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| Hey Insiders! Thanks for checking out the latest edition of the Inside Podcasting newsletter. Today, we highlight Spotify and Patreon's partnership and discuss Alex Cooper's The Unwell Network announcement and how well Call Her Daddy has done in the podcasting charts. Make sure you continue reading so you stay up to date on podcasts to listen to over the weekend! If you find this newsletter useful, please share it with your friends and colleagues. Thank you. Christopher
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| 1 | | Spotify, the streaming audio giant, and Patreon, the membership platform for content creators, have teamed up to allow podcasters and creators to join their accounts. The move is aimed at increasing monetization opportunities for talent and providing a more seamless process for putting out content. More: - Patreon podcasters will be able to grow their audiences while listeners will be able to find all of their favorite content in one place.
- For creators, it only takes a few clicks in order to link their accounts on Patreon and Spotify. Once the option to sync to Spotify is toggled on in Patreon, all current and future content will be published on Spotify.
- On Spotify, Patreon content will show up with a padlock and a "Paid" tag. For listeners, they can either sign into their Patreon account or create one in order to join. That will unlock the content on Spotify.
- "We are incredibly excited about this partnership with Spotify where creators can seamlessly integrate Patreon's industry-leading podcast membership tools to grow their business, host their listener community, and directly engage with their most passionate listeners," said Julian Gutman, CPO at Patreon.
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What the numbers say: In recent months, Call Her Daddy has risen up the Top 50 U.S. Podcast rankings, according to Edison Research. It hit a new high in Q2 2023, reaching the Top 5 for the first time. Since it switched from Barstool Sports to Spotify for distribution in the spring of 2021, the show has seen a solid rise overall in its rankings. Since Q2 of last year, it has risen each quarter. Relevance: Alex Cooper, the host and creator of Call Her Daddy, one of the most popular podcasts in the U.S., announced that she is launching her own talent network. Dubbed "The Unwell Network," it will be a platform for Gen Z content focused on pop culture, lifestyle, beauty, and more. It will be a subsidiary of Trending, a Gen Z media company that Cooper is building with her fiancé, Matt Kaplan, the head of ACE Entertainment, a film and TV production company. Trending will be run by former Studio71 executive Moorea Mongelli. More announcements: Cooper announced that the first two partners of The Unwell Network will be TikTok stars Alix Earle and Madeline Argy. Earle has 8.5 million followers across TikTok and Instagram, and Argy has over 6 million followers between the two platforms. "Alix Earle and Madeline Argy both have a unique presence that captivates an audience, but I love how they approach content in very different ways," said Cooper. "Madeline is wildly popular in the U.K. and is one of the few creators who can keep an audience engaged for hours with her captivating storytelling. Alix took the U.S. by storm with her 'get ready with me' videos, college lifestyle, and endearing personality. I feel honored to be at a place in my career where I can pass along knowledge and advice for a new generation of creators to flourish." | | | |
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| 3 | | iHeartMedia released its Q2 2023 financial results, and podcasting revenue grew year-over-year and since last quarter. The media giant posted revenue of $97M for podcasting during the last quarter, a 13% increase since Q2 2022. More: - Overall, Q2 revenue was down slightly at $920M, which was a 3.6% decrease since last year.
- Digital revenue, excluding money made from podcasting, was down 2% to $164M.
- Podcasting contributed 10.5% of the company's revenue, the highest percentage to date.
- iHeart's adjusted earnings came in at $191M, which landed within the company's guidance of $180M-$200M.
- "Our podcast revenues, even in the slower app market, grew 13% versus the prior year, (providing) further evidence about a leadership position in the industry and illustrating how powerful podcasting is as both a short-term and long-term growth engine for the company," said iHeartMedia Chairman and CEO Bob Pittman.
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| 4 | | Podcasts to listen to this weekend! - Does the news have you down? There are depressing stories every day, so how do you stay sane during it all? A recent episode of Indecent, the comedy podcast hosted by Kiki Anderson, an Emmy-winning journalist turned stand-up comedian, dives into that very thought with interviews with Bill Conway of The Hard Times and Natalie McGill, an Emmy-nominated writer.
- For Wondery+ users, Sports Explains The World debuted this week, with of the craziest and you-won't-believe-this stories in sports that you probably have never heard before.
- Speaking of crazy stories, you're bound to hear a ton of them on the new podcast hosted by comedian Eric Andre, Bombing with Eric Andre. The first episode features fellow comedian Michelle Buteau talking about how she got into the industry.
- For more coverage on the devastating wildfires in Hawaii, tune into the Anderson Cooper 360 podcast from CNN.
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| 5 | | Salem Media Group, the parent company of the Salem Podcast Network, announced that it will implement $10M in cost cuts. The company still sees digital audio as "its most important growth opportunity." More: - Digital revenue growth slowed to 0.5% in Q2 to $20.8M.
- Digital revenue accounted for 31% of the total revenue for Salem.
- Known for radio programming for Christian and conservative listeners, Salem has grown its digital portfolio to include the Salem News Channel, Salem Surround digital marketing, and its podcast network.
- The cost-saving cuts will include eliminating employees' 401(k) profit-sharing match and restructuring some of the general manager roles. It will also require senior management to take pay cuts.
- The company is projecting revenue to decline between 3% and 5% in Q3.
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| 6 | | Airwave Media, a curated podcast network, has signed a distribution deal with SpokenLayer, a digital audio creative studio. Airwave will market and monetize 24 podcasts from SpokenLayer, including ones from The History Channel, WIRED, IGN, and more. More: - Airwave has built up a reputation for highlighting podcasts in the business, science, kids, history, and entertainment landscapes.
- The deal will expand Airwave's reach into those markets further and provides a new foothold in the tech and news categories.
- Some of the podcasts SpokenLayer is bringing over include This Day in History, What's New with WIRED, TechCrunch Daily Crunch, WIRED Science, Yahoo! Finance, AccuWeather Daily, IGN Daily Briefing, and more.
- "Both listeners and advertisers have been gravitating toward shorter, more frequent content since the pandemic, and SpokenLayer produces a remarkable roster of quality, daily podcasts with some of the best names in the business," said Ben Mathis, Head of Content and Partnerships for Airwave Media. "We are very proud to work with such talented producers and some of the most trusted media brands in the world."
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- Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) was on Kelly Ripa's podcast, Let's Talk Off Camera, to promote her new book.
- Radiotopia from PRX announced Weight for It, a personal storytelling podcast by Ronald Young, Jr., which will discuss weight-related issues and how we tend to avoid conversations about our bodies.
- KQED, the NPR and PBS member station based in San Francisco, acquired the public radio program and podcast series Snap Judgment and podcast series Spooked.
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Term of the Day Guest posting: Guest posting is the practice of writing content for another website with the purpose of driving traffic back to one's own website. Question of the Week Do you think the 9-to-5 workday still relevant in today's modern workplace? Join the conversation |
INSIDE PODCASTING LEADERBOARD (30 DAYS) |
 | Freelance Editor | | Christopher Hachey is a freelance writer and editor based in the New York City area. He has spent most of the past 15 years in newsrooms covering all kinds of topics like sports, tech, business, finance, and commerce. He's now returning to his broadcast journalism roots by diving into podcasting news. Reach out to him at chris@inside.com | | This newsletter was edited by Aaron Crutchfield | |
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