Spotify makes a billion. The latest from podnews.net with Podcastle, create, edit, publish and grow.
Spotify has released its Q1/24 financials. The company made over $1 billion worth of
gross profit for the first time and returned nearly $200 million of net income. Spotify's
profit margin for Q1 increased year on year. The company laid off 2,300 people
last year and raised prices in many territories; and ad revenue grew 18%. The company now has
615 million monthly users. There's more details in our show notes and our newsletter at podnews.net.
86% of branded podcasts increase a brand's affinity with their listeners, says New Data
from Signal Hill Insights. Branded podcasts also help with brand recall. The 2024 Branded
Podcasts benchmark report is released today. iHeartMedia has launched the Women's Sports
Audio Network, which it calls the first ever audio platform dedicated to women's sports.
Podcast analytics and insights platform Co-Host has announced the publication of its second
annual State of Podcast Agencies report. The biggest issue for podcast agencies is trackable
ROI, which impacts 33% of them. In the UK, Audiolab has been launched by AdWanted UK.
It's claimed to be the first cross-platform digital audio measurement solution in the
country. We covered Spotify's quiet withdrawal from the IAB on Monday. Today, we link to
the IAB membership costs ratecard, which is based on domestic revenue in the US. We've
worked out what Spotify's domestic revenue might be, and we've worked out that the IAB
membership bill for Spotify could have been more than half a million dollars. We're sure
that they didn't charge ratecard, though. In commentary about Spotify's IAB withdrawal,
RAIN's Brad Hill calls it a "signal of extraordinary self-sufficiency." He also notes that the IAB's
website still lists Spotify as a member of the IAB podcasting technical working group.
We're told this is an error. Not least, the named contact, Kevin Sachs, left the company
at the end of March. There's a new podcast studio in Brookfield in Illinois. CrimeJunkie
is to be a 24-hour radio station. It's a 24/7 true crime radio station on SiriusXM, which
launches on Friday morning. The Audio Drama Directory is an online resource with the goal
of offering the most comprehensive listings of websites for audio drama enthusiasts. It's
new to us, but it's been running since last year. Roland is to release a podcasting kit,
Go:Podcast, gives you a USB microphone and an app that supports video and live streaming.
The Peabody Awards has announced some nominees, including for its podcast categories, and
Wondery has launched Wondery plus, its curated premium podcast service for UK podcast listeners.
We're promised lots of British content, a localised and curated ad-free experience for UK audiences,
and who knows, maybe a promise to spell the word colour correctly.
And in podcast news, Leah's Gals, described as a low-rent, southern-fried twist on a
literary classic, is available in full today. It's the first production from MindsEye podcasts,
and Transit Unplugged reached episode 300 today. The show tackles issues like zero emissions,
the bus manufacturing crisis in the US, and changing ridership patterns. Today's episode
is a special Transit CEO round table, recorded live at the Think Transit conference, and features
an unscripted look into the lives and careers of four leading transit CEOs, all of whom
we hope take transit to work. Trailers for selected shows are in our podcast
called New Podcast Trailers, and we're sponsored by Podcastle. Create, edit, publish and grow
your podcast all in one collaborative AI-powered platform. Make your voice heard with Podcastle.
Find a link in the show notes. And that's the latest from our newsletter to read all
the stories and subscribe we're at podnews.net.
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