How should we replace the Apple Podcasts Chart?

• The Apple Podcast Chart is screwed. How should we replace it? is an editorial from Podnews’s Editor, James Cridland; highlighting some recent activity around manipulation of the chart, including this Twitter thread from Kevin Goldberg.

The question is whether we can get a truly global replacement for the Apple Podcast Chart — one less susceptible to being cheated, one more representative of the industry as a whole, and one that is just as accessible for passion podcasters as for VC-backed podcast publishers.

• Spotify has announced Sound Up Bootcamp Australia, for aspiring podcasters who identify as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islanders to take part in a four-day residential podcasting workshop to be held in Sydney on November 26-29. Sound Up Bootcamp US received over 18,000 applications.

• Midroll has released the newest version of the company’s listener survey. 81% of their listeners pay attention to podcast ads; 72% of people who’ve listened to podcasts for more than four years have bought from advertisers. There’s lots more data.

• Anchor has a new Head of Content Partnerships: Armand Wilson.

• PodcastWebsites have a new Head of Marketing: Jessica Kupferman.

• Jacob Weisberg is leaving Slate - probably best known to podcast listeners as the co-host of Trumpcast. He’s off to work with Malcolm Gladwell’s new audio venture.

• Acast podcasts are now available for distribution on Spotify, the company has announced. We understand that Acast ads will benefit from “passthrough”, so Acast can still use dynamic ads in their content, rather than Spotify caching all their audio.

• Your Museum Needs a Podcast is a book from Hannah Hethmon that claims it’s “A Step-By-Step Guide to Podcasting on a Budget for Museums, History Organizations, and Cultural Nonprofits”. At the time of writing, the book is free on Kindle.

  
  Aug 6 2023: This broken link now points to the Internet Archive.

• Memo to folks in radio: this sort of thing won’t win you any friends. 🤦

Podcasts

The Sicario Effect focuses on Jhon Jairo Velasquez Vasquez, alias “Popeye”, who was Pablo Escobar’s trusted lieutenant and chief sicario (assassin): killer of at least 300 people and now… a social media star. (Exclave Media / Libsyn)

The Argument is a new podcast from the New York Times, starting on Thursday. “Our goal is to discuss and debate the country’s biggest issues each week, in ways that sharpen our own thinking and clarify yours.” (ART19)

Conan O’Brien Needs A Friend is a new weekly podcast from the US late night show host. It describes itself as “unboundedly playful”. (Earwolf / TeamCoco / ART19)