1013734B0R">AdTheorent Is Using Machine Learning To Predict Effective Inventory</a> by Allison Schiff for AdExchanger. In which Schiff breaks down a new application that uses machine learning to score programmatic inventory based on probability the impression will lead to a desired outcome. Application of this tool to podcasting, or any media, would be incredibly interesting. 
<a href="https://www.marketingbrew.com/stories/2023/01/20/here-are-the-brands-starting-2023-with-new-cmos?cid=30311436.174760&amp;mid=4afb33bb7ffe284d840660fb3604ff60">Here are the brands starting 2023 with new CMOs</a> by Minda Smiley for MarketingBrew.  While there are no directly podcasting-related companies getting new CMOs in this article, new CMOs often mean new perspectives and interest in new channels. Don’t be surprised if your kids are listening to a Chuck E Cheese branded podcast by this time next year. 
<a href="https://digiday.com/marketing/pg-looks-to-replicate-65m-success-after-taking-media-planning-buying-in-house-in-fabric-care/">P&amp;G looks to replicate $65m success after taking media planning, buying in-house in fabric care </a>by Julia Cannon for Digiday. A piece covering Procter &amp; Gamble’s in-house media planning and buying strategy saving millions over a year. Brands bringing things in-house means fresh eyes and direct access. More contacts overall, but direct to the people that it matters to.
<hr>
The Download is a production of <a href="http://soundsprofitable.com/">Sounds Profitable</a>. Today's episode was hosted by <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/shreyaapurvsharma/">Shreya Sharma</a> and <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/manuelabedoya/">Manuela Bedoya</a>, and the script was written by <a href="https://twitter.com/GavGaddis">Gavin Gaddis</a>.
<a href="https://twitter.com/bryanbarletta">Bryan Barletta</a> and <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/tomwebster/">Tom Webster</a> are the executive producers of The Download from Sounds Profitable.

Spotify Lays Off Six Percent Of Workforce And 6 Other Stories

1-24-23 intro

1-24-23 body

1-24-23 outro

Tom took a look back on all of the great research that was done at Sounds Profitable in 2022 and came up with a handful of the most impactful data points. Here are his three favorite data points from 2022!

Credits:
Written by Tom Webster
Edited by Tom Webster
Produced with Spooler.fm
Hosted with Omny Studio
Sounds Profitable theme written by Tim Cameron

Sounds Profitable: Narrated Articles is a production of Sounds Profitable. For more information, visit soundsprofitable.com.

Tom took a look back on all of the great research that was done at Sounds Profitable in 2022 and came up with a handful of the most impactful data points. Here are his three favorite data points from 2022!
<hr>
Credits:
<ul>
<li aria-level="1">Written by Tom Webster</li>
<li aria-level="1">Edited by Tom Webster</li>
<li aria-level="1">Produced with <a href="https://www.spooler.fm">Spooler.fm</a></li>
<li aria-level="1">Hosted with <a href="https://omnystudio.com">Omny Studio</a></li>
<li aria-level="1">Sounds Profitable theme written by <a href="https://www.timcameronmusic.com/">Tim Cameron</a></li>
</ul>
Sounds Profitable: Narrated Articles is a production of Sounds Profitable. For more information, visit<a href="https://soundsprofitable.com/"> soundsprofitable.com</a>.

My Three Favorite Data Points of 2022

1 - intro

2 - podcasting recession era

3 - Paul Riismandel joins Signal Hill Insights

4 - quick hits

5 - outro

This week: Opportunity in Kids podcasting as recession looms, Podcasting’s ‘recession era’, some audio publisher’s teams still growing in 2023, and Paul Riismandel joins Signal Hill Insights. 

Podcasting’s Recession Era and how podcasters are approaching it.

Manuela: This week our first segment is going to cover a variety of articles centering around an overall theme: podcasting’s reaction to the recession in early 2023. To kick things off, we continue a throughline of covering how the Kids & Family category has quickly evolved into a juggernaut. Over the first half of 2022 the genre made itself known as a force to be reckoned with over several big deals and signings. 

Now as the recession looms, along with doom-and-gloom articles about said recession, big-name deals are becoming more scarce. Tumble Media CEO Lindsay Patterson has worked in kids podcasting for years and likens the 2022 surge to being invited to a party late. Kids & Family has arrived just in time to find the host is taking down the decorations. From her January 11th Medium post: 

“With a general pullback on spending on podcasts, it’s likely that companies will be hesitant to invest in strategy and content for kids, who require a new approach to audience development and monetization. It’s a different model than “grownup” podcasts. But the good news is kids’ podcasts may be a welcome guest at other parties — and in many other industries. There are choices. Nay, there are opportunities.”

Patterson proposes Kids & Family’s relative newcomer status to the wider industry leaves it plenty of unpursued avenues that are already well-tread ground for others. Her article touches on concepts like adapting existing kid-friendly IP to podcasts and pursuing new platforms. Interestingly, she points to nonprofits, grants, and research studies as potentially viable funding paths. Patterson speaks from experience, having partnered Tumble Media with a non-profit organization to win a grant. The partnership has been funded to spend three years studying how both listening to and making podcasts can engage blind and sighted students in the classroom. 

“In a way, the warnings and scrutiny of the podcast industry makes me more optimistic than ever before about the kids’ space. We can take a clear eyed look from the outside, and see how kids’ podcasts can and should be better.”

Patterson’s suggestions of creativity and adaptability come at a good time for smaller creators, as even larger presences in podcasting are beginning to feel the effects of hiring and investment freezes. This Wednesday the Hollywood Reporter published a piece by J. Clara Chan titled “Podcasting’s Recession Era: Dealmaking Gets More Selective in Slower Ad Market.”

Chan begins the piece with a big-picture view of investments made by major players in the industry before setting the article’s goal answering the question: “What will podcasting’s next era look like during a recession?”

Her article begins with a focus on the deal-making side of the industry, sourcing two anonymous dealmakers and their observations of industry performance in recent months. Big companies seem to have covered their bases on wide demographics. Chan gives the example of Spotify’s coverage of Gen Z and millennial women with acquisitions of Call Her Daddy and Emma Chamberlain’s Anything Goes. \

BIPOC Podcast Creators co-founder Tangia Al-awaji Estrada gives a perspective from a smaller, independent side of the industry:

“It feels a little bit premature at this stage because we don’t know exactly what’s going to happen, but it does feel like there’s some panic in the air. We’re seeing companies who’d normally be investing in up-and-coming talents, indie creators — smaller companies are pulling back and saying, ‘Well, we’re not doing that right now. We’re not doing that at all.’ So, there’s definitely a feeling like folks are holding their breaths to see what’s going to happen.”

Last Friday Sara Guaglione, writing for Digiday, published a piece covering the phenomenon of smaller production houses growing as larger entities condense their audio teams. A tally of jobs on sites like Indeed with the word ‘podcast’ in the description shows there has been a downward trend of open positions since the peak in May of 2022. Still, companies are hiring.

“A number of media companies posted new podcast job openings this month. Vox Media, for example, posted a job opening this week for a $200,000+ ​​executive producer position for its daily show “Today Explained.””

Guaglione also points to Tenderfoot TV, The New York Times, and the Wall Street Journal as places that are actively growing their audio teams. 

Returning to the Hollywood Reporter piece, we reach the advertising side of podcasting. The conclusion reached by J. Clara Chan’s reporting will be a familiar one to loyal followers of The Download. In general, advertisers are pacing themselves from brand awareness campaigns and doubling down on direct response and prioritizing sales conversions. 

The piece ends with a final sentiment from Al-awaji Estrada, quote: 

“Podcasting is going to be just fine. I really believe that podcasting is still so young that a huge market change isn’t going to blow up the entire world. There’s going to be some tightening of the belts, probably, across the board. But by the time we come out of this thing, I think we will have seen podcasting continue to grow through the recession.” 

Paul Riismandel joins Signal Hill Insights

Shreya: For this segment we’re covering something of personal significance to Sounds Profitable. Last Thursday podcasting veteran Paul Riismandel joined Signal Hill Insights as the company’s new Chief Insights officer. From the Signal Hill press release:

“At Signal Hill, Riismandel will help solidify the company as a critical independent third-party voice providing industry-wide and custom research solutions. He will focus on furthering innovation in podcast measurement, combining ad effectiveness, creative analysis, and audience insights, in order to help partners and the industry at large understand how best to serve both listeners and advertisers, together.” 

Having overseen hundreds of ad effectiveness studies since 2014, Riismandel takes research seriously. From his blog post on the Signal Hill website last Thursday:  

“I cannot overstate the importance of independent third-party research in the development of any media platform. That said, publishers are a fundamental driver, and many invest in internal research, done with integrity, to build their business. In turn this elevates the whole medium.”

For those newer to Sounds Profitable, Riismandel is a big figure in the company’s history. It was him who got Midroll Media to become a day-one Sounds Profitable partner back in September of 2020. Now, in 2023, we’re thrilled to be partnering with Riismandel and everyone else at Signal Hill Insights in producing more independent third-party research. 

Quick Hits

Shreya:Finally, it’s time for our semi-regular roundup of articles called Quick Hits. These are articles that didn’t quite make the cut for today’s episode, but are still worth including in your weekend reading. This week: 

Magellan AI launches Spanish language podcast prospecting and competitive intelligence tool, a press release provided via Podnews. With their new Spanish language support, Magellan AI already has data on Spanish-language ads from more than 2,000 advertisers in the US. 

A better way to measure podcast success: Listen Time by Jonas Woost for Bumper. In which Woost tells the story of YouTube switching from using views as a metric to ‘watch time,’ and suggesting a similar update to the podcasting industry as an alternative to the download. 

A Tale of Two Bytes: Prefix vs. Host-based analytics by John Spurlock for Livewire Labs. An excellent explainer on why third-party analytics download stats might be different from the downloads reported by one’s hosting company. 

The Download is a production of Sounds Profitable. Today's episode was hosted by Shreya Sharma and Manuela Bedoya, and the script was written by Gavin Gaddis.

Bryan Barletta and Tom Webster are the executive producers of The Download from Sounds Profitable.

This week: Opportunity in Kids podcasting as recession looms, Podcasting’s ‘recession era’, some audio publisher’s teams still growing in 2023, and Paul Riismandel joins Signal Hill Insights. 
<hr>
Podcasting’s Recession Era and how podcasters are approaching it.
Manuela: This week our first segment is going to cover a variety of articles centering around an overall theme: podcasting’s reaction to the recession in early 2023. To kick things off, we continue a throughline of covering how the Kids &amp; Family category has quickly evolved into a juggernaut. Over the first half of 2022 the genre made itself known as a force to be reckoned with over several big deals and signings. 
Now as the recession looms, along with doom-and-gloom articles about said recession, big-name deals are becoming more scarce. Tumble Media CEO Lindsay Patterson has worked in kids podcasting for years and likens the 2022 surge to being invited to a party late. Kids &amp; Family has arrived just in time to find the host is taking down the decorations. <a href="https://medium.com/tumble-media/the-opportunities-for-kids-podcasts-in-2023-53bcfcaa669f">From her January 11th Medium post</a>: 
“With a general pullback on spending on podcasts, it’s likely that companies will be hesitant to invest in strategy and content for kids, who require a new approach to audience development and monetization. It’s a different model than “grownup” podcasts. But the good news is kids’ podcasts may be a welcome guest at other parties — and in many other industries. There are choices. Nay, there are opportunities.”
Patterson proposes Kids &amp; Family’s relative newcomer status to the wider industry leaves it plenty of unpursued avenues that are already well-tread ground for others. Her article touches on concepts like adapting existing kid-friendly IP to podcasts and pursuing new platforms. Interestingly, she points to nonprofits, grants, and research studies as potentially viable funding paths. Patterson speaks from experience, having partnered Tumble Media with a non-profit organization to win a grant. The partnership has been funded to spend three years studying how both listening to and making podcasts can engage blind and sighted students in the classroom. 
“In a way, the warnings and scrutiny of the podcast industry makes me more optimistic than ever before about the kids’ space. We can take a clear eyed look from the outside, and see how kids’ podcasts can and should be better.”
Patterson’s suggestions of creativity and adaptability come at a good time for smaller creators, as even larger presences in podcasting are beginning to feel the effects of hiring and investment freezes. This Wednesday the Hollywood Reporter published a piece by J. Clara Chan titled <a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/podcast-deals-market-advertising-1235302513/">“Podcasting’s Recession Era: Dealmaking Gets More Selective in Slower Ad Market.”</a>
Chan begins the piece with a big-picture view of investments made by major players in the industry before setting the article’s goal answering the question: “What will podcasting’s next era look like during a recession?”
Her article begins with a focus on the deal-making side of the industry, sourcing two anonymous dealmakers and their observations of industry performance in recent months. Big companies seem to have covered their bases on wide demographics. Chan gives the example of Spotify’s coverage of Gen Z and millennial women with acquisitions of Call Her Daddy and Emma Chamberlain’s Anything Goes. \
BIPOC Podcast Creators co-founder Tangia Al-awaji Estrada gives a perspective from a smaller, independent side of the industry:
“It feels a little bit premature at this stage because we don’t know exactly what’s going to happen, but it does feel like there’s some panic in the air. We’re seeing companies who’d normally be investing in up-and-coming talents, indie creators — smaller companies are pulling back and saying, ‘Well, we’re not doing that right now. We’re not doing that at all.’ So, there’s definitely a feeling like folks are holding their breaths to see what’s going to happen.”
Last Friday Sara Guaglione, writing for Digiday, <a href="https://digiday.com/media/some-publishers-podcast-teams-are-still-growing-as-they-hedge-their-bets-on-the-medium-in-2023/">published a piece covering the phenomenon of smaller production houses growing as larger entities condense their audio teams</a>. A tally of jobs on sites like Indeed with the word ‘podcast’ in the description shows there has been a downward trend of open positions since the peak in May of 2022. Still, companies are hiring.
“A number of media companies posted new podcast job openings this month. Vox Media, for example, posted a job opening this week for a $200,000+ ​​executive producer position for its daily show “Today Explained.””
Guaglione also points to Tenderfoot TV, The New York Times, and the Wall Street Journal as places that are actively growing their audio teams. 
Returning to the Hollywood Reporter piece, we reach the advertising side of podcasting. The conclusion reached by J. Clara Chan’s reporting will be a familiar one to loyal followers of The Download. In general, advertisers are pacing themselves from brand awareness campaigns and doubling down on direct response and prioritizing sales conversions. 
The piece ends with a final sentiment from Al-awaji Estrada, quote: 
“Podcasting is going to be just fine. I really believe that podcasting is still so young that a huge market change isn’t going to blow up the entire world. There’s going to be some tightening of the belts, probably, across the board. But by the time we come out of this thing, I think we will have seen podcasting continue to grow through the recession.” 
<hr>
Paul Riismandel joins Signal Hill Insights
Shreya: For this segment we’re covering something of personal significance to Sounds Profitable. Last Thursday podcasting veteran Paul Riismandel joined Signal Hill Insights as the company’s new Chief Insights officer. From the Signal Hill press release:
“At Signal Hill, Riismandel will help solidify the company as a critical independent third-party voice providing industry-wide and custom research solutions. He will focus on furthering innovation in podcast measurement, combining ad effectiveness, creative analysis, and audience insights, in order to help partners and the industry at large understand how best to serve both listeners and advertisers, together.” 
Having overseen hundreds of ad effectiveness studies since 2014, Riismandel takes research seriously. From his blog post on the Signal Hill website last Thursday:  
“I cannot overstate the importance of independent third-party research in the development of any media platform. That said, publishers are a fundamental driver, and many invest in internal research, done with integrity, to build their business. In turn this elevates the whole medium.”
For those newer to Sounds Profitable, Riismandel is a big figure in the company’s history. It was him who got Midroll Media to become a day-one Sounds Profitable partner back in September of 2020. Now, in 2023, we’re thrilled to be <a href="https://soundsprofitable.com/guide-and-article/the-new-sounds-profitable/">partnering with Riismandel and everyone else at Signal Hill Insights</a> in producing more independent third-party research. 
<hr>
Quick Hits
Shreya: Finally, it’s time for our semi-regular roundup of articles called Quick Hits. These are articles that didn’t quite make the cut for today’s episode, but are still worth including in your weekend reading. This week: 
<a href="https://podnews.net/press-release/magellan-ai-spanish">Magellan AI launches Spanish language podcast prospecting and competitive intelligence tool</a>, a press release provided via Podnews. With their new Spanish language support, Magellan AI already has data on Spanish-language ads from more than 2,000 advertisers in the US. <a href="https://wearebumper.com/blog/2023/01/16/listen-time/">A better way to measure podcast success: Listen Time</a> by Jonas Woost for Bumper. In which Woost tells the story of YouTube switching from using views as a metric to ‘watch time,’ and suggesting a similar update to the podcasting industry as an alternative to the download. 
<a href="https://livewire.io/a-tale-of-two-bytes-prefix-vs-host-based-analytics/">A Tale of Two Bytes: Prefix vs. Host-based analytics</a> by John Spurlock for Livewire Labs. An excellent explainer on why third-party analytics download stats might be different from the downloads reported by one’s hosting company. 
<hr>
The Download is a production of <a href="http://soundsprofitable.com/">Sounds Profitable</a>. Today's episode was hosted by <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/shreyaapurvsharma/">Shreya Sharma</a> and <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/manuelabedoya/">Manuela Bedoya</a>, and the script was written by <a href="https://twitter.com/GavGaddis">Gavin Gaddis</a>.
<a href="https://twitter.com/bryanbarletta">Bryan Barletta</a> and <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/tomwebster/">Tom Webster</a> are the executive producers of The Download from Sounds Profitable.

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