Annie Langston | MIDiA Research

Social media is the vessel to amplify the open podcasting ecosystem

Annie Langston

1 Sep 2022

Live audio sparked in lockdowns and blurred the lines between social media and podcasts. Although Clubhouse kickstarted this craze, its success post lockdown has lagged , and other major platforms are now crowding the space.

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Apple’s latest podcasting moves poke holes in Spotify’s strategy

Annie Langston

24 Aug 2022

Apple Podcasts Spotify

Apple has been quieter than its other podcast competitors in the past, but it is continuing to develop its audio offerings. Apple’s most noteworthy attempt to expand its platform thus far was introducing podcast subscriptions to entice creators and compete against Spotify’s offerings.

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Podcast monetisation and remuneration
Balancing creator and platform needs

Annie Langston

22 Aug 2022

Creators Apple Spotify

Audio platforms traditionally monetise through advertising and, to a lesser degree, listener subscriptions. However, with the rise of the creator economy and more creators entering the podcast space, platforms must bulk up their offerings for creator monetisation as well.

Re-creating the creator economy

Mark Mulligan, Tim Mulligan, Karol Severin, Hanna Kahlert, Srishti Das, Kriss Thakrar, Ashleigh Millar, Tatiana Cirisano, Annie Langston and Richard Broadhurst

18 Aug 2022

Apple Spotify YouTube

Streaming first democratised the means of consumption, then distribution, and now production. Though the promise of the long tail may not have materialised quite as expected, long-tail and mid-tail creators are now a central component of the digital-entertainment economy.

Podcast discovery is getting a TikTok facelift

Annie Langston

18 Aug 2022

TikTok Podcasts Spotify

Podcast discoverability continues to be a core challenge for audience platforms, audio creators, and listeners. With the rise of the creator economy, more voices are entering the space, which increases the amount of noise creators must break through to be noticed.

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What pay-for-play podcasting says about the creator economy

Annie Langston

11 Aug 2022

Podcasts pay for play Guestio

Podcasters are operating in the grey area of payola, as creators are charging guests to be featured without disclosing it to their listeners, according to a new Bloomberg expose. Apparently, this practice is most popular among podcasts in the business, wellness, and cryptocurrency areas.

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Key takeaways for podcasting from SiriusXM and Spotify’s earnings

Annie Langston

4 Aug 2022

Spotify SiriusXM earnings

Two audio giants with investments in podcasting — Spotify and SiriusXM — published their second quarter earnings for the year. SiriusXM saw marginal year-over-year growth in revenue – around 4% – although it was still able to increase its paid subscribers by 23,000 users, bringing its total ...

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Podcasts are creating a new era of news

Annie Langston

28 Jul 2022

Podcasts News listeners

Podcasts are becoming a brand extension for every level of public figure, even those who have been shut out or disgraced elsewhere. After being fired from their network positions for allegedly violating journalistic ethics, two former news anchors — Chris Cuomo and Keith Olbermann — are each sta...

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Audio creators
The new creative frontier

Annie Langston

27 Jul 2022

Apple Spotify YouTube

While exclusive content deals with celebrity names signposted the audio strategy of many of the market’s big players, audience platforms are already recognising the growing importance of independent audio creators as the market develops and expands.

Spotify expands the solutions to creators’ discovery problem

Annie Langston

27 Jul 2022

Business Strategy Audio

The audio market’s growth will rely on the ability of platforms to service creators, especially as the barriers to entry continue to lower. One of the key challenges for audio creators is discoverability, with competition from other audio formats – making it even harder to be heard.

Acast aims to expand the open podcast ecosystem with Podchaser acquisition

Annie Langston

19 Jul 2022

Acast Podchaser Spotify

Earlier this year, when Acast announced the dismantling of its podcast app, it cited the open podcast ecosystem as the motivation behind the decision. Acast CEO, Ross Adams, explained that the open podcast ecosystem allows all creators to share their work on all possible platforms, which differs fro...

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Podcasts amplify the era of digital activism

Annie Langston

14 Jul 2022

Podcasts Spotify protest

Podcasts are an open mic for anyone looking to share their opinions about essentially anything. As we saw with Joe Rogan , this placed Spotify in the uncomfortable position of having to decide whether, and how, it will moderate podcast content.

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Spotify shines RADAR spotlight on podcast creators

Annie Langston

6 Jul 2022

Discovery Podcasts RADAR

Discoverability remains a core challenge for podcast creators in the audio market. We previously discussed the responsibility of audience platforms to amplify independent voices, with editorial spaces increasingly dominated by exclusives and celebrity titles.

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The revolving door of celebrity podcast announcements aims to bring the masses to audio

Annie Langston

30 Jun 2022

Podcasts celebrity Spotify

The investment in the digital audio market began with splashy celebrity deals and now even more big names are flocking to the format. One of the first big announcements in celebrity podcasts was that of The Obamas officially announcing their exclusive deal with Audible instead of their original deal...

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Audio audiences
Millennial listeners and the radio transition

Annie Langston

29 Jun 2022

Apple Spotify SiriusXM

As audio consumption steadily grows from its post-lockdown spike, it is crucial to identify the core audiences who are maintaining their listenership as the attention recession is affecting entertainment. Millennial audiences demonstrate a steady listenership to emerging audio formats while younger listeners have yet to reach consumption potential.

BBC Sounds transitions radio listeners to digital audio

Annie Langston

29 Jun 2022

BBC Audio

The expansion of the digital-audio market will rely on the transition of traditional radio listeners to digital formats. Although millennials currently dominate digital audio and gen Z is developing its listenership, older radio listeners already show an appetite for audio that has yet to be fully catered to by digital formats.

Acast and Meta partner up to create podcast communities

Annie Langston

23 Jun 2022

Acast Meta Facebook

Following yesterday’s announcement from Meta , detailing its plans to become a more creator focused platform, it debuted a new partnership with leading independent podcast company Acast. Although Facebook’s initial move into podcast content was halted, this new deal does not focus on creating co...

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Spotify Investor Day eyes podcast creators and audiobooks — but what about the listeners?

Annie Langston

21 Jun 2022

Spotify Audiobooks Podcasts

Spotify Investor Day revolved around a core message – there is more audio to come. While its audio investments began with major acquisitions in podcast technology and exclusive content deals, focusing on creators will be a crucial step moving forward.

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Audio is the new spinoff

Annie Langston

14 Jun 2022

Podcasts Batman Spotify

Beloved stories can transcend time, not only in their messages or characters but in the format in which they are told. When DC announced its deal with Spotify to develop podcast series, not only did it signal yet another major company venturing into audio but an opportunity to expand classic stories...

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O’Brien purchase targets millennials, but what about the rest?

Annie Langston

9 Jun 2022

SiriusXM Radio Gen Z

The audio battle started with major network acquisitions, such as Amazon’s purchase of Wondery and Spotify’s acquisitions of Gimlet , The Ringer and Paracast . Now, SiriusXM is stepping into the ring with its purchase of Conan O’Brien’s network Team Coco.

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