Max Cutler leaves Spotify

• In another high-profile management change, Max Cutler is to leave Spotify. The founder of Parcast, he was Head of Audio Talk Shows and Partnerships, reported to oversee Joe Rogan’s contract among others. He’d posted positive thoughts on the industry recently. There’ll be more reorganisation as a result - Julie McNamara will now supervise licensed exclusives, and Bryan Thoensen will oversee third-party content partnerships. Bill Simmons will have more of a focus on podcast monetisation.

• Apple Podcasts is running a number of free virtual sessions for podcasters about the platform. “Classes include What’s New at Apple Podcasts, Setting Up Your Subscription, and Apple Podcasts Marketing Tools and Resources.”

• Podsights released the Q1 2023 podcast advertising benchmark report. It says that the average conversion rate in 2022 was 1.32%.

• In Podcastage, Bandrew Scott demos and reviews Adobe Podcast’s audio noise reduction and treatment tool. Some parts impress him, but it can sound a bit robotic, he thinks.

Moves and hires

• Charlotte Cooper has launched Stillroom, a podcast growth and marketing company. We hear the company is working for WBEZ and Gen-Z Media among others; she had worked in marketing for WNYC, PRX and BlueWire.

• Maxine Watson and Pat Younge have joined UK audio company Unedited, as part of a push to grow the company’s formats and IP.

• Podcast hosting company Ausha has a new CTO. Nicolas Defranoux joins the company from Google, according to the press release (he worked for DoubleClick in 2015). Co-founder Charles De Potter was formerly the company’s CTO; he remains as CEO of RadioKing, an online radio software company that shares a corporate parent.

Tips and tricks - with Podcast Movement Evolutions

• Courtney Kocak interviews Eric Silver from Multitude about “podcast show notes that hook listeners”.

• Here’s a “confidential and proprietary” guide from YouTube about best practices for podcasting on the platform. In spite of being called a “new” guide, it dates from mid 2021, and doesn’t yet detail any of the new podcast features in YouTube.

Podcast News

Becoming An Icon is new today from Sonoro Media: a show that chronicles the lives of Latinx artists who have left an indelible mark through the sustained brilliance of their careers. It’s hosted by Lilliana Vazquez, the first and only Latina to host E! News, and Joseph Carillo, a highly-successful and sought-after celebrity makeup artist.

A new true crime show launches today from ID. Why can’t we talk about Amanda’s Mom? looks at a cold case in Mobile AL, USA. It features Cailean, who is currently serving as a special investigator for the Mobile County Sheriff’s Office, with new evidence and surprising suspects.

From Pushkin and Little Everywhere, Other People’s Pockets launches today - asking people from all walks of life to get radically transparent about their money. How much do you really make? How in the world can that coworker afford a home – let alone a second home? It’s a weekly show hosted by Maya Lau.

Podcast ads in the wild

Starbucks has launched a thing: and has sent a push notification to every Starbucks user on their phone. The “thing” is driving users to listen to The Starbucks Daily, a curated experience from podcast app Hark. The show is hosted by Jad Abumrad. Our reader Paul tells us this could be very big, given that the app has tens of millions of installs. We think Paul needs more coffee.