Spotify (and Audioboom) post profit

• Spotify published its Q2 2024 results. As a part of a report excessive $297mn quarterly revenue, the corporate reported improved podcast profitability, “pushed by progress in impressions offered throughout Unique and Licensed podcasts and the Spotify Viewers Community”. The corporate says it has greater than 6 million podcasts.

  
  

• Audioboom published its H1 2024 results. eCPM (income per 1,000 downloads) was up 38% in Q2. Income is up 7% in complete, and adjusted EBITDA revenue is $0.3mn.

  
  

• Extra keynote audio system on the upcoming Podcast Movement in August. Ira Glass is the enduring voice behind This American Life, and can be a part of NPR’s Wild Card host Rachel Martin on stage. Moreover, a brand new version of The Podcast Landscape will likely be shared on stage. Use code PODNEWS to save lots of on passes.

• YouTube Music added the flexibility to mark a podcast as played earlier within the month. We additionally discover that in Australia, we now get a “podcasts” chip on the high of the display; now you can auto-download reveals; and there are methods of filtering episode lists to solely present, for instance, unplayed or downloaded episodes.

• Magellan AI shared its checklist of top (US) podcast advertisers for June. BetterHelp stays at #1; AI voice supplier AudioStack is the most recent “mover and shaker”, spending $1.7mn. Magellan AI has a brief webinar on Thursday to debate the outcomes.

• FeaturedUp, a Q&A platform for podcasters, is to shut. “We’ve not achieved the mandatory progress within the podcast neighborhood to maintain our operations,” mentioned founder Gurneet Paul in an email to users.

Thanks to Audiohook for changing into a gold supporter – the entrepreneurs’ alternative for podcast and audio promoting. Help of Podnews helps us to report on the business, and means Audiohook’s title will likely be seen daily in our publication, web site and podcast notes. You could be like Audiohook and support us.

Daniel Ek on podcasts in Spotify

Query: Now that main podcasts are largely non-exclusive, how has podcasts engagement modified on Spotify as extra of the business shifts to video podcasts? How do you entice extra creators and develop engagement versus a platform like YouTube?

Ek: In the beginning we’re seeing very wholesome engagement on podcasts. The place we have now video podcasts, engagement is even larger than what we have now seen when it’s audio solely, which is a extremely optimistic testomony. That is additionally what organically creates phrase of mouth with creators. So we’re seeing an increasing number of creators now importing video content material too. We’ve a few quarter 1,000,000 already. Shoppers of right now don’t actually care an excessive amount of about codecs. They’re truly shifting in between of audio, video and even studying issues very effortlessly, particularly youthful customers. And so creators will clearly reply to that and will make their content material out there in as many codecs as potential.

The best way we entice extra creators is a bucket of three issues. So I feel that the primary bucket is issues which might be native to the Spotify platform. So issues like podcasters already like musicians, these are form of a primary bucket to transform and add extra issues as a result of they’ll see larger engagement and thereby larger monetization. Then I feel there’s a second bucket, which is if you happen to’re already importing video to different platforms right now, you’ve taken most of your prices already. So it makes a variety of sense so that you can attempt to amortize that price in opposition to as many platforms as potential. And also you see this already the place lots of people on the quick facet are importing not simply to 1 platform however are importing to many platforms. And we’re beginning to see a few of that conduct taking place on Spotify, too. After which I feel lastly, there’s issues that can carry out so much higher on the Spotify platform than maybe on different platforms. For example, longer kind content material tends to do rather well on Spotify on video as a result of individuals shuttle between backgrounding and foregrounding. And that’s one thing that works rather well on Spotify due to our lean again historical past as a platform. So total it’s wanting very properly and with plenty of enchancment, in fact, and an increasing number of creators are coming to the platform every day.

Folks Information

Ideas and methods – with Memberful

Podcast Information

And from Spotify, an exciting new episode of Spotify Earnings Call Replays was launched. Hosted by Daniel and Ben, the episode focuses on a mysterious drop in anticipated MAUs in early 2024 – at the same time as income hit an all-time excessive. Who’s accountable? Who’s the person referred to as Bryan who talks a few secure harbor? What even is a secure harbor? And what legendary beast is it preserving the ships secure from?