Podcast episodes are getting shorter

• Podcast episodes are getting shorter, says Rephonic. The number of shows over an hour long are becoming less common, and 37 minutes appears to be the sweet spot.

  • We’ve also updated our page How long should a podcast be? with this new data

• Podcast analytics platform Magellan AI has announced a new attribution tool. The service enables insights into campaign performance, pacing and success within the Magellan AI dashboard.

• Are European telcos harnessing digital audio’s full potential? WARC and Spotify have released research on how digital audio channels are being adopted within the media mixes of European telecom brands. While digital audio has over 17% share of total media consumption in the UK, France, Germany, Italy and Spain, the report claims that the spend on digital audio as a percentage of telcos’ total spend in 2021 was below 0.6% in each market. The report is a free download here.

• Podscribe has announced a third-party impression and verification tool. The prefix service offers placement verification, automation and brand safety monitoring.

• Twitch, a streaming video platform, is to change the money it pays out to larger creators. Subscription revenue had been split 70/30 in favour of premium content creators; but, those creators will get the standard 50/50 split next year after their first $100,000 of earnings. The company, which is owned by Amazon, claims it has high bandwidth costs.

• YouTube has announced Creator Music, a music licensing service for YouTubers. Some tracks are available for purchase; others available as a rev share. The company has announced indie record labels it is working with: it’ll launch in Q3/22 in the US only, and more widely next year. “Creators have told us, time and time again, that finding the right song isn’t the hard part. It’s actually figuring out how to license it,” said Amjad Hanif, VP of Creator Products at YouTube.

  • A glimpse into the complex world of music licensing for podcasts is in this interview from Dec 2021.

• Triton Digital published the New Zealand Podcast Ranker for August. The Mike Hosking Breakfast from iHeart NZ is the new #1 show; iHeartRadio is #1 for podcasts in the country. An incomplete ranker, Triton Digital does not measure RNZ or Spotify.

  • A new set of data for the US will be published here at 9am Eastern.

• Spotify Studios France has announced its slate of podcasts for Q3/22. Coming Out is, um, coming out as a book, while their 18+ Hot Line show will go on a live theatre tour.

• BAM Strategy has signed with Sounder for media strategy, planning and brand safety for national advertising campaigns. It’s the first major agency partnership for the platform.

• Happy 20th birthday to Rogue Amoeba this month. The software company makes products like Audio Hijack (which allows you to capture audio from anything on your Mac), and Loopback (which lets you route and process audio). They’re celebrating with 20% off everything until Sep 30.

• Google Analytics “cannot be used lawfully”, says the Danish Data Protection Agency. Austria, Italy and France have also said it’s illegal to use without a reverse proxy. (Podcast prefix analytics services can work the same way).

FYI: We have updated our privacy policy to highlight our use of the Open Podcast Prefix Project.

Moves and hires

• Bobby Bones, the founder of the Nashville Podcast Network, has signed with UTA.

Tips and tricks

• Launching a podcast? Try these 14 tips for greater exposure (Fast Company)

Podcast News - with Lemonada Media

From Lemonada Media: Good Sex asks duos of all types to open up to each other about pleasure, intimacy and what turns them on. Listen to hear intimate chats and playful moments between friends, lovers and everyone in between.

The Joe Cole Cast from BT Sport, hosted by Audioboom, is fascinating to watch on YouTube. It’s recorded using two Shure MV7 microphones that are a) too far away, but possibly more importantly, b) aren’t plugged in. To anything. At all. How does it work? How can we hear them, Nick Hilton wonders?

Modem Mischief has released a three-part series on Wikileaks founder Julian Assange. The series focuses on the rise of Wikileaks, the impact of whistleblower Chelsea Manning and Assange’s arrest and incarceration. It also shows how Wikileaks changed the world.

From The Kyiv Independent, Power Lines: From Ukraine to the World debuts today, and asks - what does it mean to be a citizen of Ukraine, a country whose enemies claim has no right to exist? What role does it play in the contentious struggle between the world’s old and new power structures? What is the war’s impact on global food security, and could cutting the Russian energy lifeline rewrite the global economic order? And what does Russia’s possible terrorist status mean for the future of international relations?

The Avon Power in Ageing Podcast Series launches today. Andrea Thompson, Editor-in-Chief of Marie Claire UK, meets five talented women from the world of beauty, media and business. They share their positive experiences of life after 40, what impacts their sense of power as they age and their changing attitudes to beauty.

Launching today is The Randy Rainbow Podcast - new York Times bestselling author and four-time Emmy-nominated musical comedian Randy Rainbow brings his unique flair to a weekly show podcast interviews, sketches, and musical performances. Guests include Sean Hayes, Carol Burnett, Josh Gad, Jon Cryer and more.

Heavyweight returns for season seven today. Hosted by Jonathan Goldstein, today’s episode has a mysterious story about a cryptic letter a woman named Sara received from someone with the same name as her, claiming to be her childhood best friend. The only problem is: Sara doesn’t remember this person. At all.