Month: May 2023

Amazon’s Ring unit has agreed to pay $5.8 million to settle Federal Trade Commission allegations that its doorbells illegally spied on users.

The settlement addresses a lawsuit filed by the FTC Wednesday accusing Ring of unlawfully deceiving its customers over the privacy of their data and the videos collected by its products. According to the agency’s complaint, Ring failed to restrict employees and contractors from accessing customer videos and used them to train algorithms without user consent.

“Ring’s disregard for privacy and security exposed consumers to spying and harassment,” FTC Bureau of Consumer Protection director Samuel Levine said in a statement Wednesday. “The FTC’s order makes clear that putting profit over privacy…

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Apollo, the popular Reddit app for iOS, could face millions of dollars in fees as a result of Reddit’s new paid API model. According to an update posted by developer Christian Selig, Reddit could charge Apollo roughly $20 million per year if it continues operating at its current scale.

Reddit announced changes to its API policy in April, which allows the platform to put limits on the number of API requests made by a third-party client like Apollo. But now, we have more details on what exactly this means: Selig says Reddit plans on charging about $12,000 per 50 million requests.

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Hi all, Happy Friday! I have a two-parter for you today. First off is a Q&A with Tinkercast — one of the leading publishers of kids podcasts — about the state of children’s audio and the challenges of adapting the medium for YouTube. How do you draw kids’ eyeballs along with their ears — especially […]

The week is almost over, and I hope it will end on a good note. Today, I dive into a YouTube pilot for RSS that likely will have a major impact on podcasters if it becomes adopted, and a…very wild night on Twitter Spaces! Will YouTube’s RSS leave podcasters hanging? There’s nothing “real simple” about YouTube’s […]

Hope everyone at The Podcast Show is enjoying the conference (and ignoring their jet lag). While I’m still very much across the pond (like, way across) in LA, this issue of Hot Pod leads with some news from BBC Radio. I’m also digging into kids podcasts on YouTube and an interesting announcement by Bill Simmons about Spotify’s […]

Leading independent video game publisher Ubisoft has partnered with Acast to manage distribution, sales, and promotion of its podcast operations.

The current slate of podcasts, tied to some of the company’s biggest franchises – Echoes of History, Tenacity, E-Sport, and Beyond Games – has listens split between Ubisoft’s core markets of Germany, the United States, France, Spain, and China. For the first time, Ubisoft will have the opportunity to run sponsorship and advertising across the Acast network, create bespoke brand partnerships relevant to each region and lean on the potential for in-game integrations and cross-promotional activity which look to generate both active and passive revenue.

Podcasts open up the Ubisoft brand and its properties to both new listeners and advertisers. The titles explore real-life, human experiences and generate discussion on topics seen in the narrative of video games, such as historical moments and figures, warfare, and survival. By creating podcasts that bring video game universes even closer to the real world, Ubisoft has also been able to attract both gamers and communities beyond the core player audience.

“Ubisoft is excited to expand both our reach for this growing and thriving content as well as create a unique untapped revenue stream,” said Francois Tallec, Vice President of brand and transmedia partnerships at Ubisoft.

Cédric Begoc, Content Director at Acast France, said: “Ubisoft is a perfect partner for Acast. The ability for us to work with a global gaming empire as they double down on their podcast representation is a fantastic challenge. We know we can provide unparalleled support and opportunities in monetization, but having a receptive, creative team that is willing to push boundaries with us means our opportunities become endless. Ad creative, audience targeting, thematic exploration of video games in audio form – it’s all so exciting.”

Acast is distributing Ubisoft podcasts across all listening platforms, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, Google Podcasts, and everywhere else listeners get their podcasts. Now available for sponsorship and advertising, ads may be purchased either programmatically or direct. Additionally, sponsors can work with the Acast Creative team to create bespoke brand integrations, such as branded miniseries, episodes, or Sponsored Stories.

The International Women’s Podcast Festival (IWPF), a highly anticipated event celebrating women’s voices and storytelling in audio and podcasting, unfortunately, announces that it will not be taking place this year. The decision comes from insufficient industry support and funding, which has regrettably hindered our ability to organize and execute the festival at the scale and quality that we believe the global community of women in podcasting and audio deserves. 

At Content is Queen, we firmly believe in the power of supporting, platforming, and empowering women’s voices in the audio industry. Our missions has always been to create a space that encourages and fosters participation for women in podcasting, in an industry that continues to snowball. It is disheartening to encounter such challenges in rallying the necessary financial support to realize this vision.

While we are disappointed by the lack of backing we received, we are not surprised. We have witnessed other events organized by diverse founders and leaders facing similar issues of being postponed or cancelled altogether. This prevailing trend only further highlights the systemic obstacles underrepresented groups face within the industry. The decision to postpone was not taken lightly, but it is our responsibility to priorities the quality and impact of the event.

However, the absence of the IWPF this year does not diminish our commitment to amplifying women’s voices and promoting inclusivity. We firmly believe that events like IWPF are essential to provide a platform for diverse perspectives, foster collaboration, and drive positive change. We will continue to advocate for women’s storytelling, empowering female creators and striving for a more equitable podcasting landscape.

As we reflect on the situation, we remain resolute in our determination to bring back the International Women’s Podcast Festival in 2024. We will use this time to regroup, engage with potential partners, and explore avenues to secure the necessary support and resources to deliver the outstanding festival experiences that our global community deserves.

In the meantime, we encourage all individuals, organizations, and industry leaders to reflect upon the importance of supporting underrepresented voices and representation within podcasting. Let us work together to dismantle the barriers that prevent diverse talent from flourishing in this dynamic field. By doing so, we can create a more inclusive and vibrant podcasting industry for everyone.

For further updates and information regarding the International Women’s Podcast Festival, please visit our website http://festival.contentisqueen.org and follow us on social media @contentisqueenhq.

 

Good Tape is a new print magazine about podcasting for audio professionals, creators, and their fans. Founded by Dane Cardiel, former founding member Simplecast and current VP of Creator Partnerships at Gumball, Good Tape will feature work by the country’s foremost journalists and artists, answering the industry’s most pressing questions while also asking more.

Podcast creators are looking for relevant media resources and have few places to turn. Good Tape will be this community’s first go-to resource, helping them understand the state of their industry and look forward to what’s next.

“Good Tape was inspired after attending On Air Fest in LA last year,” Cardiel says. “As I spoke with others, the responses made overwhelmingly clear: There’s a real need for dedicated culture writing that intelligently covers our industry – especially one that understands the importance of design and centers our behind-the-mic creative community.”

Good Tape is proud to partner with Top Down Studio, an editorial consultancy founded by Alana Hope Levinson, to develop its editorial scope, voice and audience. Top Down Studio helps writers and brands tell editorial stories across a wide variety of mediums, with in entrepreneurial media.

“I’m thrilled to support the formation and launch of Good Tape,” says Levinson, who has spent the past decade launching media products for companies like Medium, Dollar Shave Club, and Chegg. “While the magazine is primarily for audio professionals, the high level cultural reporting and art direction will broaden its appeal, making it a must-have lifestyle product that breaks out of the B2B category.”

Artistically, Good Tape will follow a long tradition of revolutionary media – from the underground presses of the 60s to the punk zines of the 80s – and carry this legacy forward in celebration of a new era of podcasting. “We’re playing with scale, texture, and composition,” says Design Lead Sami Wittwer. “We want to challenge the readers’ largely digital context and encourage them to regard the magazine as an art object.”

To pre-order the first issue of Good Tape, please visit https://goooodtape.com and follow along for updates on Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

Audion, the leading digital audio and podcast monetisation technology company, launches Audion360: the world’s first platform to combine a podcast CMS with an artificial intelligence innovation and integrated advertising technology.

On-demand audio content has immense potential. However, the success of the format depends as much on the creativity as on the technology used by publishers. While most industry professionals are producing high-quality content that is attracting more and more listeners, few have found the ultimate platform to make audio a strategic and lucrative format.

After 18 months of R&D, Audio is launching Audion360 with the ambition to help publishers take the next step in the development and monetisation of their audio content. This new software is the first in the world to natively link three technological bricks that were previously worked on separately:

A professional podcast CMS (Content Management System)

A Text-To-Speech solution based on an artificial intelligence module (PrintAudio)

An integrated proprietary advertising platform, designed natively for the challenges of the format and open to the entire ecosystem.

The development of Audion360 is the result of long, iterative work with the European leaders in audio: radio groups, press publishers, podcast studios, Pure Players… In essence, it allows us to meet three fundamental needs:

• Reduce operational friction and intermediaries by centralizing the execution of the entire strategy within a single interface, as opposed to 3 or even 4 software applications.

• Ensure better distribution of editorial content by combining podcasts with text-to-speech. Objective: increase engagement with active users and improve conversion with new audiences.

• Significantly increase advertising revenues with a platform that is natively designed for advertising and has exclusive features that guarantee a gain in the volume and value of advertising space.

Only a few weeks after its launch in France, Audion360 welcomes renowned publishers such as Slate, the second most downloaded podcast brand in 2022 (according to ACPM), Engle, Futura, and Boursorama.

Audion, already established in France and the UK, aims to become the European leader in the digital audio and monetisation market. After a second record-breaking fundraising round of €6m in 2022, the French company is continuing its development with the launch of Audion360, a 100% proprietary tool that demonstrates its technological know-how and it’s perfect understanding of a fast-growing market and is expected to reach nearly $24 billion by 2023.

“We took the decision to develop Audion360 following multiple feedbacks we received from publishers who told us that they were having difficulty finding a viable model for podcasting. Our common observation is clear: advertising is central to the economic model and requires technologies and services dedicated to this subject.

This is what Audion360 is all about: helping publishers to finally seize this opportunity by providing a platform reserved for professionals in the sector, packed with innovations and which, unlike our competitors, has been designed natively to increase the value derived from advertising. Functionalities related designed natively to increase the value derived from advertising. Functionalities related to editorial management or publishing have not evolved for several years, bring very limited added value to the business model and have now become a commodity. The real challenge publishers face is generating more advertising revenue and we are proud to be able to address this with our Audion360 technology” – Arthur Larrey, co-founder of Audio.

“We are delighted to strengthen our collaboration with Audio by using their CMS for our productions. The flexibility of the tools at our disposal coupled with the expertise of the teams ensure that we can optimize our advertising revenues, allowing us to focus on editorial and production” – François Cusset – Founder & Head of business Engle.

“After two years of collaboration around the marketing of our audio advertising inventory and nearly 300% growth, the premium CMS solution offered by Audion has become a very natural extension to our native audio catalogue management package. We are therefore very pleased to extend our partnership beyond the simple marketing of our space for a further 2 years. As part of the harmonisation of our tools, the complete solution is also deployed on the entire catalogue of our subsidiary Initial Studio, a documentary podcast production studio” – Nicolas Valverde – Director of advertising sales Slate France.

 

Ad Results Media (ARM), the leader in podcast advertising as well as digital audio, broadcast radio, and influencer partnerships on YouTube, announced hiring of Teresa Elliott as Chief Revenue Officer (CRO).

ARM welcomes Elliott as the newest member of its leadership team where she will focus on forging strategic alliances across the audio ecosystem and leading new business development efforts. This latest addition to ARM’s roster of talented executives highlights the audio trailblazer’s commitment to fostering growth and innovation in the industry and supporting the rapidly evolving and complex ecosystem of platforms, publishers, producers, show talent, brand-marketers, and agencies alike.

“At a time when more brands are exploring audio with podcast advertising than ever before, and the landscape is becoming than ever before, and the landscape is becoming increasingly complex with more players and new technologies, experience matters,” said Elliott. “ARM is the leader in the podcast and audio space. I am fortunate to be joining the incredible team of audio experts that the ARM Partners have built over the last 25+ years and am excited to collaborate on the next wave of business growth opportunities for our partners.”

The New York City-based former Spotify executive has extensive experience in spearheading complex partnerships on a global-scale, with emphasis on driving revenue growth, fostering innovation and building C-level executive relationships. Elliott brings her expertise and passion for forging mutually beneficial long-term partnerships to ARM where she will be accountable for driving business development initiatives. 

“We’re thrilled to announce Teresa’s addition to our team at Ad Results Media,” said Steve Shanks, Co-Chief Executive Officer. “With her extensive experience in the audio industry, forward-thinking outlook, and an impressive record of delivering insight-led solutions, Teresa brings distinctive expertise that matches our commitment to industry leadership. We firmly believe that his combination will not only drive ARM’s growth and innovation, but also contribute to the progressive evolution of the audio advertising sector into new territories.”

For more information about creator-based advertising across podcast, video and emerging audio, please visit adresultsmedia.com.