Sweden launch nationwide weekly podcast stats

In Sweden, they’ve set some podcast measurement standards [in English] and major podcast producers are all publishing weekly podcast data on one portal. Swedish Radio did 1.1m downloads in week 45, as one example, with documentaries as the most popular.

iHeartMedia debuted as #2 in October’s podtrac numbers (as we reported on Nov 13). Mike Agovino, formerly of Triton Digital, did some investigation - and he isn’t happy about what he’s found. “I’m sorry but Podtrac, you have a responsibility to provide accurate and impartial data to the marketplace”.

An interview with Steve Pratt from Pacific Content, “the first branded podcast company in the world”. The podcast itself is the Access Podcast with Matty Staudt, Digital Program Director of iHeart Media San Francisco.

The Apple HomePod won’t be in christmas stockings this year: it’s been delayed to “early 2018”.

US: fancy spending nine weeks in a residential workshop next spring learning how to make great story-telling audio, being taught by people like Ira Glass and Shereen Marisol Meraji? You want the Transom Story Workshop - you’ve not got long to apply.

Where do you get music for podcasts? Valerie Geller passed this on - details about sources of stock and royalty-free music.

If you publish your podcasts as a video-without-video in places like Facebook, beware: The “Fake-Video Fallout” Is Real says Ravi Jayagopal: it can hurt your social media standings, he says.

Pandora jumped over 4% in Thursday trading because they’ve said they might include more non-music content, aka podcasts.

US radio groups want a piece of the podcasting action, reports Inside Radio - including aggressive steps from Entercom (who have just completed their takeover of CBS Radio).

Kickstarter launch a competitor to Patreon, called Drip.

Miranda Sawyer of The Guardian listens to the Haunted podcast, and also to the BBC’s Inspection Chamber - an interactive drama on the Amazon Echo. She likes the Haunted podcast.

Spreaker announces that they’ve added Chromecast and Airplay functionality to their app. There’s a bit of playing catchup here; many apps have had Chromecast functionality in them for a few years; but more is always better.

Event: How to create a successful podcast, with Rowan Slaney, The Guardian’s podcast manager. March 6, 2018; London UK.