Spotify sign exclusive deal with Joe Budden

A correction - yesterday Podnews said that Anchor podcasters “were not subject to the same approval process as others”. We were wrong: Anchor podcasts are subject to the same manual Apple Podcast Approval; although they’re all posted under Anchor’s account, which is a different process from other hosts. We’ve amended the post.

• Spotify have signed an exclusive deal with The Joe Budden Podcast (“a top music podcast and go-to listen for hip-hop and rap culture enthusiasts”). This is the first signing from the company that explicitly removes a podcast from other platforms. Music Business Worldwide reports that Spotify is focusing on podcasts “to help fix its fragile finances”; they’ve also launched another radio and hip-hop podcast, Ebb & Flow, sponsored by a vodka company; and they’ve launched a UK-based Sound Up Bootcamp; the US event earlier in the year attracted over 18,000 applicants.

• Yesterday, we covered a story about a Google app called Shortwave . Rumours: perhaps it might involve the team behind 60db which Google purchased in October, and maybe the app is about personalised short-form speech. “Shortwave”, as a name, suddenly makes sense. While Google sometimes has difficulty focusing, relax - this doesn’t sound like a third podcast app from Mountain View.

  • Google Play Music Podcasts, the company’s previous podcast attempt that only works in US and Canada, is not currently importing new episodes, due to a bug.

• Podcast Detroit has opened another studio; it now has three locations, six studios, and nearly a hundred shows.

  
  Aug 5 2023: This broken link now points to the Internet Archive.

• C-Suite Radio, a business podcast network, has signed with Panoply’s Megaphone for podcast hosting and monetisation.

• The latest episode of Unstructured has a thoughtful interview with Podcasting Hall of Fame’s Dave Jackson - touching on the effects of New & Noteworthy and the problems with podcasting’s brand being tainted by “Three guys, one brain”. Other “podcasts about podcasts” worth listening to include Radio Survivor, which reflects on Podcast Movement 2018; and, cough, ours, which is now available as daily briefings on Google Home and Amazon Alexa smart speakers.

• Auphonic, an audio polishing service that fixes levels and removes hum and noise, has announced a private beta with more control over the service’s output.

• The Radio Show (a US broadcasting event from the RAB and NAB, in mid September) will have a podcast session. Meanwhile, Westwood One expects the company to earn $10m in podcasting revenue in 2018 - they earnt $100,000 last year.

  
  Aug 5 2023: This broken link now points to the Internet Archive.

• Listicle: 15 of the best fantasy football podcasts (they mean some weird US version of football with an oval ball and padding and helmets)

Trouble sleeping? We’ve published our correction policy in our about page (which is a little different to others, because we’re primarily a newsletter and not a website). Fun times.