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.
66episodes
Episodes
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Apple Podcasts Video Expands to Mac & TV, ANA Inclusive Case Studies, & More
1w ago00:06:22Tap to summarizeToday in the business of podcasting:Six Colors gets a first look at the iOS 27, tvOS 27, and macOS 27 public betas, including a rebuilt Siri powered by large language models and Apple Podcasts video expanding to Mac desktops and Apple TV.Podstock CEO Michael Paretzky argues podcast back catalogs are losing strategic value as most downloads happen in a show's first 30 days, urging publishers to invest in new content and integrated advertising instead.The Association of National Advertisers releases its first Inclusive Marketing Case Study Compendium, spotlighting 100 award winning campaigns from brands like Kraft Heinz, McDonald's, and Major League Baseball.Unilever scales its creator network to 300,000 people using AI for vetting and briefing while keeping strategy and relationships human, part of a projected $13.7 billion influencer marketing market by 2027.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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Buzzcast is Back on Spotify, Debunking The Attention-Span Myth, & More
1w ago00:04:49Tap to summarizeToday in the business of podcasting:Buzzsprout has brought its official podcast, Buzzcast, back to Spotify months after pulling it, with co-founder Kevin Finn citing fixes to Spotify's video lock-in issue and a desire for broader multiplatform distribution.Megaphone shifts to the Spotify Ad Server on July 17, raising the maximum ad duration to 90 seconds while dropping VAST tag support, a change to the migration first reported in May.DAX U.S. President Brian Conlon pushes back on the "shrinking attention span" narrative, pointing to Edison Research's Infinite Dial 2026 finding that 45% of Americans 12 and older listened to a podcast in the past week.Ad Results Media argues digital audio is built for a privacy-first future, citing AdsWizz data on contextual targeting and SiriusXM Media research on consumer trust as reasons marketers should layer first-party and contextual signals instead of chasing cookie replacements.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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Podcast Movement Opens Public Voting, What The Screen Adds, & More
2w ago00:07:15Tap to summarizeToday in the business of podcasting:Podcast Movement 2026 opens public voting on conference sessions for the first time, with nearly 800 submissions from more than 500 speakers. Voting runs through July 21, and 50% of the New York City conference's schedule will be decided by community vote.Tom Webster publishes The Podcast Atlas, Part Two: What The Screen Adds, with five findings on video podcasting as an ad environment, including a shorter path to purchase and the highest attention levels of any format in the study.Bloomberg's Soundbite checks in on Apple Podcasts' video rollout four months after launch, finding encouraging early numbers from Acast and Transistor.fm but analytics that can't yet separate audio plays from video plays.Owl & Co's Streamonomics previews Q2 earnings season through engagement data across nine platforms, showing Netflix viewing hours declining while Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube keep growing.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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What Video Adds to Podcast Ads, Economics of Streaming Sponsorship, & More
2w ago00:06:00Tap to summarizeToday in the business of podcasting:Tom Webster's The Podcast Atlas, Part Two: What The Screen Adds compares how video and audio podcast ads perform among each format's most engaged users. Video shortens the path to purchase, with 15% of video users buying immediately after seeing an ad versus 10% for audio.Bloomberg's Soundbite newsletter checks in on Apple Podcasts' video rollout four months after launch, finding encouraging but muddy early numbers as analytics can't yet separate audio plays from video plays.Owl & Co's Streamonomics newsletter previews Q2 earnings season through engagement data, with Netflix viewing hours falling while Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube keep growing.In a sponsored Digiday post, Tatari argues streaming in-show sponsorships beat standard placements on efficiency, with a 62% higher response rate despite CPMs running 2 to 3 times higher.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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Signal Hill's 2026 Podcast Ad Benchmarks, AI-Legible Audio's Competitive Edge, & More
2w ago00:04:51Tap to summarizeToday in the business of podcasting:Signal Hill Insights' 2026 benchmark report, "How Podcasts Impact Brand Perceptions," finds video podcast ads now make up 54% of aggregated brand lift data, up from zero in 2023, with video edging audio by one to two points on mid funnel and purchase intent metrics.Forbes contributor Damion Taylor argues podcasters need to make their audio "AI legible" with transcripts, speaker IDs, and timestamps, warning that platforms prioritizing video visuals over audio quality risk making hosts sound less intelligent and likable to listeners.Audacy research covered by Inside Audio Marketing finds news/talk radio listeners are more loyal and trusting than other formats and skew affluent, making the audience a strong fit for integrated sponsorships over traditional spot buys.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 →The Podcast Atlas, Part Two: What The Screen Adds
2w ago00:09:58Tap to summarizeThis week, Tom Webster cracks open the Podcast Atlas to look at video podcasting's strengths in advertising. The Podcast Atlas finds video podcast ads outperform audio on purchase intent and post-ad actions, 15% for video versus 10% for audio, while matching or beating audio on trust, commanding the highest attentive viewership of any format, and topping YouTube ads on five of six receptivity measures.Written by Tom WebsterEdited and narrated by Gavin GaddisFind the full article here.
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Podcast Movement Opens Public Voting, AdsWizz Extends SoundCloud Deal in Europe & More
2w ago00:05:43Tap to summarizeToday in the business of podcasting:Podcast Movement 2026, set for September 17-18 in New York City, has launched its first public voting process for conference sessions, with half the schedule chosen by community vote and half by a selection committee reviewing nearly 800 submissions.AdsWizz has renewed exclusive European audio ad sales agreements with SoundCloud and Sonos, extending partnerships first signed in 2021 and 2022 and covering SoundCloud's reach across 14 markets.Febreze is leaning on podcasting for its World Cup and MLS season marketing push, including a first-ever off-studio brand integration with What Now? with Trevor Noah filmed in an NFL soccer team's boot room.Mel Robbins talks with Digiday about AI in content creation, shifting ad dollars toward audio, and what audience ownership looks like for independent podcasters.AdExchanger's Cannes coverage shows creator and influencer marketing solidifying as the new normal for brands, a trend podcasting is well positioned to capitalize on.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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Audio's Reach Beyond the Screen, Spotify's Ad Stack Rebuild, & More
2w ago00:05:36Tap to summarizeToday in the business of podcasting:Sounds Profitable's new Podcast Atlas report maps five interconnected territories of podcasting audio, video, clips, social, and newsletters, finding that 78% of listeners engage with podcasts during hands busy activities while 77% still report giving the medium their full or nearly full attention.Netflix CMO Marian Lee outlines the streamer's deliberately varied podcast deal strategy, mixing exclusive arrangements like Jay Shetty's with non-exclusive deals as the company adapts its traditional greenlight model to a creator economy where the creator is the brand.Spotify's VP of Product details a multi-year rebuild of the company's ad infrastructure, including a proprietary ad exchange called SAX that has now opened podcast inventory to Amazon DSP buyers, even as Q1 2026 ad-supported revenue dipped 5% year over year despite audience growth.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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Navigating The Podcast Atlas, Miroma Acquires Ad Results Media, & More
3w ago00:07:35Tap to summarizeThis week in the business of podcasting:Sounds Profitable released The Podcast Atlas, a study of more than 5,000 U.S. consumers mapping the creator economy into five territories: audio, video, short-form clips, newsletters, and social platforms.Tom Webster's follow-up analysis, The Format That Travels, uses the Atlas data to argue audio wins the ad environment battle, capturing 78% of hands-busy listening moments and topping every platform on listener trust and ad receptivity.Miroma Group acquired audio advertising agency Ad Results Media, marking a major U.S. expansion move that folds ARM's podcast-native performance advertising expertise into Miroma's broader agency portfolio.Ben Robins' latest Purchase Funnel installment digs into UK podcast ad conversion data, finding strong purchase rates among younger listeners but a notable gap among listeners 55 and older compared with other platforms.Cannes Lions recaps from Next Audio's Lemya Soltani and Sounds Profitable's Bryan Barletta highlight how podcast networking events can be run on a shoestring budget, alongside a new Sounds Profitable YouTube panel on why niche podcast communities can outperform broad-reach shows on advertiser metrics.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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A New Atlas for Podcasting, Debunking Listener Assumptions, & More
3w ago00:07:29Tap to summarizeToday in the business of podcasting:A new Sounds Profitable report, The Podcast Atlas, finds audio podcasts lead every creator-economy format on trust, with 58% of listeners rating audio highest for factual accuracy and only 31% skeptical of its ad claims, even as video and clips drive more immediate purchase action.Keyari Page argues the creator economy hasn't replaced traditional media but reorganized it entirely around direct audience relationships, with creator-led models becoming core commercial infrastructure for modern media.A five-market study from NumberEight finds podcast audiences split nearly evenly by gender and skew Millennial, challenging assumptions that listeners are uniformly young or male and pointing to real variation by market and age group.Signal Hill Insights' Paul Riismandel highlights data showing U.S. weekly podcast consumers grew 45% since 2022, with YouTube and Spotify driving new-listener growth as Apple Podcasts' app share declines.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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