Podcasting in Japan: a deep-dive

• Few people listen to podcasts in Japan. Why is that - and what kind of shows could work well in the country? In the first of our deep-dives into different podcast markets across East and South East Asia, Guang Jin YEO looks at the Japanese market: where Twitter is popular, copyright laws differ, and Amazon Music is #3.

• The Black Listener Report was published by Edison Research with SXM Media and Mindshare. The data suggests that Black Americans are more likely to listen to podcasts monthly (43%) than the total US population (38%) (though less likely to listen weekly).

• YouTube’s Head of Podcasting Kai Chuk is to speak today at the Hot Pod Summit in Brooklyn NY. We are expecting an announcement about YouTube’s plans for podcasting.

  • Mercedes is to partner with Google to bring Google Maps and YouTube into their cars. No details of the YouTube integration is available; but you can probably bet that YouTube’s focus in a car is unlikely to be video.

• The Podnews Weekly Review will be recorded live on stage at Podcast Movement Evolutions - Mar 9 at 12pm. Recordings are open to everyone, whatever ticket type you’ll have. Sam Sethi and James Cridland will have guests connected to the week’s news.

• News podcasts are highly successful. Signal Hill Insights learns more details about their audience - and what we can learn from them.

• NPR is to make 100 people, 10% of its workforce, redundant. “CEO John Lansing cited the erosion of advertising dollars, particularly for NPR podcasts, and the tough financial outlook for the media industry more generally”.

  • SiriusXM has been downgraded by investment firm Rosenblatt Securities: but it’s related to the impact of a slower car sales market on SiriusXM’s radio product.

• Podcast-to-social-media tool Wavve has launched a transcription tool. You’ll find details, and a special offer, in your email if you’re registered.

• Spotify has announced an AI-powered radio DJ for your music. It’s rolling out today for Spotify Premium users in the US and Canada. Radio analyst Matt Deegan suggests “they still misunderstand what a DJ does”.

• Inventor of podcasting Dave Winer doesn’t think much of the “podcasting 2.0” name. “I think they chose a bad name. It isn’t what it says it is. There was no podcasting 1.0. There just is podcasting. I think they should come up with another, more modest, less deliberately confusing name.”

• Further reading: Oxford Road’s Dan Granger highlighted What the New York Times Didn’t Say About the Podcasting Industry in a blog post.

Moves and hires

• Ray Harkins is now Director of Podcast Sales at Sonoro Global Media Corp. He was with iHeartMedia. He’ll be at Podcast Movement Evolutions.

• After five years looking after That Peter Crouch Podcast (three years at the BBC, two years as an independent production), George Cottam is leaving the company.

Tips and tricks - with Podcast Movement Evolutions

• Jonas Woost has thoughts on the best success metrics for independent podcasters.

Podcast News

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!

New from SiriusXM, How to Be Fine is a new self-improvement podcast hosted by Jolenta Greenberg and Kristen Meinzer. We’re told the show is for anyone who feels betrayed by the advice of wellness gurus, sick of being told to visualize their goals, or adrift in a sea of betterment books offering empty productivity promises. The show replaces By The Book.

The new season of LAist’s California Love launches today - K-Pop Dreaming, telling the story of the rise and history of K-pop in the United States, as told from the point-of-view of the Korean diaspora in Los Angeles. Hosted by Vivian Yoon, it’s also in video format on YouTube.