The winners and losers when IP addresses go away

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• 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.

• Earlier today, Acast released its Q2 2021 financial report (PPT) (and also as a podcast). The company saw sales growth increase by 130% year-on-year. Total listens are up by 26% quarter-on-quarter to 880m, while average revenue per listener has grown 86%.

  • CEO Ross Adams highlighted that, were Acast measured in Podtrac, they’d be the #3 publisher in the US and the #1 global publisher.
  • CFO Emily Villatte highlighted the company’s revenue growth in Europe (174%) and the Americas (65%).
  • The company also discussed the impact on total listens of the Apple Podcasts downloads bug, which we reported in July; while that bug is now fixed, the bug will also impact Q3 numbers, they said; though it did, however, not impact revenues.

• A detailed 133-page report with plenty of data about podcasting in Germany is now available. Spotify is the most-used podcast platform for 38.1% of all German podcast listeners; YouTube 12.3%; Apple Podcasts just 9.8%. Nice tip: it uses QR codes to help the reader listen to the shows they’re writing about.

• Podcast hosting company Captivate is set to unveil a major new feature as part of their Ready, Set, Grow! podcast education summit. It’s free today at 11am Eastern, and also has guests James Marriott, Heather Osgood and Kelsey Johnson. Podnews’s Editor is an advisor.

• A variety of NPR podcasts are now on an optional paid-for podcast subscription platform. NPR Plus is powered by Supporting Cast. Shows can also be subscribed-to via Apple Podcasts (here’s Code Switch) at the same price; NPR Plus works on most podcast apps, including Google Podcasts, Pocket Casts and Apple Podcasts.

• The Podcast Sessions, a podcast magazine for Africa, is celebrating its 1 year anniversary. Here’s where to get your free copy.

• Acast Sweden has hired Frida Klevemark as their Content Director for Sweden. She joins from production company Filt.

  
  This link is no longer available, as at Sep 6 2023

• In the UK, The Audio Production Awards 2021 will be held in person on Nov 24.

• “TV documentaries” are so 2020. Now, LA Magazine tells us they’re called “visual podcasts”. We approve.

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

Tips and tricks

• Avoid burnout when you love your work - Cassie Josephs would probably recommend, after doing this newsletter every weekday for four years, that we take a break.

• On the above, our Editor has written how to auto-publish your podcast to YouTube. The advice starts with the philosophy behind producing Podnews: automate all the things, and focus on creative work, not process.

Podcast News

SmartLess is to become a TV show on Discovery+. It will air in 2022, and get behind-the-scenes access in the show’s six-city tour.

Cancelled is a new podcast from Broccoli Productions - a one stop shop to catch up on the full story of who, what, or where has been cancelled. It launches on September 6.