Apple makes a new, exclusive, 'podcast'

• 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.

• It wasn’t mentioned in Spotify’s launch yesterday, but their launch into Russia does not include podcasting. “The market for them is nascent”, Spotify told Reuters; “It’s something that will be important to us over time,” added a Spotify VP, Gustav Gyllenhammar. Spotify Russia’s Instagram account says “we’re working on it”. (Thanks, Dmitry!)

• Spotify’s lack of podcasts in Russia will probably be a talking point at СЛЫШ, the first podcast festival in Russia. It’s a free virtual event on Aug 1-2, and is added to our list of podcast events.

  
  Aug 25 2023: This broken link now points to the Internet Archive.

• Audioboom has signed a bunch of new shows to their network, including ID10T with Chris Hardwick and The Tiny Meat Gang. It’s also renewed contracts with No Such Thing As A Fish and true crime podcast Morbid.

• Acast has added a virtual storefront for the Acast Marketplace. It allows advertisers to browse and discover shows that fit their desired audience. Actually, anyone can take a look - if you want men aged 18-24 in the US who like comedy and history, The Alarmist is for you, apparently.

• Triton Digital’s podcast platform Omny Studio has enabled tools for exclusive podcasts with secure podcast feeds and players, it’s been announced.

• Elise Cooper (ex Mamamia) is now an Executive Producer for Podcasting at Nova Entertainment in Sydney.

• Writing for Inside Podcasting, Leo Laporte says he’s unhappy about what the future might hold for podcasting. “Eventually, there will be three or four companies that own all podcasts, and it will very dramatically change the kind of stuff you listen to.”

• Thinking of making a podcast app? You might want to rethink that: they’re hard. Kasey Baughan writes a good piece on why podcast apps fail, especially ones that promise social features.

Thank you to the Legal Talk Network, a podcast network for the legal industry, for becoming our latest gold supporter. You allow us to devote more time to making Podnews better for everyone. The Digital Edge, one of their shows, recently did a legal podcast about legal podcasting.

Tips and tricks - with Podcorn

• How should you design podcast artwork? Modus has some advice from a designer.

Aug 25 2023: This broken link now points to the Internet Archive.
• Growth-oriented podcast host Captivate has published tips on how to market your podcasts for growth, revenue and success. (Podnews’s Editor is an advisor).

Aug 25 2023: This broken link now points to the Internet Archive.

Podcast News

Quizzish is a new trivial quiz that you can play along with your friends or on your own. Produced by Mamamia and Gordon’s Gin, if you like pub quizzes, this seems to be “just the tonic” (we see what they did there)

ZigZag, the business show about being human, returns today: it’s part of the TED family of podcasts, and is hosted by Manoush Zomorodi who asks what is the path to a kinder, more sustainable way?

What the Focaccia?! is a popular foodie podcast, and returns today for a second season. It takes a look at all things good food, quality produce, sustainability and great recipes and tips, and is sponsored by Odysea.

Kinsider is a new media podcast hosted by Chris Peterson of Kindred Media. The first episode talks about recent mergers and acquisitions in podcasting - iHeart, Spotify, SiriusXM and Kim Kardashian West. Chris should know this space: he created and launched the iHeartPodcast Network, and worked at TuneIn.