Infinite Dial 2024 to be unveiled at Evolutions

• The Infinite Dial 2024 (for the US) will be unveiled at Evolutions by Podcast Movement in Los Angeles on Mar 28. The gold-standard study from Edison Research is America’s longest-running survey of digital media consumer behaviour. This year, it’s with support from Audacy, Cumulus Media, and SiriusXM Media.

• Spotify for Podcasters is removing its own audio editing tools, in favour of a partnership with Riverside. Spotify users will get Riverside’s free plan, which offers up to two hours free to get going, after which podcasters will need to pay which actually offers unlimited single-track recording.

  • 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.

• Apple Podcasts is now correctly ingesting supplied WebVTT transcript files from compatible podcast:transcript RSS feeds. The transcripts appear in Apple Podcasts Connect - here’s ours vs theirs. Selecting our transcripts to be used in Apple Podcasts Connect gives an attribution in the Apple Podcasts app (which will publicly launch in a few months). We’ve updated our FAQ.

  • Additionally, downloadable WebVTT files from Apple Podcasts Connect now validate correctly.

• A public radio podcast has secured a major legal victory for police accountability. KQED’s On Our Watch has successfully argued against withholding documents about police misconduct.

• Jason and Travis Kelce are asking Taylor Swift fans to vote for their podcast, New Heights, in the iHeart Podcast Awards - which iHeart seems to be capitalising on. (One of them goes out with Swift, we hear). Let’s hope too many podcast fans don’t live in Europe, where the EU’s GDPR privacy law is just too complicated for iHeart to deal with. ¡Lo siento, fanáticos!.

• Daryl Battaglia from Triton Digital is one of the guests this week in the Podnews Weekly Review - highlighting some of the results of the 2023 US Podcast Report. “The biggest finding is a 12% growth in monthly podcast listeners over the last two years. We saw a broadening of the audience, and we’re seeing that podcasting appeals to everyone.”

• Blubrry has published its statistics report, looking at January. Spotify only accounts for 1.7% of all downloads: CEO Todd Cochrane tells us: “three of our five primary customer categories - nearly 50% of our customer base - Business, News, and Religion - drive our overall Spotify numbers down. You would not expect the Spotify demographic to connect with these categories.”

• The Maono PS22 USB interface is reviewed by The Podcast Host, and put up against the Focusrite Scarlett 2i2.

• Looking to learn how to write audio fiction? Gabriel Urbina, the creator of Wolf 359, is running an online workshop later this month.

• Clinch, a dynamic ad-serving and personalisation company, has added audio to its Flight Control tool. It offers real-time insights across a multimedia campaign.

• In New Zealand, NZME is to be the exclusive sales representative for TED podcasts.

Tips and tricks - with Podpage

• Message > Metrics, says Ozeal Debastos, reminding us to not lose sight of how our listeners feel rather than how many of them there are

• If you like numbers, though, RedCircle writes more detail about Understanding Your Download Numbers.

• How does Europe listen to podcasts? In the latest episode of Sounds like Europe, Edu Alonso, Head of Podcast for Southern and Eastern Europe at Spotify, explains how the Spotify charts work and what characteristics a podcast should have in order to be included in the rankings; and differences between European podcast listeners.

Podcast News

iHeart podcast City of the Rails, a narrative podcast about hobo life and the world of trains, recently passed a million downloads. Host Danelle Morton has posted a bonus episode made from hundreds of voicemails left by listeners who identified with the urge to just get up and leave their day-to-day responsibilities.

It’s an HR emergency! HR:ER is for HR professionals, giving them valuable insights and actionable knowledge to navigate daily challenges - and share scandalous stories. It’s from HR software and consultancy firm HRoes and produced by This Is Distorted.

If Mr Darcy – the dashing, leading man in Jane Austen’s novel, Pride and Prejudice – came to life and asked you to be his Valentine, would you say, “Yes?” Love Moderne has been asking that very question, with four new episodes - covering in “beautiful aural depth” - for you to binge before Valentine’s Day.

Award-winning podcast SNACK returns for a new season this week. In our old age, more of us are going to be cared for in our own homes by professional carers. SNACK aims to better inform workers in the aged care sector about what issues they may encounter when working with older people. Season two looks at caring for people who have HIV.

Podcast promotion in the wild

Podnews reader Chris spotted this in Chicago over the New Year. If the sticker is still there, it’s just outside the “Blowtique”, a hair salon on the corner of State and Huron. It’s for the Another Girls Podcast: “India and Gwen are your unapologetic, outspoken besties providing insightful commentary through the unique lens of both a black and white woman.”

Spot some marketing for podcasts in the real world? Hit reply and send us a (landscape) photograph.