Sounds Profitable
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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...
Audio's U.K. Advertising Bargain, Social is the Denominator, & More
#933
Last Friday at 9:00 AM
This 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, Ac...The Argument For Buying U.K. Podcast Ads, Acast Posts Q2 Surge, & More
#934
07/23/2026
Thought process
Thought process
Today in the business of podcasting:
Creators Constrained @ World Cup, Audio's Back-to-School Edge, & More
#932
07/22/2026
Today 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...The Podcast Atlas, Part 4: The Denominator
#931
07/22/2026
Winning on quality is only half the story when the audience you want is already spending its day somewhere else.
Written by Tom WebsterEdited and narrated by Gavin GaddisFind the full article here.
IAB Tech Lab Opens Measurement v2.3 for Comment, World Cup Lessons About Creators, & More
#930
07/21/2026
Today in the business of podcasting:
The IAB Tech Lab has opened a 30-day public comment period on version 2.3 of its Podcast Technical Measurement Guidelines, updating how downloads, audience, and ad delivery are counted across audio and video podcasts.Digiday breaks down five lessons from the World Cup on creator marketing, including how Unilever scaled a creator network to roughly 300,000 and how Michelob Ultra generated $11.5 million in earned media value with fewer than 350 creators.A Media, Built newsletter piece argues that employee-creator programs modeled on Starbucks' Green Apron Creators carry unpriced legal risk around copyright, overtime pay, and...Audio Anchors Podcasting, WARC's YouTube Numbers, & More
#928
07/20/2026
Today in the business of podcasting:
A new Nielsen Podcast Listen & Watch report finds audio remains the core of podcast consumption, with 90% of monthly listeners tuning in via audio and 62% also watching video, as listeners and viewers use the two formats in distinctly different ways.WARC reports YouTube podcast viewing on TV screens has surged past 700 million hours monthly, up 70% year over year, even as the platform's ad revenue growth is projected to slow amid rising competition from TikTok and Netflix.A new YouGov survey of U.S. podcast consumers finds genre preferences split sharply by gender, with...The Attention Span Myth, Clips Open Podcasting's Front Door, & More
#927
07/17/2026
Today in the business of podcasting:
Tom Webster's latest Podcast Atlas installment examines podcast clips as a discovery engine, finding 89% of listeners watch clips on social platforms and roughly a third go on to become full-episode listeners.DAX U.S. President Brian Conlon argues the "shrinking attention span" is a myth, pointing to Edison Research's Infinite Dial 2026 finding that 45% of Americans age 12 and older listened to a podcast in the past week, the highest level ever recorded.Six Colors previews the iOS 27 public beta, including Apple Podcasts video expanding to macOS and Apple TV and a rebuilt Siri...Podcasting's Front Door is Clips, Amazon DSP x Triton Digital, & More
#926
07/16/2026
Today in the business of podcasting:
Tom Webster's latest Podcast Atlas installment digs into podcast clips as the industry's discovery engine, finding that 89% of listeners watch clips on social platforms and roughly a third convert into full-episode listeners.Amazon DSP adds Triton Digital as a programmatic partner, giving buyers access to Triton's global audio and podcast inventory paired with Amazon's first-party shopping and streaming data.A new WARC Media report pegs YouTube's 2025 ad revenue at $40.4 billion, but growth is decelerating even as podcast viewership on the platform surges 70% year-over-year.Digiday explores creators breaking into Hollywood with box-office hits...Audioboom's Strong First Half, Maturing Creator Brand Safety, & More
#925
07/15/2026
Today in the business of podcasting:
Audioboom posted record H1 2026 results, with revenue up 30% year-on-year to $45.7 million and adjusted EBITDA up 80% to $3.2 million, while also ending its strategic review and unveiling Spotify and Apple partnerships to power video monetization later this year.Creator economy newsletter Scalable finds brand safety concerns among US enterprise marketers have plummeted from 50% in 2023 to just 10% in 2025, as the industry pivots toward brand fit over blanket caution, a shift with clear implications for podcast advertising.The BBC's newly released annual report shows its ad-funded podcasts outside the UK drew over 515 million downloads and 116 million...The Podcast Atlas, Part 3: The Front Door
#923
07/15/2026
Podcast clips aren't just filler content, they're the top of the discovery funnel, with 89% of listeners watching them on social platforms and about a third reliably converting into episode views or new regular listeners.
Written by Tom WebsterEdited and narrated by Gavin GaddisFind the full article here.
Apple Podcasts Video Expands to Mac & TV, ANA Inclusive Case Studies, & More
#924
07/14/2026
Today 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...Buzzcast is Back on Spotify, Debunking The Attention-Span Myth, & More
#922
07/13/2026
Today 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...Podcast Movement Opens Public Voting, What The Screen Adds, & More
#920
07/10/2026
Today 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...What Video Adds to Podcast Ads, Economics of Streaming Sponsorship, & More
#921
07/09/2026
Today 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...Signal Hill's 2026 Podcast Ad Benchmarks, AI-Legible Audio's Competitive Edge, & More
#919
07/08/2026
Today 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...The Podcast Atlas, Part Two: What The Screen Adds
#918
07/08/2026
This 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.
Podcast Movement Opens Public Voting, AdsWizz Extends SoundCloud Deal in Europe & More
#917
07/07/2026
Today 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...Audio's Reach Beyond the Screen, Spotify's Ad Stack Rebuild, & More
#916
07/06/2026
Today 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...Navigating The Podcast Atlas, Miroma Acquires Ad Results Media, & More
#915
07/03/2026
This 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...A New Atlas for Podcasting, Debunking Listener Assumptions, & More
#914
07/02/2026
Today 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...The Format That Travels
#913
07/02/2026
Audio podcasting reaches listeners in hands-busy, on-the-go moments no other format can, and new Podcast Atlas data shows it earns their full attention.
Written by Tom WebsterEdited and narrated by Gavin GaddisFind the full article here.
Keeping Cannes Affordable, The Case for Niche, & More
#912
07/01/2026
Today in the business of podcasting:
Podcast Movement has received nearly 800 submissions for the upcoming New York City edition of the conference and business summit.Next Audio co-founder Lemya Soltani detailed on LinkedIn how her MENA audio network hosted a Cannes Lions networking event without VC funding, cutting costs through shared boat rentals, local catering, and budget flights. Sounds Profitable's Bryan Barletta shared a similar low-cost Cannes playbook, showing brands don't need big budgets to make an impact at the festival.A Sounds Profitable panel from Cannes Lions, "Riches vs Niches," is now live on YouTube, featuring executives...Miroma Acquires Ad Results Media, YouTube Takes the Measurement Layer, & More
#911
06/30/2026
Today in the business of podcasting:
Reminder: Sounds Profitable's latest research, The Podcast Atlas, will debut tomorrow, July 1, at 2:00 p.m. Eastern in a live webinar hosted by Tom Webster. Registration is free and open now, grab your virtual seat!Miroma Group has acquired performance audio advertising agency Ad Results Media, with CEO Jordan Fox framing the deal as a major U.S. expansion that brings ARM's podcast-native performance advertising into Miroma's broader portfolio.Ben Robins' latest UK Advertising Landscape installment finds 44% of UK podcast listeners aged 18 to 34 made a purchase after hearing a podcast ad, and flags...Listeners Follow Creators Across Formats, Ad Revenue Stays Concentrated, & More
#910
06/29/2026
Today in the business of podcasting:
Registration for The Podcast Atlas debut webinar on July 1 at 2pm Eastern is available here.New Sounds Profitable research from The Podcast Atlas finds 73% of podcast listeners would follow a creator from audio to video and 71% from long-form episodes to short-form clips, showing audience loyalty is tied to creators rather than formats.iHeartMedia expands its advertising partnership with Amazon Ads, becoming a reseller across Amazon Music, Prime Video, Twitch, Fire TV, and Alexa, giving its sellers access to Amazon's first-party shopping and streaming data.Owl & Co. founder Hernan Lopez shares findings from...Surveying The Podcast Atlas, Industry Ad Effectiveness, & More
#909
06/26/2026
Today in the business of podcasting:
Register here for the Podcast Atlas debut webinar next week!Two new Sounds Profitable studies reshape the discovery conversation: the Podcast Discovery Playbook 2026, co-published with JAR Podcast Solutions, finds 61% of listeners discover shows through YouTube and social media, while Tom Webster's A New Map for Podcasting and the forthcoming Podcast Atlas argue that platform-native vertical clips, not trailers, drive discovery for audiences under 35.Two industry leaders weigh in on SoundsProfitable.com: Triton Digital's Mattia Verzella explains why cross-channel CPM comparisons mislead publishers and details the floor-pricing "triangle of sadness," and Voxtopica's Richard...A New Map For Podcasting, Audio Delivers 75% Higher Profits in Cannes Study, & More
#908
06/25/2026
Today 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...Veritonic's New Video Ad Audio Checking Tool, Prediction Market Podcasting, & More
#907
06/24/2026
Today 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...A New Map For Podcasting
#906
06/24/2026
Tom 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...
Triton Digital on Audio Revenue Strategy, YouGov's Podcast Ad Report, & More
#905
06/23/2026
Today 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...YouTube Tops Discovery, Oxford Road Ranks Shows by ROI, & More
#904
06/22/2026
Today 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...Creators 🔜 Cannes Lions, Substack to Distribute Video, & More
#903
06/10/2026
Today 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...Nobody's Coming for the Medium
#901
06/10/2026
Podcast 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 pra...
Video Podcasting on TV Streamers, YouTube Webinar for Podcasters, & More
#902
06/09/2026
Today 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...Bumper Release Free Dashboard Tier, YouTube Overtakes Netflix Daily Attention in AU, & More
#900
06/08/2026
Today 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...PME Heading to SXSW 2027, AMP's New Framework, & More
#899
06/05/2026
Today 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...SXSW PanelPicker 🔜, AMP Taskforce Reveals Impression Framework, & More
#898
06/04/2026
Today in the business of podcasting:
Tom Webster reflects on a year of rapid AI adoption — from pasting into ChatGPT to running open-source language models on a home server — arguing that the real question for creators is not whether they use AI, but whether they stand behind what they publish.The Alliance for Measurement in Podcasting (AMP) Task Force has released its first unified impression framework, defining Podcast Play, Podcast Audience, Ad Impression, and Ad Audience to enable cross-platform comparison of audio and video podcast inventory for the first time.SXSW 2027's PanelPicker submission process opens June 23, with live...Upgrading the World Cup With Podcasts, Nielsen Q1 Audio Trends, & More
#897
06/03/2026
Today in the business of podcasting:
Sport Social Podcast Network argues that sports podcasting has shifted from a complementary format to a defining part of how fans experience the 2026 FIFA World Cup, citing a new BBC Studios and NumberEight campaign that drove a 19% awareness lift for a U.S. hospitality brand.CoHost and Quill CEO Fatima Zaidi kicks off a new series by asking 10 founders what they would do differently in year one, drawing responses from industry figures including Oxford Road's Dan Granger and Sounds Profitable Partner Bryan Barletta.Tubefilter examines what the box office success of creator-led...Strum and Drang
#896
06/03/2026
This year at Cannes Lions, Sounds Profitable is a sponsor of the Little Black Book Beach! Our partners will receive up to 3 tickets for access to the beach all week. Be sure to fill out this Google Form so we can register you and your team for the beach! Also, we have a custom graphic generator for those looking to announce they’re headed to France in a couple of weeks with some flair.
Tom Webster argues that LLMs have advanced faster than most people realize, and that pretending otherwise is magical thinking. He traces his own jo...
SiriusXM Podcasts 🔜 Tubi, BBC Studios World Cup Case Study, & More
#895
06/02/2026
Today in the business of podcasting:
SiriusXM has struck a non-exclusive distribution and advertising deal with Fox's free streaming service Tubi, bringing popular video podcasts including Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend, Rotten Mango, and The School of Greatness to the platform starting in late June.The ANA's Q1 2026 Programmatic Transparency Benchmark finds a growing performance gap between top advertisers, who convert 54% of programmatic spend into quality impressions, and lower-performing peers who convert just 32.1%, with private marketplace transactions accounting for 85% of all programmatic spending.The IAB has filed an amicus brief in Baker v. Seattle Children's Hospital, a case...Questions B2B Ask of Podcasting, Magellan AI's 📻 Attribution, & More
#894
06/01/2026
Today in the business of podcasting:
CoHost & Quill VP of Marketing Alison Osborne argues the podcast industry is solving the wrong measurement problem: B2B brands have moved past "how many downloads" and are now asking who is listening, whether the right audiences are finding the show, and whether those listeners are appearing in the sales funnel.Acast CEO Greg Glenday says brands are misallocating podcast ad spend by following genre assumptions rather than audience behavior, citing Acast data showing food podcasts receive roughly half of food delivery ad spend despite representing less than 1% of relevant listener conversations...