Search for ‘Apple’

November 21, 2024:

In the US, YouTube is the service used most often to listen to podcasts, according to Edison Research. 31% of weekly podcast listeners aged 13+ choose YouTube as the service they use most to listen to podcasts; Spotify is at 27%, and Apple Podcasts is at 15%, says the data.

November 20, 2024:

Apple Podcasts shared the “most popular podcasts of 2024”. There’s more to the lists than just the US, though - we’ve compiled a list of the top shows in most English-speaking countries; plus, a way for you to view the top charts for 33 different places.

November 18, 2024:

In Russia, Apple Podcasts has removed a number of Russian-language shows, including a BBC podcast and shows from The Insider and Echos of Moscow. It’s also removed some apps including the US’s Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Podnews is unavailable in Russia, otherwise we’d ask whether people there can get the shows putting the RSS feed directly into Apple Podcasts. We’d be curious to know.

November 14, 2024:

The Podcast Marketing Academy released its Podcast Marketing Trends report for 2024. It contains a lot of data to allow you to compare your podcasts with others. It’s the latest report to make note of the disruption caused by Apple’s iOS 17 changes.

November 12, 2024:

Pocket Casts is getting ready to change “Subscribe” to “Follow” in its popular podcast app, according to change notes for the upcoming next version. The word “Follow” is used by both Apple and Spotify.

November 11, 2024:

The New York Times released its Q3/24 financials, too. Podcasting is only mentioned twice in the prepared remarks: “We also began experimenting to make audio a more direct driver of subscriptions with new paid offerings available through Spotify and Apple.”

November 7, 2024:

Buzzsprout has posted another record download share for Spotify: the app was responsible for 41.5% of all downloads in October. Apple Podcasts is up, however, to 30.4%. Downloads via web browsers almost halved month-on-month.

November 6, 2024:

Acast blames Apple’s iOS 17 changes for a drop in listens of -15%. A decrease of -15.2% was also reported by Podtrac earlier in the year. We covered the iOS 17 changes in full.

November 1, 2024:

customizable landing pages and powerful analytics, Linkfire lets you track the real impact of each smart link—showing precisely how your marketing drives Apple Podcasts plays, follows and engaged listeners.

October 31, 2024:

customizable landing pages and powerful analytics, Linkfire lets you track the real impact of each smart link—showing precisely how your marketing drives Apple Podcasts plays, follows and engaged listeners.

October 30, 2024:

Apple Podcasts offers some great opportunities for artwork - but only if you know about them all. Chris Stone has produced a simple guide to Apple Podcasts artwork, which is well worth a read. It’s part of his weekly newsletter.

October 29, 2024:

Apple Podcasts has just crossed over 100,000,000 available podcast episodes, says the Podcast Industry Insights website. The site has also removed the paywall for historic graphs.

October 28, 2024:

We’ve covered Intuit, the owner of MailChimp, before in Podnews - when it cancelled a podcast because it required all work to be performed by non-union workers. The company is now accused of insisting that part of a podcast interview on The Verge’s Decoder should be deleted because they didn’t like the line of questioning. The Verge declined. The questions were around Intuit spending $3.8mn last year to stop people filing US tax for free, and tricking people to pay for its products.

October 25, 2024:

Hosted by Matt Stoller & David Dayen, two of the leading voices in America on the anti-monopoly movement, Organized Money explores how monopolies control our lives – from our food to our drugs to our dating lives and so much more. The show was released last week and broke the top 200 in Apple Podcasts; it's made by Rock Creek Sound, a family-owned production company.

October 21, 2024:

Weird: we used Wondercraft AI to translate a recent Podnews Daily podcast into Swedish (because that’s where we are today). Perhaps because it contains an English pre-roll, maybe because the RSS says it’s in English, or perhaps because our devices are in English, the automatically-generated Apple Podcasts transcript is... entirely translated into English. Have we stumbled on a new feature from Apple Podcasts?

October 17, 2024:

The show is using Supercast and Apple Podcasts to handle subscriptions.

October 10, 2024:

Blubrry published its stats report for August. The share of Apple Podcasts downloads on the platform dropped to a new low, from 56% in January to 47.3%. Buzzsprout also reported a three-year Apple low for September, and Libsyn has similarly reported an all-time low for Apple Podcasts in August’s numbers.

October 9, 2024:

Another month, another new low for Apple Podcasts, according to September numbers from Libsyn: the app is now delivering 45.9% of all downloads. This time last year, it was 66%.

October 4, 2024:

There’s a bug in Apple Podcasts in iOS 18, which is marking shows as “played” when the user hasn’t, actually, played them.

October 3, 2024:

Apple Podcasts has expanded its transcripts to now include a further eight languages: Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, Finnish, Portuguese, Brazilian Portuguese, Italian, and Dutch. Apple Podcasts can now also detect when more than one language is spoken in an episode. The company says that more than 80 million episodes have transcripts. Creators who prefer to provide their own transcripts can do so through RSS using a supporting podcast host.

October 2, 2024:

Series shows make up the majority of the most-shared and top new shows each year, says Apple Podcasts, which has launched a new chart, for Series. The chart is available “with iOS 18” in the United States, Australia, Canada, Ireland, Germany, Mexico, New Zealand, Sweden, and United Kingdom. (It also shows up on Mac OS 15.0). The company’s advice if you want to appear in this chart is to, among other things, mark your show as Serial, use Episode and Season tags, submit Full Page Show Art, and include a trailer. The company is also to “celebrate one series each month” in a feature called Series Essentials. - the first is Ghost Story, which was first released in October 2023.

September 30, 2024:

Fun fact: the thing that grabs RSS-based podcast transcripts for Apple Podcasts uses a useragent of itms while the thing that grabs RSS-based episode artwork uses a useragent of iTMS. Strictly, this isn’t wrong - the many RFCs that talk about HTTP requests suggest that HTTP headers are case-insensitive. But, just so you know.

September 27, 2024:

New stats from Libsyn’s The Feed show another record low in share of downloads to Apple Podcasts.

September 26, 2024:

The New York Times is to make its premium, paid podcasts available for NYT subscribers on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Spotify and Apple Podcasts listeners can connect their subscriptions wherever they bought NYT access. It’s in addition to the NYT Audio app - you can subscribe separately to just the podcasts if you’d like. It’s reported that most archive editions of the podcasts will go behind the paywall. We corrected an earlier version of this story about connecting your subscriptions within Apple Podcasts. It works however you purchased your NYT subscription.

September 25, 2024:

Growth-oriented podcast host Captivate has launched Captivate Spark AI, what it calls a “fully integrated AI assistant”. The tool delivers transcripts, episode titles and suggested times for ad breaks: and will also suggest potential new guests and episode subjects, as well as trend analysis. The tool is charged at $1/hour for transcription: transcripts are compatible with Apple Podcasts and Pocket Casts.

September 24, 2024:

Apple Podcasts has slumped to third “preferred podcast app” in the country, after Spotify (58%) and YouTube (30%).

September 23, 2024:

Pocket Casts is using the Podcasting 2.0 transcript feature, also used by Apple Podcasts and other apps. More details in The Tech Stuff, below.

September 20, 2024:

There are a number of new features in Apple Podcasts with iOS 18, which is rolling out now. We covered enhancements to chapters last week; podcast host Ausha highlights other new features including sharing links to a specific timestamp, clickable timestamps in episode descriptions (which seem to work similar to Spotify and YouTube), and a revamped search engine. There are more details in a July post from 9to5Google, based on a beta release.

September 10, 2024:

The release of iOS 18 has been announced for next week. New in Apple Podcasts - hold down the playback bar to scrub forward and back, and you’ll notice that you can now see chapter points and chapter titles. More reason to add chapters to your shows before next week when everyone will see them: many podcast hosts have direct support for them, or you can use tools like Forecast or Hindenburg to add them.

September 3, 2024:

Castro, the podcast app “for heavy listeners”, will include episode artwork in a new update this week. The app has also launched a self-service classified ad tool.

September 2, 2024:

Both Spotify and Apple Podcasts saw increase in download share for Buzzsprout shows last month. (Pocket Casts has almost doubled year-on-year.) iOS has increased over Android: possibly a knock-on effect from the end of Google Podcasts.

August 29, 2024:

Castos is the latest podcast hosting company to break out Apple Podcasts web listening in its analytics - alongside forty other web-based podcast players, using the OPAWG list.

August 28, 2024:

Curiously, though, New Heights appears unavailable on Apple Podcasts in Australia.

August 27, 2024:

Explore in-depth analysis on how to rank #1 on Apple Podcasts through Ausha's detailed study.

August 26, 2024:

Podcast iOS player Overcast has brought back a few features. Smart Speed now displays its current speed again, so you can show off at how fast you can listen; and streaming playback, which was removed a month ago, has returned “by popular request”.

August 22, 2024:

Captivate is now attributing plays using the new Apple Podcasts web player in the company’s analytics.

August 21, 2024:

SiriusXM has signed a multi-year agreement with Alex Cooper’s Unwell Network, including Call Her Daddy. Terms weren’t given; the show had been a Spotify exclusive. Call Her Daddy will be available ad-free in the SiriusXM Podcasts+ premium Apple Podcasts subscription.

August 20, 2024:

Apple Podcasts is now available on the web at podcasts.apple.com. Users can access their Library and Top Charts; and they can buy premium podcast subscriptions on the website too. The website syncs with a user’s Apple Account, though you can browse and listen without having to sign in.

August 19, 2024:

Expect something new from Apple Podcasts, this morning at 10am Pacific Time. We’ll have all the news tomorrow.

August 14, 2024:

Patreon, which said recently that podcasters earn over $350mn a year on the platform, is saying that Apple will take 30% of all creator payments made on its iOS app by November. Apple is already taking 30% of all creator payments for Apple Podcasts paid subscriptions - and these payments, like Patreon’s, are not subject to Apple’s Small Business Program, which lowers the commission to 15%.

August 9, 2024:

Have you seen the transcripts that Apple Podcasts makes available yet? Here’s how they work - and how you can provide your own.

August 7, 2024:

The Podcast Movement 2024 app is now available from the Apple App Store and on Google Play. (Not booked yet? Code PODNEWS will save).

August 6, 2024:

Auphonic has launched “speaker diarization” in its transcription tool, for single-track productions - allowing the system to correctly detect different speakers. The transcription tool at Apple Podcasts doesn’t have speaker diarization; so this is a good way to supply those.

August 5, 2024:

We spoke to the team: it uses the Apple Podcasts directory for initial listing; and is working on supporting creator-produced transcripts (though doesn’t yet). The website mentions “easy ad-skipping” - it’s only easy because the transcript helps you read the ads and skip forward if you choose.

August 2, 2024:

SiriusXM is to launch SiriusXM Podcasts+, a premium podcast subscription, through the SiriusXM app but also within Apple Podcasts. This link will let you purchase via Apple from Monday. It uses Apple’s connected subscriptions product, which launched last October.

July 26, 2024:

Acast released its Q2 2024 financial report. Net sales grew by 24% year-on-year to SEK 477.9 mn (US $44mn), driven by North America and Europe; total listens dropped 15% y-on-y to 1,104 mn after the changes in Apple’s iOS 17. The figures are described as “another step closer to profitability”.

July 25, 2024:

Google announced it is no longer planning to block third-party cookies in Chrome. Podcasts don’t use cookies; but podcasts do use IP addresses, which are increasingly hidden with VPNs, Apple’s Private Relay, and other tools. Google is suggesting it will hide IP addresses from Chrome next year.

July 24, 2024:

CEO Stuart Last estimates that the changes in Apple’s iOS 17 update have cost them $9mn in revenue. Earlier in the year, Acast had put its iOS 17 costs at $7.2mn.

July 23, 2024:

Kast Media, which is under Chapter 11 protection, is publishing monthly reports as it continues to operate. In June, it earnt $2,100 from Apple subscriptions, and $74,000 from advertising.

July 19, 2024:

Music and entertainment podcast And That’s That On That is back for a third season. The show broke into the top 50 podcast charts on Apple Music after only the second episode; but it's taken a hiatus recently - it returns today with video segments and more exclusive content.

July 18, 2024:

Did Apple train its AI on your YouTube videos? That’s a suggestion made by Proof and WIRED today. Nvidia, Salesforce, Bloomberg, Anthropic and Databricks also helped themselves to the data, suggests the story.

July 16, 2024:

Is there a podcast app yet for the Apple Vision Pro, (apart from Apple Podcasts, of course)? Radioplayer, a radio app, has launched a Vision Pro app in the UK, France, Germany and Canada.

July 12, 2024:

What’s the best way to start a video and audio podcast (and get it into YouTube, Spotify and Apple)? Justin Jackson from Transistor takes us through the process.

July 10, 2024:

Unlike Apple Podcasts reviews, all Comments are private, and you choose to make them visible - plus, you can publicly reply to them, and you can block accounts to help fight online trolls. You can turn off Comments altogether too, in the Spotify for Podcasters dashboard or in the new app - they’re all features requested in comments to our Report Card earlier on this year, which we shared with Spotify directly. Our comments are open, though, so if you can, leave us a comment.

July 8, 2024:

Stephen Robles looks at Apple Podcasts vs Pocket Casts. Pocket Casts “wins on almost every level”, he says.

July 5, 2024:

Podfollow links redirect users based on their device - so iOS users can be sent to Apple Podcasts or Android users to Spotify or a mobile landing page. They're often used as a way to link to shows on social media. Podfollow has now added YouTube as a destination; you’ll want to claim your show for free and add your YouTube playlist. See ours here.

July 2, 2024:

The alkaline diet claimed to reverse aging and cure terminal illness. But, as we learn in Sony Music Entertainment and Campside Media's Chameleon: Dr. Miracle, it was a lie; and, worse than that, it was deadly, too. The show is new today; you can hear the whole thing in The Binge.

July 1, 2024:

Happy 19th birthday, Apple Podcasts. Podcasts came to iTunes 4.9 on June 28 2005.

June 27, 2024:

Apple Podcasts is adding a better way to get around shows with chapters in the upcoming iOS 18 - when you “scrub” through the timeline, you’ll now see the chapters, reports MacRumors. (Appearance of a feature in beta doesn’t mean it’ll make it to the final build.)

June 26, 2024:

First Look: Wondery and Audacy’s Pineapple Street Studios have announced a new limited series with Dan Taberski. Hysterical is released in early July.

June 25, 2024:

Apple has announced two firsts: its first dual-language podcast, but also the first to be part of the Apple TV+ connected subscription, offering Apple TV+ subscribers access to all episodes on release in Apple Podcasts. The show, “an Apple Original”, is called My Divo or Mi Divo, and is made by Futuro Studios. (It’s hosted on Amazon’s ART19).

June 19, 2024:

Libsyn stats for May show another new low for Apple Podcasts, and another new high for Spotify. The iOS/Android ratio is also at a new low. Google Podcasts slipped to 7th place; it closes internationally this Sunday.

June 17, 2024:

The transcription feature in Apple Podcasts gets a full-feature article in The Guardian: better name recognition is on the way, the article says, also adding that Spotify has “failed to deliver”.

June 14, 2024:

Heard about the iOS 17 changes in Apple Podcasts? We wrote a definitive look at what changed, and the impact it had.

June 10, 2024:

Apple’s WWDC starts today at 10am PT. Don’t expect anything new with Apple Podcasts, according to the Apple news websites.

June 6, 2024:

Libsyn is reporting an all-time low for Apple Podcasts and an all-time high for Spotify, in the company’s latest figures. (If you missed it, we broke out Spotify’s data per country a few weeks ago.)

May 31, 2024:

Pocket Casts is looking to add transcripts to their popular podcast app, according to Ellie Rubenstein in an interview today in the Podnews Weekly Review. “We're tailoring the UI and overall experience to make sure that transcripts feel natural and intuitive within Pocket Casts,” she told us. The app is also going to add “podrolls”, showing creator recommendations for other shows to listen to. Transcripts are also supported by Apple Podcasts and 17 others.

May 30, 2024:

Music usage is up 10% in brand marketing content; but licensed music is down by 1.5%. That’s according to the sixth annual Best Audio Brands report, which has been released by amp. Apple is at #65; there aren’t any podcast companies in the list.

May 28, 2024:

Ausha suggests: Learn how to secure the #1 spot on Apple Podcasts with Ausha’s in-depth study.

May 27, 2024:

Ausha suggests: Explore in-depth analysis on how to rank #1 on Apple Podcasts through Ausha's detailed study

May 22, 2024:

Data shows Spotify is dominant outside of the US and UK, according to analysis presented this morning at The Podcast Show in London. The numbers from OP3 also suggests that the UK uses the most non-Apple/Spotify apps; and that Spotify has significant usage on iOS.

May 14, 2024:

Acquired was #1 in Apple Podcasts yesterday. The Transistor-hosted show was featured in the Wall Street Journal, and gets over 500,000 downloads an episode according to the story, which discusses how much they charge for sponsorship and how much the back catalogue is responsible for downloads.

May 13, 2024:

Choosing the Best Fiction Podcast App: A Guide for New Listeners has just been published by Evo Terra’s The End. Apple Podcasts is the best app for fiction podcast listening, he suggests.

May 10, 2024:

Apple has apologised for its much-criticised iPad ad. The company, traditionally the first choice for creatives including many podcasters, said that it “missed the mark” with the video, which showed creative symbols like a piano, a metronome and tins of paint being crushed by a hydraulic press. However, the ad - which is a copy of a fifteen year-old TV spot for an LG Android phone - still remains on Tim Cook’s Twitter account, and on YouTube, where the company has turned comments off.

May 9, 2024:

Mumbler, a podcast hosting and monetisation platform, has launched full support of transcripts. The transcripts, in 85 languages, are visible in apps like Apple Podcasts and PodcastAddict, and uses the Podcasting2.0 podcast:transcript standard.

May 8, 2024:

As part of a set of announcements, Apple released Logic Pro for iPad 2 and Logic Pro for Mac 11, offering stem splitting to separate vocals from instruments, and an AI-driven backing band feature.

May 7, 2024:

The number of listens dropped 12% year-on-year, attributed to changes in iOS 17. However, average revenue per thousand listens increased to $34.30 (up year-on-year from $24.10).

May 6, 2024:

Captain Diligaf, who Hickey alleges is the podcaster, has taken down his Patreon (it was earning $76 a month under the name Philippe Gateau - a name which takes the cake). His podcast appears to be no longer listed at Apple. It’s still hosted at Spotify for Podcasters, however.

May 3, 2024:

Apple Podcasts has added a curated Wellness category to its app - you’ll see it in the search page. Featuring a curated collection of health, fitness and wellness shows, it’s part of Mental Health Awareness Month. The category curates episodes, shows and creators; subtopics reflect the evolving definition of what it means to be well today including: Mood, Sleep, Relationships, Meditation, Movement and Gratitude.

May 2, 2024:

For the first time, Spotify is now the most popular podcast platform by downloads, according to Buzzsprout’s global download statistics. Spotify slipped in front of Apple Podcasts for the first time, across Buzzsprout’s 124,000 active shows in April.

May 1, 2024:

Meanwhile, transcripts are available for all shows from Apple Podcasts, for 2.5mn episodes in open RSS, and live captions are also available on most devices.

April 30, 2024:

New from Audacy's Pineapple Street Studios and Wondery, The Competition is now available everywhere. The series focuses on the contestants of the Distinguished Young Women (DYW) program, a quasi-pageant/ academic competition that’s one of the most lucrative scholarship programs for teen girls in America, and follows seven participants as they experience the highs and lows of competing for two weeks, away from home and under the most high-stress circumstances. Wil Williams reviews it in their newsletter.

April 29, 2024:

Is Apple’s Messages app the latest new podcast player? Not really - but it does play podcasts. Send someone on Messages a link to a Podnews news page (like this) it renders with the image, headline, and a little audio button - which, when pressed, plays the linked audio. It looks quite neat. It uses the og:audio meta tag, part of the Open Graph protocol, which is supported in the Messages app on iPhone and MacOS.

April 26, 2024:

Podchaser has launched a new section of the site called Podcast Charts & Rankings, which shows the Apple and Spotify podcast charts from across the world.

April 19, 2024:

Flightpath, software that helps predict advertising availability for podcast networks, spotted last year’s change in Apple Podcasts early and helped publishers correct the quotes they were making, according to CEO Sean Howard. He’s interviewed today in our sister publication, the Podcast Business Journal.

April 16, 2024:

The Podcast Standards Project has announced that more than 2.5mn podcast episodes now feature creator-supplied transcripts using the open <podcast:transcript> standard. Those Podcasting 2.0 transcripts are visible in apps like Apple Podcasts, Podcast Addict, Fountain and Podcast Guru as well as many others.

April 12, 2024:

The Apple & The Tree is a brand-new podcast series launched today, celebrating the universal truths, secrets, joys & pain between a parent and their child. Each episode invites listeners into the hearts and homes of a different family as they sit down to discuss something they’ve rarely – if ever – approached before. It's hosted by Vogue Williams, and is a DMG Media production.

April 11, 2024:

Podcast host Ausha has launched a transcription service. The tool creates an Apple Podcasts-compatible transcript; transcripts are available in 99 languages in compatible podcast apps and on your Ausha website. It uses the podcast:transcript standard from Podcasting 2.0.

April 8, 2024:

Apple Podcasts has added transcripts to its macOS app. Transcripts look like this: to get to them, hit the “...” menu button next to any episode, or the player, and choose “View Transcript”. Unlike the iOS app they don’t display in real time and nor can you use them to navigate the show; but they are searchable. Here’s how they work.

April 4, 2024:

An email you’ve probably already seen: “On April 13, starting at 6:00 am PDT, Apple Podcasts Connect will be unavailable for up to two hours.” (That link will convert the time to where you are.)

April 3, 2024:

On MeSsy with Christina Applegate & Jamie-Lynn Sigler, the two hosts get vulnerable about the curveballs that life can throw - theirs just happens to be multiple sclerosis, better known to many as MS. They'll self-reflect, learn, laugh, and grow through their own raw and often-times hilarious conversations with each other, friends, co-stars, and the people that keep them going through the messiness of life. Produced by Allison Bresnick of Wishbone Production, it's represented for ad sales by PMM.

April 2, 2024:

Downloads from Apple Podcasts are down 39% year-on-year for Buzzsprout podcasters, according to new Buzzsprout data released for March 2024. Spotify is also down by 11%. While the number of active podcasts on Buzzsprout is only down 1%, Buzzsprout customers published 12% fewer episodes, and data we shared last week from Podtrac showed an overall drop for larger shows of around 15%.

April 1, 2024:

“Last week, five of the first seven podcasts promoted on the “browse” carousel in the Apple Podcasts app were participating in Apple Podcasts Subscriptions” - Semafor suggests, after Apple’s DOJ legal action, that this is worth a closer look.

March 29, 2024:

Wondery, iHeart and Lemonada Media are all using a non-public product from MowPod - which gives extra lives and game credits to gamers if they follow shows on Apple Podcasts from game apps, according to a piece from Bloomberg’s Ashley Carman. It’s distinct from MowPod’s public product (which we looked into last year). It has the effect of driving more downloads and manipulating chart placings: she says at least nine of the current top fifty shows have been promoted in this way.

March 28, 2024:

The Podnews Report Card shows that Apple Podcasts is still our most favoured podcast platform; but all the scores for the major platforms have slipped since last year. We’ve published a full list of the results of the Report Card over here; and we’re sharing it with the platforms.

March 27, 2024:

Exclusive: How much are podcast downloads down year-on-year following the changes in Apple Podcasts? For Podnews, the leading podcast metrics company Podtrac has analysed more than 2.7bn downloads; and some individual categories fared very differently.

March 26, 2024:

Apple Podcasts has updated its Content Guidelines. The main changes are that the company now requires use of AI to be prominently disclosed in both the audio and the metadata; and AI cannot be used to mislead. (¶1.11 and 1.12) Apple also requires creator-provided transcripts to accurately reflect and correspond to the content (¶5.1).

March 20, 2024:

How do Apple Podcasts transcripts work? If you’ve discovered any tips and techniques for ensuring that speakers are correctly identified, do let us know!

March 19, 2024:

Blubrry has launched Vid2Pod, a service to turn YouTube videos into open RSS audio podcasts. Post a new video on YouTube, and Vid2Pod automatically publishes an audio version for Apple Podcasts, Spotify and other services. (Here’s a demo video of the tool in action).

March 18, 2024:

How do you measure how good a transcript is? Apple suggests that the current measure, “Word Error Rate”, isn’t good enough - treating all words identically, even “um” and “er” - and proposes a new metric, “Human Evaluation Word Error Metric”, or HEWER.

March 15, 2024:

Ausha has published a study about the Apple Podcasts search algorithm, including gains for podcasters who use their keywords in podcast titles and descriptions. We link to the full infographic.

March 13, 2024:

Year-on-year, downloads for LiSTNR’s network are down 9%; for ARN’s iHeart, down 29% - Australia hasn’t been immune to Apple’s iOS 17 changes.

March 6, 2024:

iOS 17.4 launches today, and with it, support for podcast transcripts in Apple Podcasts. Apple Podcasts will make its own transcripts for new episodes; or, you can supply your own. It marks the first time that almost every podcast is fully accessible.

March 5, 2024:

From Airwave: Want today’s biggest tech headlines in a flash from TechCrunch? You'll want the TechCrunch Daily Crunch - recently, they've covered Elon Musk suing OpenAI, Microsoft Windows 11's Copilot, and Tim Apple promising that Apple is doing something clever with GenAI.

March 4, 2024:

Apple Podcasts has fixed its promotional request form. The form has been updated, too.

March 1, 2024:

Joe Casabona went to Apple’s “What’s New At Apple Podcasts” event.

February 29, 2024:

Transistor has launched an AI speech-to-text transcription service. The tool includes automatic speaker detection, and is powered by Deepgram. Apple Podcasts launches transcripts on playback in the app next week (we think).

February 28, 2024:

Fusebox’s free podcast player is no longer available for new shows: the free plan was “no longer economically feasible”, according to an email sent to users. You have 90 days to find a different embedded player. We’ve a guide showing many of them; Apple or Spotify’s make good sense.

February 27, 2024:

In the Courts #1: There’s been (some) action in the National Association of the Deaf vs SiriusXM two year-old legal case, where SiriusXM has been taken to court for not producing transcripts. The lawyers for the NAD furiously say that SiriusXM didn’t give them any information about its new app (“sandbagging!” “incredibly vague!” “effort to sabotage!”) and asking for a further delay. SiriusXM’s lawyers furiously say that SiriusXM had a new app on Dec 12 which they told the other side about within two months and it does (some) transcripts now, and they allege bad faith on behalf of the NAD’s lawyers (“feigned surprise!” “acting improperly!” “tenuous assertions!”), but also are asking for a further delay. Anyone would think lawyers are paid by the hour. Meanwhile, Apple Podcasts will roll out transcripts for almost 100% of shows within the next few months.

February 26, 2024:

Apple Totally Screwed Small Podcasts (and it was the right thing to do), says Hank from Scishow Tangents. It’s partially - but not entirely - referencing the iOS 17 changes.

February 23, 2024:

v2.2 of the guidelines add a requirement for companies to be clear whether they use a fixed or rolling 24-hour window for measurement; a requirement to update “safe” IP address lists such as those for known large corporations or universities; clarification that an ad can only be considered to be “delivered” if the overall episode download was valid; and a requirement for “practices to be put in place to account for mass market technology changes in measurement reports” (possibly the result of Apple’s changes in iOS 17).

February 21, 2024:

In France, a charity event called Podcasthon is planned for next month. The idea is to make a special version of your show that highlights a cause or charity; and to co-ordinate its release at the end of March. Last year, 300 podcasts took part; this year, it has the support of Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and Spotify. 400 shows have already registered for this year - et vous? (Next year’s Podcasthon will be in English and other languages, too).

February 20, 2024:

Spotify’s Megaphone is now an associate member of ACPM, one of France’s podcast measurement services. ACPM’s January 2024 numbers show the top ten publishers increased downloads by 14.9% year-on-year - Android has more than a 70% market share in the country, so no iOS 17 issues there.

February 19, 2024:

From down under to the Big Apple, BIPOC-led, women-owned podcast agency The Peers Project has raised investment to launch into the US market. The company will open offices in New York later this month.

February 16, 2024:

The iOS 17 changes to Apple Podcasts have meant podcast ads are more effective, new data from Podscribe has revealed. As part of Podscribe’s performance benchmarks, we learn that ads have driven a higher amount of visitors and conversions since Apple Podcasts changed how auto-downloads work.

February 15, 2024:

How do the upcoming Apple Podcast transcriptions work? We’ve got all the information.

February 14, 2024:

How do you make good podcast artwork? We’ve collated some of the best advice from our newsletters. Notably, Apple Podcasts no longer requires podcast thumbnails to be less than 500Kb.

February 13, 2024:

Total listens went down by 12% after Apple Podcasts changes in iOS 17. Those changes cost Acast US $7.2mn in a one-off contract revaluation.

February 12, 2024:

Last month, the company reported that total global downloads for the top 20 publishers were down 19% month-on-month and 24% year-on-year: attributed to the changes in iOS 17 for Apple Podcasts.

February 9, 2024:

Spotify is removing Music + Talk, which allowed you to present a music show (launched as “Shows with Music”); interactive audience tool Voice Messages, remote recording tool Record with Friends, and Background Music and Sounds. The company tells us it’s a shift away from legacy creation tooling, and towards tools for better audience growth and engagement.

February 8, 2024:

Of note - his artwork is over-sized at 1.4MB; Apple normally requires images to be less than 500KB.

February 7, 2024:

Apple has released a new developer beta of iOS 17.4, which will bring transcripts to podcast listeners. “I still haven't seen a single transcript utilized from the podcasts:transcript tag, even for shows that have them.” mentions John Spurlock.

February 6, 2024:

CoHost has added episode consumption data to the company’s podcast analytics and audience insights platform. The tool aggregates data from both Spotify and Apple, to offer users deeper insights.

February 5, 2024:

The world’s #1 podcast, The Joe Rogan Experience has renewed with Spotify. The show will no longer be exclusive: and will ‘soon’ be made available on additional platforms like Apple, Amazon and YouTube.

February 2, 2024:

The Podnews Report Card would like to capture your thoughts on the big podcast platforms. It’s our third year of compiling this data, which we anonymise and feed back to Apple, YouTube, Spotify and Amazon - and we’re keen to know what’s changed. Please take part today; we’ll reveal the results at Evolutions by Podcast Movement in March.

February 1, 2024:

Audacy is to cut twelve jobs at Pineapple Street Studios - about 25% of the staff - says a report by Bloomberg. The staff union says it’s heartbroken and will fight for an appropriate severance package. The company filed for bankruptcy protection last month.

January 31, 2024:

Triton Digital has released its US Podcast Report 2023. The free 32 page report says there has been a 12% growth of monthly podcast users in the last two years, and that 55% of podcasts get fewer than 10,000 US downloads per month. Apple Podcasts gets 45% of all episode downloads; Spotify just 15%.

January 30, 2024:

Linkfire is now giving access to Engaged Listeners data from Apple Podcasts. It remains the only third-party promotional tool with analytics data direct from Apple.

January 29, 2024:

Libsyn is erroneously marked as a podcast host supporting transcripts by Apple Podcasts. Libsyn’s support team has clarified that it does not support this feature (unless you write the XML yourself in Libsyn4, and host your transcripts separately). The company criticised Podcasting 2.0 in its official podcast last week.

January 26, 2024:

Apple Podcasts is to add transcriptions for every podcast in the Apple Podcasts app on the next version of iOS and iPadOS, to be made available later in Spring, says the Californian company.

January 24, 2024:

US broadcaster Audacy, which recently filed for bankruptcy protection, has a new business plan which includes an audio subscription service, according to iHeart-owned Inside Radio. Audacy says it could deliver “as much as $20 million in revenue by 2027”. The company owns a number of podcast companies including Cadence13 and Pineapple Street.

January 23, 2024:

From one type of award to another - Podcast growth agency Bumper has analysed 28.5mn Apple Podcasts star ratings (in the US store) to learn how they work. Crime Junkie has the most US ratings, at 344,000; but only 28% of shows have any star ratings at all. (Star ratings have no effect on the recommendation algorithms.)

January 22, 2024:

Caution: The Elfsight Podcast Player widget, a paid-for podcast player, is downloading audio on page-load: against IAB guidelines, and defrauding advertisers. We contacted the company last week to report the issue and invited them to comment. We’d suggest you use Spotify or Apple’s players.

January 16, 2024:

Here’s our studio in Pret a Manger in the City of London, where Podnews was recorded on Jan 4 (yes, using Hindenburg PRO). Maybe we should have brought some pillows.

January 15, 2024:

London-based podcast publisher Audioboom has just posted a trading update for Q4/23. Q4’s revenue, at $19mn, was up 37% quarter-on-quarter, and up 5% year-on-year. Downloads for the quarter were only down 0.75% year-on-year, in spite of the auto-download changes in Apple Podcasts.

January 12, 2024:

Zach Kahn, until recently the PR person for Apple Podcasts but tweeting personally, shares his 2024 Podcasting Wishlist. “Make shorter shows”, he suggests, “trust your gut”, and “let the past die”.

January 10, 2024:

How many podcasts are in each primary category in Apple Podcasts? We’ve updated our data to show you where you might want to be launching new shows.

January 8, 2024:

Audacy, owners of Cadence13 and Pineapple Street Studios, has filed for bankruptcy. The company plans a restructure and claims it will have “no operational impact”. Formerly known as Entercom, it acquired CBS Radio in 2017. It currently has debts of $1.9bn.

January 2, 2024:

iOS 17 is now being used by 75% of Apple Podcasts listeners, according to OP3’s open data. The iOS 17 changes have resulted in, overall, a 5-6% drop in share across all shows.

December 22, 2023:

Livewire has updated its look at iOS 17 downloads. The share of downloads for Apple Podcasts appear to be down around 8%.

December 21, 2023:

The effect of iOS 17’s changes in Apple Podcasts could be 30% fewer downloads for your show, according to Libsyn’s Rob Walch, speaking in The Feed. “If shows have over 300 episodes, they could and should expect to see their weekly downloads at the end of November be greater than a 25% drop below where their weekly numbers were in early September.” He adds: “Your audience size did not change. Those numbers? That was extra downloads (from) your back catalog (that) weren't being listened to. It's just right sizing your monthly and weekly downloads to what's more realistic and what's really happening.”

December 20, 2023:

Magellan AI published its November 2023 top spenders in podcast advertising list. BetterHelp is still #1. Apple is #4, with ads like this. (Spotify and Google aren’t in the list).

December 19, 2023:

An investor that put £5mn (US $6.3mn) in Feb 2023 into podcast production company Novel, has sued Sean Glynn, Novel’s founder and former CEO, for £15mn ($18.8mn), reports Ashley Carman.

December 18, 2023:

Podnews is on Mastodon (and other places), and this holiday period, we’d like to encourage you to follow us there (and the hashtag #podcasting perhaps, too). Megalodon works great for Android; we’re told Mammoth is a good app for iPhone. As of today, we’re posting on X thirty minutes late, as part of the x-last strategy.

December 15, 2023:

One of podcasting’s biggest early advertisers, Mailchimp has pulled out of a Pineapple Street podcast because “the new Mailchimp contract required all work on the series to be performed by non-union workers”, says The Verge. Pineapple Street unionised in October 2022. The WGAE has a webpage to contact Mailchimp.

December 13, 2023:

Over 70% of Apple Podcasts users now have iOS 17, reports John Spurlock’s Livewire. It suggests a drop of around 7-8% of share of downloads (but we also know there are fewer downloads too).

December 12, 2023:

For consuming podcasts, YouTube has more than twice the users of Apple Podcasts, and almost twice that of Spotify, according to a study of YouTube’s growth as a “power podcast player”, highlighted in a new study from Cumulus Media and Signal Hill Insights.

December 11, 2023:

Substack now has a video episodes feature. They’ve not called it a video podcasts feature, because the video doesn’t make it to the RSS feed, thus you’ll not be able to watch it in Pocket Casts or Apple Podcasts; and you can only watch in the iOS Substack app.

December 8, 2023:

Apple Podcasts will be available as a native app next week on Tesla vehicles. It will roll out on Model S, 3, X, Y, and Cybertruck as part of Tesla’s 2023 Holiday Update.

December 6, 2023:

Announced earlier this year, Linkfire has placed its linking tool live for podcasters, giving you one link to share for your show. Uniquely, it offers access to Apple Podcasts analytics - the only third party to do so. Here’s what a link page looks like. (We’d recommend you get your own website; Podpage is a gold Podnews supporter).

December 5, 2023:

Apple Podcasts will announce the 2023 Show of the Year at 8am Eastern today.

December 4, 2023:

Buzzsprout has released the company’s stats for November, allowing us to look a little more closely at the performance of Apple Podcasts since the iOS17 changes in mid September.

November 30, 2023:

Adam Bowie has compared Apple and Spotify's top shows of 2023: examining the different apps and their likely demographics. HotPod has also compared similar. Worth remembering that Apple's chart is calculated similar to its normal weekly charts, and therefore does include some bias towards recent new followers - a bias that Spotify's chart doesn't have.

November 29, 2023:

Apple released the most popular podcasts of 2023 on the Apple Podcasts platform. Crime Junkies was the #1 show in the US for the second year running. You'll find the year-end charts for your country in the 'Browse' tab of the Apple Podcasts app.

November 28, 2023:

BBC Podcasts Premium, a paid Apple subscriptions service, has launched across the world, after a successful start in the US and Canada in 2021. It offers early-access, ad-free shows, and is now available almost everywhere except for the UK, which gets a similar experience within BBC Sounds.

November 24, 2023:

One Podnews reader points out that the decrease in podcast downloads seen by most rankers and hosts over the past few months may have a knock-on effect: more makegoods, as advertisers don't hit the numbers they were expecting. Makegoods - free spots to make up for lower than expected numbers - tie up future inventory. "This drop is not-nothing", our reader points out.

November 22, 2023:

The change in auto-download behaviour for Apple Podcasts is showing up in Libsyn's data for October: Apple's share of downloads dropped 3.6% from August. Buzzsprout earlier reported a drop of 4.8% for Apple. (We're comparing August to October here, since iOS 17 rolled out in mid September.)

November 20, 2023:

Our New Podcast Trailers podcast feed - here's the RSS - uses OP3 to measure total plays (and individual shows see these downloads in their stats, too). One thing we learnt: make sure your audio enclosure URLs end ".mp3", even if they're just, like ours, redirects. Apple needs an audio file extension in the URL, otherwise it won't index the episode.

November 17, 2023:

The Official Rustin Podcast has launched today from Netflix, accompanying the new Netflix film. The architect of 1963’s momentous March on Washington, Bayard Rustin was one of the greatest activists and organizers the world has ever known; but has slipped from the public's mind. The film, and this podcast, aims to change that. It's produced by Pineapple Street Studios and Slayzhon.

November 16, 2023:

From the State Library of Queensland, Cake the podcast looks at bakers from Queensland, and the story of The Golden Circle Tropical Recipe Book, one of the most influential cookbooks in the state that was dreamt up when there was an oversupply of pineapples. Note: despite being less than fifteen minutes away from the State Library of Queensland, Podnews's offices did not get sent cake with this press release.

November 15, 2023:

In Pod the North, Kattie Laur asks Why can't I access podcast transcripts on the apps? Indeed, Spotify and Apple... there's an open standard here, if you'd use it?

November 14, 2023:

What Now? with Trevor Noah hit #1 in various Spotify charts, and even the #1 in Apple Podcasts. Spotify's fancy graphic doesn't mention it, but the podcast is also #1 in Spotify South Africa, we notice: not a surprise, but good to see.

November 13, 2023:

WNYC's On The Media this week looks at how Apple shaped podcasting, and also asks has the podcast bubble finally burst? which focuses on WNYC itself.

November 9, 2023:

Unruly is new today, hosted by hosted by author, curator, and critic Kimberly Drew. "We unpack the quiet ways women’s bodies are commodified, defined, and regulated by social media, the medical profession, the beauty industry, and more. Then we name them, out loud." It's from body hair and care brand Flamingo and Pineapple Street Studios.

November 8, 2023:

Total listens dipped in the quarter (Jul/Aug/Sep) by 2.9%. Acast CEO Ross Adams blamed a decrease in listens on changes in download behaviour by Apple Podcasts in iOS 17. But, iOS 17 was only released on Sep 18, and only 16.7% of iPhones had installed it by the end of September, an adoption rate that Cult of Mac calls "a trickle". Too early to blame Cupertino?

November 6, 2023:

9to5Google reports that Apple almost completed Apple Watch support with Android phones; but cancelled the work when it was "nearly complete", to protect iPhone's sales. Why a mention in Podnews? Because, while Apple Music and Apple TV are available for Android, Apple Podcasts isn't, and this might be the reason.

November 2, 2023:

The biggest independent podcast host Buzzsprout released its network stats for October. Year-on-year, Apple Podcasts has increased download share by 3.5%; Spotify by 3.6%; and Google Podcasts increased its share by 0.3%. Total downloads were up 12.6% on the year, though dropped slightly month-on-month.

November 1, 2023:

From Bumper, Dan Misener writes about an apparent decline in downloads from Apple Podcasts as a result of changes to auto-downloading in iOS 17. He shows how to check your stats.

October 26, 2023:

In France, Acast has given more than 9 million euro to podcasters in the country (US$9.5mn) since launching in 2019. The company says Apple Podcasts is #1, seeing three times the downloads per user than Spotify.

October 25, 2023:

We hear that Spotify is testing public comments for podcasts. For select shows, all listener responses from the proprietary Q&A feature will be made available on the show’s episode page on Spotify, as long as they meet Spotify’s content guidelines. Spotify tells Podnews that "Participating creators will continue to have full control over questions and responses — they can publish or unpublish any response, or edit or remove Q&A prompts, through the interact tab of the Spotify for Podcasters dashboard." (By way of comparison, reviews left on Apple Podcasts are not editable by creators.)

October 24, 2023:

One negative review on Apple Podcasts might mean 42% fewer listeners, especially if it appears first, according to scientific research from the Journal of Marketing Research. It suggests that podcast app companies shouldn't just show 'latest review first', but instead, list them in different ways.

October 23, 2023:

Ghost Story is new from Wondery today - a jaw-dropping tale of a haunting, which becomes a murder investigation, which leads to a family drama. It's made by Audacy's Pineapple Street Studios.

October 20, 2023:

AdBarker has launched new video injection tools, enabling DAI for video ads. It works great with Apple Podcasts, which already fully supports video content.

October 19, 2023:

If your listeners have Apple CarPlay or Android Auto in their car, they listen to podcasts almost twice as long as those who don't. This new data is posted by Edison Research, showing that CarPlay or Android Auto reduces the amount of radio listening by almost a third.

October 16, 2023:

Exclusive: Ausha is launching a Podcast Search Optimisation tool today. The tool monitors and optimises show appearance in podcast app search results, suggests keywords to rank for, and monitors Apple Podcasts and Spotify to measure the effect of any change. It's available in beta for selected customers today, before a full launch later in the year.

October 13, 2023:

Transistor has reported the top podcast listening apps on the platform. Apple Podcasts has 51.6% of all downloads; Spotify 27.7%; and Google Podcasts is at #3 with 2.1%.

October 12, 2023:

Apple Podcasts made a few small changes to how automatic downloads work in iOS 17. The changes affect the app's behaviour when paused downloads resume, and when old episodes are published.

October 10, 2023:

Apple Podcasts has posted advice on producing kids-first podcast content. In selected countries, the Kids & Family page within Apple Podcasts is curated for Apple by Common Sense Media, a non-profit.

October 6, 2023:

Kagi, a paid-for, ad-free search engine, has a permanent Podcasts tab, we notice. It looks like this; links are to the Apple Podcasts listing for the podcast, not direct to the episode, disappointingly.

October 5, 2023:

The third season of Sound Judgment launched last week - exploring the audio storytelling craft of podcasting. Last week, Classy’s Jonathan Menjivar, of Audacy’s Pineapple Street Studios and alum of Fresh Air and This American Life, shared strategies and self-doubts on the challenge of making a gripping podcast about class in America; and to come are Anna Sale, Nikki Boyer and others.

October 4, 2023:

Who is supposed to register for the upcoming Canadian regulation of podcasts? The CRTC tells us: "online services that operate in Canada and offer podcasts, such as Apple and Spotify".

October 3, 2023:

The regulation says it applies to all streaming services that operate in Canada, not those physically based there. We're asking the CRTC what an "online streaming service" is (Apple Podcasts? or Wondery?); and what "operating in" means (employees in Canada? or content available there?). We're also asking what sanctions are liable should a company not register by Nov 28. The CRTC has not responded to a request made over 24 hours ago.

September 29, 2023:

Daniel Ek guests on the latest episode of Diary of a CEO with Steven Bartlett. In it, he claims that Apple is hurting customers: “So many of the tactics that made [Apple] the rebel kind of thing are now stifling innovation. And it’s really hurting consumers to a great extent."

September 27, 2023:

As pre-announced in June, Apple Podcasts has launched a tool to connect third-party app subscriptions to exclusive podcast content. If you're a subscriber to, say, the Lingokids or Calm apps, you'll automatically find exclusive subscriber-only shows in your Apple Podcasts library.

September 22, 2023:

Riverside's Stephen Robles looks at the big changes in iOS 17's Apple Podcasts in a fancy video. As the podcast app responsible for more plays than any other, it's worthwhile tweaking what you do to make sure it looks great.

September 19, 2023:

iOS 17 has been released for iPhone and iPad. A free update, it includes significant changes for Apple Podcasts, unlocking episode art and a new Now Playing experience among other features. Episode art is already supported by Spotify, Pocket Casts and other large apps: you'll find it in our daily and weekly podcasts.

September 14, 2023:

The better tools he's demanding? OP3, which is open and free; here are our stats and those of many others. We'd agree that an API into Apple and Spotify's proprietary data would be useful, though.

September 11, 2023:

The new podcast namespace is now the fifth biggest namespace in use in podcasting. Only two years after launch, it's present in more than one in five podcast feeds, despite not being used by Apple or Spotify.

September 7, 2023:

"Podcasts don't need ads", said Luminary in a criticised, and since-deleted, tweet when it launched. Today, Luminary has partnered with Acast to make six of its exclusive shows available wherever you get your podcasts - monetised by ads. The company will also use Acast+ Access to give access to its paid subscription content in any app: the company also uses Apple Podcasts's paid subscriptions.

September 4, 2023:

The share of downloads from Apple Podcasts for shows hosted by Buzzsprout increased by over 2% in August.

August 29, 2023:

The Daily Mail last week claimed that its podcast The Trial of Lucy Letby was "the No.1 podcast on Apple in the UK".

August 24, 2023:

Apple Podcasts has quietly stopped adding hidden webpage code to tag podcasts with topics, which it started to do in late 2022. Dan Misener from Bumper spotted the change a few days ago.

August 22, 2023:

Apple launched enhanced analytics for paid subscriptions; until now, creators had to download spreadsheet data directly. Apple Podcasts also announced more Delegated Delivery partners to allow you to upload premium content directly to Apple Podcasts: Podbean is the first of those to go live today.

August 21, 2023:

Expect announcements later today from Apple Podcasts about new tools and services for creators.

August 18, 2023:

Glenn Beck has continued to retweet claims that his podcast was "deplatformed" and that Apple Podcasts censored his podcast, and has pinned a comment suggesting that he still doesn't know why the show was taken down. In an investigation, Podnews has discovered that The Glenn Beck Program was removed after he knowingly used a trademark of a company that took him to court less than two years ago.

August 17, 2023:

In a social media post, Glenn Beck said Apple Podcasts had removed The Glenn Beck Program - falsely claiming it was political censorship by the company.

August 14, 2023:

Podshape has used artificial intelligence to help recreate social media posts in their latest podcast Out Of The Ordinary. The show is launched today in Apple Podcasts subscriptions, and looks at the story of Brandon Truaxe, a Canadian skincare entrepreneur who suddenly began to start posting some very odd social media messages.

August 10, 2023:

In Russia, Apple Podcasts was fined 400,000 rubles (US $4,250) for not deleting content "with incorrect information about the conflict in Ukraine". We reported two content providers on Monday who were temporarily removed from Apple Podcasts following a complaint from the Russian government. Podnews is not available in Russia and Belarus: the countries illegally invaded Ukraine in February last year.

August 9, 2023:

Further reading: JAR Audio has updated its ultimate guide to branded podcast ROI … Eric Nuzum asks "What do all successful podcast hosts have in common? And what is necessary for someone to succeed as a podcast host?" … and Jonas Woost from Bumper writes: don't confuse listeners with downloaders. He points out that both Spotify and Apple (which for most podcasters is the majority of their traffic) give actual listener numbers in their dashboard, since you have to sign in to use those apps.

August 7, 2023:

Two shows were reportedly removed from Apple Podcasts after Russian authorities requested their removal. Что случилось ("What Happened") is published by Медуза, which is an officially banned media organisation in Russia; the podcast was removed for two days by Apple Podcasts for "an issue". Meanwhile, Холод was also removed according to the publishers Holod Media, after a complaint by Russian authorities that it discredited the Russian army. Both shows currently appear to be available in Europe on Apple Podcasts. Podnews is not available in Russia.

July 25, 2023:

Pocket Casts is adding star ratings to its popular podcast app. The ratings come from a variety of sources including rival app Apple Podcasts, and are treated with a proprietary algorithm: but you won't, yet, be able to add your own rating in the app.

July 18, 2023:

Data: new research about podcasting in Taiwan has been released. 24.5% of the population (18-60) listen every month; YouTube, Spotify, Apple and Google are the top 4 platforms, with local apps KKBox and SoundOn next in the list.

July 17, 2023:

In the Podcasting 2.0 podcast this week, Adam Curry looks back at 20 years of podcasting, and what he regrets about Apple's involvement.

July 12, 2023:

Episode art is coming to Apple Podcasts in the next few months. You're suggested to work on them now, so your podcast looks amazing when the new iOS 17 is released.

July 11, 2023:

Apple has made a podcast - and this one is sponsored by an insurance company. The second series of After the Whistle with Brendan Hunt and Rebecca Lowe, looking at the 2023 Women’s World Cup, is made for Apple News by Meadowlark Media, and sponsored by State Farm. The football tournament is, in the US and Canada, on Apple TV.

July 6, 2023:

DISQO has released a free report containing data from more than 17,000 podcast listeners. Spotify is the most "preferred" podcast platform, though Spotify skews significantly younger than Apple Podcasts. For people aged 65+, Google Podcasts and Apple Podcasts are most 'preferred' (after the radio).

July 4, 2023:

Buzzsprout has posted its platform stats for June. Apple Podcasts downloads are up nearly 2% month-on-month.

July 3, 2023:

With Apple no longer requiring email addresses in RSS feeds, many podcast hosting companies have removed them for enhanced privacy - but that comes with added complication for claiming podcasts on other services - leading to increased support tickets and frustrated podcasters. This is a priority to fix for the next podcast namespace work, and podcast hosting companies should take part in the discussion.

June 30, 2023:

Android is still highly fragmented for podcast apps, according to data from the Open Podcast Prefix Project, analysed by Podnews. Data from 4.75mn downloads in May suggests that, while Spotify is the clear leader, the app ecosystem on Android remains significantly more fragmented than that of Apple - even when combining downloads from iOS, iPadOS and macOS.

June 29, 2023:

The Apple Podcasts app has supported video podcasts since 2005, but in a video today, Transistor's Justin Jackson points out that it's really hard to find them; and requires two different feeds.

June 28, 2023:

Stitcher Radio, as it was once called, is one of the oldest podcast apps. It was founded before the Apple App Store even existed. We look back at the history of the sometimes controversial podcast app in a special feature today.

June 27, 2023:

When asked which platform listeners use most often for podcasts, Spotify is #1 with 34%; YouTube #2 with 24% and Apple Podcasts #3 with 11%. (Apple Podcasts isn't on Android; Kantar says Android has a 51.6% share in Australia).

June 26, 2023:

Thank you to The Optimal Life with Nate Haber for becoming our latest supporter. Nate is an entrepreneur, attorney and self-improvement expert; the podcast contains inspirational conversations with extraordinary people. His support, like our other supporters, helps our independent journalism: you, too, can support us here.

June 22, 2023:

Apple Podcasts for Creators has now been localized in six additional languages. In addition to English, the site is now available in French, German, Japanese, Korean, Spanish, and Traditional Chinese.

June 21, 2023:

Apple has enhanced the search tools on Apple Podcasts, adding nine subcategories, recommendations, and language searches in select countries.

June 19, 2023:

It's a few months since Apple removed "AppleCoreMedia" as a useragent of its app. The results? Apple Podcasts download figures are up 4%, says OP3. We predicted 6%.

June 16, 2023:

Bari Finkel and Je-Anne Berry have been promoted to Co-Heads of Pineapple Street Studios. Pineapple Street Co-Founder Max Linsky has been named Senior Podcast Strategist for Audacy’s podcast division.

June 14, 2023:

Apple is threatening to remove Damus, a NOSTR-based chat service, from the app store. The company's concern is that "zaps" - a way to send people a small amount of money - could be used to circumvent Apple's payment system. If upheld, the ruling threatens "value4value" podcast apps, which use a similar system, and even services like PayPal or Venmo.

June 7, 2023:

N'Jeri Eaton has been hired by Wondery as head of co-productions for limited series. She had worked at Apple Podcasts and most recently was Head of Podcasts at Netflix.

June 6, 2023:

Apple Podcasts is to get a new look and new features in the upcoming iOS 17.

June 5, 2023:

Downloads from Apple Podcasts are on an all-time high according to Buzzsprout's stats for May. The numbers are likely to reflect Apple now correctly identifying more of its traffic, instead of the ambiguous AppleCoreMedia name; those numbers continue to decrease.

May 25, 2023:

Do you "heff and jeff" in your podcast? Do you mark it as explicit? If you do, did you know what that means to which country gets your podcast? Dan Misener from Bumper discovers which countries hide explicit content from users unless they want it - and which ban it all together.

May 24, 2023:

Apple Podcasts has separate editorial curation for more than 170 countries across the world: but how can you see what they're promoting in other countries? The podcast growth agency Bumper has worked out a way of quickly seeing the contents of every country's Apple Podcasts front pages.

May 22, 2023:

Writing a clever bit of redirection magic for your new RSS podcast feed? Apple Podcasts requires a valid file extension in the enclosure URL for your show to be correctly ingested, even if the enclosure URL is actually a redirect. (Ask us how we know!) The Livewire Podcast Validator has been updated.

May 19, 2023:

Faidr, a radio and audio app from Auddia, now has podcasts - in the Android version, to start. It appears to be pulling data from Apple's directory.

May 18, 2023:

Audacy, which owns Cadence13, Pineapple Street Studios, Podcorn and Moonbeam, is to be delisted from the stock market for having an "abnormally low" share price. The company plans to appeal. $200 invested in Audacy this time last year would be worth just over $10 today.

May 17, 2023:

A new podcast search experience in Google is being rolled out in the US. Users on mobile who search for generic terms like "kids podcasts" or "news podcasts" now get individual podcast cards, which, when clicked on, include links to players: Spotify, Apple Podcasts and Google Podcasts. The podcast pages also contain recent episode titles (and display on tablets as well as phones). Links to Apple Podcasts appear on Android, too (taking you to the web experience); the new search experience does not contain any podcast links to YouTube.

May 16, 2023:

The Made by Google podcast returned yesterday (switching hosts from Podigee to Acast). The announcement tells us to "subscribe on Google Podcasts (of course), Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts". The newest podcast platform made by Google is, of course, YouTube, but this podcast from Google hasn't been uploaded there.

May 15, 2023:

Did you know… that Apple iPhone now offers live captions for any podcast you want to listen to? If your phone uses English (US) or English (CA), you're good to go. Live captions are also available on Android phones, and any audio you listen to on Chrome (Windows, Mac OS, Linux, Android): we've updated our guide on how to get them.

May 9, 2023:

Podcast Bestie, the Podcast this time around features Lauren Passell - talking to host Courtney Kocak about finding podcast friends to collaborate with, and how to land a coveted Apple Podcasts feature.

May 8, 2023:

Following reporting about dismal YouTube numbers on Friday… Folding Pocket contacted us with details of Up Front with Simon Jordan, which was launched last week. The podcast is #1 Sports Podcast on Spotify and on Apple Podcasts, but also has more than half a million views on YouTube in less than a week. (There are no podcasts on YouTube Music in the UK, either).

May 4, 2023:

Apple Podcasts has removed episode numbers from the title of many shows. While they used to show on iOS 16.3, iOS 16.4 no longer shows episode numbers for any show marked as "episodic" (the default). You can still see episode numbers when clicking through from the episode list; here's more information on serial vs episodic.

May 2, 2023:

Apple Podcasts increased its share of all downloads to 37.8% in April, according to Buzzsprout data.

May 1, 2023:

Podcast app Podcast Guru now supports podping - so you'll get realtime notifications when your podcast app has released new shows, within a minute or so (unlike Apple, Spotify or others who can take much longer).

April 26, 2023:

The data says that Apple Podcasts is the #1 app, with Spotify in second place and Deezer at #3.

April 25, 2023:

JAR Audio shares how to measure the ROI of a branded podcast. Highlighting the benefit of time spent listening, the company says "audiences have spent hundreds of hours with Staffbase via the podcast on Apple Podcasts alone".

April 24, 2023:

Spotify is the most popular platform in the country (by reach), with BBC Sounds, YouTube, and then Apple Podcasts also in the top platforms.

April 18, 2023:

Author and activist Cory Doctorow has criticised Spotify, the BBC and Apple for operating walled gardens instead of open podcasting. Speaking on The Changelog, Doctorow criticises Apple for a "deliberate piece of engineering that allows Apple to usurp the relationship between audiences and podcasters".

April 17, 2023:

Chartable is to remove its integration with Apple Podcasts Connect from Jun 1 according to an email to customers. Apple-specific consumption data for your podcasts will no longer be available within Chartable, though Apple's trending charts will continue. Apple Podcasts does not offer a method to programmatically export podcast consumption data to other services.

April 14, 2023:

Want to support Podnews in a really easy way? Get our podcasts ad-free on Apple Podcasts.

April 12, 2023:

Baby Shark do do de doo de doo… Baby Shark do do de doo de doo… Baby Shark do do de doo de doo… Baby Shark has launched exclusive shows on Apple Podcasts. Owners Pinkfong have launched a set of shows in English and Korean; it's the latest in exclusive premium content on Apple's platform, de doo de doo.

April 10, 2023:

Lemonada Media and Apple Books have launched an audio book club. The companies will select audiobooks and foster conversations about them across Lemonada’s podcast network.

April 5, 2023:

Libsyn's latest platform stats numbers seem to mirror Buzzsprout's in seeing a drop for their "Apple Podcasts" numbers (which include AppleCoreMedia), and a year's high for listens on Spotify.

April 4, 2023:

Buzzsprout's statistics for March show a drop in downloads from Apple Podcasts and a growth in listens via Spotify, which had its best figures since Dec 2021. We should see a significant increase in Apple's figures for April, as the new version of iOS rolls out.

March 31, 2023:

Libsyn has mailed its hosting customers announcing Apple Podcasts subscriptions, YouTube stats and an episode tracking tool, as well as stats exports.

March 30, 2023:

Our Editor dresses like this every day to record the Podnews Daily - as spotted by Podnews field reporter Arielle Nissenblatt. You can hear the Podnews Daily on Apple Podcasts, where you can subscribe to an ad-free version.

March 29, 2023:

One of the Apple Podcasts "shows we love", Ursa Short Fiction returns for a new season today, with a star-studded list of writers. The first show in the new season looks at the 20th anniversary of DRINKING COFFEE ELSEWHERE, the acclaimed short story collection by ZZ Packer.

March 28, 2023:

A new version of iOS is rolling out to iPhone and iPad, with additional features.

March 27, 2023:

Podcast history: from Oct 13, 2003 - the rediscovered source code for Adam Curry's iPod AppleScript that was the first tool that would automagically update your iPod with any new mp3's that are downloaded to your "Radio UserLand" enclosures folder (and so, made one of the very first podcast clients when coupled with Dave Winer's Radio Userland).

March 23, 2023:

The team behind Hot Take, a climate podcast cancelled by Crooked Media in December (and deleted by the company from Apple Podcasts), have written a critical post about Crooked's handling of the show.

March 20, 2023:

Apple Podcasts has published details of how it distributes your show to listeners, detailing some users of the Apple Podcasts catalog.

March 17, 2023:

Podcast Studio Ideas is a new website from Justin Jackson, featuring the home (and office) setups of different podcasters. The first profile is on Stephen Robles (who does the AppleInsider, HomeKit, and Movies on the Side podcasts).

March 15, 2023:

Pocket Casts has upgraded its experience for Apple CarPlay.

March 13, 2023:

Data: Exclusive: Who's biggest? Spotify is biggest for total listeners to podcasts, but Apple is biggest for downloads, according to new US data from Podtrac. The company also reveals that Spotify has the lowest number of episode requests per listener, at just three: Apple Podcasts users download more than nine times as many.

March 10, 2023:

Our Editor James Cridland shared the results of the Podnews Report Card at Podcast Movement. We'll have this data in full in Monday's Podnews; but overall, Apple has increased its lead over Spotify as the most favoured podcast platform used by podcast creators. YouTube is eagerly awaited by many publishers; and Google Podcasts saw a disappointing fall in ratings from those in the industry.

March 7, 2023:

Following the release of its first original podcast, UNBOXED, Evangeline Robinson joins Listen as the company's Marketing Manager. She spent the last year at Novel and was at Apple Podcasts before that.

March 6, 2023:

Specialist audio agency Red Apple Creative, and audio post production house SNK Studios, have rebranded to Forever Audio.

February 27, 2023:

Further reading: in Tech Dirt, Mike Masnick writes about "the flop of Spotify's podcast colonization" … James Burtt suggests that new shows perform better in Apple's ranking algorithm … Jordan Harbinger shares at least 18 podcast marketing tips in Podcast Marketing Magic.

February 23, 2023:

Serial appears to have new artwork, and is now a podcast archive of shows from Serial Productions. Serial itself is no longer available on Apple Podcasts except within this 68-episode feed, which also contains a number of other shows. Serial still has its own RSS feed (with its logo) if you know where to look; but that's not listed in podcast apps any more. Curious!

February 22, 2023:

Apple Podcasts is running a number of free virtual sessions for podcasters about the platform. "Classes include What’s New at Apple Podcasts, Setting Up Your Subscription, and Apple Podcasts Marketing Tools and Resources."

February 21, 2023:

Exclusive: Vizzy Studio has added YouTube video as an output to the company's popular podcast enhancement platform. The software also adds visual chapters to shows, that work on many players including Apple Podcasts.

February 20, 2023:

How many requests by an AppleCoreMedia useragent are Apple Podcasts? We've recalculated these figures based on the last 90 days: 63% of all AppleCoreMedia traffic is not from Apple Podcasts.

February 17, 2023:

The next version of iOS and macOS will include a few changes to Apple Podcasts. A list of channels will appear within your library; there are improvements with the Up Next queue; and CarPlay improvements.

February 14, 2023:

Hey live from everywhere at anytime its nothing at all! Trade Secrets is one of the oldest podcasts in the world: episode one was recorded before the name 'podcast' had even been chosen. It also didn't have an image thumbnail - Apple added those the following year. Dave Winer and Adam Curry's show returns to podcast apps today.

February 9, 2023:

Apple TV is promoting MLS Season Pass, allowing you to watch every Major League Soccer match, including the playoffs. The start of a ten year deal with Apple, it's available in more than a hundred countries.

February 7, 2023:

Juleyka Lantigua gives Apple Podcast twitter readers a tour of her home office.

February 6, 2023:

Dan Misener from Bumper, our newest supporter (see below), has added to our data point about trailers. On Friday we said that out of 362,324 podcasts we examined over the last three months, only 14% have an episode marked as a trailer. By comparison, Dan says, 54% of the Apple Podcasts top 200 had trailers, and 50% of the Spotify top 200 did too.

February 3, 2023:

Data: How many podcasts have trailers in their feeds? Podnews looked at 362,324 podcasts feeds in our sample over the last three months: just 50,096 of them (14%) have a trailer marked in their feed. Trailers are given special promotion within many podcast apps, and can be an ideal way to help potential listeners understand what your show is about. Here's some advice from Apple Podcasts and from Pacific Content: your podcast host has a special setting for one.

January 31, 2023:

How do you get featured on Apple Podcasts? Isabeth, who works on Apple Podcasts as an Editor, shows us how to do it.

January 30, 2023:

New episode notifications are compared between Podverse (which uses podping) and Apple Podcasts (which doesn't). Apple was 16 minutes later than Podverse.

January 26, 2023:

Pinecast founder Matt Basta writes a piece accusing Apple Podcasts of "trapping" creators, based on one podcaster who apparently used Apple Podcasts as a hosting platform.

January 25, 2023:

Rephonic has launched a free tool to embed podcast reviews on your website. The tool pulls reviews from a number of platforms including Apple Podcasts, Castbox and Podchaser. Get started here (and enjoy the example).

January 24, 2023:

New podcast app Fountain and payment provider Zebedee have announced a partnership to enable pay-per-minute streaming for podcasts. Podcasters can earn money as listeners pay what they want to listen to shows. You can top up using Apple Pay, Google Pay, or a credit card (and support Podnews Daily that way).

January 23, 2023:

A "high performance" port of OpenAI's Whisper speech recognition tool for Apple silicon. Also runs on iOS.

January 19, 2023:

Children's radio station and podcast network Fun Kids has launched a 33-title podcast subscription service. It works in both Apple Podcasts and other platforms including Spotify and Google Podcasts.

January 18, 2023:

In April 2018, Google started showing individual podcast episodes and play buttons in Google Search, which opened a Google Podcasts branded player. Now, a Google search for a podcast no longer shows any play buttons linking to the service, or any links to Google Podcasts itself. A search for "history podcasts" lists a number of shows, but links to reviews, Apple Podcasts pages and other platforms.

January 17, 2023:

Total downloads are one thing, but what podcast categories are listened-to longest? Apple Podcasts data supplied to Podnews tells us the top five categories with the longest overall global listen time, are: (1) Society and Culture, (2) Comedy, (3) News, (4) True Crime, and (5) Health and Fitness. That data is for December, but is much the same for the last half of the year, with Health and Fitness occasionally making it to #4.

January 16, 2023:

Spotify reckons it now has 5,523,475 podcasts, according to an app notification on Jan 13; the Podcast Index is on 4,113,645; and Apple is on 2,528,530 suggests Podcast Industry Insights.

January 13, 2023:

46% of podcast listeners say they prefer listening to podcasts with video, according to a Morning Consult survey. Among the reasons why: "to see facial expressions and reactions from the hosts and guests", and "to better focus on the podcast". The same survey unsurprisingly puts YouTube as the most preferred podcast platform among podcast listeners; Spotify, Apple Podcasts and then Pandora.

January 11, 2023:

The Sting is new from Podshape, and follows the story of an undercover detective who infiltrated the Australian Mafia for 37 months. The show is available now via Apple Podcasts Subscriptions, and will be available to all from Jan 30.

January 10, 2023:

Later today, Apple Podcasts will announce the launch of Delegated Delivery (beta), allowing creators to publish Apple Podcasts Subscriptions content directly from their participating hosting provider dashboard. Blubrry, Libsyn, Triton Digital's Omny Studio and RSS·com are the first to offer the service: Acast, ART19, Buzzsprout and other providers will follow. Creators can still upload subscriber audio directly to Apple Podcasts Connect.

January 9, 2023:

LeVar bad news: in an end of the role of humans to do your reading-into-a-microphone jobs? Apple Books has launched a "digital narration" service to turn your ebook into an audiobook. Who needs LeVar Burton anyway?

January 6, 2023:

Apple Podcasts talks to Daniel Alarcón about how Radio Ambulante was created in 2012.

January 5, 2023:

Operation: Tradebom is a new show from Apple TV+ on the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. Narrated by Marc Smerling, it's produced by Truth Media in partnership with Brillstein Entertainment Partners, and is hosted on Amazon's ART19.

January 3, 2023:

Transcript services compared Insider claims podcast listening's growth is slowing; and what Apple knows about me

January 2, 2023:

You can remove ads in the Podnews Daily podcast by subscribing in Apple Podcasts.

December 30, 2022:

Exclusive: 911 Podcasts is to move into unscripted audio series. The new podcast Unscripted with Adam Murciano will dive into the careers of the actors who have performed on the company's podcasts, and learn what it takes to make it as a voice actor. It launches on Monday, with early access on the company's Apple Podcasts channel.

December 29, 2022:

While neither Apple or Spotify support the new podcast:transcript tag yet, transcripts are supported on websites and in some new podcast apps: so Dan Barnett has evaluated about 15 different tools so far. He wrote about the first few on his website, including Microsoft Word and OtterAI. "Would be great to know if anyone is interested in these kind of comparisons to convince me to keep going and speed it up!" he tells us. We're interested.

December 26, 2022:

If your New Year's Resolution is to support independent journalism, you could subscribe to our ad-free podcast feed in Apple Podcasts. It'll give you our daily and weekly podcast ad-free, and a warm feeling inside knowing that 30% of the money goes to Tim Apple 70% of the money helps support this newsletter.

December 22, 2022:

Livewire reports that Libsyn's podcast consumption stats are now using IAB-compliant numbers. Those figures had been their own legacy numbers until September. The company appears to include all AppleCoreMedia downloads under Apple Podcasts data, and claims Apple has 69.5% of all downloads, Spotify 13.7%, and Google Podcasts at 2.2%.

December 21, 2022:

First look: The Program has published its annual report, looking at where the fiction podcast grew and earnt money. Apple Podcasts Subscriptions were the second biggest revenue source, in spite of a relatively low price ($4/month). The producer also covers their experience with Libsyn's AdvertiseCast and Rusty Quill; and what happened when they started posting shows on YouTube.

December 20, 2022:

Season two of The Midnight Miracle has just started. The show is hosted by Dave Chappelle, yasiin bey, and Talib Kwei. The first episode – “A Magnificent Day for an Exorcism”– is available now on the Luminary channel on Apple Podcasts and on Luminary.

December 19, 2022:

In Belgium, a Flemish-language podcast platform called Podgrond is being formed by media companies Mediahuis, DPG Media, SBS Belgium and the public broadcaster VRT, as a push-back against US tech companies. It's being given €1.4m ($1.5m) from the Flemish government. De Tijd suggests that "The problem is that the vast majority of podcast consumption comes from two international players - Apple and Spotify - with Flemish producers having little control over how their work is marketed and valued."

December 16, 2022:

The Meteor, Spotify, HBO, Apple, VOX, The Daily, Crimetown, The New York Times, Pivot, California Love and Dustlight, to name a few. Help them continue celebrating the most innovative, creative, and transformative work that shapes the online zeitgeist.

December 15, 2022:

Exclusive: News and True Crime were the big shows in Apple Podcasts this year, according to Podnews analysis of the Apple Podcasts "Top Shows" of 2022. We also list the Top Shows from 21 different countries. Acast hosts the most amount of shows, which were algorithmically compiled for 2022 using a mix of new follows, playback activity and completion rate. The Daily, Casefile and Serial got into the top shows in five countries.

December 14, 2022:

A small but important UX change in Apple Podcasts comes with the release of iOS 16.2 and iPadOS 16.2 this week: the "+" button is now clearly marked "+ Follow".

December 13, 2022:

Pocket Casts appears to have slowly rickrolled us in the Apple App Store. BOOO!

December 12, 2022:

Callum Clark is the new Head of Podcasts, UK & Ireland at Apple. He joins from Sony Music Entertainment and Global.

December 9, 2022:

The Apple Podcasts Social Post Generator has been updated to support more than just English: the tool now deals with thirteen new languages and regions.

December 8, 2022:

In further evidence that we live in unprecedented times, where nothing that we thought we knew remains constant, Podbean's Rob Greenlee is now running an Apple Mac. The impromptu appearance of the device caused The New Media Show co-host Todd Cochrane to temporarily lose all power of speech, before exclaiming: "Are you kidding me? Wow". Greenlee added "I can truly be ambidextrous: Windows on this hand, Mac on this hand".

December 7, 2022:

Claus Thune has joined Podimo as Global Director of Programming. Thune worked for nearly ten years for iTunes and Apple Music, and joins from Epidemic Sound: he'd also worked at Carlsberg.

December 5, 2022:

Buzzsprout has posted its network statistics for November. The only regularly released IAB-compliant numbers, the numbers show a slight drop for Apple Podcasts (now 38.2% of all downloads), and a smaller rise for Spotify (up to 26.6%). Google Podcasts is the third largest podcast app, with 2.7% of all downloads.

December 2, 2022:

In the Podnews Weekly Review this week, Dan Misener talks about the topics that appeared hidden in Apple Podcasts and what he's done with them; and Australian podcaster Trevor Bell questions our excitement about micropayments with satoshis.

December 1, 2022:

Apple Podcasts is beginning to release "Shows We Loved 2022" in various regions, which includes the "top followed" and "top new" shows. You'll see the full list in the Apple Podcasts app in each region: we hope to be able to carry a full set of lists next week. In the meantime, here's the full list from Australia.

November 30, 2022:

Apple Podcasts announced the winner of the 2022 Apple Podcasts Award: the Slate podcast Slow Burn: Rowe v. Wade was selected by the Apple Podcasts editorial team in the US.

November 28, 2022:

**** Build/` (an identifier of the Samsung Mobile model being used). Dalvik is standard code used within Android - much like AppleCoreMedia has been for Apple.

November 21, 2022:

In Australia, Rupert Murdoch's News Corp has placed its true-crime podcasts in a new "early, exclusive and ad-free" paid subscription on Apple Podcasts.

November 18, 2022:

Dan Misener at Bumper has looked at the new topics that Apple Podcasts is automatically allocating to shows (see our coverage on Nov 15, including our topics viewer). He's produced a number of network maps, designed to show links between different shows; and produced episode topic maps for every category in Apple Podcasts.

November 16, 2022:

The service only works for shows hosted with Anchor, for playback within Spotify. Open video podcasts using RSS work across many other platforms including Apple Podcasts; Podnews analysis of the Podcast Index suggests there are now 53,952 video podcast shows on RSS, up 38% year-on-year.

November 15, 2022:

Bumper's Dan Misener has discovered that Apple Podcasts is quietly tagging individual podcast episodes by topic. The topics are used to help Apple's search engine; and are linked to Wikipedia pages and Wikidata identifiers.

November 11, 2022:

In Little America: The Official Podcast, Goran Velijic: a man who will get you married in 60 seconds. It's an Apple Original podcast, produced with Vox Media.

November 10, 2022:

The UK's Crowd Network has launched a new Crowd Sports division, with a dedicated Apple channel.

November 8, 2022:

Vizzy, a web-based podcast enrichment platform, is looking for early adopters to use its tool. Images, chapters and links can be added to podcasts, and are viewable using Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Podcast Addict and others.

November 7, 2022:

Will Pocket Casts beat Apple Podcasts in adding a correct useragent for all podcast requests? Now it's open source, John Spurlock submitted a pull request adding the correct useragent code, which has been accepted and will be in Pocket Casts later this month. Disappointingly, Apple Podcasts itself has yet to implement the company's own code, introduced for iOS 16.

November 4, 2022:

In the new Apple Original podcast Little America: The Official Podcast which dropped the first three episodes today, you'll follow real-life stories of the immigrant experience in America. Hosted by actor Kumail Nanjiani, each episode features a different unique story as told to a different journalist.

November 1, 2022:

Castos has built Dynamo, a free tool to help you create podcast cover art. Images are compatible with Apple's requirements.

October 31, 2022:

Following a growing issue with spam email to podcasters, and after Apple said they no longer needed emails in feeds, Buzzsprout has become the first major podcast host to remove email addresses from RSS feeds. (They'll give the ability to add them back in temporarily to help claim shows).

October 28, 2022:

Apple has published a set of insights about paid subscriptions on Apple Podcasts. One-third of all new subscription sign-ups are for annual plans, the company says, and if you're making a serialised show, subscribers are 20% more likely to finish it.

October 26, 2022:

Spotify has reported its Q3/22 earnings. It has 456m monthly active users (up 20% y-on-y). Ad revenue, led by podcasting, is up 19% y-on-y and 7% q-on-q, at €385m (12.8% of the company's total revenue). The company lost €228m in the quarter; they predict a loss of €300m in Q4 (but suggest they may also raise their prices, following Apple's price hike).

October 25, 2022:

iOS 16.1 and iPadOS 16.1 was released. On the iPad, Apple Podcasts has been redesigned with a new sidebar. Disappointingly, it's still not using the new useragent functionality. Apple, which has made $167B in profit for the last twelve months, is also raising prices for TV+, Music and Apple One.

October 13, 2022:

Podcaster Alex Jones has been told to pay $964.2m in damages after repeatedly telling harmful lies. Alex Jones's show Infowars was removed from Apple, Spotify, YouTube and Facebook in 2018 for promoting violence and hate speech, though is still available via RSS. He's indicated he'll appeal; his company has filed for bankruptcy.

October 10, 2022:

The Podcast Index now has a "only search shows in Apple" parameter.

October 7, 2022:

A hospital has been flooded with tens of thousands of angry phone calls, after a Spreaker podcaster told his listeners to call the healthcare facility and doxxed some individual workers - the calls blocked other communication about patient care. It's one of a number of podcasts that the Tech Transparency Project allege, incorrectly, that "Apple is hosting". (The podcast is also listed, but blocked from recommendation, on Google Podcasts).

October 5, 2022:

Meanwhile, at Pineapple Street Studios, another Audacy-owned podcast company, more than three-quarters of staff have signed up to join the WGAE union.

October 4, 2022:

Apple Podcasts is still in the lead in Australia, according to new data from the Australian Podcast Ranker, revealed at Podcast Day 24. Apple accounts for 46% of all downloads for shows in the ranker, according to the data; Spotify for 19%. The data covers over 750 million downloads for the year ending June 2022.

October 3, 2022:

In the UK, October's Pod Bible magazine was released inside some copies of The Sunday Times, and is available to read online. It features interviews with cover star Brett Goldstein from Films To Be Buried With and Jolyon Rubenstein from The New Conspiracist. There’s also Helen Bauer picking her top 5 shows, and regular columns from Acast, Audible, Stak and Apple Podcasts. We like page 27.

September 30, 2022:

After Podtrac told us that purchased podcast plays in game apps were "consistent with IAB guidelines", the IAB's Eric John has told Bloomberg that "the standards are in a continual state of review". The practice has been widely criticised elsewhere.

September 27, 2022:

The Devil Within, a true crime podcast from Cavalry Audio, launches its second season today on Wondery+. A story from the North of England, it focuses on a church ordered exorcism that goes horribly wrong.

September 26, 2022:

Audacity v3.2 is now out, adding realtime effects, VST3 support, and support for Apple silicon.

September 23, 2022:

Wonder Media Network announced its new subscription service through Apple Podcasts. When you sign up for WMN Politics+, you’ll get bonus content from shows like Majority 54 and early access to new podcasts like Teaching Texas, as well as ad-free shows.

September 19, 2022:

RSS 2.0 celebrated its 20th anniversary yesterday. It was the first version of RSS to include namespaces, which allow for extensions of the format; major namespaces in use today include those from Apple and the new podcast namespace.

September 15, 2022:

Podcast information tool Podkite has released a number of updates, including a dashboard to access Apple and Spotify ratings; an improved chart rankings panel, and integrated prefix tools. The company claims the fastest prefix redirect in the industry.

September 14, 2022:

Got an Apple iPod Touch to be able to test how podcasts look on an iOS device? It's been discontinued, and the device won't get the iOS 16 upgrade.

September 9, 2022:

iOS 16 will be released on Monday. The new OS release for iPhone includes a number of updates to Apple Podcasts. Developers can submit their apps with support for iOS 16 features today, like the new support for a useragent in AppleCoreMedia.

September 8, 2022:

Podcasts hosted on SoundCloud have, for the past week, not been appearing on Apple Podcasts and Google Podcasts. Multiple podcasters have reported the issue but we understand it doesn't appear to be fixed.

September 7, 2022:

What does the podcast industry look like in Japan? Otonal, a Japanese adtech company, published this study of Japanese podcast listening earlier this year. Spotify is the most-used platform; Apple Podcasts at #2, and Amazon Music at #3.

September 5, 2022:

The Daily Mail, a UK newspaper, suggests that Spotify's podcast chart may be being manipulated to keep Meghan Markle's podcast at #1. The newspaper compares Spotify's "top podcasts" list - which, like Apple, includes recent listener activity as a score - and their "top episodes" list, which doesn't. We have more information on podcast stats, and how the Spotify charts actually work.

September 2, 2022:

The Apple HomePod mini is, apparently, the world's best-selling smart speaker, beating similar products from Amazon and Google. Look at the whole smart speaker range, though, and Amazon remains ahead with 28.2% of the market; Google at 17.2%.

August 29, 2022:

One of the biggest podcasts in the US and Canada, Dateline NBC, is to launch a new premium subscription on Apple Podcasts with exclusive content for true-crime fans. Premium listeners will get shows before anyone else, as well as ad-free content. Dateline's 31st season premieres on NBC Friday Sep 16.

August 24, 2022:

If you're heading to Podcast Movement, Apple Podcasts want to help you get the most out of your Apple Podcasts Connect account. You can sign up for one of their 1:1 sessions.

August 23, 2022:

Apple Podcasts has announced a number of changes to the platform's RSS feed requirements "in 2023". The big technical change: no more email addresses in RSS feeds: a welcome change which will dramatically reduce the amount of spam sent to podcasters. (Other technical changes include support of ETAG and Last-Modified, which will dramatically reduce the amount of bandwidth used for RSS feed checking).

August 19, 2022:

To promote its paid subscriptions, Apple Podcasts has launched two new 'charts'. One displays the "top subscriber shows", and the other "top subscriber channels". Both charts are visible only in the UK, US, Canada and Australia. For interest, here's Australia's top subscriber channels and shows.

August 17, 2022:

Adverts may be coming to the Apple Podcasts app, according to an interview with Todd Teresi, Apple's advertising VP.

August 16, 2022:

The person behind Darknet Diaries, Jack Rhysider, has been interviewed by Apple Podcasts. He now has 2,200 paid subscribers, earning almost $11,000 a month.

August 15, 2022:

"Ratings for Chris Cuomo's podcast sinking fast", claims the New York Post. Their source: the Apple Podcast Charts. But, as we've explained before, Apple's so-called "podcast charts" are nothing of the sort: engineered to show trending shows, and wholly unrelated to downloads or long-term popularity.

August 11, 2022:

Apple TV+ has signed a deal with Futuro Media to make original podcasts.

August 9, 2022:

Apple Podcasts has updated its Social Post Generator to help you showcase your podcast, channel, or if you've made the charts, on its platform. Here's a link to the tool.

August 8, 2022:

How many downloads gets you into the Apple Podcasts charts? Tanner Campbell managed to get into the top 100 in the US Books category last Friday with just 10 listens and 24 followers. He writes more on Twitter; and will report back after a month with more detail about what he's learnt about the Apple Podcast charts - and the importance of choosing an appropriate category.

August 4, 2022:

Exclusive: One of the biggest podcasts in the world will be making it to Radiodays Asia in Kuala Lumpur in early September. Presenter Jackie Leonard, and Karen Martin, the Editor of the Global News Podcast from the BBC World Service, will be speaking in a two-day conference which will also include podcasters from across the world. The Global News Podcast was quoted as achieving 12m downloads a month in 2019. SquadCast's Arielle Nissenblatt and Podnews's James Cridland will also be speaking. You can buy tickets here.

August 1, 2022:

iOS 16 has published its second public beta. As we get closer, a reminder that iOS 16 brings with it the ability to set a correct user-agent for your iOS podcast app, removing "Apple Core Media". We see a number of podcast apps, including Pocket Casts, Playapod, Castro and Podbean's app, gaining from this new API.

July 29, 2022:

No Such Thing As A Fish, one of the biggest podcasts in the UK, has launched an ad-free subscription with Apple Podcasts, offering two bonus monthly episodes. Here's where to get it.

July 25, 2022:

The July 19 dump of data from The Podcast Index now includes descriptions and categories. 369,000 shows have no description at all; most podcasts have about 22 characters; and only 44,000 have descriptions of more than a thousand characters. Apple doesn't search your podcast description field; but Spotify, Overcast, Google and most others do; so we'd recommend putting more in there if you want your podcast found.

July 21, 2022:

Australian radio broadcasters Hamish and Andy have made their entire 12 year radio show archive available on Apple Podcasts. The archive, featuring 1,800 episodes from 2006 to 2017, is now available as an Apple Podcasts subscription for AUD$2.99 a month (US $2).

July 14, 2022:

Our Editor, James Cridland, wonders if the concept isn't just laziness on his personal blog, pointing to Apple's regular work extending the podcast RSS standard to add new features.

July 8, 2022:

NPR has expanded their Planet Money+ subscription channel. It now includes three sponsor-free shows, and bonus episodes. You can also subscribe here.

July 7, 2022:

Apple is promoting French creative talent across its services this July, in a feature called Vives Voix. There's also a podcast that helps put a spotlight on diversity and creativity in France. The podcast "is available free on Apple Podcasts", but appears to be unavailable on RSS.

July 6, 2022:

Buzzsprout's data for June shows a small drop for consumption share via Apple Podcasts: down from 40.7% to 39.4%. Spotify has increased by a percentage point to 26.4%.

July 5, 2022:

Why has there suddenly been a huge rise in shark attacks on a remote island in the Indian Ocean? Réunion: Shark Attacks in Paradise looks at the issues that could have led to the increase: it's new today from Hyperobject Industries and Sony Music Entertainment, and available in full in The Binge.

June 28, 2022:

The number of open video podcasts are on the rise. In November last year, Podcast Index listed 39,194 video podcasts. As of June this year, Podnews can reveal the number had grown by over a quarter to 50,863. We measured these by looking for enclosure files with the extension mov, mp4 or m4v, the three filetypes Apple Podcasts supports. Apple has recently put video podcasts in the spotlight again; Spotify launched its own proprietary video podcasts tool in April (which we can't measure).

June 27, 2022:

Project Unabom is the newest podcast from Apple TV+, and goes live today. Hosted by journalist Eric Benson and produced by Audacy's Pineapple Street Studios, the podcast explores the story of serial bomber Ted Kaczynski and what drove him to his dystopian vision.

June 24, 2022:

A little tweak to the Apple Podcasts page about video podcasts: "Apple Podcasts supports up to 4K video but 1080p is recommended to provide a high-quality viewing experience without requiring significant device storage or data."

June 22, 2022:

For podcasters, Fountain has made it easy to collect Bitcoin support for your show: download the app (on iOS or Android) and claim your show.

June 16, 2022:

Video podcasts? Sure, Apple Podcasts supports those, via open RSS. Apple has added an article with details about what the platform supports.

June 15, 2022:

Breaking: Apple Podcasts has published details of how search in its app works. The post, new today, includes clarification that ratings and reviews aren't factored into search results; and that the search function searches the show name, channel name, and episode title.

June 13, 2022:

The new version of watchOS 9 will let you search for podcasts directly on your Apple watch.

June 10, 2022:

The Apple Store on the Champs Élysées in Paris has announced a number of sessions on podcast creation. They're free; you'll need to register.

June 7, 2022:

Better data is coming to every podcaster. As we've documented in the past, many different apps use a useragent called AppleCoreMedia to request podcasts, making it hard for podcasters, and podcast hosting companies, to know which app is really downloading them. iOS 16 will fix that: AVURLAssetHTTPUserAgentKey has just appeared in Apple's documentation for the next version of iOS, allowing all podcast apps to correctly state their user agent. Developers can adopt this today; there will be a public beta in July; and this will roll out for everyone in Q3. Expect us to grumpily highlight apps who don't bother with it.

June 6, 2022:

Later today, Sony Music Entertainment will announce two new shows for The Binge subscription channel - Witnessed: Friendly Fire and Fringe Network: Alien State. All episodes of both shows, ad-free, have been added to the channel.

June 3, 2022:

Congratulations to the Sit With Us podcast, which is the #1 podcast in Australia on Spotify, and the #3 in Apple Podcasts. Produced by Pro Podcast Production, it shows that a great trailer is all you need, quite literally - because that's all there is. More than a million followers on social, for the reality TV stars who host it, also helps.

June 2, 2022:

Oldest Podcast Guest Corner: In this hitherto light-hearted feature this week we have arrived at a 105 year-old guest who we thought might be the oldest podcast guest. A producer for Radiotopia's Radio Diaries has been in touch, pointing out that the show recorded 107 year-old Joe Newman in 2020. In an email entitled "Fact Check", we were told our feature was "inaccurate" and a correction was demanded. Here it is, oh bringer of dark clouds and extinguisher of sunlight and fun.

May 25, 2022:

Also at The Podcast Show, Sony Music Entertainment announced that Kermode and Mayo's Take had become the most popular Apple Podcasts Subscription in the UK; and the company has just announced The Binge, a new podcast subscription channel with full seasons of shows, to launch June 6.

May 23, 2022:

Exclusive: Podcasts promoting call girls are appearing within Spotify, as free plans from podcast hosting companies flood platforms with advertising for sex workers. We've a list of more than five hundred shows, many still live. RSS.com has implemented an automated process to combat these podcasts; however, shows are still on many other hosting companies. Apple Podcasts, which operates an approval process for new podcasts, is not showing these podcast titles. Spotify did not respond to our request for comment.

May 20, 2022:

YouTube is now the most popular podcast app in the US, according to new data from Signal Hill Insights. The data suggests that listeners prefer podcasts with video. The question was "Which of the following places do you use the most to access the podcasts you listen to"; YouTube got 24.2%, Spotify 23.8%, and Apple Podcasts got 16% (despite being unavailable on Android).

May 17, 2022:

Selling paid subscriptions through Apple Podcasts? Until now, you've had to upload that audio separately to Apple; but Apple Podcasts Delegated Delivery was announced yesterday, allowing creators to upload and manage that audio through selected podcast hosting companies when this feature launches in Q3.

May 16, 2022:

The Podcast Index is also working on a failover iTunes endpoint - useful for quick and instant failover for the Apple iTunes API that many use for a podcast directory.

May 13, 2022:

Podfest Africa and Baraza Media Lab have released their report on African podcasting. An 83-page document, it notes that most listeners stream rather than download, and that there are big differences in African nations between use of mobile data and wifi. Spotify is most-used by 35%; Apple by 18%; and Google Podcasts, interestingly, 15%.

May 11, 2022:

Are podcasts getting worse? Rephonic reports that average ratings were highest for podcasts in 2016, and those star ratings have slowly been decreasing ever since, according to data the company analysed from Apple Podcasts.

May 10, 2022:

Spotify has published its Swedish Podcast Report 2022. 54% of Swedish people from 18-79 listen to podcasts regularly; 60% say they listen on Spotify; SR Play is #2, and Apple Podcasts is #3.

May 9, 2022:

Get a sneak peek at Yasmeen Khan's recording studio for her show, Childproof.

May 6, 2022:

In Podland News this week, Steve Jones from Crowd Network explains how the podcast publisher gets new listeners for its shows - and discusses its differing relationship with Apple and Spotify.

May 4, 2022:

In early April, the Apple Podcasts top ten in Ukraine was entirely full of Ukrainian podcasts for the first time. Олексій Кушнір from the iZONE Media podcast studio writes about the changes in consumption in the country.

May 3, 2022:

Apple Podcasts gained download share last month, according to the world's second-largest podcast host. Buzzsprout reports at least 38.7% of shows were downloaded last month using Apple Podcasts - a growth of 1.3%; 26.4% downloaded using Spotify, a drop of 0.4%. The company's public figures don't include downloads from an AppleCoreMedia useragent, so underestimate Apple's total usage.

April 29, 2022:

Want more people to know about your podcast? Pocket Casts sends out a regular newsletter to podcast creators, highlighting how to get featured in the popular podcast app. Here's the latest edition, and here's where to sign up for it. The company was bought by Automattic last year, and say they are "working on a rather large update at the moment".

April 28, 2022:

Are you selling access to your show? The free ride for Spotify’s paid podcast subscription service is coming to an end. In Spotify’s earnings call yesterday, Daniel Ek said that from 2023, the company will take a 5% cut (plus payment costs). Apple Podcasts takes 30% (including them).

April 27, 2022:

Coming soon, Apple Podcasts paid subscribers will be able to buy a year's subscription up front. If you're a creator monetising through Apple Podcasts, you can add an annual plan now.

April 26, 2022:

Apple has launched three new Apple Podcast Collections, for listeners to discover new and popular podcasts covering true-crime ("Darkside"), culture ("tbh") and entertainment ("Popped"). The collections, which will be updated weekly, are available for listeners in the US and Canada only, from Browse and Search in the app.

April 25, 2022:

Thank you to Audacy for helping Podcorn, Pineapple Street Studios and Cadence13 return as Gold supporters. We're grateful for your support.

April 22, 2022:

Apple's Safari doesn't, yet, support .webm format video files. On this platform it plays a number of MPEG2 .ts segments, which are presumably larger filesizes.

April 21, 2022:

Spotify is the clear leader for "apps and websites used to listen to podcasts" - in terms of people, with 41% of respondents claiming to use it. BBC Sounds and YouTube are #2 and #3, with Apple Podcasts at #4 with 23%.

April 20, 2022:

The Invisible Seam was launched today by Tommy Hilfiger, and focuses on the overlooked contributions of Black culture and communities to expand the narrative around the history of American fashion. The series has been developed through Tommy Hilfiger’s People’s Place Program in partnership with The Fashion and Race Database and Audacy’s Pineapple Street Studios.

April 19, 2022:

Will podcast content be regulated? The Brookings Institution has written a document that highlights current platform policies, describes how Spotify and Apple allow listeners to report shows, and suggests areas that policy-makers might focus on.

April 18, 2022:

Downloads from an "AppleCoreMedia" useragent aren't just from Apple Podcasts: but what are they from? Our podcast download stats page now identifies exactly where those downloads are coming from every day.

April 14, 2022:

The 47th Annual Gracie Awards were announced. Podcast winners include Pineapple Street Studios' Because of Anita; Lemonada Media's Believe Her, Brooke Siffrinn and Aricia Skidmore-Williams, co-hosts for Wondery's Even The Rich; Clarissa Ward, host for CNN's Tug of War; Lemonada Media's In Giro Con Fra; Spotify's Jemele Hill is Unbothered; Meredith Goldstein, host of the Boston Globe's Love Letters; Suzy Liu, producer of ABC News's The Dropout; Wondery and The Athletic's The Lead; Rococo Punch's The Turning: The Sisters Who Left; and Cadence13's We Can Do Hard Things with Glennon Doyle.

April 13, 2022:

Podcasting is growing in China, says CGTN, a Chinese government website. "Over 36,000 podcasts have been either downloaded or streamed across China", says the website (which seems… low). Lizhi, one of the main podcast platforms in the country, was interviewed in Podland News in January.

April 12, 2022:

An Anchor podcast called Soldier of Misfortune has been accused of being a shameless rip-off by Brendan I Koerner, a journalist for The Atlantic who wrote the story. His piece took him nine years to report, he says, and he accuses the podcaster, Jesse Rapaport, of knowingly stealing his work, and even pronouncing the name of the main character wrong throughout. "Perhaps we can start a frank discussion about what constitutes fair use for podcasters?" Koerner asks. We've approached Rapaport for comment; plagiarism has unfortunately been a recurring theme for many years.

April 11, 2022:

Buzzsprout reports that Apple Podcasts had 37.4%, and Spotify 26.8%, of all downloads in March. These numbers are IAB certified, and generic AppleCoreMedia traffic is not reported under Apple's numbers.

April 5, 2022:

The hosts of one of the UK's biggest podcasts, Mark Kermode and Simon Mayo are to take their film review podcast to Sony Music Entertainment. The new show, Kermode and Mayo’s Take, launches in early May. There'll also be an additional, paid, show on Apple Podcasts.

April 1, 2022:

Alban Brooke retells a story he'd heard at Podcast Movement last week about automated advertising for podcasts. Attributed to NPR (who deny they've ever done this), the system would turn on Facebook marketing when shows dip out of the Apple Podcasts charts: and turn it off when shows re-enter. Sounds a clever idea.

March 31, 2022:

Brian Swarth is now SVP of Subscriber Engagement and Product Marketing at cable broadcaster AMC Networks. He was Head of Marketing for Audacy's Cadence13 and Pineapple Street Studios.

March 29, 2022:

Apple Podcast Connect has a new terms of service document. Comparing the old and the new, we notice new clauses about the "right to label or remove" your shows (¶1); a new clause about confidentiality (¶4); and a new license clause (¶8). It may allow Apple in future to label shows (as Spotify are doing for COVID-19), and promote guests on your show.

March 28, 2022:

Amazon Music and Wondery have closed a deal with Audacy's Pineapple Street Studios. The podcast production company will produce at least four new shows. It comes hot on the heels of 9/12 winning three awards, including Podcast of the Year, at The Ambies.

March 25, 2022:

The results of the Podnews Report Card were announced at Podcast Movement Evolution by our Editor, James Cridland. Selections from the 750 comments captured are on the Podnews website. Apple and Spotify received roughly equal votes overall, but very different responses.

March 23, 2022:

The Ambies, the awards from The Podcast Academy that celebrate excellence in podcasting, took place last night. The winners are here: 9/12, from Amazon Music, Pineapple Studios and Wondery was the podcast of the year; the podcast's host Dan Taberski accepted the award in the award ceremony in Los Angeles CA, USA.

March 22, 2022:

Breaking: Apple Podcasts will add follower numbers to Apple Podcasts Connect, starting next month. You'll be able to view followers per show and easily measure followers across shows. Additionally, Apple Podcasts Connect will accept MP3 files for subscriber audio, and allow podcast publishers to customise subscriber banners.

March 21, 2022:

Potentially good news for some podcasters doing remote interviews, Apple's latest Bluetooth headphones now support a new AAC-ELD codec, which has the potential to significantly improve the quality of bidirectional speech.

March 17, 2022:

Podcast network Noiser has hit 6 million monthly listens, the company says. Last week they launched a paid channel on Apple Podcasts, called Noiser+.

March 15, 2022:

Apple has released an update to Apple Podcasts as part of iOS 15.4, iPadOS 15.4 and macOS 12.3, which were all released today. Listeners can now browse by season on show pages, and you can now filter episodes - played, unplayed, downloaded, or saved - from show pages too.

March 14, 2022:

YouTube has removed an episode of the Nelk Boys podcast with former President Donald Trump, after Trump broke YouTube's election integrity policy by falsely claiming the US election was changed by widespread fraud. The podcast is still on Spotify and Apple.

March 11, 2022:

RadioPublic, which was also sending out Acast promotional spam, has had its privacy page quietly restored again, after we reported it was missing. However, it dates from 2016, is authored by Jake Shapiro (who left RadioPublic to join Apple two years ago), and claims "If we merge with another company such that your information will become subject to a different privacy policy, we’ll notify you before the transfer. You can opt out of the new policy by deleting your account during the notice period". The last email from RadioPublic to its users was a full year before Acast bought RadioPublic's assets a year ago; we've asked Acast for details about how the promised notification happened.

March 9, 2022:

Amazon has released Amp, a "live radio app" seen as their version of Clubhouse or TwitterSpaces. It's available in the US for iOS users only in a waitlist; it'll enable you to DJ your own music show (with "tens of millions of licensed songs" they say), and you can take callers, too. Amp's website is live, and you can download the app to join the waitlist (although we're told one code that works is twitter but we suspect it won't work for long). You don't have to use music; you could use the tool for a Clubhouse-like experience too; the app will alert your followers to upcoming shows. Guy Raz is doing a show for it; so is Nicki Minaj.

March 8, 2022:

Triton Digital has published data for women's podcast listening - fiction is the top genre for females aged 18-24, and Crime Junkie is the most listened-to podcast for women of all ages. The company also says that women are more likely to use Apple and direct websites to listen. (Need a decent embedded player?)

March 4, 2022:

How many podcasts use chapters? About 1.22% of all episodes, says new data from John Spurlock's Livewire. ID3 tags within MP3 are the most popular method. Here is advice from Apple Podcasts; the newly launched The Refresh from Insider uses them.

March 3, 2022:

Greg Herman is the new Managing Editor of Apple Podcasts. He will lead curation for Apple's editorial team covering the US and Canada, based out of Culver City, CA. He joins from Spotify (and CBS Radio).

March 2, 2022:

Are indie podcast apps gaining ground? Buzzsprout report Apple had 35.7% of all downloads in February (down from 37.2%); Spotify 27.9% (also down from 28%). Google Podcasts has grown to 2.5%; Amazon Music has grown to 0.8%; and Facebook is up slightly to 0.5%. In their official podcast, Buzzsprout also mentions "a big update soon".

March 1, 2022:

A new podcast platform, Spooler, has launched. It's founded by a who's who of podcasting, including CEO James O. Boggs, formerly Head of Podcasts at Apple; CCO Andy Bowers, co-founder of Slate Audio and Megaphone; CTO Dan Benjamin, founder of Fireside·fm and the 5by5 podcast network, and Exec Producer Kerry Donahue, former EP at WNYC. The product claims to be a new modular content management system for audio, allowing instant edits and re-ordering of content while being compatible with RSS podcast apps. The tech also incorporates Dolby·io to smooth audio volumes and apply noise reduction. Axios has more information.

February 28, 2022:

HBO has announced HBO Docs Club, a deep dive into a wide variety of titles from HBO Documentary Films, past and present. Produced by Audacy's Pineapple Street Studios and HBO Max, it'll be hosted by Brittany Luse and Ronald Young Jr, and launches in March.

February 23, 2022:

Finally, a new podcast by Google has launched (see below). Google's press release says it's "available on Apple, Spotify and all major podcast platforms." The first episode looks at team culture: imagine the team culture at Google Podcasts after even Google has forgotten it exists.

February 21, 2022:

Thank you to more than 600 new subscribers in February so far; including from people at Ausha, Netflix, Amazon, Claritas, Sybel, Apple, APM and Hessischer Rundfunk. If you're finding us useful, please tell your colleagues to subscribe too!

February 17, 2022:

Apple has just published a guide to getting promotion for your podcast from Apple Podcasts. It includes tips to get promoted by the platform, timing advice, and more.

February 16, 2022:

New controls are coming to the Apple Podcasts app. According to users with the iOS 15.4 beta, you can filter episodes based on played, unplayed, downloaded or saved. You can also now browse by season. As with any features in beta, they might disappear before release.

February 14, 2022:

Apple has added Pinecast, Podigee, RedCircle and RSS·com to its podcast hosting providers page. If you're a hosting provider not listed, you should contact Apple here.

February 11, 2022:

Want to do a podcast with not much competition? Avoid a podcast in English, Indonesian or Swedish, says Rephonic, which has looked at the Apple Podcasts data to discover what they call "the low-hanging fruit". Also, avoid shows about cricket (there are an awful lot), and consider chemistry or volleyball, the data says.

February 9, 2022:

16 duPont-Columbia Awards were announced last night. Winners included According to Need from Katie Mingle and 99% Invisible, Blindspot from WNYC Studios and The History Channel, and The Line, an original podcast from Apple TV+.

February 2, 2022:

Buzzsprout's global stats for January, calculated to the IAB standard, show the company hit 100 million monthly downloads for the first time. Apple Podcasts continues to increase, with a reported 37.2% share of all downloads; Spotify decreased to 28%. (Their stats don't include AppleCoreMedia plays).

February 1, 2022:

Leda Marritz has joined NPR, as Program Manager for the NPR+ podcast subscription service. She joins from Apple Podcasts, where she was on the editorial team.

January 28, 2022:

Facebook is a dying breed and you shouldn't focus on it for your podcast, says Hala Taha from the YAP Media Network; Twitter is not the place to promote your podcast either, and audiograms don't work. Speaking to the Podland podcast, she says she recommends looking into LinkedIn instead; and never to just promote Apple Podcasts.

January 25, 2022:

The Roxane Gay Agenda launches today on Luminary; 'the bad feminist podcast of your dreams—compelling conversations curated in the way only Roxane Gay can'. New episodes will be available ad-free one week early on the Luminary app and the Luminary channel in Apple Podcasts. She's previously presented Hear to Slay on Luminary. - read more

January 21, 2022:

Podcasting in China is not that popular yet, but things are changing, according to Head of Capital Markets for LIZHI, Effy Kang, speaking to the Podland podcast. "The lower penetration rate in China indicates a growth potential in the future", she told us. She sees more connected devices, 5G, and increasing use in-car as being opportunities for more audio consumption. Hear a full interview in the Podland podcast today.

January 20, 2022:

Anchor podcasts are unplayable in some podcast apps. Popular podcast app Overcast rushed out an update after files are "now being served as AAC in some way that breaks Apple’s ExtAudioFile API," said developer Marco Arment, which "makes them unplayable in Overcast as downloads, but playable as streams". The fault in Anchor's audio also affects other apps. Arment tweeted more technical details; and added, in a tweet to Anchor: "It’s been two weeks that you’re serving malformed files, breaking media players, and losing the audiences of your customers. Do you care about this medium at all?" The company hasn't responded.

January 19, 2022:

Apple Podcasts has launched "Listen With", a podcast playlist service to help listeners discover new shows. The first podcast guide is Jay Shetty; creators can request to be included in Spotlight, Listen With, and Kids & Family using this form.

January 17, 2022:

Jason Snell posts some fancy AppleScript that lets you hit one button on an external keyboard to add a note for better podcast editing.

January 14, 2022:

Apple Podcasts for Creators has been interviewing a number of podcast publishers. Lemonada's Jess Cordova Kramer talks about how she has grown the company's audience; Jordana Abraham talks about how Betches built a community; and Donald Albright from Tenderfoot TV discusses talk tactics, tools, and tough lessons. If you've a story to tell, you can pitch it to Apple here.

January 12, 2022:

Content partnerships: Cadence13 has partnered with Dana Carvey and David Spade for a new weekly podcast series, called Fly on the Wall … Slate has signed a multi-year strategic agreement with Forever Dog, a comedy and culture podcast publisher … PRX has announced partnerships with Magnificent Noise, WaitWhat, and Skeptoid Media to distribute and monetise their shows … AdLarge has signed Honeydew Me, which hit #1 in Apple Podcasts this week … Global's DAX has signed How To Fail with Elizabeth Day (Brené Brown is the first guest in a new season today).

January 10, 2022:

Marvel’s Wastelanders: Black Widow launches today - a 10-episode scripted podcast starring Susan Sarandon as Helen Black. For a week, it's available exclusively on the SXM App and Marvel Podcasts Unlimited on Apple Podcasts; and then it is released more widely via RSS. - read more

January 5, 2022:

LIZHI has released a look at the company's 2021. In May, LIZHI Podcast was recommended as a featured app in the Apple App Store: the first Chinese app to be recommended in the China market.

January 4, 2022:

Buzzsprout has published its platform stats for Dec 2021. Compiled using IAB certified data, it shows Apple Podcasts once more well in the lead for episode downloads.

December 31, 2021:

Meanwhile, Daniel J Lewis's Podcast Industry Insights suggests Apple Podcasts has grown by half that: just 570,000 new shows. There's a big slow-down in June when Anchor stopped automatically adding shows to Apple Podcasts. Only 17,000 new shows have been added in December; 81,900 were added in December 2020.

December 28, 2021:

Blubrry has posted its data for 2021. Their top podcast for the year is the Lex Fridman Podcast, with Hungarian-language podcast A hétköznapok kapaszkodói at #4. Apple Podcasts is the #1 platform, and 55.3% of all downloads went to US listeners.

December 21, 2021:

Pacific Content has published its second part of podcast predictions for 2022. Our Editor again predicts that Apple Podcasts will launch an Android app; he lost a bet with Adam Curry that they'd do that this year, and paid the 100,000 sats to Adam today.

December 20, 2021:

Thank you for many boostagrams this week, including Adam Curry saying he was pleased to hear our Editor on the microphone again, Kyrin from the Mere Mortals podcast, and one final boost from Adam Curry, reminding our Editor of his foolish bet of 100,000 sats (almost $50) that Apple Podcasts would release their app on Android this year. C'mon, Cupertino - one final sprint?

December 17, 2021:

If listeners try to rate a show they haven't listened-to (for at least thirty seconds), they'll be told to listen first. You can rate a show on Apple Podcasts without listening at all.

December 16, 2021:

Podbuddy is a new app for iOS that makes interactive video clips from podcast audio. Based on your phone, rather than your desktop, it allows for easier sharing to places like TikTok, Snapchat, or Facebook.

December 15, 2021:

Do Anchor podcasters find it too hard to get into Apple Podcasts? The Podcast Index's Dave Jones reports that "726,234 Anchor feeds in the index do not have Apple iTunes IDs". The company stopped auto-submitting podcasts to Apple in June, resulting in a significant slow-down for Apple numbers. (Earlier this year, Buzzsprout told us that only 60% of their shows have bothered submitting to Apple).

December 14, 2021:

Apple has released iOS and iPadOS 15.2, as well as new versions of watchOS and tvOS. There are new features within Apple Podcasts to help new and long-time listeners.

December 8, 2021:

Data: Signal Hill Insights and Cumulus Media have released their Podcast Download Fall 2021 Report. It says that Spotify is the platform people say they use the most, beating Apple and YouTube. Newer podcast listeners are likely to be women, the research says, and two out of five weekly podcast listeners no longer have a cable TV subscription.

December 6, 2021:

88% of all iPhones can use Apple Podcasts Paid Subscriptions, according to the data showing phones running iOS 14.5 and over.

December 2, 2021:

And Pushkin Industries has also launched a direct podcast subscription program, which will also work in Spotify. Jacob Weisberg, Pushkin co-founder and CEO, acknowledges that they will continue to work closely with Apple Podcasts but adds: “We now want to make sure the same experience is available to listeners on other platforms.” The company will also use Supporting Cast.

December 1, 2021:

Apple Podcasts announced its Best of 2021. A Slight Change of Plans with Maya Shankar from Pushkin Industries was chosen as Best Show of the Year, and WBUR/Futuro's Anything For Selena chosen as Newcomer of the Year. A list of top new shows and top subscriptions is available in the app.

November 30, 2021:

In a few hours, Apple Podcasts will be publishing its "Apple Podcasts Best Of 2021". It'll be awarding a “Best Show of the Year” and a “Newcomer of the Year,” presenting editorially-curated lists for “Shows of the Year” and “Episodes of the Year,” and releasing new charts. There will also be Editors’ Picks and charts for Top New Shows for around 20 international markets. We'll have all the details tomorrow. The company has just announced the winners of the Apple Music Awards.

November 26, 2021:

First look: The host of indie fiction podcast The Program has given Podnews readers the first look at his growth, marketing and revenue in 2021. A case study like no other, you'll see his download figures, revenue, the effect Apple Podcasts promotion has on his show, the release of a soundtrack album, and his plans for the future. There's something to learn here for every podcaster.

November 24, 2021:

In Sounds Profitable with Magellan AI, Bryan Barletta notes that shows with Apple Podcasts Subscriptions gets the most promotion within the Apple Podcasts app.

November 22, 2021:

Apple Podcasts is hiring - Podjobs carries eleven open roles today in the US and Australasia.

November 19, 2021:

Apple Podcasts has sent an email to podcasters. In it, they flagged up the new feed refresh button in Apple Podcasts Connect, and added a tool to promote Apple Podcasts on social media, which look like this: although we'd recommend using universal links too.

November 17, 2021:

Racket, a similar short-form audio app that lets you post up to 99 seconds of voice recordings, is now available on the Apple App Store, and is announcing $3m of pre-seed funding.

November 16, 2021:

The nominees for the International Documentary Association's Awards have been announced. Nominees include PRX, Pineapple Street Studios, WNYC and iHeartRadio.

November 15, 2021:

The New York Times says that 'misleading covid-19 talk goes unchallenged' on podcasts (and on radio). The article criticises iHeart, Spotify and Apple.

November 11, 2021:

Chadd Hollowed has finished up as Director of Data for ART19. He'll be working for Apple (not in the podcast division, sadly).

November 10, 2021:

Journalist and filmmaker Jon Ronson is back with a new show, Things Fell Apart. It features strange, unexpected human stories from the culture wars, and has a strange, unexpected distribution strategy: if you're in the UK, you'll hear it free on BBC Sounds (or on BBC Radio 4, Tuesdays at 9am) . If you're in the US or Canada and using an Apple device, it's available on BBC Podcasts Premium on Apple Podcasts, and if you're on Android or elsewhere, you're out of luck.

November 9, 2021:

Apple Podcasts has brought back the 'refresh feed' button. While Apple seem confident that new episodes, and other changes in your podcast feed are now seen within 'a few hours' - an update to this page - they've also restored the ability to refresh a feed faster within Apple Podcasts Connect. The feature was removed earlier this year.

November 8, 2021:

Castamatic is the latest podcast app to include support for the Podcast Index and value4value. It features a "machine-learning auto-leveler", a silent-skipper, and additional features.

November 4, 2021:

Dan Misener posts a look at true crime, and the benefit of using more than just one category. He also asks podcast apps display secondary categories to listeners. (We do in our search results, and now do in our podcast pages, you're welcome, Dan).

November 3, 2021:

The BBC has launched BBC Podcasts Premium exclusively on the proprietary Apple Podcasts subscription system, and only in the US and Canada. The service will include "exclusive shows" (which are also available free in the UK). The BBC Podcasts Channel is available everywhere; the Premium bit only shows up in the US and Canada. All BBC shows are commercial-free in the UK; the corporation still blocks its shows from Google Podcasts.

November 2, 2021:

Almost half of all podcast listeners in the US listen to at least one independent podcast every week, according to new data shared by Tom Webster from Edison Research. He also clarifies Spotify's claim to be #1 for podcasts: they are, and so are Apple.

November 1, 2021:

Wonkybot has released a show for grown-ups, Superhero Confidential, a short-form daily scripted podcast which shares the same universe as the company's teen podcasts. The company shifted to exclusive Apple Podcasts paid subscription in June, but say it "heard from so many non-Apple parents and kids" following the decision, it's now added an ad-supported feed available everywhere. "When you get fan art asking you to please bring Tara back… well, we had to do something lest we become an Evil Empire!", we're told.

October 28, 2021:

It has 3.2m podcasts in its platform (subtext: beating Apple)

October 27, 2021:

Now that everyone can get their podcast into Facebook (even if not everyone can listen there), we've had the opportunity to look to see what your podcast host needs to look for to monitor listens from Facebook. In our article, we discover Facebook is using at least four different user-agents, and some podcast hosts will give some of the traffic to... Apple Podcasts.

October 26, 2021:

Shadow is a new podcast app for iOS which includes SharePlay, so you can listen to a podcast with friends. (It correctly sets both RSS and audio useragents).

October 25, 2021:

A co-operative network for independent podcasters in North East Wisconsin, USA, has been launched. Appleton Podcast Co-op is run by David Kalsow and Eric Wulterkens.

October 22, 2021:

Spotify is to add video podcasts, but probably not as you know them. You can only upload them via Anchor - there's a waitlist to join - and you can only watch the videos in Spotify. None of the video files are visible in RSS feeds, so other podcast apps that deal with video won't be able to show these. (The New Media Show is available in video format, as one example; Apple Podcasts plays the video fine).

October 21, 2021:

Facebook's Chelsea White and Irena Lam appeared on The New Media Show. PodMov Daily will report that they said Facebook won't be hosting podcasts; and they're using the word "subscribe", a word that Apple no longer uses.

October 20, 2021:

Quake Media, which produces paid-for podcasts in its own app, has launched those same shows in Apple Podcasts for subscription.

October 19, 2021:

Apple announced new MacBook Pro laptops with a notched screen, because everyone wants a laptop with a notched screen. Logic Pro gets an upgrade for spatial audio support. There are new AirPods, which everyone will buy, and more colours for the HomePod mini, which nobody will. There's also a new cheap 'voice plan' for Apple Music, for people who like being misunderstood by Siri.

October 18, 2021:

Apple has posted a new page explaining how automatic downloads work on Apple Podcasts. The page explains what gets automatically downloaded, when a podcast stops being auto-downloaded, how Apple Watch works, and cautions that automatic downloads may lead to an incomplete view of listener behaviour (in third-party analytics, we guess), recommending Apple's own analytics.

October 15, 2021:

Earlier this week, we published data from Podtrac showing that Spotify is close to Apple in terms of US monthly users but nowhere near in terms of US downloads. John Spurlock has calculated how many episodes Podtrac, and the other analytics services, measured in September.

October 14, 2021:

Borrowed Future, a podcast from the Ramsey Network, is now available as a movie on Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV and Google Play. The movie is free to teachers.

October 13, 2021:

Apple Podcasts for Creators has updated its Podcast Hosting Providers page, with twelve new podcast hosts and filters.

October 12, 2021:

Exclusive: Spotify is closing in on Apple Podcasts and indie podcast apps are becoming less popular, according to new data released to Podnews by Podtrac today. Calculated from over a billion US podcast downloads in September, for monthly audience, Spotify is now less than three percentage points away from Apple. But, for monthly streams/downloads, Apple is more than seven times larger - and that number's growing.

October 11, 2021:

Good Apple: Now that recent versions of Apple Podcasts use one central RSS scraper, instead of every single phone calling on RSS feeds every time, this has resulted in significant bandwidth savings for podcast hosts. Compare: Friday May 7 (2,947 hits) with Friday Oct 8 (just 216 from the scraper; a further 395 from old iPhones).

October 8, 2021:

Exclusive: A look at the podcast market in Latvia. Andrejs Siliņš tells us that Apple Podcasts is the #4 platform, with just 10% of Latvians saying they use it. Spotify is more than three times as popular; but there's a bigger platform still.

October 7, 2021:

Separately, Spotify has published a whitepaper on the evolution of podcast advertising, including a short and selective section on podcasting's history, which doesn't mention Adam Curry nor Apple.

October 6, 2021:

Want to reach 13-23 year-olds with your podcast? You'll be wanting to promote Spotify, not Apple Podcasts. A Gen-Z survey published by Transistor (and compiled by a Gen-Z'er) shows that Spotify is almost three times more popular than Apple Podcasts - which, in the long run, could "have detrimental effects on both the creators and listeners using Spotify".

October 5, 2021:

Jamit calls itself a new social audio platform that's the BET of podcasts, inspired by the Apple Podcasts chart being "dominated by shows featuring white hosts". It launches into public beta today in Lagos, Nigeria.

October 4, 2021:

Also launching today, Because of Anita, looking at the testimony of Professor Anita Hill in the Supreme Court confirmation hearings of Clarence Thomas. It's from The Meteor and Pineapple Street Studios.

October 1, 2021:

The Podnews Ranker, keeping tabs of companies and people we mention in our news, shows that Apple Podcasts was the company we've written about the most over the past three months.

September 30, 2021:

First look: For International Podcast Day, Apple Podcasts has just released data on their top subscriptions and top free channels. Wondery+ is the most popular paid channel, while The New York Times is the top free channel - the data also reveals that Luminary has been thrown a lifeline becoming the second most popular paid subscription on the platform. We have the full list, and analysis of the results.

September 29, 2021:

iOS 15's "Private Relay" has gone live: but what effect will it have on your podcast stats, and on ad-tech? In Sounds Profitable with Magellan AI, Bryan Barletta looks at the impact so far. (You should subscribe!)

September 28, 2021:

In Amsterdam, RecSys 21 is taking place - a conference on recommendation systems. As part of that, PodRecs was a workshop on Sunday focusing on podcast recommendations. Present were a number of people from Spotify, Pandora, Amazon, Apple and the BBC, among others.

September 27, 2021:

MacRumors says there's a new 1.25x playback speed control in Apple Podcasts in iOS 15; and the iPad version has a set of keyboard shortcuts. The comments are not pretty. Meanwhile, "I think this terrible app is one of the worst things Apple makes" is the verdict of tech website BGR.

September 24, 2021:

Ashley Carman's Hot Pod Insider reports that podcast company Himalaya has been scaled down, with around eight people, almost half the company's staff, losing their jobs over the summer. Ariel Liu has been made CEO. We reported in April that the company was transitioning towards a focus on audio courses; the company is now pivoting again to "short-form inspirational and motivational content".

September 23, 2021:

The world's #3 podcast app, Google Podcasts, is getting a full Material You update. "Material You" will be the new style for Android 12, which is shortly to be released. You need the latest Google App, a Google Pixel phone, and you need to wait for a server-side update, just like the new UI elements promised in August, which we're still waiting for, no pressure.

September 22, 2021:

Widely reported elsewhere, eMarketer suggests that Spotify will overtake Apple Podcasts in the US this year in terms of total audience. The data is sourced "from eMarketer": we've no understanding of where their data is from or how it's gathered.

September 21, 2021:

Here are some screenshots of the 'personalised recommendations' within Apple Podcasts in iOS 15.

September 20, 2021:

iOS 15 is out today at 10.00am in Cupertino CA (so, 6pm London; 7pm Berlin; 3am tomorrow in Sydney). Personalised recommendations are new to Apple Podcasts in this version ("The best podcasts, personalised for you, grouped by topics you care about."). You can also share the podcast you're playing in Apple Podcasts using Siri ("Hey, Siri, send this to Dave") - podcasts that friends have shared with you in Messages will appear in Apple Podcasts in a "Shared With You" section of "Listen Now".

September 17, 2021:

Triton Digital has released the US Podcasting Report for August. Downloads are up 11% from July, as the Apple bugfix rolled out. Stitcher is #1 for podcasts, though NPR is just 70,000 downloads behind; it measures participating publishers only.

September 16, 2021:

Etiquette and manners podcast Were you raised by wolves? has been chosen as Apple Podcasts' new monthly spotlight.

September 13, 2021:

Our Editor asked Spotify for all his personal data, to discover Spotify knows what kind of car he drives, and what length podcast he prefers - and why Spotify will never know as much as Apple or Google.

September 10, 2021:

Transistor has given any customer access to their private podcast feature. The company is beta-testing dynamic pre-rolls, and says it has 16,227 podcasts using their service. (Listen Notes suggests 11,529 are in Apple Podcasts).

September 8, 2021:

Podtrac reports that iHeartRadio is still #1 for podcasting, according to their US podcast publishers list for August. The average US monthly audience was up 15% from July - a figure affected by Apple Podcasts's download bug - but down 2% year-on-year. Podtrac measures participating publishers only.

September 6, 2021:

Data: in Germany, the Online Audio Monitor 2021 has been released. 25% of Germans are listening to podcasts at least once a month, a figure that's increased by 26% year-on-year. Spotify is the #1 podcast platform (48.5%), YouTube is #2 (44%), Apple Podcasts is #7 (12.5%), and Google Podcasts is #9 (9.5%). (Thanks, Steffen!)

September 2, 2021:

Apple has been forced to allow media apps to link to websites for payment. The change should allow simpler methods to pay for third-party content that isn't subject to Apple's 30% commission. The new policy takes effect in early 2022.

September 1, 2021:

The mass-market Android phone from Google, the Pixel 5a, launched last week, appears to have Google Podcasts as a suggested preinstalled app, according to this unboxing video - it was also preinstalled in the flagship Pixel 5 when that phone launched last year. The Android 12 setup also appears to suggest the app as standard. Google sold 7.2m Pixel phones in 2019, up more than 50% year-on-year, but Samsung sold 295m: and Apple sold a similar number. Pre-installed apps are mostly chosen by phone manufacturers and cellular operators.

August 31, 2021:

Darknet Diaries has achieved 670 paid Apple Podcasts subscribers in just 45 days, according to its creator Jack Rhysider. He also says he has yet to promote it: all discovery is happening through Apple's app. After Apple's 30% cut, he's earning $2,338 per month.

August 30, 2021:

Kevin Tran at Variety writes Why Spotify's Push For Podcast Subscription Revenue Won't Be Easy, though the data he quotes is equally relevant for Apple and third-party subscriptions.

August 27, 2021:

Apple announced changes coming to the App Store that, pending court approval, will resolve a class-action suit from US developers. There is some clarification on non-app payment methods, which may be relevant for third-party podcast subscription services and apps.

August 26, 2021:

Audioboom, which is for sale, rejected a $258m offer from a private equity firm All Active Asset Capital in July, but held more talks last week. AAAC has until Sep 13 to make a better offer.

August 25, 2021:

Spotify will now let all US-based Anchor podcasters sell podcast subscriptions. They have added more price points, and - if a listener opts-in - publishers will have their email address. Unlike Apple, you can't subscribe in-app: and also unlike Apple, Spotify won't take any revenue cut (after payment platform fees) until 2023, when it'll be just 5%. International listeners gain access to paid content next month; and international creators can sell shows "shortly after".

August 24, 2021:

The implementation adds ?t=(seconds) at the end of the URL. YouTube and Spotify use this too, as does Pocket Casts and Podfriend, and it works on Overcast. Google Podcasts works differently; Apple Podcasts doesn't let you do this at all.

August 23, 2021:

Apple has doubled its affiliate payout for linking to paid podcast subscriptions. It has also added the ability to link to channels from their marketing tools website.

August 20, 2021:

The effects of the Apple Podcasts download bug could be clearer today after the release of new data from Triton Digital. The data allows us to compare overall download numbers from May, which was largely unaffected, with those across July in a number of different territories. Apple's buggy app began to be rolled out from May 24, and was fixed on Jul 31.

August 19, 2021:

A number of podcast companies have criticised Apple Podcasts and their new paid subscriptions service in a piece in The Verge.

August 18, 2021:

IP addresses are how we know how many people are listening to our podcast. But Apple's Private Relay, and VPNs, let multiple listeners use the same IP address. So what happens to podcasting when IP addresses go away? In Sounds Profitable this week with Chartable, Bryan Barletta highlights who wins - and who loses.

August 17, 2021:

Good news - cross-platform podcast app Pocket Casts is "scaling back up", the company posts in an update. In a comment perhaps aimed at the buggy Apple Podcasts, they've revealed that the first thing they're working on is "how quickly you get new episodes after a podcast author publishes them". They're also working on app translations; Emmeline Berry is rejoining the team as Content Curator and Podcaster Liaison.

August 16, 2021:

Following up on our story last week about Apple Podcasts's continuing bugs, podcast host Buzzsprout gives some advice to podcasters to promote alternatives to Apple Podcasts, "if you want to push your listeners to a different app so that they actually get your episodes when they come out".

August 13, 2021:

Did Apple Podcasts cancel their private briefings at Podcast Movement, like we claimed yesterday? Yes: but as part of a travel ban at the company. We're told that the team are still chatting regularly to podcast hosting companies; and have corrected that part of our story yesterday.

August 12, 2021:

Below - Apple Podcasts: is it still having problems?

August 11, 2021:

Are there still problems at Apple Podcasts? While nobody wants to put their name to it, Podnews has had a number of large publishers saying that Apple Podcasts occasionally doesn't notice new episodes appearing in podcast feeds - and they sometimes can take up to 72 hours to appear. While iOS 14.7 fixes an auto-download bug, this bug is different. What do you know? Hit reply and let us know.

August 10, 2021:

Podtrac has highlighted how the Apple Podcasts bug affected US podcast traffic in July - reporting a 31% drop in downloads from the app. The company suggests that traffic during much of August will still be affected. Podtrac also report a significant drop in news podcast downloads since the end of the US election cycle in February 2020.

August 9, 2021:

iHeartRadio is #1 for podcasts again, according to Podtrac's figures for July. The average US unique monthly audience was 7% down year-on-year, as a download bug in Apple Podcasts continued to disrupt data. The Daily is still the most listened-to podcast; the Podtrac numbers measure participating publishers only.

August 5, 2021:

James O. Boggs has left Apple Podcasts: his last day was mid-July. The Head of Editorial at Apple Podcasts, he had worked for Apple since before podcasting - April 2004.

August 4, 2021:

Google Podcasts is emailing every podcaster with last month's play statistics. If you've not got your email, claim your podcast at Google Podcasts Manager. (A reminder that since Google Podcasts doesn't normally auto-download, so your figures will be lower than platforms like Apple or Overcast which do).

August 3, 2021:

The former hosts of The Nod, who last year wanted Spotify to "hand over their podcast", have signed with SiriusXM to relaunch their Black culture show For Colored Nerds. Brittany Luse and Eric Eddings were interviewed by The Verge about their battle for ownership of intellectual property.

August 2, 2021:

There are now at least 1,000 paid shows in Apple Podcasts, we can reveal today, just six weeks after the feature was publicly launched. We've discovered more than 500 different channels in Apple Podcasts; and more than 30% of those channels are paid-for. We list them here.

July 30, 2021:

Apple has confirmed a download bug has been fixed in iOS 14.7. This meant downloads from Apple Podcasts were down 20% in June and much of July. Since Apple accounts for almost half of all podcast downloads, it had a big effect on the industry - one analyst criticised Spotify, causing its stock to drop by $2.5bn: because of lower Podtrac figures caused by Apple's bug.

July 28, 2021:

Rating and reviewing a podcast won't help it get to the top of the Apple Podcast charts, says the Australian ABC's Andrew Davies in the latest edition of Podcasting Essentials - but you can benefit from clear calls-to-action in your podcast.

July 27, 2021:

You wait all year for a collaboration tool for podcast producers, and then two come along at once. Yesterday we mentioned Episode Check; today, EditPoint, a tool that works on an iPhone or iPad. It's designed to let you listen or check a show while doing other things, and comes complete with pre-filled buttons to note issues.

July 26, 2021:

Alex Cooper wants Call Her Daddy to be the Biggest Podcast in the World, according to the Wall Street Journal. Good luck - the show became an exclusive on Spotify last week, which we suggest shuts out about 80% of podcast listeners.

July 23, 2021:

Apple Podcasts is hiring for a Head of Content. This was N'Jeri Eaton's title.

July 22, 2021:

NBC has launched five podcasts around the Tokyo Olympics, and the NBC Olympics Apple Podcasts channel. The Podium and In The Village will both be daily.

July 21, 2021:

The Haunted Estate with CelinaSpookyBoo has teamed up with Studio71 for new episodes, guests and wild stories about not just spooky things but the hauntings of everyday life. It made it to the top 75 of the Apple Podcasts chart.

July 20, 2021:

Fireside, the social chat service, is now available on the Apple App Store. "Fireside is the next evolution of Storytelling. It is where the world's greatest creators go to bring the audience into the story through interactive virtual shows.", it says; it's still invite-only though. The founders, Mark Cuban and Falon Fatemi, are speaking at Podcast Movement.

July 19, 2021:

Rephonic has launched a podcast discovery tool. Give it three podcasts you love, and it'll find you some great shows, powered by Apple Podcasts data.

July 16, 2021:

The June 2021 US Podcast Report is out from Triton Digital. Stitcher are #1 for a second month, beating NPR (though iH eartRadio isn't measured). Average weekly downloads for the top 10 publishers were up by 5% year-on-year, in spite of an Apple Podcasts auto-download bug and a shift to IAB v2.1. (One investment analyst recently used figures from the competing Podtrac ranker to claim podcasting was in negative growth).

July 15, 2021:

Analysis: Bernstein quotes Podtrac figures as evidence of this 'slowing market', saying that in June, listening sank 16.5% year-on-year. However, Podtrac don't measure Spotify's podcasts; and it's notable that the top ten publishers in Triton Digital's latest Podcast Report for the US (measuring May vs May) shows an 11.4% growth in downloads. However, a bug in Apple Podcasts may affect total downloads in June.

July 14, 2021:

Fiction podcasts are growing in Asia, with the launch of Fey Hollow: The Fairy Tale Murders. A new true crime thriller podcast from Singapore's AXN, the podcast has a dual ending that allows listeners to choose how they want the show to finish - "making them the creator and the audience at the same time", says the producer, KC Global Media. The show's already hit #1 in the island state.

July 12, 2021:

9to5Mac reviews the Apple Podcasts app. Not sure they like it.

July 9, 2021:

Netflix has hired its first Head of Podcasts, N'Jeri Eaton. She had been Head of Content, Apple Podcasts for a year; and prior to that spent four years at NPR.

July 8, 2021:

PodBooking - the social network for podcasters - will have a new section tomorrow containing the latest podnews, jobs and events from the Podnews network. You can download PodBooking, free, on the Apple App Store or the Google Play store.

July 6, 2021:

For the first time, all major podcast apps display episode notes in the same way. As Podnews testing now reveals, in the <description> field, all major podcast apps now support <a href links, <p> paragraphs, <ul><li> bullet points, and make URLs clickable automatically. You should keep episode notes below 4,000 characters, though, to ensure they display everywhere (Apple has a limit of 4,000, Google Podcasts has a limit of 5,000).

July 5, 2021:

Apple Podcasts doesn't support MP3 album art in the app, but does support MP3 chapter art. Question: is there any command-line utility to add MP3 chapter art? Hit reply and let us know.

July 2, 2021:

Seeing lower download numbers from Apple Podcasts? You're not alone: there's an auto-download bug in iOS 14.6, Apple say. Listening is unaffected; it'll be fixed, say Apple, with a software update. Good on them for being open.

July 1, 2021:

Apple Podcasts has reinstated HTML links in podcast descriptions. The server-side change appears to be live for Podnews, PodClock and for The Feed by Libsyn: it seems to be a recent change with the RSS parser used by the company. HTML links are important for podcasters to allow additional reading, affiliate links, sponsors or support: they broke with the rollout of the new Apple Podcasts infrastructure in late April.

June 29, 2021:

Luminary has announced season 2 of Tabloid, focusing on the infamous VHS video tape with Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee. It's available in the Luminary app, and the Apple Podcasts Luminary channel.

June 23, 2021:

The Reuters Institute Digital News Report 2021 was released this morning. The most valuable international data available, it gives podcast consumption figures for 20 countries in a comparable manner, and says 31% of people (302 million) accessed a podcast in the last month: a similar number to 2020. It also says that the platform mix is changing, with Spotify overtaking Apple in some markets. (Here's our take on that).

June 22, 2021:

Kevin LaBuz has written a long look at Spotify's podcast strategy, or "Spotify's Second Act", as he calls it. Meanwhile Brett Schafer at The Motley Fool asks whether their strategy will pay off.

June 21, 2021:

In the US, iHeartRadio has launched a climate category in its podcast app: the first major podcast app to do so. In February, Podcasters Declare launched a campaign to get Apple Podcasts to open a climate category; in spite of excitedly sharing their green credentials for Earth Day and having an environment section of their website, Apple has yet to do so.

June 18, 2021:

Wonkybot, a kids and family podcast company, has launched a new subscription channel on Apple Podcasts. The season premiere of Tara Tremendous has also just been posted.

June 17, 2021:

Spotify has released the Spotify Greenroom app. The app, similar to Clubhouse or Twitter Spaces, includes recording capabilities. It's available on iOS and Android. We've added support for it in our Podevents website.

June 16, 2021:

Apple Podcasts fully launched Apple Podcasts Subscriptions and channels. Their release contains a number of partners, including many from across the world.

June 15, 2021:

Apple Podcasts is launching their paid subscriptions and channels service this morning. Look for the Podcast industry news channel to find Podnews and Podland. To take a look at paid subscriptions, try channels from Radiotopia, Luminary, Lemonada Media or QCODE+.

June 14, 2021:

A columnist for Fast Company says: It’s not just you—the Apple podcast app is a disaster. "I truly cannot remember any other instance when an update made an app’s user experience this incomprehensibly terrible," says Joe Berkowitz.

June 11, 2021:

Podland, the weekly podcast from Podnews's Editor James Cridland and Sam Sethi, this week interviews Neil Mody from Headliner, and Sam and James talk Apple, Twitter Blue, and more.

June 10, 2021:

Apple has set the launch date for Apple Podcasts Subscriptions and channels as Tuesday, June 15; they link to subscriptions best practices. The launch had been delayed from May. (Podnews will have a channel, but not a subscription offering).

June 9, 2021:

While we don't get it for podcasts, you might be interested in this explainer about Spatial Audio for music by Apple Music's Zane Lowe.

June 8, 2021:

Apple's WWDC event announced new privacy features, which could impact podcast publishers in future. The App Privacy Report will allow users to see what domains have been requested by apps, which may be useful for seeing if data from your podcast app is shared with others. A "Private Relay" will be available for all iCloud+ paid customers. It appears to be a combination of a secure DNS service and a VPN. It's only available when browsing with Safari at present; if extended out to the rest of the OS, it could give some challenges to podcast measurement and dynamic audio insertion. Apple has a video podcast of the full event.

June 7, 2021:

The Australian Podcast Ranker revealed that Apple is the 'big dog of podcast aggregator apps' with Spotify a distant second for downloads in the country.

June 4, 2021:

Marco Arment, the developer of podcast app Overcast, writes a blog post accusing Apple of being dishonest, factually wrong and extremely insulting. As its relationship with developers gets worse, Apple's relationship with podcasters isn't much better.

June 3, 2021:

Of note: we've seen two big launches recently that have glossed over the fact they're not in Apple Podcasts (or have given us links that are just RSS feeds). We've asked: these large publishers had problems with Apple Podcasts Connect. Yikes.

June 1, 2021:

Congratulations to Marco Arment, the developer of podcast app Overcast which has been inducted into the AppleVis iOS App Hall of Fame for its high degree of accessibility for blind and low vision users.

May 31, 2021:

In an email to podcasters sent late on Friday before a holiday weekend, Apple Podcasts has announced that Apple Podcasts Paid Subscriptions and channels will now launch in June. The company's original announcement had promised a May launch; we understand it is now planned to go live in the coming weeks.

May 28, 2021:

A month on, we wondered if the new Apple Podcasts systems were still causing anyone any problems. We weren't prepared for the amount of feedback we'd get.

May 27, 2021:

Podcasting is a hands-off hobby for Apple; a big bet for Spotify: so says Gene Munster, an analyst at Loup Ventures.

May 26, 2021:

How's Apple Podcasts now? A month after the new Apple Podcasts Connect launched, we hope everything's all fine: but we're curious as to your experiences. For a story on Friday, we'd like to be able to report to our 19,000 podcast industry subscribers that the system responsible for around 40% of all podcast downloads is now working well. If that's not the case with you, please hit 'reply' and tell us what you're seeing when publishing to Apple Podcasts. And don't worry - we'll keep your details private, so you won't jeopardise that New & Noteworthy spot. Thanks.

May 25, 2021:

Apple Podcasts Subscriptions are launched to all today, with the release of iOS 14.6, Watch OS 7.5 and MacOS 11.4 has also been released.

May 24, 2021:

Following our article last week about whether Spotify or Apple is the big dog of aggregator apps, Edison Research's Tom Webster adds some detail from The Podcast Consumer Tracker - what US podcast listeners say is the platform they use most.

May 21, 2021:

Apple Podcasts has launched a new affiliate program for podcast subscriptions. The Apple Services Performance Partner Program now allows people to earn money by linking to (other peoples') paid shows - you earn 50% of the first month's subscription fee.

May 20, 2021:

Last August, we reported that Anchor was hosting pirate podcasts; and today Jake Warren says that Message Heard's Finding Natasha is one of those - copied and available, with a random piece of generic art, on Anchor, then syndicated to Apple and Spotify. Curiously, the Anchor pirate has edited the audio to remove any mention of Message Heard…

May 19, 2021:

Libsyn has released its most popular platforms for April, in The Feed: Apple has 60.01% and Spotify 13.65% of all podcast downloads. Earlier this month, Buzzsprout released its April figures: it reports Spotify and Apple Podcasts both tie at 29.3%.

May 18, 2021:

Apple and Amazon have joined Spotify by announcing lossless audio for their music streaming services. We look at what's been announced and what it might mean for podcasting - and whether anyone will actually notice.

May 17, 2021:

The Apple Podcasts crawler is now grabbing our RSS feed 82 times in a day, according to our latest stats: every 17 minutes. This is quite an improvement from May 4, when it visited 10 times in the day (every 2 hours). As a reminder, the crawler now powers the Apple Podcasts app.

May 14, 2021:

We're still seeing reports that Apple Podcasts isn't working correctly: particularly slow to update episodes, and errors that are stopping some publishers from submitting new shows. We'd love to tell you more, but Apple isn't communicating with us - or with you. We guess there's good news in terms of fixing some of the issues: and would love to pass that on.

May 13, 2021:

Amazon's Wondery+ is to join Apple Podcasts Subscriptions.

May 12, 2021:

CNN is to make a new show, The Handoff, as an Apple Podcasts Subscriptions exclusive when the service launches later this month. Hosted by friends and CNN anchors Chris Cuomo and Don Lemon, it will be a longer chat than their usual 'handoff' between shows normally allows for. It's part of "a subscription to the CNN channel" on Apple Podcasts Subscriptions.

May 10, 2021:

Above - Apple Podcasts's crawler, which exclusively powers the new Apple Podcasts app, is getting better at visiting our feeds to check for new episodes. Our RSS stats show it's now visiting every 20 minutes, rather than every hour and a half.

May 7, 2021:

Last month, we wrote a piece about AppleCoreMedia, a user agent that most podcast hosts don't correctly attribute, either falsely increasing or decreasing Apple's share. In a good example of collaboration across podcasting, Omny Studio and Spreaker have worked together to produce this code and testing tool which fixes that for app developers, once and for all. It's open source and available for anyone.

May 6, 2021:

The new Apple Podcasts iOS 14.5 app is not following Apple's specification around the itunes:title tag, and seems to ignore the tag completely. This is leading to shows displaying with double episode numbers. Those examples are hosted on Libsyn and Captivate, who both follow that specification correctly. Thanks to Crate Media for the heads-up.

May 5, 2021:

The new Apple Podcasts iOS 14.5 app has changed the way it displays episode notes, we've discovered. It no longer supports HTML links (or, for that matter, bullet points). Here's our research and recommendations for episode notes in every app; thanks to ART19 for the initial ideas.

May 4, 2021:

Ricky Gervais is to launch a new podcast called Absolutely Mental, with neuroscientist and philosopher Sam Harris. Available May 10, according to Deadline it will be paid-for, at $14.99 for the season. The story says 'listeners will be able to air them on their podcast players', but no word yet on whether he's using Apple or Spotify's subscriptions.

May 3, 2021:

Apple's Podcasts Connect still isn't allowing new podcasts from some users, with error messages about missing artwork and copyright statements. Podnews lost access to our account again last week (it's since returned, minus any stats). Still, we're doing better than Dirk Primbs, who has been waiting for more than ten days to access his.

April 30, 2021:

Exclusive: Examination of internet traffic and Podnews logs reveals that the new iOS 14.5 Apple Podcasts app now works in a very different way than previously; and as a result may now take hours to deliver new episodes to your listeners - even if they are subscribed.

April 29, 2021:

Facebook's in-app podcast player has appeared to have rolled-out. Open this in the Facebook app to see it; it seems that Android users only get to hear 30 seconds of the podcast, while Apple users get a consent window to hear it all.

April 28, 2021:

Spotify has announced their Paid Subscriptions service, which is hosted on Anchor. NPR is a launch partner, as we reported last week. Unlike Apple, who will take 30% of your subscription revenue, Spotify "won't charge" until 2023 (after which it's 5%). There are plenty of other things to know, though (indeed, there will be a charge) - see our analysis, below.

April 27, 2021:

Most podcast hosts write static RSS feeds; though as we highlighted yesterday, Podnews serves dynamic RSS feeds to allow us to better identify the apps that listen to us.)

April 26, 2021:

Exclusive: Have you seen AppleCoreMedia, or "Unknown Apple App", in your podcast statistics? We wondered: are downloads from AppleCoreMedia mostly from Apple Podcasts? We have 90 days of data to show whether your podcast host's calculating them correctly. (Spoiler: they're probably not).

April 23, 2021:

Many shows are still missing from the new Apple Podcasts system, but it appears to be gaining stability.

April 22, 2021:

The launch of the new Apple Podcasts Connect tool has been plagued with bugs and technical issues; and has impacted other apps. We would recommend NOT logging in at this time.

April 21, 2021:

The Apple Podcasts app is changing next week with the release of iOS 14.5. "Subscribe" changes to "Follow"; "Channels" are a way to group shows; a smart play button will start a listener with the right episode (the first episode of West Cork; the latest episode of The Daily).

April 20, 2021:

Apple are making a slew of new announcements today in their Spring Loaded event, live from 10am PT. It's widely expected that Apple will launch a paid subscription podcast service. We'll cover everything podcast-related in tomorrow's Podnews.

April 19, 2021:

Facebook is coming. The social media giant is to get into audio and podcasts, according to Recode. Announcements are due today; it describes "a podcast discovery product that will be connected with Spotify", as well as an audio-only version of 'Rooms', a separate Clubhouse-like product, and a way for Facebook users to add voice messages to the newsfeed.

April 16, 2021:

Apple Podcasts on the upcoming iOS 14.5 release will automatically show the release schedule for shows. "Apple’s implementation of this feature seems to be a bit unreliable", says 9to5Mac - it's recognised ours as daily, though.

April 15, 2021:

Top Podcasts and Top Episodes are worked out differently; we've added their definitions to our comprehensive understanding podcasting stats page, along with details of how the Apple Podcasts charts are worked out.

April 14, 2021:

Google Podcasts has hit 100m installations on Android. Since November it has doubled installations, added support for subscribing by RSS feed, and is the #3 podcast app according to Libsyn and Buzzsprout. It's due to launch personalised episode recommendations at some stage this week. Surprisingly, it is not a standard install on new Android phones.

April 13, 2021:

A little bit of history: Podcast Machine is a podcast host from 2008, promising "a flash player for your website", and that it's "made for iTunes". But it's a little bit of the present, too - it still hosts more than a thousand podcasts on Apple Podcasts, 31 of which have been updated so far this year.

April 12, 2021:

Plink has switched to using Podcast Index as its main source of podcast data, after a series of outages with the Apple Podcasts API.

April 9, 2021:

The podcast also discusses the company's recent claim that Spotify is now bigger than Apple Podcasts for downloads.

April 7, 2021:

Scott Pape, an Australian financial advisor and journalist, has recommended five podcasts in a newspaper article. ARN's iHeartPodcast Network chief Corey Layton points out that the Australian Apple Podcast Chart is dominated by these picks, adding "in reality, those shows aren’t generating more listens than the ABC’s Conversations (now at #7) and therefore shouldn’t top the ‘charts’. Perhaps it’s time Apple rename the ‘Apple Podcast Chart’ to ‘Apple Podcast Trends’ to better represent how it works."

April 5, 2021:

Buzzsprout claim that Spotify has now overtaken Apple in podcast downloads. This data doesn't mirror that from other podcast hosts: but there might be a story in that. We're asking more questions.

April 2, 2021:

"Godcasts" are no longer the biggest category in Apple Podcasts. Pacific Content's Dan Misener has produced a detailed look at Apple Podcasts categories, discovering that Education, Society & Culture, and Arts are now the top three, with Religion & Spirituality the fourth biggest. The religion category still produces the most episodes, though.

April 1, 2021:

In a surprise move from Apple Podcasts, neither "Follow" nor "Subscribe" will be used in iOS 14.6, the next version of the popular mobile phone operating system. The app will, instead, listen to your telephone conversations and monitor your Facebook account to automatically subscribe you to podcasts it thinks you'll like. Every listener will also be automatically subscribed to a new show from U2's Bono.

March 31, 2021:

Entercom, which owns Cadence13, Pineapple Street Studios, Podcorn and CBS Radio, has changed its name. "Part audio, part audacious, part odyssey", the new name is Audacy. As part of that, RADIO․COM is no more: they've rebranded it Audacy as well. You can get your podcast into that app; our big list of podcast directories includes them. The stock market likes it: shares rose by 5.2%.

March 30, 2021:

Trying to submit a new podcast with Apple? Apple Podcasts Connect has a 'known issue' with validating new RSS feeds. They're working on it, but no timeframe on when it'll be fixed. Hang tight!

March 26, 2021:

In the Apple Podcasts app in iOS 14.5 beta 5, released earlier this week, some people who have looked carefully at the open iOS beta have noted the Podcasts app now includes "a link to your iCloud information". This, we're told, is typically added to Apple apps that accept payment. There is more discussion in Buzzsprout's Buzzcast this week.

March 24, 2021:

We just hit 2 million shows in Apple Podcasts, according to Daniel J Lewis's Podcast Industry Insights tool. Overnight, the total number of shows hit 2,004,462. He says that 37.29% are "active" (published at least one episode in the last 90 days).

March 22, 2021:

The Podcast Index data dump will now be weekly, and now includes the latest audio enclosure URL in the data, which is useful for analysis (and, OK, because we asked for it). The Podcast Index stats page says it currently includes 1,547,343 podcasts. (If you're counting, Podcast Industry Insights says there are 1,989,538 in Apple Podcasts.)

March 16, 2021:

Is Apple getting ready to launch paid subscriptions? One of the changes in the new iOS 14.5 beta 4, released yesterday, is that Apple has stopped describing all the content in Apple Podcasts as 'available for free' says 9to5Mac. It also promotes a "smart play" button, which changes depending on whether a listener has heard the show before.

March 11, 2021:

Correction: Yesterday, we reported an apparent change in Apple Podcasts’ automatic downloads in the next release. In fact, we’d found a known bug in the current beta around auto-downloads, which has already been fixed in a future release. We’ve been told there is no change in automatic download behaviour planned. Resetting an iPod Touch to a clean, anonymous install of iOS 14.5 confirms this - automatic downloads are enabled in the settings app and per podcast by default.

March 10, 2021:

Entercom has acquired Podcorn, valuing the company at $22.5m. Entercom, a US radio broadcaster, owns Cadence13 and Pineapple Street Studios. Podcorn gives advertisers access to podcasters. In 2016 Google purchased the founders' previous company, FameBit, for $36m.

March 9, 2021:

Exclusive: Apple Podcasts will no longer use the word "subscribe" in a few weeks. Listeners will be invited to "follow" their favourite podcasts instead. The new wording will be in iOS 14.5, which should be released later this month (and is available in beta). We expect Apple to communicate further with creators, and listeners, when this version of iOS is released.

March 5, 2021:

Apple Podcasts is relaxing their 300 episode limit shortly. Listeners using the latest beta versions of the app can browse the latest 2,000 episodes.

March 4, 2021:

Would you recommend us? There are plenty of places to give Podnews an upvote or a good rating - Podchaser, Apple Podcasts, or just your own social media feed. If you'd recommend us, please do so today: we'd really appreciate it.

March 3, 2021:

eMarketer claims that Spotify will overtake Apple Podcasts by US total listeners (if not downloads) this year. No methodology or source for this data is given, though. Meanwhile, The Hustle publishes "Spotify’s plan to monetize podcasts, explained".

March 1, 2021:

Apple's API is not currently returning episode data, breaking our episode pages but also breaking other tools that link directly to shows. (Apple episode IDs are assigned by Apple, rather than using the UID in the RSS feed).

February 26, 2021:

Counter Programming with Shira and Arielle is returning for a new season next week, focusing on counters in all their forms: expect stories about laminate, Beyoncé, and, we hope, the puppet from Sesame Street. One! Ha ha ha!! Two! Ha ha ha!! The show was featured on Apple's New and Noteworthy last time round.

February 23, 2021:

Also from Obama's Higher Ground podcast company, a new season of Tell Them, I Am, hosted by Misha Euceph, was announced for Ramadan - promising "a compelling collection of narratives from Muslim voices". The show was previously produced by KPCC: Euceph had said she "doesn't own a single percent of the show", and had railed against KPCC to "give us our shows back". The new season will be on the same Apple Podcasts ID, suggesting that KPCC has reached an agreement.

February 19, 2021:

First look: Acast has bought RadioPublic, acquiring tools and services for podcasters everywhere. The acquisition also sees RadioPublic co-founders Chris Quamme Rhoden (CTO) and Matt MacDonald (Chief Product Officer) join the Acast team. Jake Shapiro left in September to join Apple.

February 18, 2021:

A new pressure group, Podcasters Declare, is calling for a climate category in Apple Podcasts. An open letter argues that Apple's progressive corporate environment policies should be matched by a place for climate change in Apple Podcasts. (Podnews agrees: we've signed it.)

February 16, 2021:

For All Mankind: The Official Podcast is a new podcast from Apple, as an accompaniment to the Apple TV+ series For All Mankind. Apple's press release says "available globally on Apple Podcasts and via RSS", which is one way of acknowledging that other platforms exist; however, the show isn't on Spotify.

February 15, 2021:

The Verge asks "Can anyone moderate podcasts?" - following up on the story that Steve Bannon's War Room podcast is still available on Apple Podcasts. Interviews suggest most podcast apps are trusting Apple to choose what's acceptable and what isn't; and the story claims that podcasting "isn't ready for moderation".

February 12, 2021:

We had 1,489 downloads yesterday of our podcast. Here's how people listen: Apple Podcasts, Pocket Casts and Overcast are our top three podcast apps.

February 10, 2021:

"So, you're out for a walk? How comfy are those shoes?" Backtracks have announced new podcast player SDKs for iOS and Android. The player code for apps collects "real-time podcast analytics"; but the screenshot also shows that the code can track whether the listener is walking or not (presumably using the Android or iOS API): that could be used to target ads just for you, dog walker.

February 9, 2021:

How many podcasts are in each Apple Podcasts category? Someone asked, so here's the answer.

February 8, 2021:

Andy Mills has resigned from the New York Times, almost two months after significant issues were discovered with Caliphate, a podcast for which Mills was a producer and co-host. While host Rukmini Callimachi was publicly censured and removed to a different reporting area, Mills - who accepted the Peabody Award on the paper's behalf for the podcast - had not, seemingly, been disciplined, and questions made of past behaviour. Mills has posted a full statement. Michael Barbaro has not yet addressed the fact that his coverage on the matter did not disclose that Caliphate's Executive Producer Lisa Tobin is his fiancée, which is in contravention of the NYT's Editorial Standards. He has, though, written to NPR stations, and publicly apologised for attempting to silence critics.

February 4, 2021:

Spotify says it has 2.2m podcasts in the system (Apple has 1.8m).

February 2, 2021:

The Apple Podcasts app is to get a redesign in iOS 14.5, with "a handful of small user interface tweaks".

February 1, 2021:

A new book, The Spotify Play: How CEO and Founder Daniel Ek Beat Apple, Google, and Amazon in the Race for Audio Dominance, has been released. Our full review of the book says that you'll get "a renewed admiration for what the company has achieved, and the way in which it all happened".

January 28, 2021:

Now updated with the latest information about how the Apple Podcast Charts work, here's how to understand podcast stats.

January 27, 2021:

How to understand podcast stats is our big article about how podcast statistics actually work; updated with more information about the Apple Podcast Charts.

January 26, 2021:

Apple has launched new exclusive audio content: but you'll need an Apple Watch and an Apple Fitness+ subscription to listen. CNET calls them immersive podcasts, though Apple themselves don't use the p-word. They're 25-40 minutes long, and contain music tracks, too.

January 25, 2021:

We've updated our look at episode notes and episode images in major podcast apps. We discover that Spotify doesn't follow the RSS specification, sadly; Google Podcasts only shows the first 9,000 characters of episode notes; and that Apple does support episode images but only if you're, er, not subscribed.

January 22, 2021:

Podland this week looks at Apple's subscriptions, Spotify's "failing strategy", and has interviews with, among others, Podpage and A Million Ads.

January 21, 2021:

The Hollywood Reporter has more details on the potential Apple Podcasts subscription service.

January 20, 2021:

The most popular way to listen to podcasts in Russia is Apple Podcasts, with Yandex Music occupying the #2 position, according to new research on Russian podcast listening. Google Podcasts is #3, with 8% of listeners, according to an article by Эдуард Царионов.

January 19, 2021:

“Apple Podcasts Spotlight helps listeners find some of the world’s best shows by shining a light on creators with singular voices,” said Ben Cave, Global Head of Business for Apple Podcasts. “Chelsea Devantez has created a fun, vibrant space with Celebrity Book Club for listeners to gain new perspectives on the celebrities we thought we knew. We are delighted to recognize Chelsea and Celebrity Book Club as our first Spotlight selection and look forward to introducing listeners to creators like Chelsea to listeners each month.”

January 18, 2021:

Apple is planning a podcast subscription service ($), claims a story in The Information. The site also wonders whether Apple will kill the free podcast.

January 15, 2021:

Matt Deegan tweets: "New podcast rule: Anyone that tweets excitement over an Apple Podcasts position should also be made to tweet that week's actual download numbers too." 👏

January 13, 2021:

Speaking on the latest episode of Libsyn's The Feed, Rob Walch highlights Apple's privacy information in the app store, which we covered December 14: "For those that are tracking podcast listeners, do you really think the only thing in iOS14 that Apple will allow privacy violations to continue with… is your product? And for those running newsletters and sites on this space that just don't think tracking with no opt-in is okay but actually promotes privacy violations, the world is changing, and privacy is going to matter more and more. Opt-in is the only ethical way to track the listener, and sans that ability, it should not be done, period."

January 12, 2021:

A venture capitalist, Loup Ventures, floats the idea that Apple should launch Podcasts+, a set of exclusive podcasts available to anyone with an Apple One or Apple Music subscription.

January 11, 2021:

We put together our own podcast stats which lists the most popular podcast apps used to play our podcast. But which of all the different podcast directories were responsible for each play on Friday? Can you just get away with listing your show on Apple Podcasts and nothing else? Here's the top 6:

January 6, 2021:

"You can no longer do the lazy thing of just sharing an Apple Podcasts link to your latest episode on your social channels and call it a day", says Evo Terra.

January 4, 2021:

In May 2018, Apple asked podcasters to switch to a secure RSS feed. "In the future, a secure feed will be required in order to access Podcast Analytics and submit podcasts", they said in an email. 30 months later, according to a recent dump of the Apple Podcasts database Podnews has been analysing, 85% of podcast feeds are now using HTTPS. The main podcast hosts that haven't switched: SoundCloud (38% of all HTTP feeds), and Feedburner (20%).

January 1, 2021:

Our Editor, writing in a personal blog, discusses privacy in Apple Podcasts: highlighting that the app shares rather more data with podcast hosts than you might expect.

December 31, 2020:

its business is more than just podcasts. Dirty John became a TV show for Bravo, Dr Death is under production for Universal, and The Shrink Next Door is to be made for Apple TV among many others that have been optioned for television.

December 29, 2020:

The Feed from Libsyn has unveiled the latest data from Libsyn's network, claiming Apple Podcasts was still #1 with 64.5% of all mobile downloads in November. The data relates to mobile downloads only, and the company tells us that these are not based on IAB certified downloads.

December 17, 2020:

Ghost Gate Road has made it to the number one slot in the Apple Podcasts chart in Australia, we're told by Whooshkaa. It's about Vince O'Dempsey, who has self-confessed to 33 killings.

December 16, 2020:

Audio was on everyone's radar in 2020, says Steven Goldstein in a look back at the year. "Apple is up to something," he adds.

December 15, 2020:

From Now is a new science fiction podcast from QCODE, the podcast publisher who snagged Steve Wilson from Apple Podcasts earlier this month. As supplied, their press release linked to Apple Podcasts three times (including embed code which we don't run for your privacy), and doesn't mention any other podcast platform by name.

December 14, 2020:

As of last week, Apple has a new requirement for privacy information for all apps on the App Store. Podnews is curious to know how this is going to work for podcast apps, given apps don't always know where listener data is going.

December 11, 2020:

After a year working on The Program, a fiction podcast, the author has written their learnings. We learn that Patreon is the most successful donation tool for the show; a feature in Apple Podcasts really helped; and about the pleasures of Reddit.

December 3, 2020:

Will Wondery's new owner be… Amazon? The Wall Street Journal, and Engadget, report that talks are going on, valuing Wondery at around $300m. We're cautioned that it might, all fall apart yet - both Apple and Sony looked into buying the company last month.

December 2, 2020:

For the first time, Apple Podcasts has recognised a set of "Shows of the Year". We have a full list from all major territories. Public radio dominates the winners, including NPR for Code Switch, the BBC for The Joe Wicks Podcast, and in Australia, the ABC for The Eleventh.

December 1, 2020:

Spotify says there are now 1.9m podcasts in its catalogue (Apple Podcasts lists 1.7m); while streaming data is given for music tracks (especially visible in their poster campaign), no consumption data is given for podcasts.

November 26, 2020:

Dan Misener looks into reviews on Apple Podcasts. Wednesday might be the best day to ask for them, he suggests; and people take longer to say when they don't like your podcast than when they do.

November 25, 2020:

If you're still on Mac OS Mojave, and you use Safari, Libsyn reckons Apple has broken something in a recent update. They're suggesting you use Chrome or Firefox instead.

November 24, 2020:

Buzzsprout have released their platform stats for October, and will publish these online every month from now on. Apple is now at 47%, and Spotify at 24.4% of all downloads. The data includes podcast apps, episode duration, downloads over the first seven days, and more.

November 23, 2020:

Podurama is a free, multiplatform podcast app, which syncs between different devices. We're on it. It appears to use the Apple Podcasts API.

November 20, 2020:

One for those still wondering how the Apple Podcasts charts work - "I know all the cool kids say it's ratings and reviews that get you places at Apple Podcasts. But our client (Strength Changes Everything) is currently (and legitimately) at #5 in all of Health and Fitness without a single review" says Paul Colligan. Only one episode so far, too. (We reported about ratings and reviews back on Christmas Day 2019).

November 19, 2020:

Pacific Content's Dan Misener analyses Apple Podcasts star ratings. Most podcasts have no ratings at all - but 87% of all ratings are 5-star ratings, he discovers. There's a big difference in ratings between different categories. The average star rating is 4.6. Help us be average.

November 18, 2020:

RadioPublic itself hasn't posted new content to its blog since January 31; and hasn't tweeted since February. Jake Shapiro, who founded both RadioPublic and Podfund, joined Apple Podcasts in early September.

November 17, 2020:

Apple Podcasts has launched an embeddable podcast player, allowing anyone to embed the audio from any podcast on their own website. We've added it to our list of embeddable podcast players; you can add your podcast's player by visiting your podcast's page on Apple Podcasts on the web, or the Apple Podcasts Marketing Tools website.

November 16, 2020:

Spotify is taking a bite out of Apple. Buzzsprout has shared the top podcast 'agents' on their platform. Apple Podcasts accounts for just 47% of all plays and downloads, Spotify for 24.4%, and Google Podcasts is third with 2.4%. These are the lowest numbers yet for Apple Podcasts from a podcast host. (Libsyn's data only shows mobile app downloads, and has a higher percentage of US downloads).

November 12, 2020:

On Monday, the total number of podcasts in Apple Podcasts hit 1.6m, according to MyPodcastReviews. In October, 97,181 podcasts were added, and 13,860 removed, from Apple's directory.

November 11, 2020:

Apple launched some new computers with some of their own chips in them. Big Sur, the company's latest version of mac OS, will be available to download tomorrow. We're told Hindenburg Journalist Pro is fully compatible - but be careful if you use a different audio editor. Last time around, it took Audacity six months to work correctly on Catalina.

November 9, 2020:

We reported that Wondery was up for sale on September 28. Bloomberg report that both Apple and Sony have held talks; Spotify isn't apparently interested. The asking price is between $300m-$400m; significantly more than Spotify paid for Gimlet.

October 30, 2020:

The second season of Dr Death has hit #1 on Apple Podcasts. This season is about Dr Farid Fata, who subjected over 500 patients to brutal chemo treatments they did not need, just to collect millions from insurance; and it unveils a rotten system that tried to protect him.

October 29, 2020:

Alex Jones guested on The Joe Rogan Experience, featuring anti-vaccination conspiracy theories. They've no basis in truth and threaten public health, and critics have called Jones's appearance 'disgusting'. Spotify's legal officer sent an internal memo defending the company's stance on 'diverse points of view'; Jones was kicked off Apple, Spotify, Facebook and YouTube earlier this year.

October 26, 2020:

Adam Curry writes that we shouldn't forget the listeners - asking for testing tools. A reminder that Dave Jones and Adam Curry's Podcasting 2.0 podcast is not on Apple (or Spotify).

October 23, 2020:

The University of Canberra in Australia has released Podcast Trends and Issues in Australia and Beyond: Global Perspectives. It claims that 32% of Australian news consumers have listened to podcasts in the last month; and that 42% of Australian podcast listeners use YouTube to consume podcasts (Spotify at 33%, Apple at 21%, Google at 15%). It asked 692 podcast listeners in the country.

October 22, 2020:

The electric Porsche Taycan now comes with Apple Podcasts. It's the first "full integration" of Apple Podcasts in any vehicle; the Porsche voice assistant will allow you to ask for "popular podcast episodes or shows", and it also includes the Top Charts for navigation. Listening is synched with other Apple devices. We're eagerly awaiting our review unit.

October 20, 2020:

Apple is still trying to hire an Apple Podcasts Manager for France; this position, first marketed in August, has just popped up again in a job alert email. Pourquoi personne ne veut travailler pour La Grosse Pomme?

October 19, 2020:

Who else could do "shows with music"? It strikes us that there are only a few with the right music licensing: Deezer, Amazon, YouTube and... Apple.

October 16, 2020:

Apple have sent an email to all podcasters (in fact, two differently-formatted ones) highlighting the updates in iOS14's Podcasts app that we reported on last month, some changes to the Sports category (which seem proprietary and outside of the RSS feed), and holiday submission deadlines.

October 14, 2020:

Apple has introduced "HomePod Mini", a small, $99 smart speaker. It will play podcasts, among other things - from Apple Podcasts, not Spotify. "Hey, Siri - play news from Podnews" is probably the best feature.

October 13, 2020:

Apple is to announce new hardware today at 10am PDT. The company is widely expected to announce a set of new iPhones including 5G models, and a new, smaller HomePod. ("Hey, Siri - play news from Podnews!")

October 12, 2020:

The Edward R Murrow Awards were awarded. Winners included an episode of KBIA's Show Me The State, WABE's Buried Truths, WNYC's Dolly Parton's America, KGET's The Man With A Thousand Faces, KXAN Catalyst, The Dropout from ABC News, Entercom's Pineapple Street Studios' The Catch and Kill Podcast with Ronan Farrow, and the LA Times/Wondery production Detective Trapp.

October 6, 2020:

Seeing a drop of about 3% of downloads? A reminder that, as of October 1st, Apple Watch downloads from Apple Podcasts are no longer included in IABv2 stats. Here's more from Sounds Profitable, our ad-tech newsletter.

October 1, 2020:

Lots of things broke for Apple earlier this week. While Apple Podcasts isn't important enough to appear on their system status page, the Podcasts Connect system was down for a while, and at least one podcast was knocked off for a bit. But we're back now.

September 30, 2020:

Bethenny Frankel's podcast officially launched today. Just B has already reached #4 in Apple Podcasts; Frankel is an "entrepreneur and mogul".

September 29, 2020:

Apple's spending money on podcast advertising: Magellan AI has published their list of US podcast advertisers who increased their spend the most in August. Apple spent $311,000 on advertising: according to the company, it was all for their Apple News+ product.

September 28, 2020:

Apple secretly bought Scout FM earlier this year, and promptly shut the Android and iOS app down. Scout FM, which we covered in June 2018, created podcast "stations" on various topics, basing its recommendations on listening habits, much like early Stitcher's non-stop streams. (We'd suggest its technology is being used in iOS 14's enhanced personal recommendations).

September 25, 2020:

"BBC Sounds: music, radio, podcasts" - the BBC Sounds app is "beginning to be made available" outside the UK (we don't yet see it in Australia, in either Google Play or the Apple App Store). It will replace the BBC iPlayer Radio app. BBC Sounds is the broadcaster's own app contains many exclusive shows, and was launched in the UK in June 2018. Ofcom, the UK media regulator, is reviewing BBC Sounds, amid claims that it is unfairly damaging competition.

September 23, 2020:

The Apple Podcasts app got new features with the recent release of iOS14. Writing for Podnews, John Dinkel notes that the changes could directly impact podcast listening habits significantly.

September 22, 2020:

Podnews is now on Siri's news service - on phones, tablets and HomePod. "Hey, Siri - play news from Podnews" is how to hear us. "Hey, Siri, change my news to Podnews" is how to hear us more. You'll find us in the tech news category in the US, Canada, UK and Australia.

September 21, 2020:

The Guardian: "Thousands of documents detailing $2 trillion of potentially corrupt transactions that were washed through the US financial system have been leaked to an international group of investigative journalists" — Eighteen months in the making, Entercom's Pineapple Street Studios has released Suspicious Activity, a podcast to accompany the FinCEN files, a landmark investigation from BuzzFeed News and the international consortium of investigative journalists. This is the first time that a large-scale investigation like this has been accompanied by a podcast series. It's available now.

September 16, 2020:

RadioPublic's Jake Shapiro joins Apple Podcasts as Head of Creator Partnerships, in a significant hire for the company. Shapiro co-founded PRX in 2002. New leadership for both RadioPublic and Podfund will be "announced shortly".

September 14, 2020:

Podcast listeners are listening longer, says Cumulus's Westwood One - who has published its Podcast Download Fall 2020 Report. It's their fourth annual study. Among the findings, Spotify is closing the gap with Apple Podcasts - by total listeners, it's close (22% say they use Apple the most; 20% Spotify). (Also see this data). However, 16% of podcast listeners use the site or app of the podcast itself to listen; and weekly podcast listeners are using more podcast platforms than ever.

September 9, 2020:

Exclusive: Podtrac has shared total downloads and audience, split by platform. Based on 1.5 billion US downloads from participating publishers measured by Podtrac during August, Apple has 61.1% of all podcast downloads; but when measured by total audience, Spotify is closing in on Apple in the country. Founder and CEO of Podtrac, Mark McCrery, told Podnews "Apple continues to provide the largest US podcast audience, podcast downloads and streams, and downloads per audience member. Spotify has become a popular podcast player in the US but with fewer monthly downloads and streams per audience member currently."

September 8, 2020:

The digital ad space is watching as the bottom falls out of their data collection methods. But how exactly does Apple’s Age of Privacy impact podcasting? - in today's Sounds Profitable, our new adtech newsletter, with Podsights

September 3, 2020:

Owen Grover, formerly of Pocket Casts and iHeartRadio, appears as a guest on Kinsider. Discover what he's doing now; and what he thinks of Joe Budden, indie podcasters, Apple, media, and more.

September 2, 2020:

In his podcast, Adam Curry says he's building something called Podcast 2.0. It's a new podcast that outlines an alternative to the Apple Podcasts directory. "I think we've figured out some incentive for developers," he says. He also says he'll be on the first show from Joe Rogan's new studio in Dallas.

September 1, 2020:

Advertising within Pocket Casts is sold out until November, the company says. Pocket Casts also no longer takes podcast listings automatically from Apple's directory: "Call it a hunch, but I doubt that directory is going to remain open," says CPO Russell Ivanovic. (We link to their submission page, and everyone else's for that matter).

August 31, 2020:

The IAB Tech Lab has released guidance for podcasts on the Apple Watch. As Sounds Profitable notes, this is the first time the IAB has focused on a specific platform, and a specific player. Speaking to Sounds Profitable, the IAB have also confirmed this is specifically around the Apple Podcasts app on watchOS, and not the entirety of the platform. Read on for a full breakdown of what it may mean for your download numbers.

August 27, 2020:

The IAB Tech Lab has released a guidance notice about Apple Watches resulting in inflated podcast numbers. We reported this behaviour on June 12. Any downloads to the Apple Watch will "no longer be counted toward any totals reported for the podcasting industry" from October 1. Legitimate downloads from Outcast, an Apple Watch app, may now be invisible to podcast hosts.

August 26, 2020:

In an email to podcasters, Apple Podcasts has announced that their audio search has been expanded to a number of different languages, and that their Podcaster Support website has been further enhanced. Not got it? We've got you covered.

August 25, 2020:

Привет! Bonjour! Apple is hiring for a Podcasts Editor in Moscow, and another in France. (More Podjobs)

August 20, 2020:

More visibility for podcasts from Google - Google Podcasts now appears in the app-switcher that's on every Google website. And, there's more improvements for Google Podcasts for Web, reports 9to5Google. However, Android 11's final beta, which will be the next version of Android, still does not have Google Podcasts as a default app, although Google Play Music has been removed. Apple iPhones have Apple Podcasts pre-installed, of course.

August 19, 2020:

Apple has announced Apple Music radio, which includes a number of on-demand shows from "the world’s top music hosts and artists", and three radio channels: Apple Music Hits and Apple Music Country, with the original Beats 1 station being rebranded to Apple Music 1: the live channels are available free for everyone within Apple Music. (The on-demand shows could be in Apple Podcasts as exclusives, if Apple wanted to...)

August 17, 2020:

Because podcasts hosted on Anchor are not subject to the normal Apple Podcasts approval process, these pirated copies are instantly appearing in searches using Apple Podcasts and Spotify, and apps that use that data, like Overcast and Pocket Casts. Many of the copies have enabled Anchor's Listener Support, to gain financially from their copies. None of these plays will be credited back to the original owner; and ads will not earn the publishers revenue.

August 11, 2020:

Apple Podcasts is a bit broken - random shows are appearing in Apple Podcasts's category "top shows" listings. Here's what we're seeing for business, comedy, technology or society/culture - some are in foreign languages while none are recognisably "top shows"; we get the Australian storefront, but we hear other storefronts are similarly affected (here are the comedy top shows in the UK). This apparent bug, which has been visible for at least the past three days, coincides with problems that some podcasters are reporting with Apple not updating its website with latest episodes for some shows.

August 5, 2020:

Less than 15% of podcasts within Apple's most popular Kids and Family genre include a creator or character of color on their website. Akili and Me is a new partnership between ABF Creative and Africa's Ubongo to help fix that.

August 3, 2020:

Libsyn report that Apple continues to be the #1 podcast app, accounting for 68.2% of mobile downloads. According to the podcast host, which is the largest paid podcast host in the world, Spotify is at 8.3% and Google Podcasts at just 1.3%. Sharing these figures on The Feed, Rob Walch adds: "The death of Apple Podcasts has been greatly over-stated".

July 30, 2020:

Their podcast catalogue has 1.5m shows, 50% of which launched in 2020. (Apple's data is 1.45m shows, 25% of which launched in 2020, reports ListenNotes.)

July 27, 2020:

In India, WYN Studio has received initial funding from investors. The money will help the podcast studio grow; the company's Can Inspire was a #1 show on Apple Podcasts.

July 22, 2020:

The open podcast ecosystem also does video podcasts: supported by Apple Podcasts and Pocket Casts, among others. Spotify's implementation, however, appears to be different. We've asked how it works.

July 21, 2020:

Why wouldn't you want a podcast player that looks like a terminal window? podcast-cli has been written with Go, and uses the Apple Podcasts directory.

July 17, 2020:

That new 'exclusive' Apple News Today podcast, that we reported on yesterday? It has an RSS feed after all, and has been added to some podcast apps, including Overcast (via a 'hack', says Marco Arment, though apparently the feed address is visible in iTunes desktop software). However, the RSS feed is hidden from third parties in Apple's API and its mirror URL has also been disabled: so the intention appears to be that it's an exclusive, and The Verge described it as such.

July 16, 2020:

Apple is making its own daily news show. Apple News Today, which the company calls a podcast, is exclusive to Apple Podcasts, and there's no RSS feed. It is visible but doesn't play on the Apple Podcasts website. The Verge claims it's only available in the US, Canada, the UK and Australia: the editorial, however, seems entirely US-focused.

July 15, 2020:

Voxnest claimed earlier this month that in April/May, Spotify overtook Apple for total podcast downloads in, among other places, North Macedonia and Moldova. However, the 5m people in those two countries only got access to Spotify yesterday.

July 10, 2020:

Nothing to do with podcasting, but Apple's Keynote has had an update: with a new feature to "play slide show in window", which those of us who do a lot of presenting via Zoom will like.

July 9, 2020:

What's Apple working on? A role for Senior Product Manager, Media Growth specifically mentions audio products, including podcasts...

July 8, 2020:

If you own an Apple HomePod, you might be able to change the default services it uses for music, podcasts and audiobooks shortly.

July 3, 2020:

There were 133,171 new shows in Apple Podcasts in June, according to MyPodcastReviews: that's the highest amount of new shows ever to be added in just one month. It brings the total amount of valid podcasts to over 1,250,000. However, the rate of new shows added each day has declined dramatically, suggesting the growth of new shows is beginning to slow.

July 2, 2020:

Spotify is leading Apple in more than 80 markets, according to Voxnest, who have published a mid-year version of their State of The Podcast Universe report. The report also contains details of the impact of the pandemic on listening.

July 1, 2020:

Player FM's iOS app has had an update: the popular podcast app now includes Apple Watch support, a 'relax and sleep' collection of shows, and full support for iPad.

June 30, 2020:

After WWDC, Apple executives have been making appearances on podcasts. Apple Marketing VP Bob Borchers and Product Manager Ronak Shah appeared on Upgrade; Apple SVP Craig Federighi talked on Waveform; John Gruber's The Talk Show snagged Federighi and VP Greg Joswiak. Apple Podcasts' boss Ben Cave? Not so much. We need more aloof British accents in podcasting, Ben.

June 23, 2020:

Did it work? iHeartRadio's campaign - we estimate it would cost $1.9m if they were buying it - did make a difference, it turns out. All shows saw a significant increase in the Apple Podcasts chart during the week - the chart is worked-out using new subscriptions. Ron Burgundy wasn't even charting before the ad campaign (it's in a break).

June 19, 2020:

The Apple Podcasts app is to get personalised recommendations, according to a leak. Also apparently coming: "the option for podcast creators to offer bonus content" and "new user profiles may allow you to follow friends and see what podcasts they’re listening to," a feature similar to Breaker or Swoot.

June 17, 2020:

The Reuters Institute and the University of Oxford have released their Digital News Report. It says that 31% access a podcast monthly (across twenty countries), up from 29% a year ago. The research also shows that Spotify is more popular (by total audience) than Apple Podcasts in many countries, including the US, Australia, and not entirely unsurprisingly, Sweden - Spotify's home country.

June 16, 2020:

Pocket Casts has released a new version of its popular podcast app for iOS, including standalone Apple Watch playback, a new theme, and "we even replaced Google's Chromecast dialog with our own because we, like you, got sick of them not being able to dark theme their way out of a wet paper bag." Ouch.

June 12, 2020:

Some podcast download numbers might be incorrect: and could be 5% too large, according to The New Media Show. If you use Apple Podcasts and own an Apple Watch, your watch automatically downloads duplicate copies of shows you're subscribed to when it's charging - which could be as much as 5% of a podcast's total downloads. According to the podcast, Libsyn already marks these additional downloads as duplicates, but many podcast hosts may not be doing so. In October 2018, Voxnest published that 9.4% of all downloads were to an Apple Watch.

June 11, 2020:

Pocket Casts has confirmed a report in Podnews on Jun 5 that they've been removed from the Apple App Store in China. The company tweets that they were removed "by Apple, at the request of the Cyberspace Administration of China. We believe podcasting is and should remain an open medium, free of government censorship. As such we won't be censoring podcast content at their request. We understand this means that it’s unlikely that our iOS App will be available in China, but feel it’s a necessary step to take for any company that values the open distribution model that makes podcasting special." Apple Podcasts continues to be available but only carries selected podcasts in the country.

June 5, 2020:

Podcast apps Castro and Pocket Casts have both been pulled from Apple's App Store in China. Apple Podcasts remains available, but only offers a selection of podcasts to comply with Chinese government content rules. This time last year, they removed a number of shows for, um, some reason.

June 4, 2020:

Hubl is a new podcast app that offers "the best way to find, review and share podcast episodes". It links with Apple Podcasts and Spotify, and uses the Listen Notes directory.

June 3, 2020:

The study also suggests that Spotify is now more popular than Apple Podcasts for Canadian podcast listeners aged under 35.

June 2, 2020:

A record number of podcasts were started in May. 96,537 new shows were added to Apple Podcasts, according to Daniel J Lewis's My Podcast Reviews. The previous record, 90,977, was hit in April: it's likely that the coronavirus pandemic had a positive effect in podcast launches. There are now 1,136,520 podcasts in Apple Podcasts, according to the data. (Apple Podcasts powers at least 75% of all podcast app directories)

May 28, 2020:

The Podcast Academy have posted an updated Board of Governors. Rob Greenlee from Libsyn has been confirmed as the Chair; governors include Conal Byrne from iHeartMedia, Ben Cave from Apple, Anya Grundmann from NPR and Courtney Holt from Spotify. The Board also includes podcast producers, talent agents, and studios. Google is absent.

May 26, 2020:

Android is way bigger than iPhone. ScientiaMobile's latest data shows Android phones are used by 65.1% of the world. The data, based on mobile web use, shows that the most popular phones are (for iOS) the Apple iPhone XR and (for Android) the Samsung Galaxy S9. Out of the countries highlighted, the US is the only country with more Apple use than Android.

May 22, 2020:

Apple is ramping up its push into original podcasts says Bloomberg. "The technology giant has begun acquiring two types of original podcasts, according to people familiar with the matter: one category is audio spinoffs of existing movies and programs on its Apple TV+ service, and the other is original programs that could eventually be adapted into future TV+ video content."

May 21, 2020:

Google Podcasts for iOS has added CarPlay support. It's rolling out on the Apple App Store. Of note: its useragent has changed to start GooglePodcasts/ - the OPAWG list has been updated.

May 20, 2020:

Apple Podcasts, and the apps that use its directory, is responsible for about 70% of all podcast plays. Spotify, according to the latest data from Libsyn, has 9.1%.

May 19, 2020:

Using Apple metrics (Westwood One)

May 18, 2020:

Exclusive: PodKite is to launch a new SEO service this week, aimed at improving search position within podcast players. Most people discover new shows via player searches, the company claims; the company allows you to monitor your place in keyword searches in Apple Podcasts and others.

May 15, 2020:

Apple is getting into the audio business - but not in the way you think. The company plans to add audio versions of publisher articles in Apple News+, report Digiday. They won't be available in podcast format.

May 13, 2020:

Is there a growing market imbalance in podcasting? Writing for Podnews, Libsyn's Rob Greenlee wonders if we have too many new podcasts, but not enough new listeners. He also calls for Apple Podcasts to launch an Android app. "It would be great to see Apple Podcasts get very aggressive in this area", he says. (Our Editor suggested this in March 2019, too. Great minds, etc.)

May 12, 2020:

Half of podcast consumers in China listen every day, according to the first survey of podcasting in the country from PodFest China. The most popular app is Apple Podcasts, according to the data, with Ximalaya FM and NetEase also being in the top 3; while a chat app, WeChat, is at #4. Most people listen to podcasts on public transport.

May 11, 2020:

The best-of-breed podcast app Overcast has released an update that improves the Apple Watch functionality, allowing you to stream over cellular direct to the watch. You lose the voice boost and smart speed functionality, sadly.

May 8, 2020:

Daniel Ek, CEO of Spotify, was interviewed on Bloomberg. "There will be millions of podcasts around the world, but few that are daily rituals. For us to build and invest in them, it's a much better fit by owning them than having them as a third party relationship."

May 7, 2020:

Spotify has removed a COVID-19 podcast featuring an interview with conspiracy theorist and idiot David Icke, after he tried to claim that 5G was to blame for the coronavirus, which it isn't, and then says he doubts the virus exists anyway, which it does. CNBC reports that Apple Podcasts has yet to remove the episode, however. Icke also believes that we're ruled by shape-shifting reptilians, and that the universe is made from vibrational energy.

May 6, 2020:

Why don't my podcast's full episode notes appear in Apple Podcasts? (Transistor)

May 4, 2020:

The number of new podcasts are increasing massively. Apple Podcasts added just under 91,000 new podcasts in April, according to MyPodcastReviews. By way of comparison: March had 63,000 new podcasts, the previous record; and February just 50,000.

May 1, 2020:

Spotify's continuing to increase its hold on podcasting. In February, Spotify was more popular than Apple for podcasts in Apple's home state of California, according to new data from Voxnest. Spotify's also continuing to overtake Apple in many countries, including Ireland and Australia, according to the data.

April 30, 2020:

If you're wondering: "more than 70% of new podcasts on Spotify were created with Anchor", which may be how they've hit a million so quickly after Apple. Given that some major publishers aren't on Spotify - not least, Serial and most titles from the Australian ABC - it might be accurate to say that Spotify may have over a million podcasts, but not the same 1,036,965 podcasts that are available on Apple.

April 29, 2020:

"I am a professional podcast promoter iTunes store and YouTube and providers." Think podcast promoters have gone away? They haven't. Podnews's Editor chatted with a podcast promoter yesterday - but, as he explains in a personal blog, he isn't going to unmask the podcasts who are spending money to manipulate the Apple Podcast charts.

April 27, 2020:

Apple Podcasts is currently being slow at updating new episodes: some podcasters reporting a delay of a number of days for new episodes to appear. "Our engineers are working to resolve this issue," an email from Apple says, adding "we do not have an estimate as to when the issue will be resolved". However - the delay only affects users who aren't subscribed, including Apple Podcasts Preview on the web. Your subscribers are unaffected - they grab new episodes directly from your podcast host. So everyone's cool.

April 24, 2020:

Podio is a new open source podcast player for the web. (It uses the Apple Podcasts API).

April 22, 2020:

More people are listening to podcasts on computers, according to new data from Libsyn's The Feed podcast. Total plays via computer, rather than mobile, increased by almost a percentage point to 12% of downloads. "Those changes had to do with people starting to stay at home", said Rob Walch, the company's VP of Podcaster Relations, adding that he would "expect [the figure] to drop more next month for mobile". Apple Podcasts is still the market leader for consumption, though more people are listening via Android devices according to the company.

April 21, 2020:

How can you market your new show? The creator of The Program audio series managed to get into Apple Podcast's New and Noteworthy in three different countries, as well as get promotion in Hacker News and Reddit, for their show. They've written a full look at the effect that had on the podcast's traffic, and some learnings from the experience.

April 20, 2020:

There are now more than one million podcasts to choose from in Apple Podcasts, according to the My Podcast Reviews service. The number ticked over to over a million on Saturday. 46% of those podcasts have published at least one episode in the last ninety days.

April 10, 2020:

Entercom have announced "blockbuster audience growth across its Podcast Network, which includes Cadence13 and Pineapple Street Studios", claiming significant growth across virtually every category.

April 8, 2020:

First spotted by Rob Walch on The Feed, Google Play Music appears to have finally removed podcasts from their iOS app. A note saying "for iPhone or iPad, podcasts are not available in the Google Play Music app" has also appeared on Google's help pages, though there's no helpful link to the Google Podcasts app, which has replaced it on iOS.

April 6, 2020:

Spotify-owned podcast host Anchor has quietly rolled two more improvements out to their service: 301 redirects are now available directly from your dashboard, as well as a method of claiming your podcast stats from Apple Podcasts Connect.

April 3, 2020:

We're not aware of any such policy from Apple Podcasts. YouTube demonetises all related videos by default; Medium adds a note linking to official information.

April 2, 2020:

Apple have published a curated list of coronavirus podcasts called COVID-19: Essential Listening. It's available in the US, Canada, UK, Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand, with more countries to come.

April 1, 2020:

First look: Downloads are down; listening is down more. So says Chartable, which has just published how coronavirus is changing podcast listening. Unlike other download numbers that we've linked-to so far, Chartable also has access to Spotify and Apple Podcasts listening data, which it aggregates into its platform. "Listening has dropped off much more than downloads have. This is likely because many podcast apps, like Apple Podcasts, will continue downloading podcast episodes even if they are not actually played." The number of reviews also dramatically dropped, as have downloads over cellular networks. There is a slow recovery on the way though.

March 30, 2020:

What's the future of podcasting? A paper for the International Journal of Communication, Podcasting as Public Media: The Future of U.S. News, Public Affairs, and Educational Podcasts, argues that podcasting is at threat from "platformisation", where platforms (Apple, Spotify, iHeart) control access to podcasts: retaining consumption information and promoting their own content.

March 26, 2020:

As we reported yesterday, Google Podcasts is now available on iOS, with a new iPhone app available now. The redesign is now also visible on Android, and includes full automatic downloads and new episode notifications. The announcement also promises "support for subscriptions on Google Podcasts for Web", and many outlets have reported this as having launched - we don't see any subscriptions visible as yet, though.

March 25, 2020:

A report in 9to5Google claims that Google is to release a Google Podcasts app for iPhone. It's based on a piece in Engadget, which has been removed, 9to5Google notes, because of "a broken embargo". The app will be here, according to the story: at publication time, that's a 404 error.

March 24, 2020:

Apple's App Store is to expand to support another twenty countries in 2020. That typically means new specific podcast locales, too.

March 23, 2020:

We’ve made it easier to grab “listen link” code for your podcast’s website - HTML code you can copy and paste, which opens the right podcast app on someone’s phone or tablet. (And a way to get the proper Apple/Google/Spotify buttons). Here's an example for Reply All - just search for your podcast.

March 20, 2020:

The Apple Podcasts iOS app has been updated with specific Coronavirus information in the US, reports AppleInsider. Visible in the screenshots are promotion for CNN's Coronavirus: Fact vs Fiction, NPR's Coronavirus Daily, and the BBC's Coronavirus Daily Update. Other new sections include "Cultivating Calm" and "Boredom Busters". (No change is visible in Australia).

March 19, 2020:

Pineapple Street Studios have also announced a project called Stuck at Home, encouraging kids to make their own podcast. "As part of this experiment, kids are encouraged to create their own Stuck at Home podcast featuring the content of their choice".

March 17, 2020:

Apple have republished a job opening for Product Manager, Apple Podcasts, Personalization which is a role to "build and execute a roadmap for Apple Podcasts personalization", open in Cupertino CA. (Jobs are free to post at Podjobs).

March 16, 2020:

On Friday we reported on new charts from Backtracks. On closer look, we'd note that the lists are virtually identical to the Apple Podcasts US charts, which do not measure how popular a podcast is. However, the company tells Podnews: "Backtracks Charts uses a variety of scoring mechanisms using direct data via partnerships with multiple listening platform partners, additional sources of direct data, and indirect signals to derive a proprietary podcast score which Backtracks calls a PodScore. Backtracks has significant ecosystem-wide data that the company will release over time." To our assertion that they're identical to Apple, Founder/CEO Jonathan Gill disagrees: "The charts are not identical, but we are modifying the algorithm as it is closely tracking to one partner".

March 10, 2020:

In America, ABC News plans a new daily podcast, "COVID-19, what you need to know" which launches today. (We don't, yet, see it in Apple Podcasts).

March 9, 2020:

Podcast Radio in London, a curated radio station playing nothing but podcasts, has a "special mention" featured slot every week. Last week, station boss Gerry Edwards tells us, they focused on Military Wives: The Official Film Podcast; and possibly as a result, that podcast went to #1 of the Apple Film and TV podcast ranking in the country (even beating the new Sopranos podcast).

March 5, 2020:

Music industry body IFPI has obtained an injunction against Followerschmiede, a website in Germany that allows musicians to purchase "plays". Services like these are being used, so IFPI claim, to undermine the accuracy of charts, and increase royalty payments to music creators. (Podcasting has similar evidence of those who manipulate charts and operate clickfarms to add fake plays.)

February 28, 2020:

Apple Podcasts hit 900,000 podcasts yesterday, according to the My Podcast Reviews service by Daniel J. Lewis. 50,000 have been added in the last thirty days.

February 27, 2020:

Podomatic has launched a podcast recording app for iOS, joining an Android version which they've had since mid-2019. It's on the App Store, and lets you record, publish and analyse your podcast's stats.

February 25, 2020:

What podcast buttons should you have on your website? The Apple Podcasts button, obviously - but what other ones? We have some data from our own website - and it seems to uncover the need for at least one button we bet you don't have.

February 24, 2020:

Question - we don't use Apple Podcasts. But wasn't there a way of flagging spammy or offensive reviews within the app? Has that been removed?

February 21, 2020:

Those exciting plans from Apple to make their own podcasts? Bloomberg, who started the story in the first place, now say they're just to promote their TV shows. (Last year, our Editor wrote some ideas for Apple: none of which were "make some content").

February 20, 2020:

Spotify podcast listeners prefer comedy - Apple podcast listeners prefer news - according to new research from German podcast companies Zebra Audio and Podigee. News podcasts are 23% of Apple's downloads, but just 8% of Spotify's plays. Apple and Spotify are virtually the same size in the country, according to the research, which is also analysed by NiemenLab.

February 14, 2020:

Dan Misener from Pacific Content has published analysis on the most crowded Apple Podcasts categories. As he points out, you're guaranteed a place in the Apple Podcast charts if your podcast is in the "Swimming" category: there are only fourteen there!

February 13, 2020:

The Pineapple Project has a new host: Jan Fran; and a new topic: death. "From understanding what happens in the hours after we die, to the secrets of funeral homes; it’s an insider’s guide to what is coming to all of us." (ABC Australia)

February 7, 2020:

Spotify is a prison for podcasts, says developer Peter Rukavina, who complains that you cannot export your subscribed list of podcasts out of the service. We checked - you also can't export them from Apple Podcasts or Google Podcasts. (Apple removed the export when retiring iTunes on the Mac).

February 6, 2020:

Spotify claims podcast listening on its platform has grown 200% year-on-year, and has data showing podcast consumption on Spotify leads to stronger retention and upgrades to Premium. Spotify now claims over 700,000 podcasts on its platform; Apple currently has 873,466 in their directory. Just 16% (43m) of Spotify's monthly active users engage with podcasts, though.

February 5, 2020:

Spotify is #1 again - but this time for music streaming. NotiPod links to research from Mexico, indicating that Spotify has 84.8% of the music streaming market in the country. Apple Music is second, with 6%.

February 3, 2020:

Apple Podcasts is looking for a Head of Partner Relations - "you will oversee all new and existing relationships with podcast creators."

January 31, 2020:

Apple Podcasts has sent an email to all podcasters saying that new episodes are displayed "within 24 hours" in Apple Podcasts. As we add, it's not entirely clear that this relates only to people who aren't subscribed to a podcast. (Meantime, Apple are hiring).

January 29, 2020:

Developer corner: Edge Case Special: Some podcasts are geo-locked in Apple Podcasts. The Adam Carolla Show in the US lives here, with an ID of 306390087. In Australia, because PodcastOne is run by someone else, it lives here, with an ID of 1471244702. Unfortunately, the Australian ID number fails when used as a lookup to the iTunes API, and therefore breaks our podcast pages. It isn't documented, but you can add &country=au to a lookup and it will work; but there doesn't appear to be a method of knowing what ID number is available in what country from the iTunes API, except cycling through all 28 countries. Anyway, if you've spotted that some podcasts don't work properly (in Podnews or some of the analytics websites) then this is the reason - we've no idea how to work round it.

January 28, 2020:

The Apple Podcasts directory is currently slow to update podcast episodes on their website and to people who aren't subscribed. Libsyn say Apple are aware of it. Subscribers remain unaffected.

January 27, 2020:

The world's most downloaded apps for 2019 is an interesting read: Spotify is the only podcast player in the list, and the split between Apple vs Android is worth considering.

January 24, 2020:

Little America, a show on Apple TV+, is to get its own companion podcast from Apple according to TechCrunch.

January 23, 2020:

What are the much-rumoured shows to be made by Apple Podcasts? Perhaps we have an answer today: Apple is to make original podcasts to promote its TV shows, claims an article from the Los Angeles Times.

January 22, 2020:

Exclusive: Apple vs Spotify: who is number one, really? Morgan Stanley and MIDiA have both released recent data showing Spotify could be #1 for "people", aka "unique devices" - but both surveys are based on human recall, not data. We were keen to see what the data said: so Podnews asked two podcasting companies whether they were able to work out "devices" vs "downloads". Libsyn did not reply to our email; but Chartable - which has oversight of a number of podcasts across different podcast hosts and services - has crunched the data and given a categorical, and final, answer to who is #1 for podcasting. Researchers may like to note that Chartable's "unique downloads" per app are, pleasingly, within 1% of Libsyn's reported percentages.

January 21, 2020:

Is Spotify or Apple #1? They both are, explains our Editor. Depends what you're measuring.

January 20, 2020:

Out Editor is in Paris, France, at the Salon de la Radio later this week. See a 30-minute keynote, ten things radio can learn from podcasting; and he's on two panels: Making podcasting mainstream in Europe and The future of audio under Google, Apple, and Facebook. Go get some free tickets.

January 17, 2020:

Have you ever wondered how the Apple Podcast Charts worked? Today we link to its patent application from Apple, filed in 2006. Computing popularity based upon subscriptions appears to contain all the information we already know about the chart: that it's based upon subscriptions not downloads, and that more recent subscriptions count for more in the chart than older ones (that's the equation you can see in the excerpt above). The patent application, which has been abandoned, may not be the method that Apple now uses to calculate the charts, which seem to have been significantly strengthened since there was evidence of manipulation in mid 2018.

January 16, 2020:

MIDiA Research has published a response to their podcast study we reported on yesterday. The post clarifies the (prompted) question that was asked, and says "there are many podcasts which are still available on Apple Music".

January 15, 2020:

MIDiA Research has released data apparently showing that Spotify is more popular than Apple Podcasts in the UK, Australia and Canada: and is also "within margin of survey error" in the US. The chart, reported in The Motley Fool, also shows that Google Podcasts is virtually as popular as Apple Podcasts (which is not supported by any podcast consumption data we've seen), and that Apple Music is apparently a more popular podcast app than Stitcher or Downcast. It doesn't have any podcasts in it though?

January 13, 2020:

Apple's "service revenue" was $46.3bn in their 2019 financial year from App Store sales and subscriptions to services like Apple Music.

January 10, 2020:

The Catch and Kill Podcast, which covers the systems that protect powerful men accused of terrible crimes in Hollywood and beyond, gets a full review from Podcast Review, describing one episode as "38 powerful minutes of podcasting that puts into perspective how precarious these acts were and continue to be". (Pineapple Street Studios / Megaphone)

January 9, 2020:

Elsewhere: Spotify is working on daily sports podcasts, says Bloomberg; and yesterday we reported Morgan Stanley's survey saying that Spotify now was more popular than Apple Podcasts. On Twitter, With A Side of Knowledge wondered about that, and ran a poll. Surprise!

January 8, 2020:

In a private note for investors, Morgan Stanley has published its 6th Annual Audio Entertainment Survey. The survey notes that Spotify is now the most popular podcast platform in the US, claiming 24% of podcast listeners surveyed used Spotify while 21% used Apple Podcasts. Spotify seems to be growing, rather than Apple declining. The research also claims that people are finding it harder to discover new podcasts, not easier. The survey was conducted online, interviewing a nationally representative 1,961 US adults.

December 26, 2019:

In Libsyn's The Feed, Rob Walch shared growth stats for Libsyn-hosted podcasts in Jan-Oct 2019. Listening on Apple Podcasts increased by 13.1%; but since Apple Podcasts accounts for 58% of all podcast listens, that growth accounts for 44.5% of total podcast growth in 2019. Listening to podcasts on Spotify doubled in 2019, accounting for 39.5% of total podcast growth. We reported on Libsyn's overall podcast app market share numbers in late November; Walch also clarified that almost all Libsyn shows are now on Spotify.

December 25, 2019:

Ratings and reviews do not affect ranking in Apple Podcasts. That's the analysis of Daniel J Lewis from My Podcast Reviews, who posts the above graphic, saying:

December 23, 2019:

Podfollow, a free URL that redirects your listeners to the right podcast app on their device (Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, your website) has just had its 1,000,000th click thru. The service now offers free stats as well as automatic social images and has announced more features in the new year.

December 20, 2019:

Triton Digital is to produce a podcast ranker in the US, called Podcast Reports. Already signed up are NPR, Entercom (inc Cadence13, RADIO·COM and Pineapple Street Media), Stitcher and Cumulus Media (inc Westwood One). The company is already producing a ranker in Australia, the Netherlands and Latin America, and has been producing a ranker for online radio for some time; Triton Digital uses logfiles to produce IAB certified data.

December 19, 2019:

Vox Media's Zach Kahn has joined Apple Podcasts, in the clearest indication yet that Apple may be planning original content.

December 18, 2019:

Apple Podcasts's market share tumbled by 10% in 2019, according to Podbean, which has posted a Big, Fat 2019 Podcast Statistics and Trends Roundup with all the numbers from the podcast hosting platform. The company has also posted a number of "top 10" lists based on their data.

December 17, 2019:

Spotify is now more popular than Apple Podcasts in Canada, according to new data released by Voxnest as part of The State of the Podcast Universe 2019. Spotify also became more popular than Apple in another ten countries in November.

December 16, 2019:

You can now play podcasts from Apple and Spotify on Amazon Alexa-powered speakers. Apple emailed all podcasters on Friday. Spotify followed with a blog post announcing their integration.

December 11, 2019:

Here is a look back at similar predictions from 2019, just so you can check how right our Editor was (I managed to predict Google's story-by-story audio news service, Apple's slow market share decline, and shorter podcasts).

December 10, 2019:

24% of all podcasts released in 2019 are in AAC/M4A format (the format Apple recommends). So says podcast host Blubrry, who have looked at MP3 vs AAC format files. However, the company points to M4A being the default for Anchor - and once you remove those, M4A format files only account for 4.3% of 2019's podcasts where podcasters have made a deliberate choice. One of those is ours.

December 9, 2019:

The My Podcast Reviews service, by Daniel J. Lewis, tells us that there are currently 799,482 valid podcasts in Apple Podcasts. He promises "a little gift" when it hits 800,000, which will probably be later today.

December 6, 2019:

TuneIn and Sony/Warner are both appealing a UK High Court decision made last month that has, effectively, stopped TuneIn from listing non-UK radio stations in the country. "We hope to overturn this latter point on appeal as we believe that it is fundamentally bad for freedom of expression on the Internet and cultural diversity," a TuneIn spokesperson tells Podnews, adding "the Court of Appeal will now have to grapple with this complex case, which looks at whether we should be allowed to provide our UK users with access to hyperlinks to music radio stations that are freely available on the Internet."

December 4, 2019:

Apple TV+ has a new show about true-crime podcasts.

December 3, 2019:

Apple have also published their "best of the year" lists. Anchor gets a mention in a "app trend of the year" for storytelling; TechRadar reports that they've chosen podcasts too: NPR's White Lies as "best true crime show", Carrier as "best fiction show", and 1619 as "best history show", though we can't see where.

December 2, 2019:

Apple is doubling the production rate of AirPods Pro, the company's latest Bluetooth headphones. Google's Pixel Buds were a poorly-reviewed flop (though we like ours); their Pixel Buds 2 are out in Spring.

November 27, 2019:

In the latest episode of The Feed, Libsyn report which mobile apps downloaded podcasts from them in October. Apple Podcasts is the highest, at 58%. Of note: only around 40% of Libsyn shows are published on Spotify (so the app will be under-represented in these figures). Libsyn won't publish any numbers next month, because of work they're doing on Spotify passthrough.

November 25, 2019:

Podblade has launched a $20 podcast editing package: "a low-cost editing solution that allows podcasters of all sizes to outsource their post-production without spending an arm and a leg". The flat $20 fee per episode also includes social media content, said Apple Crider, a co-founder of the company.

November 22, 2019:

Correction: as far as we can tell, the incorrect information about host images in Apple Podcasts's email last week was, itself, incorrect information from an Apple Podcasts support team member. We've reverted the amendment to our copy of the email.

November 20, 2019:

The Castro podcast app now works with the Apple Watch.

November 19, 2019:

Yesterday, we quoted Libsyn's Rob Walch about what happens if you mark your podcast as explicit: that you're removed from Apple Podcasts in many countries. Jack Rhysider, who hosts an occasionally potty-mouthed podcast Darknet Diaries, says things have changed somewhat, and that "it's hardly a hurdle now".

November 18, 2019:

There were over 11,100,000 new podcast episodes in 2018. Listen Notes have developed a new "stats" page, looking into their database of podcasts (which appears to include all in Apple Podcasts). 21% of podcasts are hosted at Anchor, and a further 11% at Soundcloud, the results show. (Some great data for any pitching documents!)

November 15, 2019:

Apple's email to all podcasters yesterday contained a set of specifications for host and guest images... which were wrong. We've amended the corrected specifications: they want square, 2400px images, not what they originally asked for.

November 14, 2019:

Apple has written to all podcasters announcing a major change: you can now hide new shows until you're ready to launch them: so they won't be visible in search until you make them appear. They've also published their holiday submission schedule and some revised updates to those selected for host and guest images. If you didn't get it, we've reproduced the email for you.

November 13, 2019:

Using a little music that you know you shouldn't? Pex, which automatically scans social media for unauthorised use of commercial music, is now automatically scanning podcasts for music. It can identify clips as short as half a second. (Here's our guide on how to use commercial music in your podcast).

November 12, 2019:

63% of the world's smartphones run Android, say ScientiaMobile, however Apple iOS slightly gained over Android in the last quarter. At least 80% of Android users have the Google Podcasts player, if not app, preinstalled; Android users can also use Spotify, Pocket Casts or other apps, but not, of course, Apple Podcasts. (We've updated our Google Podcasts FAQ today).

November 11, 2019:

Entercom CEO David Field gave the prices paid in cash for Cadence13 ($34m) and Pineapple Media ($14m) in an earnings call; that's below the reported prices at the time. The company, which owns RADIO·COM, has announced that it's to get onto Bixby voice assistants

November 4, 2019:

Apple TV+, the company's new streaming service, has a show about a podcaster. Truth Be Told airs on December 6th. (via Benjamin Bellamy)

October 30, 2019:

Voxnest claim that Spotify is now more popular than Apple Podcasts in most of continental Europe, South and Central America: Spotify claimed another six countries in September, the company says, based on listener data from the Voxnest Audience Network. The main holdouts are the US, Canada, the UK and Australia (all countries where Apple has around 50% market share).

October 28, 2019:

Zack Kahn from Vox Media adds on his personal Twitter that "we are building a billion dollar industry on late 90s tech, and it's going to really hurt us unless we start modernising", and "even the best podcast hosting providers are doing a C+/B job". We helped a podcast publisher with an issue with Apple Podcasts last week: their podcast host had let them upload the wrong sized image, and had also allowed them to upload a VBR audio file. Both of these issues are easily caught by simple software routines, and are obvious best practice.

October 25, 2019:

Bob Pittman, iHeartRadio's CEO, has been interviewed on CNBC, a US business news network. In the interview, he said that podcasting is "an extension to radio", adding that the company is encouraging everyone to get into podcasting because "we're the leader, we've got the big library and the big shows".

October 22, 2019:

Backtracks have launched a free podcast chapter editor, enabling you to add chapter points to MP3 files. (Since iOS 12, Apple Podcasts has supported chapters for MP3 files).

October 21, 2019:

PodcastsInColor looks at Apple's new guests-and-hosts feature, to see who's included. They're not, that, impressed.

October 16, 2019:

A few small tweaks to Google Podcasts on the web have been spotted. Most importantly, the service is now prominently linking to publishers' websites (rather than hidden behind a menu option as previously). (Neither Apple Podcasts nor Spotify appear to link to publisher websites at all, depriving podcasters of potential revenue).

October 15, 2019:

Plink, a service that makes smart-links to podcasts that work on any device, has unveiled a way of sharing episode-level deep-links. Their blog contains more information, with an excellently-chosen example of a podcast.

October 14, 2019:

Radio Sodoma has topped the Finnish podcast charts, with the dark comedy podcast achieving 800,000 downloads in 14 days (not bad for a podcast in a language only spoken by 5.5m people). The podcast was released on Spotify and Apple Podcasts after spending a short time as an exclusive on YLE's Areena app.

October 11, 2019:

The number of podcasts in the Apple Podcasts directory has broken 750,000 today, report My Podcast Reviews. They note that Apple added 2,200 new podcasts in just one day this week. Related: there are 2.2m new books published every year, and the NYT report that, in the US alone, 487 original TV shows aired in 2017.

October 10, 2019:

By contrast, we've had no more details on how to be part of Apple's "hosts and guests" feature, which launched a few days ago. It appears a closed and proprietary Apple service for selected podcasts.

October 8, 2019:

Apple Podcasts has demonstrated "browse by hosts and guests", showing Conan O'Brien Needs A Friend's guests (and if you're running iOS 13, you can see that too). We also found it in the desktop app in MacOS Catalina. The documentation for the feature, earlier this year, describes the image requirements but just says "these search enhancements will first be available for selected top shows in English"; we can't see any evidence of them in the podcast's RSS feed, and the guests appear not to include Conan's latest guest, David Letterman, highlighting that this may be a manual process.

October 4, 2019:

Nick Quah writes his list of the top podcast apps for Vulture. His top pick? Pocket Casts. He describes Apple Podcasts as "not a particularly good experience".

October 3, 2019:

In a talk that was praised as 'refreshingly frank', CEO of Pocket Casts Owen Grover spoke at OzPod 2019, an Australian podcast conference, earlier today. In a wide-ranging Q&A with ABC Audio Studios boss Kellie Riordan, Grover predicted a continuing decrease in Apple's influence, and said that Pocket Casts is planning for a future where there is no market leader in podcast discovery. "Spotify are helping non-podcast listeners to discover content: but we're fooling ourselves if we believe they'll indefinitely do this for the love of the medium," he said, highlighting the benefits of RSS. "We just got over what Facebook did to journalism - we don't want that to happen with podcasting." Asked whether Pocket Casts will share individual audience listener data in future: "No," he said, adding "We won't do that. Is that clear enough? No."

October 2, 2019:

A new "podfading" statistic: Apple Podcasts say they remove podcasts from their directory with technical problems, that violate rules or manipulate charts. So - how many have they removed from Apple Podcasts over the last 90 days? 23,460 according to data from podcast analytics and attribution company Chartable - that's 260 a day.

September 20, 2019:

Only 14% of podcast listens on Apple Podcasts are downloads, according to new data from Simplecast: the rest are streams. In comparison, on Overcast 87% of podcasts are downloaded first. "Podcasts apps ought to default their audio delivery to streaming", says the company.

September 19, 2019:

Breaker, a social podcast app, is now available for Android users in beta. It will import your subscriptions from other podcast apps, and is free. Here it is on Android, and on iOS. Listen to Podnews in Breaker.

September 18, 2019:

Opinion: It's the app we use, and is by far the best podcast experience on Android: so good, we bought it twice. It's here for iOS, and here for Android; the iOS version is awaiting an update to be approved by Apple. Listen to us on Pocket Casts

September 17, 2019:

Podcoin, an app which promised to reward listeners to podcasts by paying them "podcoins", has announced it will close on Sep 24. We covered its launch on Dec 17 last year.

September 12, 2019:

Voxnest's latest "Spotify vs Apple" data, which we reported on yesterday, has David Tvdon from Slovakia reaching for his own stats: while Voxnest reports Spotify is #1, he thinks the opposite. However, Czech Radio's data shows Spotify has overtaken Apple. The growth of Spotify is also highlighted in this report from WARC.

September 11, 2019:

Exclusive: The amount of listening to podcasts on the web is increasing, according to new data supplied to Podnews by Simplecast. The data represents all Simplecast shows, and shows plays from Google Podcasts and Apple Podcasts on the web. "Many podcast hosts would just credit 'web browsers' with this data," said Stephen Hallgren, CTO of Simplecast. "But because Simplecast is able to check HTTP referrers, we're also able to see how successful Apple Podcasts Preview is on the web, and how popular Google Podcasts plays are within Google Search. All these metrics are IAB compliant and are reportable through our Audience dashboard."

September 3, 2019:

Instagram appears to be temporarily banning links to Apple Podcasts, marking them as not allowed. (You should be linking to your website or a service like podfollow or plink anyway, we reckon).

September 2, 2019:

The Verge wrote a story about automated one-star ratings, covered by Podnews in July. The story has also been picked up by Search Engine Journal, who highlight "try not to let malicious reviews damage morale too much if you happen to receive them."

August 30, 2019:

A great session about how to market your podcasts is one thing - but even better when the speaker at that session used to work for Apple Podcasts. Christina Moore is speaking at a London Podcast Festival event. (Use the code LPF20OFF for 20% off).

August 29, 2019:

Singapore: local podcasts are on the rise in the island city, according to the Straits Times ($). Of note: the Malay podcast OKLETSGO is highlighted as "#1 on Spotify", and it doesn't appear to exist on Apple Podcasts at all.

August 27, 2019:

Ken Lagana has been announced as Entercom's Executive VP of Digital Sales, looking after Entercom's podcasting and radio·com business. He joins from Megaphone. The US broadcaster bought Cadence13 and Pineapple Street earlier this month.

August 26, 2019:

No word on Apple's apparent exclusive podcasts yet. But we note they have a budget of $6bn for their upcoming Apple TV+ video streaming service.

August 22, 2019:

Apple Podcasts appear to have turned on transcript search in their beta podcast apps. A search for "Google Pixel" appears to return a bunch of podcasts that have mentioned the device (albeit mainly in ad copy). Daniel J Lewis says that transcription search has been available for a while for select shows, but that they may have enabled it for many more.

August 20, 2019:

Wondery's Dr Death has hit the #1 spot in Apple Podcasts worldwide, after translated versions were released last week at Podcast Movement. They're the first to launch a set of translated podcasts across the world. (Here's how the Apple Charts work).

August 16, 2019:

A detailed study into Spanish-speaking podcast listeners has been released by Podcaster@s. Based from a self-selecting sample, it shows that Spotify is most popular, and that Apple is just as popular as YouTube for podcast listening. It also touches on ideal podcast length, attitude to advertisers, and more. (Go to the end for a summary).

August 12, 2019:

9to5mac wonder out loud what Apple's motivations are in podcasting.

August 9, 2019:

Apple have written to podcasters, letting them know that the new categories are now live, and giving some tips to maximise your show's potential on the platform.

August 8, 2019:

Entercom, a large US radio broadcaster that owns 235 stations, has bought podcast studio Pineapple Street Media for US $18m, and bought the 55% of Cadence13 it didn't already own, valuing the company at $50m, according to the Wall Street Journal. Pineapple Street Media will be re-christened Pineapple Street Studios as part of the deal.

August 6, 2019:

Spreaker Prime: Switch, Pivot or Quit is a podcast that lets you sit in with your girlfriends and chat all things career changes and challenges. These influential women often find themselves in Apple Podcasts’s curated list of “Inspiring Women.” They're using Spreaker Prime to earn money and cut their hosting costs.

August 5, 2019:

Cast Feed Validator has released an updated, v3, version of their podcast RSS validation service, which checks for a number of new issues including Apple Podcasts categories. (We've added links from our podcast pages, too).

August 2, 2019:

After nearly ten days without any categories in Apple Podcasts, the new categories are now live in the company's apps. Our own podcast's listing is correctly in the new Daily News category, in the iOS and new macOS versions of the Apple Podcasts app.

August 1, 2019:

There are now more than 731,000 podcasts in Apple Podcasts, says My Podcast Reviews.

July 31, 2019:

Magellan takes a look at advertising within the new Apple Podcasts category of true crime. The most frequent advertiser is hair-care brand Madison Reed.

July 30, 2019:

It’s now day seven without any categories in Apple Podcasts apps while the company reworks them. Spreaker has supported them since last week; podcast app Player FM has completed integration, though points out that their own categories are more detailed. Podnews podcast pages, like this for The Thing About Cars, now display the Apple primary genre (in this case, 'comedy').

July 29, 2019:

It’s now day six without any categories in Apple Podcasts apps while the company reworks them. Omny Studio and Zencast has both announced that they are supporting the new Apple Podcasts categories. Pocket Casts say it intends to support them and suggest publishers adopt them. "Apple’s leadership in the space is still meaningful and the [new] categories do feel like a good step," the CEO Owen Grover told us.

July 26, 2019:

We've learnt that Apple's previously-announced podcast categories were quietly altered earlier this month. Changes include a removal of Arts>Literature, Society & Culture>History and Sports>Outdoor; a new Education>Language Learning; Health is now Health & Fitness; Sports>Fantasy is now Sports>Fantasy Sports; Religion & Spirituality>Other was announced but has since disappeared; and a tweak from TV & Film>Aftershows to TV & Film > After Shows. We've updated our list of the changes.

July 25, 2019:

Spotify's winning the battle - enterprise podcast host Voxnest has published an Apple vs Spotify comparison for June 2019, comparing usage on the two podcast apps. Since May, Spotify has become the most popular of the two apps in the Netherlands, Germany and Bulgaria. (Earlier this year, our Editor made some suggestions about how Apple could regain their place.)

July 24, 2019:

Apple appears to be in the process of putting their new podcast categories live. They announced them at WWDC earlier this year.

July 22, 2019:

In Australia, Mamamia has launched a second daily podcast. Called The Spill, it's an daily entertainment news podcast. (It's one of four podcasts in Apple Podcasts called The Spill, incidentally).

July 17, 2019:

Apple plans to make its own exclusive podcasts. Bloomberg reports that Apple has "reached out to media companies to discuss buying exclusive rights to podcasts". It's initially unclear what this means for the iTunes API that many other podcast apps use, or, indeed, for Android users.

July 15, 2019:

Exclusive: There's been a significant increase in one-star reviews in Apple Podcasts since 1st July, according to analytics company Chartable, which tracks rankings and reviews across a number of podcast directories. Of the most one-voted, four of the top ten shows are true crime podcasts, including the #1.

July 12, 2019:

An update from yesterday: over the last three days, Obscura, a true-crime podcast, has had 258 one-star ratings from bots. While Apple are not responding to emails about the issue, they do appear to have removed the fake ratings.

July 11, 2019:

A true-crime podcast is being targeted with one-star ratings. The creator of Obscura has tweeted about his experience. After they initially said they wouldn't remove them, Apple did eventually remove a hundred obviously fake ratings, but the harasser has responded with a further 150. On Reddit, commenters believe they know who is responsible: we have no evidence for the accusations, but have reached out for comment.

July 10, 2019:

Backtracks, a podcast analytics and hosting platform, now supports Apple Airplay within its audio and podcast player. They've also posted a history of Apple Airplay if you're interested in the technology.

July 8, 2019:

The Apple Podcasts app will appear on the front page of new iPhones. The new iOS13 operating system, to be launched in September, places the Apple Podcasts app on the front screen for the first time. The Apple Podcasts app will also be on the front screen of iPadOS13. (Users upgrading won't have their homescreen apps moved.)

July 5, 2019:

The BBC Sounds app has been upgraded to add CarPlay and Android Auto support. "We've also taken the opportunity to reset our rating in the Apple App Store as today's BBC Sounds experience is very different from the one people would have had when we soft-launched it a year ago", said James Purnell in an all-staff email, seen by Podnews. The rating for the app was just 2.1 stars before this reset, with the majority of reviews, 52%, only giving the app 1 star out of five. After the reset, the app had 4.3 stars at the time of going to press. You can't reset Google Play ratings: the Android app there has 2.5 stars (ratings are weighted for recency).

July 2, 2019:

9to5mac think the Apple Watch podcasts app could be better, and give some feature suggestions.

July 1, 2019:

9to5Mac think it's time for a podcast creation tool from Apple. They give some ideas for features they'd like.

June 27, 2019:

Following our story yesterday about Anchor seeming to bypass the Apple approval process, Anchor have responded denying that's happening; and other podcaster publishers confirm that they are able to bypass the approval process. We've updated the story.

June 26, 2019:

Exclusive: Spotify-owned podcast host Anchor is seemingly bypassing the Apple Podcasts approval process, and this lets their users post tests and even illegal copyright material un-checked to Apple Podcasts and others, we've discovered.

June 19, 2019:

Via Product Hunt, and oddly not available on Apple Podcasts, Terms and Conditions is a podcast consisting of a guy reading the terms and conditions from large banks. (It's branded advertising from Current, a US bank that claims it's better than all the others.)

June 13, 2019:

WarnerMedia Podcast Network is working together with Rainstream Media on season two of Somebody Somewhere. In an interview with Podnews, GM/VP Tyler Moody explains the strategy behind the move, as well as his thoughts on Apple's new categories and what he gets out of Podcast Movement.

June 12, 2019:

Mail...kimp?! has launched "Mailchimp Presents", a set of podcasts and videos aimed at entrepreneurs. They've partnered with a set of producers including Vice and Pineapple Street Media.

June 11, 2019:

In Swiss German, Podcatcher does a full review of the desktop Apple Podcasts app. One interesting feature is called Smart Speed; it looks just to be variable speed playback (but something iTunes lacked).

June 10, 2019:

The 'iTunes Performance Marketing Campaign', an affiliate system used by many podcasters to measure promotion of their Apple Podcasts shows, is changing name to the Apple Services Performance Marketing Campaign.