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Manuela: This is The Download from Sounds Profitable, the most important news from this week and why it matters to people in the business of podcasting. I’m Manuela Bedoya. Shreya: And I’m Shreya Sharma.This week: Podcasting a ‘bright spot’ at SXM Media, Amplifi Media CEO counters ‘jarring headlines,’  new Black Podcast Listener Report from SXM and Mindshare, and the state of Google in podcasting.Let’s get started.Podcasting remains ‘a bright spot’ at SXM MediaManuela: ‘Tis the season of quarterly earnings calls. It seems like we get a batch of these every three months! SiriusXM has published their Q4 and full-year results for 2022. Overall the company saw a 4% year over year increase in revenue, hitting 9 billion dollars. The company shouted out its agreements with, as the official copy puts it, “podcast powerhouses” like Crooked Media, Freakonomics, and a 24/7 original comedy channel captained by Conan O’Brien’s Team Coco. Podcasting is on the mind at SXM. CEO Jennifer Witz spoke highly of the company’s podcasting arm during the call. To quote fhttps://d1io3yog0oux5.cloudfront.net/_a9fb3e04db36529ff47846b646f7e89e/siriusxm/db/2245/21302/file/SIRI+Q4+2022+Earnings+Release+vF.pdf“In a challenging ad market, podcasts continue to be a growth opportunity for us. This past quarter, we expanded our podcast offerings while doubling down on the shows that have proven most successful with five of the top 20 shows in Edison Research's top 50 podcast rankings, the most of any network.” Witz went on to say podcasting was a bright spot for the industry overall and SXM in particular, driving their 34% increase in off-platform business in 2022. We’ve said it before and will say it again: it’s a good day to hear good news in podcasting. Podcasting is doing fine; thank youShreya: Last week an https://rainnews.com/steve-goldstein-05132022-2/ was published on RainNews, built to assuage fears over recent doom-and-gloom media coverage. A quote from Goldstein’s opening: “If you are reading the headlines about podcasting, you might be a little nervous. There has been a lot of confusing and contradictory chatter about what the drop in new podcasts in 2022 means. Has the podcast bubble burst? Are podcasts on the way out? Not likely.”The piece puts to bed the air of uncertainty as recent reports show a decrease in active podcasts. Goldstein points to the marked increase in podcast production at the beginning of the pandemic, along with air fryer sales, used car sales, and views for cooking videos on YouTube. Now the https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Ay5GqJwHF8 era of podcasting is over. Companies can no longer invest with the philosophy of “if you build it, they will come.” Which leads to Goldstein’s conclusion. Quote: “Just like all media, the podcast space is dynamic, exciting and rapidly evolving. It’s full of possibility and wonder. We just need a little more rigor and a little less throwing spaghetti against the wall. The next generation of podcasts will likely have greater research, focus and muscle behind them. Companies that produce and promote fewer high-quality podcasts will be better positioned for optimal growth. So, let’s get past the jarring headlines.“SXM Media and Mindshare publish Black Podcast Listener Report 2.0Manuela: SXM Media is back with the second edition of their https://www.sxmmedia.com/insights/what-brands-need-to-know-to-reach-black-podcast-listeners-in-2023. The study is the result of over 2,500 online interviews with Black and/or African American adults in the United States during September of last year. According to SXM’s footnotes, the data was weighted for age, sex, census region of the US, and the Edison’s Infinite Dial 2022 podcasting listening statistics. Among the findings are some promising results for advertisers. From the SXM blog post: “The best way to win over Black podcast listeners is to run ads on shows that represent their voice, culture, and point of view. Black audiences who have listened to a podcast with a Black host in the last month are more likely to take action than those who’ve never listened to a podcast hosted by Black talent.”82% of respondents would consider a brand if they heard their ad on a podcast with a Black host, as well as 78% saying they would purchase said brand. The recap article ends by encouraging brands who set aside ad budget to target Black audiences during February for Black History month to continue that spend throughout the year. From the article: “Like so much of the population, Black audiences are listening to podcasts—and, as you’ve learned, they’re leaned-in and here for ads that support the shows they love.”  The State of Google and PodcastingShreya: Continuing the trend of earnings calls, let’s talk Google. It was a mixed bag in this year’s Q4 earnings report. Parent company Alphabet reported a 0.7 billion increase year over year in total revenue for Q4 2022. According to https://www.insiderintelligence.com/content/google-misses-mark-q4-setting-up-challenging-2023-digital-advertising?utm_id=eDaily+2.3.2023, this 1% increase falls short of the anticipated revenue by nearly half a billion dollars. https://www.adexchanger.com/online-advertising/alphabets-q4-ad-spend-pullback-got-worse-with-more-hurt-to-come/?oly_enc_id=7865D1013734B0R, breaks down the more Google-relevant numbers: “YouTube advertising was down from $8.6 billion to $7.9 billion, while the Google Display Network decreased by almost $1 billion YoY. Net income (which is to say, profit) dropped even more steeply, from $20.6 billion in Q4 2021 to $13.6 billion.” Alongside the earnings, there has been discussion of Google and YouTube’s investment into podcasting as the search engine giant retools podcast searching. Since 2018 Google has displayed individual podcast episodes and a play button whenever searching for a specific podcast. https://podnews.net/update/google-podcast-disappearsthe feature was removed. James Cridland’s coverage in Podnews at the time also noted the Google Podcasts app had not received any feature updates in eighteen months.Now even the carousel of Google Podcast links in searches for podcasts is going away, but will be replaced with a new feature called What to Podcast. Ihttps://www.youtube.com/shorts/j0IFUwhzB4g, the new feature appears to add a new section to the top of search results that shows podcasts relating to the search term. While not as easy as a play button and episode list, it does serve as a funnel to direct foot traffic into podcast apps. Meanwhile, earlier this month, YouTube launched ad monetization for YouTube Shorts. Previously, the program had operated on a TikTok-esque fund divvied between creators who met certain engagement goals. Now any account with over 1,000 subscribers and 10 million Shorts views in the previous 90 days can earn ad revenue at a split of 45% to them and 55% to Google. https://digiday.com/marketing/in-the-platforms-arms-race-for-creators-youtube-shorts-splashes-the-cash/ notes this is not as attractive a revenue split as similar programs at Facebook and TikTok, but the YouTube Shorts equivalent has a lower barrier to entry for newer accounts. In this week’s earnings call, Google Chief Business Officer Philipp Schindler spoke on CTV, YouTube being at the top of Nielsen’s measurement of US streaming watch time, and content integration. Tuesday’s issue of Ben Thompson’s Stratechery points out it’s clear YouTube is dreaming of becoming a media streaming aggregate with the implementation of Primetime Channels on top of existing offerings like YouTube Music and NFL Sunday Ticket. From Stratechery: “The idealized future is one where YouTube is the front-door of all video period, whether that be streaming, linear, or user-generated.” With all their investments in YouTube and gentle downgrade of podcast presentation in the search engine, it feels like Google is becoming gently insistent podcasting’s round peg will be expected to conform to the square hole of their media platform. Podcasting likely isn’t going to come to YouTube as we know it, podcasters are simply incentivized to become YouTubers.Shreya: Finally, it’s time for our semi-regular roundup of articles we’re calling Quick Hits. These are articles that didn’t quite make the cut for today’s episode, but are still worth including in your weekend reading. This week: https://digiday.com/media/media-briefing-the-case-for-and-against-monthly-and-annual-subscriptions-in-the-battle-for-retention/ by Kayleigh Barber for Digiday. An excellent breakdown of the current debate between annual vs. monthly subscriptions, how they affect churn, and detailed pros and cons for both options. https://www.edisonresearch.com/2-1-2023-weekly-insights-podcast-reach-among-13-34s-in-the-u-s/ Of all people aged 13-34 in the US, one third listen to podcasts every day. Manuela: And that was The Download, brought to you by

It’s 2023! Sounds Profitable has a whole new look, some new team members, and we’re looking ahead towards a year packed with value for the audio and podcasting industries.Links:Bryan BarlettaArielle NissenblattManuela BedoyaThe DownloadSounds Profitable: Narrated ArticlesSquadCastCredits:Hosted by Bryan Barletta and Arielle NissenblattSounds Profitable Theme written by Tim CameronEdited by Reece Carman and Ron TendickAssembled by Spooler MediaHosted on Omny StudiosAdditional help from Gavin Gaddis

This week Bryan Barletta discusses Spotify's streaming ad insertion, what it means for their future, and how it could better the podcast industry overall. Credits:Written by Bryan BarlettaEdited by Tom WebsterProduced with Spooler.fmHosted with ART19Sounds Profitable theme written by Tim CameronSounds Profitable: Narrated Articles is a production of Sounds Profitable. For more information, visit soundsprofitable.com.

This week: Podcast Ad Spend Isn’t Slowing Down, IAB CEO Airs Beef with Apple, Several podcast companies are hiring, Brands Seek Alternatives Amidst Digital Clutter, and an updated edition of The Podscape is live.Open Podcasting PositionsManuela:In light of recent layoffs in the podcasting space, we would like to take a moment at the top of the show to highlight some companies that currently have positions seeking applicants. JAR Audio is hiring a full-time Audience Growth Specialist Wondery is currently hiring seventeen full-time positions, 15 in the US and two in their UK office in London.And Magellan AI is currently hiring for the positions of Account Executive, Measurement Success Manager, and Sales Development Representative.Podcast ad buyers have yet to see a slowdown Shreya: Yesterday, Digiday’s Sara Guaglione published a piece detailing how solidly podcasting has handled the much-debated recession. But to get to the good, we gotta hit the bad. As Guaglione points out, ad spending overall has taken a hit recently. Last week Insider Intelligence writer Arielle Feger reported ad spending in the US fell 12.1% in December, making it the sixth consecutive month ad spend has gone down. Insider Intelligence has cut five billion from their 2023 US digital ad spending forecast, bringing it down to 278.59 billion. Now for the good news; Guaglione is finding that decline hasn’t sunk into podcasting. Four buyers spoke with Digiday and report their client’s budgets aren’t getting cut, and they see an increase in podcast ad spend. Employees of Horizon Media, Ocean Media, and CMI Media Group report increased spending on podcast ads, often from clients who are backing down on ad spend in other forms of media. The piece reconciles increase in ad spend with recent industry layoffs, cancellations, and cost-cutting with a proposal from Elli Dimitroulakos, Acast’s global head of ad innovation: production houses are shifting away from multi-million dollar minimum guarantee signings. As headline-grabbing pandemic deals begin to end, small-to-midsize podcast inventory rises to take its place with inviting prices. “The buyers Digiday spoke with said there is plenty of ad inventory available despite the recent reports that investment in new and existing shows may be decreasing.” It’s a good day to hear good news in podcasting. IAB CEO Airs Beef with Apple, Lands MeetingManuela: Things have gotten interesting with the IAB and Apple. Last week, during the IAB Annual Leadership Meeting, CEO David Cohen took to the stage with a prepared speech titled “It Starts Here.” A speech so vitriolic it prompted a joint response from the ANA and 4A’s to criticize its tone and “polarizing political rhetoric.”The first segment dedicates multiple paragraphs to proposing the FTC, members of the Biden administration, and politically-opposed members of Congress are funneling ‘dark money’ into a common goal of destroying the advertising industry under the guise of controlling ‘Big Tech.’ Cohen then transitions to Apple. From the speech: “After years of failing to build a significant market for ads in Apple Music, in Apple TV, and on the iPhone, Apple has decided the next best thing is to stop anyone else from making money in advertising. That’s why they are the Poison Apple.”The crux of Cohen’s issues stem from App Tracking Transparency and the billions of dollars of ad revenue it has destroyed since Apple deployed the feature. Attention is given to both the damage ATT has done to third-party advertisers and the fact first-party iOS apps aren’t given the same treatment. From Cohen’s quote given to AdAge’s Garett Sloane:  “So, we want to call it out for the hypocrisy that it is, and we want to invite them back to the table.”In his postmortem interview with Ryan Barwick, Cohen announced that since the Poisoned Apple speech, Apple has reached out to the IAB to schedule a meeting in February. Whether the meeting will be productive or not remains to be seen, as it was spawned by a speech with digs like, and I quote: “Apple will try to smother the advertising industry just like they did to the recorded music industry. We can’t sit back and watch that happen. “ The fact a meeting has been booked is a step in the right direction, regardless of how it was achieved. Whether or not Apple will have any motivation to re-engage with IAB podcasting groups remains to be seen. Brands Seek Alternatives Amidst Digital ClutterShreya: Last Thursday Julian Cannon, writing for Digiday, published a piece covering recent examples of companies recontextualizing print advertisements. “Last month, General Electric took over The New York Times’ print advertising for a day throughout the news, business and arts sections of the paper amounting to 22 full-page color ads as well as five partial pages.”Not only was this an impressive buyout, it was the first of its kind for the Times. It’s also the latest in a series of big plays as marketers embrace out-of-home advertising and the freedom from on-screen clutter that can come with digital. Senior partner and co-head of marketing and sales at Prophet Mat Zucker explains the appeal of a full-page newspaper ad in 2023:“Full-page ads command attention and gravitas for the message. There’s no need to fill the space but the statement says we mean what we’re saying and it owns the space preventing clutter from other marketers or messages which could cloud the message or distract from it.”Every ad in podcasting is full-page, from the perspective these marketers are aiming for. And many podcasts explore full or single-episode sponsorship opportunities. What General Electric sought in newspaper, podcasting can offer them, along with the fact podcasting has a bit more sex appeal than print. Podscape 2.0 is here.Manuela: Before we get into Quick Hits, we have a story to quickly revisit. After some wonderful feedback from the industry the second edition of The 2023 Podscape, a collaboration between Magellan AI and Sounds Profitable, is now available for download. The Podscape, a sizable infographic, aims to give a birds-eye view of podcasting that takes inventory of companies, agencies, services, and anything else that could be classified as podcasting. The current edition is available for free download now on Magellans’ Podscape page. Shreya: Finally, it’s time for our semi-regular roundup of articles we’re calling Quick Hits. These are articles that didn’t quite make the cut for today’s episode, but are still worth including in your weekend reading. This week: Marketers Predict Programmatic Advertising Spend in Podcasts to Triple by 2027, Acast Study Finds, a press release provided via Podnews. While the future might be interesting, what matters now is we have a new report from a company that prioritizes programmatic in podcasting so it can be valuable for those considering its possibilities.Understanding podcasts in East and South East Asia by Guang Jin YEO for Podnews. The first publication in a multi-month series covering the region’s podcasting and its opportunities. Country overviews for Japan and South Korea are currently available. Nielsen to Shop Edison Research Data by the Podcast Business Journal. A brief explanation of the announcement that Nielsen will start marketing Share of Ear and Podcast Metrics to advertising agencies. Two notable contenders in the space working together to lend the industry further credibility. About three-quarters of people who plan to watch the Super Bowl said they’re excited for the ads, research says by Alyssa Meyers. It’s early February, which means we’re bound by advertising-adjacent tradition to share a story about how much audiences love Super

This week Bryan brings you a feed drop from Marketecture.tv, featuring his interview with Ari Paparo. This episode marks the beginning of a partnership between Marketecture and Sounds Profitable! Look forward to interviews conducted by Bryan himself in future on official Marketecture channels, as well as Sounds Profitable DeepDives on the Sounds Profitable YouTube channel. From the original description: In this conversation with Ari Paparo, Bryan Barletta provides an overview of the audio advertising industry and its enabling technologies. After providing a level set on the size and maturity of the podcast ad vertical, he describes the mechanics of audio ad buying, serving, and measurement. Bryan also discusses the market dynamics in the podcast space, led by enterprise players like Spotify, IHeartMedia, and Triton Digital which operate their own ad tech platforms.

This week Tom Webster demonstrates how even seemingly small pieces of data can have big implications if given the right context and a story. Credits: Written by Tom WebsterEdited by Bryan BarlettaProduced with Spooler.fmHosted with Omny StudioSounds Profitable theme written by Tim Cameron Sounds Profitable: Narrated Articles is a production of Sounds Profitable. For more information, visit soundsprofitable.com.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week: Spotify layoffs, TikTok Podcasts feature spotted in the wild, exclusivity deals seem to be  losing luster, and Buzzsprout launches premium subscriptions. Spotify lays off six percent of workforce.  Manuela: We start today on a dour note, but it’s the largest story to happen this week and bears covering. This Monday Spotify CEO Daniel Ek announced the company is downsizing six percent of its workforce. Chief Content and Advertising Business Officer Dawn Ostroff is also leaving the company. https://variety.com/2023/digital/news/spotify-layoffs-dawn-ostroff-exiting-1235499118/ does the math on what six percent actually means.“The layoffs will eliminate nearly 600 jobs; Spotify most recently reported having 9,800 full-time employees worldwide as of Sept. 30. The company estimated that it will incur approximately €35 million-€45 million in severance-related charges.” In the https://podnews.net/update/spotify-job-losses, editor James Cridland notes that in addition to the layoff announcement, Spotify’s job website has removed all open full job positions. As of this writing the site only has 23 open positions, all of which are internships. From Spangler’s article:  “Employees who are getting laid off will on average receive about five months’ salary in severance payments, per Ek’s memo. In addition, all unused vacation time will be paid out to any departing employee, and all terminated employees will be eligible for outplacement services for two months.” Ostroff was a big name behind a lot of Spotify’s big-ticket podcasting acquisitions. Between her departure and the overall downsizing, this news seems to signal Spotify is down-shifting into treating podcasts like it has treated music. It’s not necessarily the end of Spotify expanding into podcasting, but they likely will be focusing on expansion without owning content.  New TikTok Podcast feature appears Arielle: Last Wednesday https://www.businessinsider.com/tiktok-testing-podcast-tool-feature-for-background-listening-2023-1 published new details in the months-long windup to TikTok officially getting into podcasting. As covered as far back as the October 10th episode of The Download, there has been a breadcrumb trail of evidence the social media platform has intentions of launching some form of podcast listening application. In December of 2021 TikTok users were prompted to complete a survey gauging user interest in both listening to podcasts and creating podcasts. In May a trademark was filed for an application called TikTok Music, which listed podcasts as a form of audio that could be played in-app.  Then, this last October, Podnews got word bots associated with TikTok’s parent company were spotted scraping publicly-available RSS feeds. Clearly TikTok was up to something. Now, Business Insider has discovered an unannounced feature has been added to some TikTok accounts allowing users to play video hosted on TikTok as a podcast, a distinction which allows users to browse other apps or lock their phone while the audio continues to play. This is a similar functionality to one YouTube has had for Premium subscribers for years and last year was testing enabling it for all users to promote podcasting listening in certain markets. As Bradley and Whateley’s reporting suggests, once podcasts are implemented, TikTok could be primed to become a serious Spotify competitor.  Exclusivity deals lose appeal Manuela: Last Friday Tyler Aquilina , writing for Variety, published a piece that became somewhat prescient in hindsight: Circling back to the topic of podcast companies expanding by acquiring podcasts: https://variety.com/vip/podcast-exclusivity-is-quickly-becoming-an-outdated-strategy-1235495652/. From the intro of the article: “If it’s still too early to declare platform-exclusive podcast deals dead as we move into 2023, it’s becoming ever clearer that this business model is likely not long for this world.” Aquilina’s piece presents several data points suggesting the exclusive podcast strategy, most typified by Spotify acquisitions in recent years, is falling out of favor. The article cites reported frustrations from producers who signed big-name deals and went exclusive, including the Obamas choosing not to renew their exclusivity deal with Spotify last year.  One interesting data point is that of the Rogan Twitter Bump, the short-term engagement boost relatively smaller guests on The Joe Rogan Experience get in the week after appearing on the podcast. According to data collected from Social Blade by The Verge, JRE guests with fewer than 500,000 Twitter followers started to experience far smaller influxes of new followers starting December 2020, the month JRE went Spotify-exclusive. Conversely, podcasts that leave exclusivity to wide release are reporting more success in open podcasting. Aquilina reports he was given data from Acast that shows Spanish-language podcast Se Regalan Dudas has seen its listens increase 56% over their first year after leaving Spotify exclusivity. From the end of Aquilina piece: “Podcasting remains a growth business, even if that growth is decelerating. But as in any maturing market, business practices must shift with the times — and in this case, that means the walled gardens are going to start opening up soon.” Buzzsprout to implement premium subscriptions Arielle: Back on January 12th we reported on Apple launching Delegated Delivery, a feature from which several podcast hosting providers can allow their users to upload content to their Apple premium podcast from the dashboard of said host.  The initial rollout included  Blubrry, Libsyn, Triton Digital’s Omny Studio, and RSS.com, with Acast, ART19 and Buzzsprout named as the next in line to get the feature in the coming months.  In a surprise twist, this week https://www.buzzsprout.com/help/183-subscription-set-up. Dubbed Buzzsprout Subscription, the feature allows podcasts hosted on the platform to process payments from subscribers. Currently, users can choose between a Patreon-style pricing structure that gives audience members custom incentives, such as a shoutout in an episode, to a more Apple-like paywalled feed.  Revenue collected from the subscriptions can be applied to pay for Buzzsprout hosting fees or converted to cash via a Paypal transaction. As it stands, Apple Podcast Subscriptions pay out 70% of their revenue for new subscribers, with the revenue share going up to 85% payout for subscribers who have stuck around for a full year. According to Tuesday’s Podnews, Buzzsprout Subscriptions is a flat 85% payout. With this new feature implementation, as well as the availability of Buzzsprout Ads, it’s becoming far more difficult to think of a reason why someone hosting on Buzzsprout would need to leave their dashboard to accomplish something for their podcast elsewhere online.  Quick Hits Arielle: Finally, it’s time for our semi-regular roundup of articles we’re calling Quick Hits. These are articles that didn’t quite make the cut for today’s episode, but are still worth including in your weekend reading. This week:  https://www.adexchanger.com/online-advertising/adtheorent-is-using-machine-learning-to-predict-effective-inventory/?oly_enc_id=7865D1013734B0R by Allison Schiff for AdExchanger. In which Schiff breaks down a new application that uses machine learning to score programmatic inventory based on probability the impression will lead to a desired outcome. Application of this tool to podcasting, or any media, would be incredibly interesting.  https://www.marketingbrew.com/stories/2023/01/20/here-are-the-brands-starting-2023-with-new-cmos?cid=30311436.174760&mid=4afb33bb7ffe284d840660fb3604ff60 by Minda Smiley for MarketingBrew.  While there are no directly podcasting-related companies getting new CMOs in this article, new CMOs often mean new perspectives and interest in new channels. Don’t be surprised if your kids are listening to a Chuck E Cheese branded podcast by this time next year.  https://digiday.com/marketing/pg-looks-to-replicate-65m-success-after-taking-media-planning-buying-in-house-in-fabric-care/by Julia Cannon for Digiday. A piece covering Procter & Gamble’s in-house media planning and buying strategy saving millions over a year. Brands bringing things in-house means fresh eyes and direct access. More contacts overall, but direct to the people that it matters to. The Download is a production of http://soundsprofitable.com/. Today's episode was hosted by https://www.linkedin.com/in/shreyaapurvsharma/ and https://www.linkedin.com/in/manuelabedoya/, and the script was written by https://twitter.com/GavGaddis. https://twitter.com/bryanbarletta

Tom took a look back on all of the great research that was done at Sounds Profitable in 2022 and came up with a handful of the most impactful data points. Here are his three favorite data points from 2022! Credits: Written by Tom WebsterEdited by Tom WebsterProduced with Spooler.fmHosted with Omny StudioSounds Profitable theme written by Tim Cameron Sounds Profitable: Narrated Articles is a production of Sounds Profitable. For more information, visit soundsprofitable.com.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week: Opportunity in Kids podcasting as recession looms, Podcasting’s ‘recession era’, some audio publisher’s teams still growing in 2023, and Paul Riismandel joins Signal Hill Insights.  Podcasting’s Recession Era and how podcasters are approaching it. Manuela: This week our first segment is going to cover a variety of articles centering around an overall theme: podcasting’s reaction to the recession in early 2023. To kick things off, we continue a throughline of covering how the Kids & Family category has quickly evolved into a juggernaut. Over the first half of 2022 the genre made itself known as a force to be reckoned with over several big deals and signings.  Now as the recession looms, along with doom-and-gloom articles about said recession, big-name deals are becoming more scarce. Tumble Media CEO Lindsay Patterson has worked in kids podcasting for years and likens the 2022 surge to being invited to a party late. Kids & Family has arrived just in time to find the host is taking down the decorations. From her January 11th Medium post:  “With a general pullback on spending on podcasts, it’s likely that companies will be hesitant to invest in strategy and content for kids, who require a new approach to audience development and monetization. It’s a different model than “grownup” podcasts. But the good news is kids’ podcasts may be a welcome guest at other parties — and in many other industries. There are choices. Nay, there are opportunities.” Patterson proposes Kids & Family’s relative newcomer status to the wider industry leaves it plenty of unpursued avenues that are already well-tread ground for others. Her article touches on concepts like adapting existing kid-friendly IP to podcasts and pursuing new platforms. Interestingly, she points to nonprofits, grants, and research studies as potentially viable funding paths. Patterson speaks from experience, having partnered Tumble Media with a non-profit organization to win a grant. The partnership has been funded to spend three years studying how both listening to and making podcasts can engage blind and sighted students in the classroom.  “In a way, the warnings and scrutiny of the podcast industry makes me more optimistic than ever before about the kids’ space. We can take a clear eyed look from the outside, and see how kids’ podcasts can and should be better.” Patterson’s suggestions of creativity and adaptability come at a good time for smaller creators, as even larger presences in podcasting are beginning to feel the effects of hiring and investment freezes. This Wednesday the Hollywood Reporter published a piece by J. Clara Chan titled “Podcasting’s Recession Era: Dealmaking Gets More Selective in Slower Ad Market.” Chan begins the piece with a big-picture view of investments made by major players in the industry before setting the article’s goal answering the question: “What will podcasting’s next era look like during a recession?” Her article begins with a focus on the deal-making side of the industry, sourcing two anonymous dealmakers and their observations of industry performance in recent months. Big companies seem to have covered their bases on wide demographics. Chan gives the example of Spotify’s coverage of Gen Z and millennial women with acquisitions of Call Her Daddy and Emma Chamberlain’s Anything Goes. \ BIPOC Podcast Creators co-founder Tangia Al-awaji Estrada gives a perspective from a smaller, independent side of the industry: “It feels a little bit premature at this stage because we don’t know exactly what’s going to happen, but it does feel like there’s some panic in the air. We’re seeing companies who’d normally be investing in up-and-coming talents, indie creators — smaller companies are pulling back and saying, ‘Well, we’re not doing that right now. We’re not doing that at all.’ So, there’s definitely a feeling like folks are holding their breaths to see what’s going to happen.” Last Friday Sara Guaglione, writing for Digiday, published a piece covering the phenomenon of smaller production houses growing as larger entities condense their audio teams. A tally of jobs on sites like Indeed with the word ‘podcast’ in the description shows there has been a downward trend of open positions since the peak in May of 2022. Still, companies are hiring. “A number of media companies posted new podcast job openings this month. Vox Media, for example, posted a job opening this week for a $200,000+ ​​executive producer position for its daily show “Today Explained.”” Guaglione also points to Tenderfoot TV, The New York Times, and the Wall Street Journal as places that are actively growing their audio teams.  Returning to the Hollywood Reporter piece, we reach the advertising side of podcasting. The conclusion reached by J. Clara Chan’s reporting will be a familiar one to loyal followers of The Download. In general, advertisers are pacing themselves from brand awareness campaigns and doubling down on direct response and prioritizing sales conversions.  The piece ends with a final sentiment from Al-awaji Estrada, quote:  “Podcasting is going to be just fine. I really believe that podcasting is still so young that a huge market change isn’t going to blow up the entire world. There’s going to be some tightening of the belts, probably, across the board. But by the time we come out of this thing, I think we will have seen podcasting continue to grow through the recession.”  Paul Riismandel joins Signal Hill Insights Shreya: For this segment we’re covering something of personal significance to Sounds Profitable. Last Thursday podcasting veteran Paul Riismandel joined Signal Hill Insights as the company’s new Chief Insights officer. From the Signal Hill press release: “At Signal Hill, Riismandel will help solidify the company as a critical independent third-party voice providing industry-wide and custom research solutions. He will focus on furthering innovation in podcast measurement, combining ad effectiveness, creative analysis, and audience insights, in order to help partners and the industry at large understand how best to serve both listeners and advertisers, together.”  Having overseen hundreds of ad effectiveness studies since 2014, Riismandel takes research seriously. From his blog post on the Signal Hill website last Thursday:   “I cannot overstate the importance of independent third-party research in the development of any media platform. That said, publishers are a fundamental driver, and many invest in internal research, done with integrity, to build their business. In turn this elevates the whole medium.” For those newer to Sounds Profitable, Riismandel is a big figure in the company’s history. It was him who got Midroll Media to become a day-one Sounds Profitable partner back in September of 2020. Now, in 2023, we’re thrilled to be partnering with Riismandel and everyone else at Signal Hill Insights in producing more independent third-party research.  Quick Hits Shreya: Finally, it’s time for our semi-regular roundup of articles called Quick Hits. These are articles that didn’t quite make the cut for today’s episode, but are still worth including in your weekend reading. This week:  Magellan AI launches Spanish language podcast prospecting and competitive intelligence tool, a press release provided via Podnews. With their new Spanish language support, Magellan AI already has data on Spanish-language ads from more than 2,000 advertisers in the US. A better way to measure podcast success: Listen Time by Jonas Woost for Bumper. In which Woost tells the story of YouTube switching from using views as a metric to ‘watch time,’ and suggesting a similar update to the podcasting industry as an alternative to the download.  A Tale of Two Bytes: Prefix vs. Host-based analytics by John Spurlock for Livewire Labs. An excellent explainer on why third-party analytics download stats might be different from the downloads reported by one’s hosting company.  The Download is a production of Sounds Profitable. Today's episode was hosted by Shreya Sharma and Manuela Bedoya, and the script was written by Gavin Gaddis. Bryan Barletta and Tom Webster are the executive producers of The Download from Sounds Profitable.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We’re off to the races in 2023, and we’re taking you with us. Credits: Written by Bryan BarlettaEdited by Bryan BarlettaProduced with Spooler.fmHosted with Omny StudioSounds Profitable theme written by Tim Cameron Sounds Profitable: Narrated Articles is a production of Sounds Profitable. For more information, visit soundsprofitable.com.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.