Podcast
Sounds Profitable
Hosted by Bryan Barletta · EN
The pace of change the podcast industry is undergoing is staggering. The implications for podcasters, hosting providers, podcast listening app developers, and advertisers and agencies are enormous. And so is the growth potential. Presented as a companion to the weekly newsletter of the same name, our podcast provides you with direct access to our narrated articles, interviews with industry experts, bleeding-edge research, and can't miss industry news recaps. That Sounds Profitable, right? Assumptions and conventional wisdom will be challenged. Easy answers with no proof of efficacy will be exposed. Because the thinking that got podcast advertising close to a billion dollars annually will need to be drastically overhauled to bring in the tens or hundreds of billions of dollars podcast advertising deserves.
51episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
A New Map For Podcasting, Audio Delivers 75% Higher Profits in Cannes Study, & More
Yesterday00:06:00Tap to summarizeToday in the business of podcasting:Register here for the Podcast Atlas debut webinar next week!Tom Webster previews The Podcast Atlas, a new Sounds Profitable research report debuting at Vidcon that maps how audiences move across audio, video, clips, social, and newsletters, finding that vertical clips from platform-native creators drive podcast discovery for listeners under 35 far more than trailers or podcast ads.Richard Fawal, founder and CEO of Voxtopica, argues that mission-driven podcasters at nonprofits, universities, and government agencies are overlooked by the industry, and calls for research, benchmarks, and pricing that recognize their impact beyond downloads and CPMs.A global study of 1,262 campaigns from the Effie x System1 Databank, presented by Mark Ritson at Cannes Lions 2026, finds that campaigns using audio delivered 75% higher profits, 81% greater trust, and 19% more customer acquisition, with profits roughly doubling when audio is paired with emotional creative.To find links to these, and every article covered in today's episode, click here. You can also subscribe to The Download's newsletter to receive the full issue straight to your email inbox every day.
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Veritonic's New Video Ad Audio Checking Tool, Prediction Market Podcasting, & More
2d ago00:05:05Tap to summarizeToday in the business of podcasting:Sounds Profitable and Veritonic launched a free preview of Veritonic Instant Insights, a tool that tests audio and video ad creative before launch and returns awareness and intent signals across podcast, YouTube, CTV, social, and streaming, benchmarked against more than a decade of testing data.A new joint study from Radiocentre, the Radio Advertising Bureau, and Commercial Radio & Audio Australia, spanning 1,262 campaigns over 17 years, found that adding audio to the marketing mix delivers a 75% profit uplift, an 81% increase in consumer trust, and a 19% gain in customer acquisition.Prediction market platforms Kalshi and Polymarket are moving into podcasting, with Kalshi backing the Men in Blazers World Cup recap show Night Cup and Polymarket launching the weekly pop culture show What Are the Odds? with Dear Media.To find links to these, and every article covered in today's episode, click here. You can also subscribe to The Download's newsletter to receive the full issue straight to your email inbox every day.
Transcribe →A New Map For Podcasting
2d ago00:10:31Tap to summarizeTom previews of The Podcast Atlas, a new study mapping how audiences now move across audio, video, clips, social, and newsletters.He argues podcasting is now a territory creators live in, not a single thing they make. Using listeners under 35, he shows why reaching them means going vertical with native clips and organic creators, not the old trailer-and-swap launch kit, ahead of the full Atlas premiere in a webinar July 1 at 2pm Eastern.Written by Tom WebsterEdited and narrated by Gavin GaddisFind the full article here.Register here for the Podcast Atlas webinar.
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Triton Digital on Audio Revenue Strategy, YouGov's Podcast Ad Report, & More
3d ago00:07:30Tap to summarizeToday in the business of podcasting:Triton Digital's Mattia Verzella explains why publishers should stop comparing ad revenue by CPM alone, arguing that programmatic, direct, and backfill demand each play a different strategic role in a healthy audio marketplace.Amazon is launching a Creator Hub on Fire TV this summer, bringing videos and podcasts from over 120 creators, including MrBeast and Dude Perfect, into one discoverable place on connected TVs.Magellan AI's first Podcast Measurement Benchmark Report finds podcast ads drive clicks, leads, and sales, with video podcasts and host-read ads outperforming other formats on response and conversion.YouGov's U.S. Podcast Advertising Report 2026 shows podcast ads are the most-skipped yet least-annoying format, with 60% of listeners taking action after an ad despite low trust scores.Kirby Grines breaks down the new content model that is cheaper, faster, and less Hollywood, with video podcasts and interface control reshaping how streaming platforms compete.To find links to these, and every article covered in today's episode, click here. You can also subscribe to The Download's newsletter to receive the full issue straight to your email inbox every day.
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YouTube Tops Discovery, Oxford Road Ranks Shows by ROI, & More
4d ago00:05:28Tap to summarizeToday in the business of podcasting:New Sounds Profitable and JAR Podcast Solutions research finds 61% of podcast listeners discover their favorite shows through YouTube and social media, with YouTube now the most-used podcast platform ahead of Spotify and Apple Podcasts.Penske Media Corporation is acquiring the remaining assets of Vox Media, including The Verge, Eater, and SB Nation, completing the breakup of one of digital media's largest independent companies while the podcast network goes to James Murdoch's Lupa Systems.Oxford Road released its Top Performing International Podcasts ranker, scoring shows on advertiser return on investment rather than download counts and drawing on roughly $1.8 billion in verified podcast ad spend.Ad Results Media argues podcast marketers must plan beyond audio, citing Nielsen data on host-read recall and YouTube's 1 billion monthly podcast viewers to make the case for integrated audio, video, and social campaigns.To find links to these, and every article covered in today's episode, click here. You can also subscribe to The Download's newsletter to receive the full issue straight to your email inbox every day.
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Creators 🔜 Cannes Lions, Substack to Distribute Video, & More
2w ago00:06:12Tap to summarizeToday in the business of podcasting:Podcast Movement 2026 tickets are now on sale for $199, with the New York City conference set for September 17 and 18 at Terminal 5. The open call for speakers runs through June 30, with half of all sessions selected by popular vote.Tubefilter, in partnership with Comscore, the Whalar Group, and Gospel Stats, publishes "The Creators List," a guide to the content creators attending this year's Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.Apple announces OS 27, bringing upgraded video podcast playback, a fully redesigned Apple TV Podcasts app, and a smart downloads system ahead of a July 2026 public beta.Substack is actively working on distributing video podcasts to Apple Podcasts via HLS, according to comments from Substack product manager Zach Taylor.Point-To-Point Marketing's Tim Bronsil makes the case that YouTube is the most overlooked revenue stream in audio, as audiences follow trusted personalities and content rather than platforms.To find links to these, and every article covered in today's episode, click here. You can also subscribe to The Download's newsletter to receive the full issue straight to your email inbox every day.
Transcribe →Nobody's Coming for the Medium
2w ago00:08:32Tap to summarizePodcast Movement is coming to New York City! Tickets are now on sale for the two events running September 14-18: the Sounds Profitable Business Summit and Podcast Movement NYC. The open call for Podcast Movement 2026 speakers is open until Tuesday, June 30. The era of growing a podcast audience by making people curious about podcasting is over — the people who were going to discover the medium on its own merits already have. New research shows YouTube and social feeds now dominate how listeners find shows, but the single most effective discovery tool is still a friend's recommendation. The practical upshot: stop over-investing in the channels ranked lowest by your own listeners, and start making your show easy to describe, share, and recommend.Tom Webster argues that LLMs have advanced faster than most people realize, and that pretending otherwise is magical thinking. He traces his own journey from basic prompt use to running local models on a home server, all without a coding background, to show that these tools are accessible to anyone willing to engage. And he has some pointed advice for anyone still on the fence about embracing AI in their work.Written by Tom WebsterEdited and narrated by Gavin GaddisFind the full article here.
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Video Podcasting on TV Streamers, YouTube Webinar for Podcasters, & More
2w ago00:05:56Tap to summarizeToday in the business of podcasting:New Edison Research Podcast Metrics data shows Netflix and Tubi are gaining traction as video podcast platforms, with 14% of U.S. weekly podcast consumers using Netflix and 4% using Tubi, while YouTube leads at 64% and Spotify follows at 42%.A reported $100 million deal has taken Jay Shetty's podcast On Purpose into exclusivity with Spotify and Netflix, with Spotify handling global ad sales and Netflix securing the video rights, raising questions about whether major exclusivity deals can successfully pull audiences off YouTube.Several new podcasts are launching in connection with the U.S. 250th anniversary, including Reconstruction: The Unfinished Promise with President Barack Obama, First America from Pushkin Industries and Critical Frequency, and The Indigenous Setlist from Indigenous House and Little Bear Audio.YouTube is hosting a free live webinar on June 17 to help podcasters set up Channel Memberships, covering perks, pricing tiers, and strategies for converting casual viewers into paying members.To find links to these, and every article covered in today's episode, click here. You can also subscribe to The Download's newsletter to receive the full issue straight to your email inbox every day.
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Bumper Release Free Dashboard Tier, YouTube Overtakes Netflix Daily Attention in AU, & More
3w ago00:07:05Tap to summarizeToday in the business of podcasting:Bumper has opened its podcast analytics dashboard to creators of every size, introducing a free tier alongside new Pro and Enterprise plans and making its independent Bumper Score available across the board, while Enterprise subscribers also gain access to a new Bumper MCP server connecting podcast data directly to AI tools.Two notable proposals are stirring debate in the open podcasting community on GitHub, one calling for a standardized way to disclose AI generated content in RSS feeds and another suggesting a method for verifying which apps are actually downloading episodes, an idea that could reshape how podcast apps get paid.The UK's Competition and Markets Authority has ordered Google to let publishers opt out of having their content used to power AI search features, giving the company nine months to roll out the changes and requiring it to publish regular compliance reports.New data from streaming measurement firm Digital i shows YouTube overtaking Netflix in daily audience attention, with Australia ranking among the top viewing markets worldwide and Netflix's own YouTube channel pulling in significant reach.A new analysis argues that short form video isn't killing long form content but reshaping its role instead, with short clips driving discovery and habit formation while podcasts and longer series build deeper audience attachment over time.To find links to these, and every article covered in today's episode, click here. You can also subscribe to The Download's newsletter to receive the full issue straight to your email inbox every day.
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PME Heading to SXSW 2027, AMP's New Framework, & More
3w ago00:08:17Tap to summarizeToday in the business of podcasting:SXSW 2027's PanelPicker application period opens June 23, with live AMAs scheduled and Podcast Movement Evolutions confirmed to return Monday through Wednesday of the event.The Alliance for Measurement in Podcasting unveiled its first unified impression framework for audio and video podcasting, ratifying four cross-platform exposure definitions to give advertisers and publishers a shared basis for measuring podcast inventory across audio and video.Tom Webster's latest Sounds Profitable article reflects on a year of deepening AI use, arguing that the real question for creators is not whether AI was involved but whether they are proud of what they made.Both Sport Social Network and Quill + CoHost have new articles this week in the Sounds Profitable thought leadership article series. To find links to these, and every article covered in today's episode, click here. You can also subscribe to The Download's newsletter to receive the full issue straight to your email inbox every day.
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