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.
93episodes
Episodes
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Apple Services Revenue Up 12%, How Creators Use FAST Channels, & More
2w ago00:04:51Tap to summarizeToday in the business of podcasting:Apple's fiscal Q3 2026 results show Services revenue, the segment housing Apple Podcasts, up 12% year over year to $30.7 billion, while SiriusXM Media CEO Jennifer Witz reported podcast revenue up 30% year over year.Bloomberg's Ashley Carman reports podcasters are building businesses on free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) channels, opening a video distribution and revenue path beyond YouTube.Livewire's July 2026 podcast hosting data shows Spotify for Creators rebounding to a 24% share of episodes released and Spreaker hitting a 2026 record of 13.6%, with most other platforms slipping.Bauer Media Advertising MD Simon Kilby argues advertisers should shift budget to regulated digital audio, citing AA/WARC data showing digital audio grew 22% year over year in Q1 2026, the fastest-growing medium in the period.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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Discussing The AMP Accords, The Power of Podcast Newsletters, & More
2w ago00:08:18Tap to summarizeThis week in the business of podcasting:Tom Webster makes the case that a podcast newsletter is the one channel where creators gather unmediated audience feedback, separating the work of promotion from the work of understanding what listeners actually need.The industry reacts to The AMP Accords, which define a podcast, a play, and an ad impression, with Bryan Barletta, Dan Granger, James Cridland, and Steve Goldstein weighing in on adoption, economics, and whether Apple Podcasts and Overcast will share exposure data.Nick Cicero of Mondo Metrics argues podcasters undervalue social clips, and that sports teams solved this a decade ago by packaging clip distribution alongside full-episode integrations in a single sponsorship deal.Ofcom's Media Nations 2026 report details U.K. podcast and speech-audio listening, with 53% of adults tuning in to speech audio and YouTube leading as the most-used audio platform.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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The Best Real Estate in Podcasting, Ofcom Publishes U.K. Listening Data, & More
2w ago00:06:41Tap to summarizeToday in the business of podcasting:Tom Webster closes out The Podcast Atlas series by arguing the email newsletter is the only piece of real estate a podcast creator actually owns, giving shows a direct line to listeners that survives algorithm changes.Mondo Metrics founder Nick Cicero explains what podcasters can learn from the sports social industry about selling social clips as sponsorship inventory rather than giving them away.Ofcom's Media Nations 2026 report finds 53% of U.K. adults listen to speech audio, YouTube is now the most-used platform for any audio content, and only 45% of listeners think podcasts carry too many adverts.Steve Goldstein writes for RAIN News that the download is an obsolete metric that can inflate audience figures by up to 50%, and that verified impression metrics could unlock $1 billion to $2 billion in new ad revenue.SiriusXM launches a $5-per-month Sports Pass on September 1, bundling NFL, MLB, NBA, and NHL games with local Audacy stations, ESPN Radio, and hundreds of sports podcasts.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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Podcasts Hold 9% of Canada's Ad Audio, Mission-Driven Shows Punch Above Their Weight, & More
3w ago00:04:55Tap to summarizeToday in the business of podcasting:Signal Hill Insights' new Audio on the Move study finds podcasts account for 9% of ad-supported audio listening time in Canada, while YouTube and YouTube Music together hold 25% and rank as the top podcast discovery platform. AM/FM radio still leads all ad-supported audio at 39%.Richard Fawal argues mission-driven podcasts underestimate their reach, using Sounds Profitable Podcast Atlas data to make the case that audience loyalty follows the host, not the platform. He lays out a federation model that treats audio, video, clips, social, and newsletters as one asset instead of five separate channels.NBCUniversal will bundle Peacock Premium with YouTube Premium starting in early 2027, a move The Streaming Wars reads as media companies handing the customer relationship to YouTube for cheaper distribution. The same discovery-driven dynamic is reshaping podcasting, where YouTube already leads as the platform for finding new shows.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 5: The Best Real Estate to Own in Podcasting
3w ago00:11:26Tap to summarizeIn the final stop on The Podcast Atlas article series, Tom Webster makes the case that a podcast newsletter is the most valuable piece of owned media a creator can build, and the one channel no platform or host can take away. Drawing on Sounds Profitable research, he unpacks why 61% of listeners still haven't subscribed, why existing subscribers convert to listening at 87%, and why the real prize isn't promotion but permission and a feedback loop that makes your show better every week. If you care about podcast audience growth, email newsletters, and turning first-party audience data into episodes people actually want, this is the best real estate to own in podcasting.Download The Podcast AtlasWritten by Tom WebsterEdited and narrated by Gavin Gaddis"Find the full article here.
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Five Industry Leaders on AI & Measurement, RedCircle Brings Mic Check to Programmatic, & More
3w ago00:06:20Tap to summarizeToday in the business of podcasting:Five podcast industry leaders from Audioboom, Sounds Profitable, Octave, The Times, and Bauer Media weigh in on the future of AI and audio measurement, with a growing consensus that podcasting already has adequate measurement tools and the real opportunity is smarter use of existing data and attribution.RedCircle extends its AI-powered Mic Check tool to programmatic advertising, transcribing and verifying each ad's metadata, advertiser identity, and category to keep mislabeled political, gambling, tobacco, and sexual ads out of podcast inventory.Steve Raizes breaks down Netflix's decision to cut its What We Watched report to once a year starting in 2027, the 7% stock drop that followed, and what it signals about transparent measurement as podcasting pushes standardized metrics through the AMP Accords.AdExchanger reports on the fight over programmatic transparency as ad tech watchdog Check My Ads is denied DSP access by multiple platforms, exposing the tension between the industry's public embrace of transparency and its resistance to giving watchdogs real access.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 Definition for Podcasting, Patreon Downsizes Workforce 20%, & More
3w ago00:06:09Tap to summarizeToday in the business of podcasting:The Alliance for Measurement in Podcasting released its accords, giving the industry shared definitions for what counts as a podcast, a play, and an ad impression, plus a recommended hold-out group standard for proving incremental lift to advertisers.Patreon is cutting 93 jobs, roughly 20% of its workforce, as CEO Jack Conte points to organizational changes and market conditions rather than AI, saying the creator platform remains financially strong with more than 300,000 creators.YouTube posted $11.055 billion in Q2 advertising revenue, up 13% year over year and ahead of expectations, a figure that covers ad sales only and excludes YouTube Premium and YouTube Music subscriptions.Castro developer Dustin Bluck argues independent podcast apps have flatlined as a category while platforms like YouTube absorb podcasting's growth, and revives the case for indie apps receiving a share of industry revenue.Digiday weighs mass reach against hard-won audience trust, a debate that shapes how podcast and influencer advertising budgets get allocated between big-brand campaigns and niche creator targeting.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 U.K. Advertising Bargain, Social is the Denominator, & More
3w ago00:09:15Tap to summarizeThis week in the business of podcasting:Tom Webster's fourth Podcast Atlas installment argues social platforms are the denominator of podcast advertising, with YouTube reaching 82% of monthly podcast listeners and Facebook 80%, and makes the case that audio and social should be planned together rather than pitted against each other.New research from Sound Insights and Sounds Profitable finds UK podcast advertising priced at roughly £0.18 per listener-hour versus £0.94 in the US, a 5.2x gap, even as podcast ad recall among 18 to 34 year olds hits 86% and outpaces broadcast TV.Comscore expanded its Proximic contextual targeting to Spotify, SiriusXM, Triton Digital, Acast, and Libsyn, enabling episode-level targeting so buyers can purchase podcast ads through the same programmatic tools they use for CTV and display.Steve Raizes warns that brands copying employee creator programs like Starbucks' Green Apron Creators are taking on unpriced obligations, from unsettled copyright ownership and overtime exposure to likeness rights that outlast employment.Podcast advertisers are increasingly valuing a creator's cross-platform reach across YouTube, social, video, and live events over raw download counts, with Acast's Ricardo Neto noting mid-tier creators at 50,000 weekly downloads now drawing buyer attention.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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The Argument For Buying U.K. Podcast Ads, Acast Posts Q2 Surge, & More
3w ago00:07:36Tap to summarizeThought processThought processToday in the business of podcasting:Tom Webster's fourth Podcast Atlas installment frames social platforms as the denominator of podcast advertising, with YouTube reaching 82% of monthly podcast listeners and Facebook 80%, and argues audio builds trust while social delivers the frequency and retargeting every campaign multiplies against.New research from Sound Insights and Sounds Profitable finds UK podcast advertising priced at £0.18 per listener-hour versus £0.94 in the US, a 5.2x gap despite comparable reach, with podcast ad recall among 18 to 34 year olds hitting 86% and outpacing broadcast TV.Acast reported Q2 2026 net sales of SEK 775.6m, up 28% year over year and 29% organically, with adjusted EBITDA margin expanding to 7% from 3% as CEO Greg Glenday says the strategy of scaling revenue ahead of costs is working as intended.Comscore expanded its Proximic contextual targeting to Spotify, SiriusXM, Triton Digital, Acast, and Libsyn, enabling episode-level targeting so buyers can purchase podcast ads through the same programmatic tools they use for CTV and display.New Edison Research data finds 65% of US fiction audiobook listeners would be likely to try an AI-narrated title and 61% could not distinguish the AI voice from a human, even as trust concerns and informed wariness about AI-voiced podcasts persist among college educated listeners.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 Constrained @ World Cup, Audio's Back-to-School Edge, & More
4w ago00:05:55Tap to summarizeToday in the business of podcasting:Creator content was the most boring part of the World Cup, and Scalable pins the blame on FIFA's restrictive partner posting policies while athletes and fans drove the standout moments. The final drew 1.8 billion viewers and @fifaworldcup topped 24 billion views, TikTok's biggest content moment to date.Audio is reaching back-to-school shoppers more consistently than video, according to a new Audacy Insights post, with 40% of parents planning to shop sooner and 80% listening to AM/FM radio weekly against 52% who watch broadcast TV.Podcast advertising is moving past download counts to weigh a creator's cross-platform influence across YouTube, social, video, and live events, with Acast's Ricardo Neto noting mid-tier creators around 50,000 weekly downloads are drawing new buyer attention.ROI Media 360 argues low view counts on Netflix podcasts hide stronger ad performance, citing about 60% completion versus roughly 35% on YouTube and a SKIMS campaign that delivered a verified 20% conversion lift.Steve Goldstein profiles the fast-growing higher-education podcasting sector that measures success by influence over chart rank, pointing to Higher Ed PodCon and a community of roughly 214 organizations producing more than 1,600 podcasts combined.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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