421 episodes

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 Sounds Profitable Network

    • Technology
    • 4.3 • 21 Ratings

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.

    Podcasting's Once-in-a-Century Opportunity, BBC Podcasts x Amazon Music, & More

    Podcasting's Once-in-a-Century Opportunity, BBC Podcasts x Amazon Music, & More

    Today in the business of podcasting: a report from Radiodays Europe, news podcasts and ad buyers aren't seeing the anticipated election cycle bump yet, Rich Greenfield proposes streaming needs to spend more time on time spent, The Ringer's union wins generative AI protections in contract, and Kast Media has filed for bankruptcy. 

    Find links to every story discussed, and a full write-up, all here on Sounds Proftiable.

    • 6 min
    Podcasting's SXSW 2024, Video Adopts Podcast Techniques, & More

    Podcasting's SXSW 2024, Video Adopts Podcast Techniques, & More

    This week in the business of podcasting: Bryan Barletta talks about building a better umbrella for podcasting at conferences like SXSW, Edison Research's Share of Ear data shows how much time podcasting takes out of an average hour of ad-supported audio listening, reflections on SXSW for podcasting, Apple has published new resarch on humanizing word error rates in podcast transcripts, and Digiday explains WTF is server-side ad insertion. 

    Read the full write-up and get links to everything mentioned right here on Sounds Profitable. 

    • 7 min
    U.S. Latino Podcast Growth, Letting Brand Studies Breathe, & More

    U.S. Latino Podcast Growth, Letting Brand Studies Breathe, & More

    Here's what you need to know for today in the business of podcasting: My Cultura plans for major growth, the power of Alex Cooper's fandom, Joe Rogan's return to YouTube podcasting is a successful one, abd the case for longer brand lift studies.

    Catch links to every story mentioned and the full write-up here on Sounds Profitable.

    • 4 min
    Podcasting's Share of Audio, GenZ Pays for Premium, & More

    Podcasting's Share of Audio, GenZ Pays for Premium, & More

    Here's what you need to know for today in the business of podcasting: Edison data shows podcasting takes up 12.2 minutes of the average hour spent listening to ad-supported audio, iHeart publishes the winners of the 6th annual iHeartPodcast Awards, IAB data shows Gen Z is the most likely generation to spend money on premium apps and services that used to be free, Digiday explains what server-side insertion is and what it does video (spoiler alert, podcasting has done it for years), and AdNews publishes their 2024 Agency Map. 

    Find links to everything covered right here on Sounds Profitable.

    • 5 min
    Who's Buying Indie Podcast Companies, Flightpath to Fix "Faked-In", & more

    Who's Buying Indie Podcast Companies, Flightpath to Fix "Faked-In", & more

    Here's what you need to know for today in the business of podcasting: 2024 is looking up for indie podcast company acquistions/partnerships, SiriusXM isn't sweating lower Pandora numbers, and Flightpath debuts a new way to do "faked-in" host-read ads. 

    Find the full write-up and links to every article mentioned here on Sounds Profitable.

    • 3 min
    Apple Podcasts Transcripts Arrive, Bringing Music to Podcasting, & More

    Apple Podcasts Transcripts Arrive, Bringing Music to Podcasting, & More

    Here's what you need to know for today in the business of podcasting: iOS update adds Apple Podcast transcripts, a roundup of podcasting Q4 earnings calls, it's time for licensed music to enter podcasting, automated transcription and translation isn't quite ready yet, and PRX debuts new fundraising resources for local radio stations.

    Find links to everything covered and the full write-up on Sounds Profitable.

    • 9 min

Customer Reviews

4.3 out of 5
21 Ratings

21 Ratings

Bradford Swanson ,

Critical information for the podcasting industry

Sounds Profitable’s series of podcasts have been so helpful to me as I’ve tried to keep up-to-speed with the changes across podcasting and media. I’ve relied on their coverage and insights to learn about how the AdTech industry works and evolves, but have also appreciated their in-depth research and analysis of news across the industry. Highly recommended!

~ Violet ~ ,

Jolly Badvertising

They ran some experiments with their feed early on so now I have 4 separate feeds for this in my player. And the main part of their feed is now a whole different show, which is essentially a ripoff of another persons show. So I really struggle with this one. There seem to be some good people involved with this production. And if small creators can get some ad revenue to help cover costs, that’s cool. But so much of Internet advertising is so bad (in every way), podcast advertising is especially challenging, and ad tech tends to mess with the downloading and playback experience. There are so many fake metrics and scams and so much corruption, that the upbeat pro advertising tone of this show seems at least irresponsible if not deliberately deceptive. I’m pretty sure most listeners do everything they can to skip ads. Even the listeners and poll respondents who pretend to enjoy the ads so their favorite creators can get paid. Would be cool if this show dug into how to make podcast ads more listenable. Or more skipable. I would predict they’d find much shorter ads, fewer ad breaks, ads that sonically match the show yet are distinct from it, ads in their own chapter breaks, and non-intrusive whole-season sponsorships would be more pleasant and effective than what we’re getting now. Ads are quickly driving me away from podcasting and helping me create my “never buy” list. This show is telling the industry the opposite. I’d be suspicious of whatever it is this show is selling.

consciousdave ,

Great podcast for those interested in ad tech aka podcasters

Bryan and now Tom, are great researchers; been following them both for a while. Bryan is passionate about the podcast space and how ads fit into it. Tom comes from Edison research and has a heavy research background- very knowledgeable about podcast data. They’re already making a great team and I look forward to continue to track this space with them. They too do a good job of helping indies by giving a lot of free game and webinars etc. Definitely recommend to fellow podcasters that want to monetize and run ads

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